Leonard Nimoy Movies
The son of a Boston barber, Leonard Nimoy was a star at the age of 8, when he played Hansel in a children's theatre production of Hansel and Gretel. Nimoy remained with his local kiddie theater troupe until 16 (one of his directors during this period was Boris Sagal). After studying drama at Boston College and Antioch College, he took acting lessons from Jeff Corey at the Pasadena Playhouse. In films from 1950, Nimoy played the title character in the low-budget Kid Monk Baroni and essayed bits and minor roles in such productions as Zombies of the Stratosphere (1951), Rhubarb (1951) and Them! (1954). In between acting assignments, he held down a dizzying variety of jobs: soda jerk, newspaper carrier, vacuum-cleaner salesman, vending machine mechanic, pet-shop clerk, cabbie and acting coach. During his 18 months in Special Services at Fort McPherson, Georgia, he acted with Atlanta Theater Guild when he could spare the time. Back in Hollywood in 1956, he became virtually a regular at the Ziv TV studios, playing villains in programs like Highway Patrol and Sea Hunt. For a short while, he specialized in the plays of Jean Genet, appearing in both the stage and film productions of The Balcony and Deathwatch. Impressed by Nimoy's guest turn on a 1963 episode of The Lieutenant, producer Gene Roddenberry vowed to cast the saturnine, mellow-voiced actor as an extraterrestrial if ever given the chance. That chance came two years later, when Roddenberry signed Nimoy to play Vulcanian science officer Spock on Star Trek. At first pleased at the assignment, Nimoy came to resent the apparent fact that the public perceived him as Spock and nothing else: indeed, one of his many written works was the slim autobiography I Am Not Spock. After Star Trek's cancellation, Nimoy joined the cast of Mission: Impossible in the role of "master of disguise" Paris (he replaced the series' previous master of disguise Martin Landau, who ironically had originally been slated to play Spock). In the early 1970s, Nimoy began racking up directorial credits on such series as Night Gallery. He also made his first Broadway appearance in 1973's Full Circle. And, perhaps inevitably, he returned to Spock, thanks to the popular demand engendered by the then-burgeoning Star Trek cult. His initial reacquaintance with the role was as voiceover artist on the 1973 Saturday-morning cartoon version of Star Trek. Then Spock went on the back burner again as Nimoy devoted himself to his theatrical commitments (a touring production of Sherlock Holmes, his one-man show Vincent), his writing and directing activities, and his hosting chores on the long-running (1976-82) TV documentary series In Search Of.... Finally in 1978, Nimoy was back in his Enterprise uniform in the first of several Star Trek theatrical features. The Spock character was killed off in the second Trek picture The Wrath of Khan, but Nimoy stayed with the franchise as director of the next two feature-length Trek entries (PS: Spock also came back to life). He went on to direct such non-Trek filmic endeavors as 3 Men and a Baby (1987), The Good Mother (1988), Funny About Love (1990) and Holy Matrimony (1994). He also produced and acted in the 1991 TV movie Never Forget, and served as executive producer of the 1995 UPN network series Deadly Games. Perhaps because he will always have dozens of professional irons in the fire, Leonard Nimoy now seems resigned to being forever associated with the role that brought him international fame; his most recent autobiographical work was aptly titled I Am Spock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1951
The genesis for Queen for a Day was the Dorothy Parker short story Horsie, all about a homely woman who takes a job as a nanny in the household of a selfish, insensitive couple. Months later, the husband receives a gift of an electric razor from "Horsie," out of gratitude for his kindnesses -- kindnesses which, of course, he never consciously extended. "Horsie" ended up as one of three short stories adapted to film by producer Robert Stillman in 1951. The unifying theme of the film was that each of the three female protagonists were contestants on the TV series Queen for a Day. You may remember that this long-running program was hosted by Jack Bailey, who on a daily basis selected one of three deserving women to be the recipient of fabulous prizes, the decision, which was made by the audience (there was an "applause meter" on the set), was predicated upon which of the three ladies had the saddest or most fascinating life story to tell. In addition to "Horsie," aka Miss Wilmarth (Edith Meiser), the other contestants in the film are Phyllis Avery and Kasia Orzazewski. Avery stars in the vignette titled "The Gossamer World," based on a John Answorth story, this episode concerns Avery's son Rudy Lee, a victim of polio. Orzazewski figures into the Faith Baldwyn story "High Diver," wherein she plays the immigrant mother of a college-bound boy (Adam Williams) who takes a job at a carnival to make ends meet. Queen for a Day was originally released as Horsie, until it was decided that the TV series' title was more saleable. (It wasn't, despite an aggressive ad campaign conducted on the Queen for a Day television program.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Avery, Darren McGavin, (more)
