And When the Sky Was Opened
| "And When the Sky Was Opened" | |
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |
| File:Jim Hutton Sue Randall Twilight Zone.JPG
Sue Randall and Jim Hutton
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 11 |
| Directed by | Douglas Heyes |
| Written by | Teleplay by Rod Serling Based on a short story by Richard Matheson |
| Featured music | Leonard Rosenman |
| Production code | 173-3611 |
| Original air date | December 11, 1959 |
| Guest actors | |
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"And When the Sky Was Opened" is episode eleven of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It was first aired on December 11, 1959.
Plot summary
Three astronauts flying the X-20 DynaSoar into space for the first time disappear briefly from radar. After they crash land, Major Gart is sent to the hospital with a broken leg. Lt. Col. Forbes and Col. Harrington are quickly discharged from the hospital after successful physical exams. At a bar afterward, Harrington is overcome by the feeling that he no longer belongs in the world. He phones his parents, but they tell him they have no son. Harrington mysteriously disappears from the phone booth, and no one but Forbes remembers his existence. The headline on a newspaper story about their flight changes, stating that the X-20 had only a crew of two.
Forbes returns to the hospital and tells his story to Gart. Gart insists he does not know any person named Harrington. Forbes finds that he does not cast a reflection in a mirror. Terrified, he flees from the room. Gart tries to hobble after him, but Forbes has mysteriously disappeared too; only Gart remembers him. After getting back into bed, he notices the same newspaper headline says that Gart was the sole pilot of the X-20. Horrified, he also disappears. The hangar housing the X-20 is now also empty, the dust shroud formerly covering the craft now neatly folded on the ground.
Cast
- Rod Taylor as Lieutenant Colonel Clegg Forbes
- Charles Aidman as Colonel Ed Harrington
- Jim Hutton as Major William Gart
- Maxine Cooper as Amy
- Sue Randall as Nurse
- Paul Bryar as Bartender
- Joe Bassett as Medical officer
- Gloria Pall as Girl in bar
- Elizabeth Fielding as Blond Nurse
Episode notes
This episode is loosely based on the short story "Disappearing Act" by Richard Matheson.[1] The story was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (March 1953). Rod Taylor and director Douglas Heyes later worked together on the TV series Bearcats![2]
Although there are no special effects showing the spacecraft in flight, the disappearances are emphasized by props. There is one fewer bed in the hospital room when one man disappears. At the end, the hospital room is shown empty, as is the hangar where the X-20 was originally housed.
See also
"Remember Me", an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Dr. Beverley Crusher undergoes a similar experience.
References
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- "And When the Sky Was Opened" at IMDbLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- TV.com episode page
- And When The Sky Was Opened | John's Twilight Zone Page
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0
