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Director Alan Crosland Jr.'s, THE MICE, is an occasionally
interesting tale of alien/human contact.
A scientist meets at a prison with three convicts. As astrophysicist,
Michael Higgins ("On Valentine's Day") explains, "We
need a man who will allow us to break him up into electrical particles
and transmit him into space at a speed greater than that of light. It's
called teleportation."
Henry Silva ("Alligator") as the convict who volunteers for
the experiment, is an energized screen presence. Under Crosland's authoritative
direction, Silva comes across like a lean and hungry wolf, just looking
for the opportunity to spring. After volunteering, he sarcastically
tells a prison guard, "Tell mom I won't be home tonight."
The basic premise of this episode, (Teleplay by Bill S. Ballinger and
Joseph Stefano; Story by Bill S. Ballinger and Lou Morheim), which involves
turning a person into a beam of light and zapping them light years away
to another planet, was rather fresh in 1963. "Star Trek",
with its casual "beaming" people down to planets via a transporter,
wasn't to debut for another three years!
The episode's biggest flaw is it's gooey, silly alien. The creature
from the planet, Chroma, is a guy in a white jello suit with clicking
claws. No one takes credit for it's creation, which is understandable.
The main Special Effects involve a teleportation device that shoots
a ray, creating vertical, which are wiggly "transport" lines.
The fairly effective FX are by Project Unlimited, Inc., and M.B. Paul
of the Optical Effects Unit.
Director of Photography, Conrad Hall, delivers some striking screen
imagery. Memorable is a shot of Silva reading a book in the lab, as
mice cavort in a cage in the foreground.
The music, by Dominic Frontiere, is a rather mixed bag. At times sad
and haunting, the music periodically devolves into standard, horror
movie type orchestrations.
THE MICE will be somewhat watchable for some Sci-Fi viewers. Fans of
realistic aliens should steer clear of this episode. BACK
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