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Director Leonard Horn's THE MAN WHO
WAS NEVER BORN, is a gripping, involving time travel fable.
The episode has some fun, Sci-Fi dialogue, courtesy of writer,
Anthony Lawrence. When an astronaut lands on a desolate looking
planet, he asks ugly, mutant Landau, "Where am I? What planet
is this?" Landau replies, "It is called Earth."
Martin Landau ("Tucker"), only several years before
rocketing to fame as master of disguise, Rollin Hand, on television's
"Mission: Impossible," is convincing as a man from
the far future, trying desperately to prevent a future calamity.
Director Horn is reasonably successful in reigning in Landau's
sometimes tendency to over emote.
Shirley Knight ("Endless Love"), is luminous as a young
girl just entering womanhood. Director of Photography, Conrad
Hall, bathes Knight in light, like an angel, which is ironic,
since her future son will grow up to unleash a plague that will
destroy most of mankind.
Lawrence's Teleplay is sad and bittersweet. Landau and Knight
play the ultimate doomed couple.
My favorite scene takes place fairly early in the episode. As
Landau follows the landlady up the stairs, we see him in his
true mutant form, because she's not looking at him. It's a nice
odd moment, like a scene in a fairy tale.
The FX in this episode are quite uneven. Early shots of the astronaut's
spaceship show us a standard, 50's style ship, with a pointy
front and big fins at back. But the landing scene, a short time
later, is quite good, with the ship, landing gear extended, resembling
a streamlined version of NASA's Lunar Excursion Module. The Special
Effects are credited to Si Simonson.
Landau's makeup, when we see him in his true mutant form, looks
pretty silly. Makeup Supervisor, Fred B. Phillips, appears to
have been having a low biorhythm day.
The music, by Dominic Frontiere, is dramatic and full of foreboding.
It gets a bit mushy, however, during brief romantic scenes between
Landau and Knight.
THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER BORN should be highly watchable for most
Sci-Fi viewers. Landau/"Mission Impossible" fans may
go into orbit. THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER BORN is a timeless time
travel tale!
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