Marvin J. Chomsky Movies
A prolific television director whose credits range from the original Star Trek to the devastating small-screen feature Holocaust, New York-born Marvin J. Chomsky crafted an impressive TV career. He entered the business as an art director, set decorator, and producer for such efforts as Arch Oboler's The Bubble and the Western series Gunsmoke, and turned out episodes of The Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, and Hawaii Five-O, among numerous others, early in his career. He moved into big-screen territory with Evel Knievel in 1971. Although Chomsky occasionally returned to feature work in later years, it was television that defined his career. Nominated for numerous Emmys, Chomsky took home the prize for Holocaust (1978), Attica (1980), Inside the Third Reich (1982), and Peter the Great (1986). In 1995, he teamed with director John Goldsmith for the historical romantic drama Catherine the Great. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide- 1970
The fate of a Middle Eastern nation hangs in the balance as terrorist Ismet El Kabir (Michael Tolan) is scheduled to be pardoned from prison. The IMF must prevent Kabir's release, thereby forcing him into an escape attempt that will cost him his life. The plan involves the infiltration of Kabir's terrorist organization--and yet another of the IMF's patented "prison break-ins". Written by Laurence Heath, "Terror" made its network broadcast debut on February 15, 1970. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
- 1970
Luther Adler guest stars as Leo Vorka, an aging European dictator who intends to purge his country of all young artists and intellectuals. The IMF hopes to topple Vorka from power and install his friendlier deputy Bartzin (Ben Astar) in his place. The mission: To drive Vorka insane and convince his deputies that the old man must be deposed immediately. The success of the scheme hinges upon a cleverly arranged series of "ghostly" visions, courtesy of a rigged closed-circuit TV. Antoinette Bower, who'd played the damsel in distress in the second-season Mission: Impossible story "The Slave", is here cast as IMF agent--and erstwhile phantom--Nora Bennett. Originally broadcast on February 8, 1970, "Phantoms" was written by Laurence Heath. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
- 1969
This episode finds Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock exploring the planet Sarpeidon, whose sun is about to go nova. They discover cities and other components of an advanced civilization, but no inhabitants save one, a mysterious man (Ian Wolfe) who identifies himself as the "librarian." They learn that the "library" is a time portal, and that the inhabitants have escaped the doom of their world by taking new lives in past eras. Kirk accidentally steps through the portal and becomes trapped in this world's equivalent of the 17th century, and accused of witchcraft; Spock and McCoy, in turn, are stranded in the planet's brutal ice age, where they meet Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley), an unwilling prisoner of that era. Kirk must try to avoid execution, while Spock -- quickly reverting to his primordial Vulcan nature, brutal and lustful, as a result of moving into the past -- finds his growing love for Zarabeth interfering with his efforts at escape. And that escape becomes even more imperative when they learn that because of the particular way they were transported, they can only survive for a matter of hours. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1968
Captain Kirk faces one of his more unexpected challenges in this third-season episode of the enduringly popular science-fiction series: saving the Enterprise from the malicious influence of a group of children. While visiting a distant research outpost, the starship finds the aftermath of a bloody massacre, which only the colony's children survived. These children, oddly unaffected by the violence around them, are brought aboard the Enterprise, where they proceed to win over the hearts of the ship's crew. Captain Kirk, however, soon realizes that these children are in fact controlling the crew's minds. Kirk discovers that the children are being used by an alien being known as Gorgon, who intends to take over the Enterprise. He naturally attempts to stop the impending takeover but finds himself opposed by his own crew, who have fallen victim to the children's control. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- 1968
The crews of the Enterprise and an enemy Klingon vessel find themselves in uncomfortably close quarters during this episode of the 1960s science fiction series. When both the Enterprise and a Klingon warship claim to be responding to a distress call from a disputed planet, Captain Kirk attempts to settle the matter diplomatically, agreeing to beam a number of the Klingons aboard his ship. However, almost immediately after the Klingons are aboard, the Enterprise is hit with turbulence; the resulting damage traps the Klingons and a number of Enterprise crew members together in the same part of the ship. Old hatreds soon rise to the surface, and the tension brings the groups to the brink of a private war -- but the situation soon changes when they realize that a mysterious third party may have had a hand in orchestrating the conflict for purposes of its own. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
This sci-fi outing was originally released in 3-Dimensional "Spacevision" and tells the tale of a young couple who go for a fun day of flying and end up forced into a gigantic plastic bubble during a sudden violent storm. Inside the inverted bowl is an apparently empty ghost town, that on further inspection proves to be filled with old movie props and strange "residents" who seem to suffer from a bizarre form of echolalia. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Cole, Deborah Walley, (more)