Rhubarb is an amusing, if not entirely faithful, adaptation of the H. Allen Smith novel of the same name. When Thaddeus J. Banner (Gene Lockhart), multimillionaire owner of the Brooklyn baseball team, passes away, he wills the team -- and his $30 million estate -- to his pugnacious pet cat Rhubarb. Banner's press agent Eric Yeagar (Ray Milland) finds this hilarious, until he discovers that he's been appointed Rhubarb's guardian and business manager. One of the crosses Yeagar has to bear is the fact that his sweetheart Polly Sickles (Jan Sterling), the daughter of Brooklyn team manager Len Sickles (William Frawley), is deathly allergic to cats. Still, Yeagar must keep Rhubarb with him at all times, especially when the cat turns out to be a good-luck charm for the perennially basement-dwelling Brooklyn ballplayers. Thanks to Rhubarb's inspiration, the team makes it to the Pennant Race, whereupon the plot really thickens. The first two-thirds of Rhubarb adheres to the original Smith novel, culminating with a zany sanity hearing brought about by Banner's disgruntled relatives to prove that the cat is mentally unfit to control the old man's money. But the final reels abandon the novel in favor of a Guys and Dolls-inspired plot strand, wherein crooked gamblers kidnap the cat to prevent a Brooklyn pennant win. As a result, H. Allen Smith's satiric barbs are somewhat blunted in the final scenes -- which, however, is not to suggest that the film is any less funny than before. One of the better baseball comedies of the era, Rhubarb maintains its merriment right to the end, which is capped by a cameo appearance by a well-known actor who happened to be married to leading lady Jan Sterling. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Jan Sterling, (more)
In the words of its star Leonard Nimoy, Kid Monk Baroni was the sort of film that "made unknowns out of celebrities." The young Nimoy is actually quite good as the title character, a boxer whose misshapen face has earned him the unwelcome nickname "Monk." Formerly an unregenerate street punk, Baroni is set on the proper path by parish priest Father Callahan (Richard Rober). Unfortunately, a run-in with his old gang forces Baroni to skip town. He becomes a professional pugilist under the aegis of manager Hellman (Bruce Cabot), taking out his pent-up frustrations in the ring. Able to afford plastic surgery, Baroni buys himself a handsome new face--and, with it, a dangerously oversized ego. Hoping to protect his new face from harm, Baroni washes out in the boxing ring, but redemption--and a lasting romance with Emily Brooks (Allene Roberts)--await just around the corner. Kid Monk Baroni was well-directed by Harold Schuster, whose previous efforts included My Friend Flicka and So Dear to My Heart. A flop at the box office, the film did nothing for the career of Leonard Nimoy, who was obliged to spend the next 15 years in relative obscurity before attaining a second chance at big-time stardom with TV's Star Trek. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Rober, Bruce Cabot, (more)
- 1952
- NR
An Inter-Planetary cop flies out in his specially designed space suit to stop humanoid zombies from obeying the commands of a psycho research scientist who wants to blow the world out of its natural orbit in this obviously low-budget early 1950s sci-fi serial. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
Francis Goes to West Point is the third entry in Universal's money-spinning series about a talking mule. Donald O'Connor once again stars as Peter Sterling, who with the garrulous Francis' helps prevent the destruction of an atomic energy plant. As a reward, Peter is given a scholarship to West Point, where he quickly distinguishes himself as the military academy's biggest foul-up. Peter's future as an officer and a gentleman is saved by the timely arrival of Francis, who functions as the West Point football team's mascot. This time around, O'Connor is allotted two lovely leading ladies, played by Lori Nelson and Alice Kelly. Two of the West Point cadets are played by future TV favorites David Janssen and James Best. And as always, Francis' Southern-fried voice is supplied by Chill Wills. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald O'Connor, Lori Nelson, (more)
- 1953
