L to R: Rick Baker's Oscar-winning makeup for THE WOLFMAN; the ghost from Joseph Stefano's rarely seen TV pilot THE HAUNTED; George Lucas. This week’s episode of the Cinefantastique Round Table Podcast (Volume 2, Episode 8, for those of you keeping count) is even more full of horror, fantasy, and science fiction excitement than usual. Up first, a run down of the the genre’s big winner’s at this year’s Academy Awards, including Rick Baker for THE WOLFMAN’s makeup, Natalia Portman for her role in the artsy horror offering BLACK SWAN, and INCEPTION in numerous technical categories. Then, after the usual round-up of news, events, and home video releases, follow Dan Persons, Lawrence French, and Steve Biodrowski into a new segment of the podcast, titled “The Black Hole Ultra Lounge,” in which you will learn the details of THE HAUNTED and THE UNKNOWN, two rarely seen television pilots scripted and produced by the Joseph Stefano (THE OUTER LIMITS), which recently screened at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. And then listen to Lawrence French recount his sidewalk encounter with STAR WARS mogul George Lucas, while out for a stroll on the streets of San Francisco (not far from where a scene from Hitchcock’s VERTIGO was shot). It’s a week’s worth of epic awesomeness unlike that found in any other podcast, in this galaxy or the next!
David McCallum and Barbara Rush in "The Form of Things Unknown," the OUTER LIMITS episode derived from the unused pilot THE UNKNOWN. The UCLA Film & Television Archive presents a double bill of rare television pilots created by Joseph Stefano, the producer-writer of the classic series THE OUTER LIMITS. The screenings take place on February 25, starting at 7:30pm, in the Billy Wilder Theater of the Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024.
At the end of the first season of OUTER LIMITS, Stefano (who previously had adapted Robert Bloch’s novel into the Alfred Hitchcock film PSYCHO), wrote a pilot for a spin-off to be called THE UNKNOWN. Although the pilot never aired and the series was never made, Stefano’s script became the final episode of OUTER LIMITS’ first season, retitled “The Form of Things Unknown,” with a science fiction element added to the storyline. This event represents an extremely rare opportunity to see the original version.
Also on the double bill is another pilot crafted by Stefano, THE HAUNTED (a.k.a. “The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre,” 1965), which Stefano also directed. Martin Landau stars; Landau had appeared in two memorable episodes of OUTER LIMITS, “The Bellero Shield” and “The Man Who Was Never Born.”
Admission is free. Marilyn Stefano will be in attendance.
From the website:
THE HAUNTED (a.k.a. The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre, 1965). Martin Landau stars as a Los Angeles-based architect-cum-paranormal investigator who specializes in assessing and exorcising old homes. Stefano here weaves together vengeance, hallucinogens and a “bleeding ghost” in a gothic telefilm that was deemed too frightening to air by network executives. Stefano’s only directorial effort, this extremely rare pilot never aired in the U.S. Producer: Joseph Stefano. Screenplay: Joseph Stefano. Cinematographer: William A. Fraker, Conrad Hall. Editor: Anthony DiMarco. Cast: Martin Landau, Judith Anderson, Diane Baker, Nellie Burt, Tom Simcox. 16mm, b/w, 52 min.
THE UNKNOWN (1964) Directed by Gerd Oswald. With nods to Psycho and Clouzot’s Diabolique, The Unknown unleashes sadism and madness when a wealthy playboy lures two unsuspecting women into a house of horrors. With its nightmarish tone and art-film cinematography, The Unknown pilot was considered too off-beat by ABC and was retooled as an episode of Outer Limits. The original pilot is being screened tonight from a rare 35mm print. Producer: Joseph Stefano. Screenplay: Joseph Stefano. Cinematographer: Conrad Hall. Editor: Anthony DiMarco. Cast: Vera Miles, Barbara Rush, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Scott Marlowe, David McCallum. 35mm, B/W, 45 min.
