"The Twilight Zone" And When the Sky Was Opened (1959)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Douglas Heyes

Writers:

Richard Matheson (short story)
Rod Serling (teleplay)

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

11 December 1959 (Season 1, Episode 11)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Three U.S. astronauts blast off from Earth on an initial test flight in an experimental rocket-ship...

Plot Keywords:

Bar | Astronaut | Space Station | Erased From Existence | Mirror

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	Colonel Clegg Forbes
Jim Hutton	...	Major William Gart (as James Hutton)
Charles Aidman	...	Colonel Ed Harrington
Maxine Cooper	...	Amy
Paul Bryar	...	Bartender
Sue Randall	...	Nurse
Joe Bassett	...	Medical Officer

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

Jim Hutton's TV debut.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In Rod Sterling's opening narration, we are told that the X-20 is an experimental Air Force interceptor that has been 900 miles into space. That altitude is far beyond the capability of fighter jets; even if it were, the aircraft and its crew would be exposed to the radiation of the Van Allen belts. By comparison, the space shuttle typically operates at altitudes between approximately 180-240 miles. To be fair, this episode was filmed in 1959 before travel/exploration beyond low Earth orbit was not well understood.

An Episode which Shakes our Sense of Reality

Rod Taylor and Jim Hutton give appropriately creepy performances in this tale which explores the tenuousness of perceived reality. Three astronauts are in the hospital after their spaceship crashes to earth. The spaceship had been out of communication with Mission Control for some time prior to its being found in the desert with all three astronauts alive.

As the astronauts are released from the hospital, the world as they know it turns upside down, one astronaut at a time. By the time the episode ends, the viewer is left questioning basic premises of our existence, such as memory, observation, existence itself.

Rod Taylor's character is strong and confident, then confused and unsure, and finally desperate and panicky as he tries to figure out what is happening to everyone's memory.

The story poses large, existential questions, of "another dimension," worthy of portrayal in the Twilight Zone.