Posts
A favourite among many TZ aficionados, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet is memorable for starring a young William Shatner, and being one of the most thrilling episodes of all 5 series. Bob is a recently discharged sanitorium patient returning to the original scene of his mental breakdown aboard a plane, which happened over a year ago. His sanity supposedly cured, it is immediately jeopardised when he thinks he has seen something on the wing of the plane, but whenever he accosts someone to look, it mysteriously disappears. Set amidst a storm, the episode is a masterclass in suspense from the Twilight Zone's frequent contributor, Richard Matheson (author of I Am Legend), and the dichotomy between madness and sanity is played brilliantly by Shatner, whose character is so convinced he has seen something, but fears the possibility of being accused of insanity and having a mental breakdown again, thus fulfilling a recurring nightmare.
I don't suppose any of you realized that the flight officer that comes up behind him is none other than Ed Kemmer, who, if you remember, was Commander Buzz Corey on the early TV S.F. show Space Patrol and the writer was Richard Matheson, an S.F. writer with credentials...
ReplyDeleteHere you have Buzz Corey and Capt. Kirk in one scene together, making this shot symbolic of the original TV S.F. meeting the new.
Also the creature is played by Nick Cravat, who worked with Burt Lancaster in many films like "The Crimson Pirate."