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Director Felix Feist's, THE PROBE, is a fairly
involving UFO tale.
A plane crashes in a typhoon. After floating around in the water for
awhile, the survivors end up inside an automated space probe from another
planet. It takes them a rather long time to figure out their predicament.
Mark Richman brings an intensity and authority to his lead role. The
fact that he looks and sounds a bit like the late Rod Serling doesn't
hurt either.
Peggy Ann Garner, as passenger, "Amanda Frank" gives a hysterical,
over the top performance. It's unfortunate her character survived the
crash landing in the ocean. Director Feist must take some of the blame
for her "scenery chewing" performance.
The Teleplay by Seeleg Lester, (Story by Sam Neuman), contains some
silly dialogue. At one point the pilot, Coberly (Ron Hayes), remarks,
"What's all this fog? Spooky, isn't it?"
The alien in this episode is a large virus, a strange slime/jello creature.
Although a bit rubbery, it's not bad. The creature was Designed and
Photographed by Project Unlimited, Inc., and Janos Prohaska is the guy
inside the slime suit. He later was inside the Horta suit in the Classic
"Trek" episode, "Devil in the Dark"! Talk about
a thankless job.
The Special Effects in this episode are fairly decent. An alien beam
of light, with falling snow inside of it, is particularly good. The
Photographic Effects are courtesy of Van Der Veer Photo Co.
My favorite scene involves the slime creature reproducing. The effects
here are quite good.
Directors of Photography, Fred Koenekamp and Kenneth Peach, make the
most of the alien spaceship environment. Particularly good are high
angle shots, looking down, inside the craft's computer room.
The music, frequently high pitched, alternates between effectively creepy
and simply annoying. Harry Lubin gets the credit/blame.
THE PROBE should be moderately watchable for most Sci-Fi viewers. Those
who do not like rubbery slime monsters are advised to stay away. BACK
TO: EPISODE
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