"Arizona Cowboy" Rex Allen heads the cast of Republic's Old Overland Trail. Rex plays an operative for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, assigned to pacify a disgruntled Apache tribe. Villain John Anchor (Roy Barcroft), a railroad contractor, has been stirring up trouble with the Indians as part of a complex scheme to build a spur line at slave-labor wages. Making things difficult for Rex is the fact that his wayward brother Jim (Gil Herman) has joined Anchor's gang. Of interest to audiences of the 1990s is the presence of Leonard Nimoy, here cast as Apache chief Black Hawk. Despite the surfeit of action in Old Overland Trail, Rex Allen finds time to sing three tunes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Allen, Slim Pickens, (more)
A little girl is found wandering in the desert, in a state of complete shock. When she finally revives, she can scream out only one word: "Them!" Any aficionado of 1950s horror films can readily tell you that "Them" are giant ants, a byproduct of the radiation attending the atomic bomb tests of the era. Extremely well organized, these deadly eight-to-twenty-foot mutations converge on the storm drains of Los Angeles in the finale. Forming a united front against the oncoming ant battalions are New Mexico police sergeant James Whitmore, FBI representative James Arness, and father-and-daughter entomologists Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon. Since the details of Them are fairly common knowledge today, the mystery-thriller structure of the film's first half tends to drag a bit. Things liven up considerably during the search-and-destroy final reels, as the audience is barraged with convincing special effects and miniature work-not to mention that eerie ant-induced sound effect, so often imitated by subsequent lesser films. Fess Parker appears in a starmaking cameo as a pilot driven to the booby hatch after witnessing the ants in action, while an uncredited Leonard Nimoy is seen pulling info out of IBM machine. Definitely the high point in the careers of director Gordon Douglas and scenarists Ted Sherdeman and George Worthing Yates, Them is also one of the handful of vintage science-fiction thrillers that holds up as well today as it did when first released. (Sidebar: Though filmed in black-and-white, Them is alleged to have been released with a Technicolor opening title, the word THEM! hurtling towards the audience in a vibrant red). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, (more)
- 1954
Detective Frank Smith (Ben Alexander) gets word that four vicious hoodlums who have cut quite a swath of crime and terror in San Francisco are headed for LA. Setting up a stakeout in a seedy hotel, Smith and his partner Joe Friday (Jack Webb) must contend with a drunken desk clerk (Peter Leeds) while waiting to pounce upon the four outlaws. Based on the Dragnet radio broadcast of March 14, 1950, this is one of the most readily accessible of the original black and white TV episodes, and no wonder: one of the thugs is played by a young and very swarthy-looking Leonard Nimoy (complete with pencil mustache!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
When a mysterious cone, 50-feet tall by 50-feet across at its base, is discovered sticking out of the ground near the town or Riverdale, IL, a group of investigators from Washington, D.C., are sent in to determine its origins. They discover that various townspeople have been murdered, while others, including the mayor, have disappeared; and when they reappear, they're under some form of outside control. The interior of the cone seems to violate every known law of physics and, from somewhere inside, there emerges a horde of hideous, insect-like creatures that attach themselves to human bodies for purposes of taking control. The team soon finds itself overwhelmed by thane increasing number of humans under alien control, and not even close to finding out what these creatures want or why they're here. The Brain Eaters was adapted without permission -- or the knowledge of distributor American International Pictures -- from Robert A. Heinlein's novel The Puppet Masters, and the makers were later forced to pay a settlement. The movie vanished from theaters but found a second life on television during the 1960s. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed Nelson, Alan Frost, (more)
- 1959
