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Director Laslo Benedek's, WOLF 359, is an interesting
tale of scientific obsession.
Patrick O' Neal ("Under Seige") is a scientist whose managed
to create a miniature planet in a lab. It's an accurate simulation of
a planet in the Wolf 359 star system, eight light years from Earth.
On this speeded up mini-world, one second of our time equals eleven
and a half days on the planet. As a fellow scientist remarks, "You've
actually started an evolutionary process".
Patrick O' Neal is a bit too sophisticated as the dedicated scientist.
A scene of him barbecuing steaks in a suit and tie comes across rather
silly.
Dabney Coleman ("Slap Maxwell", "Madman of the People"
and "Tootsie") has a small role as a scientific type. His
serious/straight performance gives no hint of the comedic talent that
was to propel him to stardom.
The Teleplay, by Seeleg Lester, (Story, by Seeleg Lester & Richard
Landau), is rather clever. The idea of creating a miniature alien world
in a lab setting, kind of like a living ship in a bottle, is as fresh
today as it was thirty years ago when this episode was originally broadcast.
The people in this film drink a lot of martinis. The fact that the episode
is set in a home laboratory, in the middle of the desert, makes this
worldly behavior seem even odder.
Some aspects of this story, particularly the obsessed man, who drives
his family from him in his quest for higher knowledge, brings to mind,
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Perhaps a young Steven
Spielberg saw this episode and was influenced by it.
Director of Photography, Kenneth Peach, delivers stimulating screen
images. Particularly striking is a shot of O'Neal's wife, played by
Sara Shane ("The King and Four Queens") both curious and scared,
framed behind an ornate, wrought iron grill.
The music, is weird, wailing, and strange. Harry Lubin is the responsible
party.
WOLF 359 should be fairly watchable for most Sci-Fi viewers. Fans of
odd looking aliens will really enjoy this one. WOLF 359 is not a dog!
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