The Architects of Fear
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Outer Limits episode | |
|---|---|
| “The Architects of Fear” | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 3 |
| Guest star(s) | Robert Culp Leonard Stone Martin Wolfson Geraldine Brooks |
| Writer(s) | Meyer Dolinsky |
| Director | Byron Haskin |
| Cinematographer | Conrad Hall |
| Production no. | 5 |
| Original airdate | September 30, 1963 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| “The Hundred Days of the Dragon” | “The Man With the Power” |
"The Architects of Fear" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 30 September 1963, during the first season.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
Certain that the Cold War will lead to mankind's destruction, a cabal of scientists decide that they must act to save the world.
[edit] Opening narration
- "Is this the day? Is this the beginning of the end? There is no time to wonder. No time to ask why is it happening, why is it finally happening. There is time only for fear, for the piercing pain of panic. Do we pray? Or do we merely run now and pray later? Will there be a later? Or is this the day?"
[edit] Plot synopsis
Although no specific era is indicated within the story, the plot revolves around a Cold War setting in which a nuclear holocaust appears to be imminent. In an attempt to stave off a confrontation between military superpowers through uniting the world against a common enemy, a group of scientists decide to physically transform one of their own members into an alien being and stage a fake invasion of Earth. This transformation is achieved by genetic alteration of scientist Allen Leighton, using genetic material from a rather small and non-threatening alien lifeform which the scientists have in their possession. Complications arise when the physical alteration also affects Leighton's mind, and is compounded by his strong attachment to his expectant wife.
[edit] Closing narration
- "Scarecrows and magic and other fatal fears do not bring people closer together. There is no magic substitute for soft caring and hard work, for self-respect and mutual love. If we can learn this from the mistake these frightened men made, then their mistake will not have been merely grotesque, it would at least have been a lesson. A lesson, at last, to be learned."
[edit] Trivia
- According to film-maker Kevin Smith (detailing a story on his college-tour DVD, An Evening with Kevin Smith), during the mid-1990s, Warner Bros. had briefly flirted with the idea of resurrecting "The Outer Limits" as an anthology film series, just as Universal Pictures was trying to do with the Tales from the Crypt spin-off, Demon Knight. In 1996, Smith was brought in to the Warner Bros. offices and offered the chance to rewrite a tentative script for the first Outer Limits movie: The Architects of Fear'. He declined, but the meeting lead to his involvement on the defunct film Superman Lives.
- This episode partially inspired and is featured in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' comic book mini-series, Watchmen.
- Theodore Sturgeon's story "Unite and Conquer," published in Astounding Science Fiction in 1948, turns on a similar gag, humans uniting against a fake alien threat.
[edit] Cast
- Robert Culp – as Allen Leighton
- Leonard Stone – as Dr. Phillip Gainer
- Geraldine Brooks – as Yvette Leighton
- Martin Wolfson – as Dr. Herschel
- Douglas Henderson – as Dr. Paul Fredericks
- Janos Prohaska – as Allen-as-Thetan
- Lee Zimmer – as Carl Ford
- Clay Tanner – as Fred
- Hal Bokar – as Bert Bolsey
- William Bush – as Tom