Friday (Jack Webb) and Smith (Ben Alexander) investigate the savage murder of a lunch counter proprietor. The main piece of evidence is a linoleum knife with a taped handle--but alas, with no fingerprints. Ultimately, the detectives detectives that the victim may have had the same last name as the murderer. Without tipping off the ending, it can be noted that a young Leonard Nimoy appears as a character named Karlo Rozwadowski...a "big name" indeed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Hulking, childlike Arnie Guthrie (Cal Bolder) can't control his temper-and even worse, he doesn't know his own strength. Clumsily attempting to force his attentions upon saloon girl Shari (Karen Sharpe), Arnie is reprimanded by Adam and Joe Cartwright, whereupon he beats up both men! Regarding Arnie as a kindred spirit, Hoss Cartwright (who has likewise been "misunderstood" because of his bulk) tries to befriend Arnie and channel his strength and hostility-with unexpectedly tragic results. Leonard Nimoy appears as a dandified bartender named Freddie, while others in the cast include Rodolfo Hoyos and Charles Tannen. Written by Gene L. Coon, "The Ape" first aired on December 17, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1961
In the last days of WWII, "90-day wonder" Lieutenant Katell (Dean Stockwell) takes charge of a battle-weary American squadron somewhere in the Pacific Theater. With the arrogance of inexperience, Katell demands that Sgt. Causarano (Albert Salmi) lead an attack against a group of wounded and dispirited Japanese soldiers -- "They are the enemy! First day of the war or the last day of the war!" But a sudden wrinkle in time causes Lt. Katell -- or should we say "Lt. Yamuri" -- to experience an epiphany. Future Star Trek stalwart Leonard Nimoy plays a small role as a radio operator. Scripted by Rod Serling from an idea by Sam Rolfe (Have Gun, Will Travel, Man from U.N.C.L.E. et al.), "A Quality of Mercy" was Twilight Zone's Yuletide offering for the 1961-62 season, making its first appearance on December 29, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Stockwell, Albert Salmi, (more)
- 1962
Three weeks prior to the repeal of Prohibition, Woody O'Mara (Mort Mills) prepares to eliminate brewery operator Franz Koenig (played by Hogan's Heroes' future "Sgt. Schultz" John Banner) so that he and Charlie Zenko (Luther Adler) can take over all illegal liquor activities on the North Side before it's too late. Zenko shows his "gratitude" by planting a bomb in O'Mara's car and assuming command of the entire operation himself. Ironically, Zenko himself ends up being betrayed by his own son Larry (Robert Loggia)--leaving Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) to solemnly pick up the pieces. Watch for Leonard Nimoy as a squirrelly trigger man named Packy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Thanks to the curbstone advice of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr), Sarah Breel (Lurene Tuttle) is cleared of a shoplifting charge. Not long afterward, Sarah's niece Virginia (played by former child star Margaret O'Brien) tells Perry that she believes her aunt is involved in a jewel robbery--or at the very least, is covering for her no-good brother George. When George's partner Austin Cullins (Blair Davies) is murdered, Sarah is found near the scene of the crime with the murder weapon and a cache of jewels in her purse. Naturally, Perry agrees to handle Sarah's defense--a job that becomes doubly difficult when dear brother George turns up murdered as well. Keep at eye out for a pre-"Mr. Spock" Leonard Nimoy in a supporting role. This episode is based on a 1938 novel by Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The denizens of a sordid brothel become embroiled in a bloody coup in this arty political satire adapted from the Jean Genet play. Shelley Winters stars as the cathouse's madam, a stern woman who supervises the fantasy role-playing of her beautiful employees and their well-heeled customers, including the local police chief (Peter Falk). As various whores and their johns dress up like judges, penitents, bishops, and generals, a revolution rages outside in the streets. The leaders of society -- including the queen -- are done away with by an angry mob. Soon, the madam and her compatriots find themselves ordered to impersonate the slain bigwigs in order to restore law and order. Shot in black-and-white by cinematographer George Folsey and producer/director Joseph Strick, The Balcony features a number of future stars in its cast, from Ruby Dee and Lee Grant to Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy would go on to produce and star in Deathwatch, another Genet adaptation. Unlike the later film, Genet was actually involved in the film version of The Balcony, collaborating with Strick on the original treatment but leaving the final screenplay to poet and novelist Ben Maddow. Strick acquired the rights to The Balcony from Genet only after failing to mount another literary adaptation, of James Joyce's Ulysses. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Winters, Peter Falk, (more)
- 1963
