"The Twilight Zone" Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? (1961)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Montgomery Pittman

Writers:

Rod Serling (creator)
Rod Serling (writer)

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

26 May 1961 (Season 2, Episode 28)

Genre:

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

Plot:

Following a frantic phone call about a crashed spaceship, two policeman try and determine who among the passengers of a bus at a snowed-in roadside diner is from another world.

Plot Keywords:

Bus | Spaceship | Diner | Police Officer | Footprint

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 4

8:00 PM

SCIFI

Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up

#2.28

Cast

John Hoyt	...	Ross
Jean Willes	...	Ethel McConnell
Jack Elam	...	Avery
Barney Phillips	...	Haley
John Archer	...	Trooper Bill Padgett
William Kendis	...	Olmstead (as Bill Kendis)
Morgan Jones	...	Trooper Dan Perry
Gertrude Flynn	...	Rose Kramer
Bill Erwin	...	Peter Kramer
Jill Ellis	...	Connie Prince
Ron Kipling	...	George Prince

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:

Near the start, just after Rod Serling's intro, the name of the bus company is glimpsed: Cayuga Buses. This also happens to be the name of this TV series producers: Cayuga Production Company

Quotes:

Avery: She's just like a science-fiction, that's what she is! A reg'lar Ray Bradbury!

Movie Connections:

References "To Tell the Truth" (1956)

Lacks depth...but who cares?!

A bus full of passengers is stuck during a snow storm. The police have closed the bridge--saying it's unsafe and they are stuck in a little café until the road has been cleared. However, after a while, their boredom is turned to concern, as it seems that one of the passengers was NOT originally on the bus and may just be an alien!! This leads to a conclusion that is ironic but also rather funny in a low-brow way.

This is another of the fun episodes of The Twilight Zone. Instead of the typical twists or social commentary, this one features no lasting message. However, it's also very and watchable, so who cares?! Exactly WHAT occurs you'll just have to see for yourself.

By the way, this one stars John Hoyt--a face most of you will recognize from countless old TV shows and movies. In almost every case, he played a real grouch (like Charles Lane during the same era), but boy did I love seeing him--as he perfected the grouchy persona and was kind of funny at the same time.