A pre-Star Trek Leonard Nimoy guest stars as Neumann, a German-speaking American private who acts as interpreter when Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow) and the squad capture an enemy hospital. Speaking through Neumann, German medic Bauer (Karl Boehm) tries to persuade Saunders to let him retrieve some much-needed plasma from a wrecked convoy, but the sergeant suspects trickery and turns him down. The situation reverses itself in sudden and startling fashion when Neumann is seriously wounded. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In Volume 44 of a collection culled from the 1963-1965 science fiction anthology television series, an alien being comes to Earth to cut a deal with a scientist: if the human wills the spaceman all his emotions, the creature will give the professor the equations necessary to finish his invention. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In Volume 41 of a collection culled from the 1963-1965 science fiction anthology television series, a robot goes on trial following charges it killed its creator. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1964
The reactor at the Broadridge experimental nuclear station runs out of control when two unstable elements accidentally come into contact. As Dr. Marshall (George Macready), the station director, struggles to understand what is happening, deadly radiation pours out of the reactor furnace, killing the men trying to control it and replacing them inside their anti-radiation suits with creatures made of pure electromagnetic energy. Marshall is the sole survivor among the scientists and seems incapable of coping with the danger, overwhelmed by his fear of radiation and the seemingly inevitable chain reaction boiling up in the furnace. With help from his wife, Laurel (Signe Hasso), he finds the courage that he needs and deduces what is happening -- the combination of heavy elements bombarded with cosmic radiation has ripped open an inter-dimensional hole, through which these "particle creatures" are entering, and they are trying to widen the opening. The only chance to stop them is to initiate a fusion reaction that could seal the inter-dimensional hole and cut the creatures off from their energy source, destroying them. But does Marshall have the time or strength, in the minutes left to them, to prepare a jury-rigged hydrogen bomb? ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Macready, Signe Hasso, (more)
- 1965
SS Captain Reichhart (George Backman) and his minions take sadistic delight in capturing and torturing American officers. Reichart's latest "catch" is none other than Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason) of King Company. Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow) must locate the Nazi's secret headquarters before it is too late for Hanley. Prominent in the supporting cast is future Star Trek costar Leonard Nimoy, adopting a German accent for the occasion. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Who'd have thought that hardcase Combat star Vic Morrow would choose a Jean Genet play as his directorial debut? Deathwatch is set in a dank prison cell, where three inmates while away their time jockeying for power. Leonard Nimoy (who also produced) plays a condemned murderer, the unofficial leader of the group, while Paul Mazursky and Michael Forest portray the other prisoners, one of them homosexual. The film looks like the photographed stage play that it is, but the intensity of the cast and direction makes up for any cinematic shortcomings. Featured in the cast on the "outside" are Gavin McLeod and Robert Ellenstein. Morrow adapted Deathwatch for the screen in collaboration with his then-wife Barbara Turner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonard Nimoy, Michael Forest, (more)
As everyone on earth (to say nothing of everyone in the United Federation of Planets) must know by now, the debut episode of Star Trek's first season, "The Man Trap", was not the first episode filmed. Nor was the series' "official" pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the first one to go before the cameras. The real launching pad for Star Trek was "The Cage", which stars not William Shatner as James T. Kirk, but instead Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike of the Starship Enterprise. Though Hunter was replaced by Shatner, producer Gene Roddenberry wasn't about to let the costly "The Cage go to waste: thus, the episode was reedited as a two-part "flashback" titled "The Menagerie", with an added wraparound sequence in which the Enterprise's first officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) explains at his court-martial why he attempted to kidnap the now-enfeebled and demented Captain Pike. With this out of the way, it can be said that Season One of Star Trek--or more specifically, year one of the Enterprise's five-year mission to "boldly go where no man has gone before"--contains several of the series' best and best-loved episodes, with the ensemble cast--Shatner, Nimoy, DeForest Kelley (Dr. "Bones" McCoy), James Doohan (Engineer Scott), Nichelle Nichols (communications officer Uhura), George Takei (helmsman Lt. Sulu) and Majel Barrett (Nurse Christine Chapel)--in peak form. In fact, the casting falls short of perfection in only one respect: Walter Koenig as ensign Chekov would not join the show until Season Two. This season represents the first series contributions of Richard Matheson ("The Enemy Within"), Jerry Sohl ("The Corbomite Maneuver"), Robert Bloch ("What Are Little Girls Made Of?"), Theodore Sturgeon ("Shore Leave") and Star Trek story editor D.C. Fontana ("Tomorrow is Yesterday"). Perhaps the most memorable--and certainly the most controversial--of the season's offerings is Harlan Ellison's Hugo-award winning "City on the Edge of Forever" (Alas, Ellison would never write again for Star Trek, the result of a well-publicized feud between the author and producer Roddenberry which has been exhaustively chronicled elsewhere). Finally, let us take note of two unforgettable guest star turns in Season One. First there's Roger C. Carmel, making his first appearance as intergalactic con artist Harry Mudd in "Mudd's Women". And last but not least, Ricardo Montalban plays the evil Khan, a genetically engineering superman who endeavors to take over the Enterprise in "Space Seed." Sixteen years later, Khan (again played by Montalban) would be up to his old tricks in the theatrical-movie spinoff Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
The Starship Enterprise's five-year mission to "seek out new life forms and new civilizations" and "boldly go where no man has gone before" shifts into warp speed as Star Trek enters its second season. The biggest news this year is a fresh addition to the ensemble cast: Now taking his place alongside such TV immortals as William Shatner (Capt. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan) (Engineer Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Officer Uhura) and Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel) is Walter Koenig as young Russian-born ensign Pavel Chekov (a character added to attract more teenage viewers--and NOT to pacify the Soviet Union, as has often been claimed) The season begins with one of the series' best efforts, Theodore Sturgeon's "Amok Time", in which the half-Vulcan Mr. Spock must mate or die. Spock is also the focus in D.C. Fontana's "Journey to Babel", featuring Jane Wyatt and Mark Lenard as Spock's parents Amanda and Sarek. Other Season Two highlights include the return of intergalactic con artist Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel) in "I, Mudd"; Margaret Armen's superb "The Gamesters of Triskelon", in which the crew is forced to engaged in barbaric combat, and the thematically similar "Bread and Circuses", depicting an ancient Roman society decked out with 20th-century technology; "The Changeling", with Vic Perrin (best known as the "Control Voice" on The Outer Limits) supplying the voice of the lethally "perfect" computer Nomad; "The Deadly Years", in which the crew is subjected to an accelerated aging process; and Robert Bloch's "whodunnit in space", "Wolf in the Fold". And we can't forget David Gerrold's classic "The Trouble with Tribbles", all about those incredibly prolific little furballs; the supremely silly but enjoyable "A Piece of the Action", aka "Star Trek meets The Untouchables"; and the much-maligned "Mirror, Mirror", wherein the crew comes face to face with their barbaric doppelgangers. The season finale, "Assignment: Earth", was intended as the pilot for a spinoff series, starring Robert Lansing as altruistic time traveller Gary Seven. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
- 1967
In this adventure, a commercial plane crashes in a remote South American jungle. All but one of the passengers survive. Unfortunately, he was the sheriff in charge of taking a dangerous criminal to the executioner. During the excitement of the crash, the prisoner killed the lawman. Among the other survivors is a famous singer, a washed-up funnyman, a mentally ill teacher, and a writer looking for his sister who married a missionary and is now living in the jungle. Amazingly, she is rumored to live fairly close to the crash sight. The survivors manage to make it to the isolated village where she resides. There the writer learns that his sister's husband has gone insane and that she is dead. The megalomaniacal missionary now believes himself king of the natives and is preparing the author and a few others to become human sacrifices when a neighboring tribe intervenes and saves them. The amiable natives then take the survivors back to the wreckage where navy rescue helicopters are preparing to land. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Egan, Harry Guardino, (more)
