“Cold Hands, Warm Heart”
Season 2, Episode 2 (#34 overall)
Originally aired 9/26/1964
Space:
the final frontier. These are the exploits of spiffy spaceman Jeff Barton,
intrepid rocket jockey, beloved national treasure, and…. aquatic
monster-in-training? The tangled tale of his pleasureless predicament was first
spun fifty years ago tonight.
Jeff, the first man to fly to Venus and back, returns to Earth a celebrated
hero. He’s promptly promoted to Brigadier General and spearheads the next phase
of Project Vulcan: the colonization of Mars. As his Venus mission data is
combed through and analyzed, Jeff begins experiencing dizziness and extreme
bouts of coldness. He gulps scalding hot coffee and swaths himself in proto-Cosby
sweaters and gloves as his team probes into his mysterious blackout upon
reaching Venus.
Jeff
hunkers down for a leisurely steam and jacks the heat as high as it will go. He
dozes off and experiences a hallucinatory flashback of his arrival at Venus, in
which he disobeys a direct order and descends into the planet’s atmosphere. He
is intercepted by a floating alien creature who stares at him menacingly
through the rocket’s porthole.
Panicked
technicians hack through the steam room’s door to rescue Jeff, who wakes up
hale and hearty except for the troubling webbed fingers he’s now sporting. He
hides his condition from his peers to ensure Project Vulcan gets the funding it
needs; however, the jig is effectively up when he suffers a psychotic break in
front of his shrill, undersexed wife and ends up setting himself on fire to
stay warm.
The clock is ticking down to Jeff’s scheduled meeting with the military penny-pinchers to request funding for Project Vulcan and, running out of options, his team isolates him in a pressure chamber and starts poking and prodding in earnest. A chemical analysis of his blood reveals an extraterrestrial pathogen in his system which is likely the culprit behind his genetic mutation. They crank up the heat to dangerously high levels, cross their fingers, and hope for the best… because really, what else can you do when your Top Gun is turning into a goddamned fish?
Jeff
addresses the brass with his Project Vulcan proposal, wearing gloves to hide
his amphibious flipper hands, and charms his way into a resounding green light.
Anne, his long-suffering wife, notices sweat on his forehead... the first solid
indicator that he’s turned a corner in his man-to-sorta-monster-and-back-to-man
journey.
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RANDOMONIUM
The
episode originated as “Project Vulcan,” a teleplay by Dan Ullman (who contributed several teleplays to The Fugitive and The Invaders; he also co-wrote the screenplay for 1961’s big screen
adaptation of Jules Verne’s Mysterious
Island). Ullman’s teleplay was heavily rewritten by Milton Krims (a name
we’ll see again when we get to “Counterweight” in December) and associate
producer/story editor Seeleg Lester (Ullman retained sole screen credit,
however). I’m not in a position to assign blame, as I don’t have access to
Ullman’s original effort or the subsequent drafts, but I will say that “Cold
Hands, Warm Heart” in its final form is pretty fucking weak.
Jeff’s transformation is too gradual, and it never really goes anywhere interesting anyway (it’s hard to get too worked up over body chills and webbed fingers). Jeff is supposed to be your average combination Spaceman Steve-Captain America hero, but Shatner’s performance undercuts that persona frequently, particularly in the second half. His histrionic outbursts feel almost subversive; it’s as if Jeff may in fact be a closeted homosexual (the fact that he repeatedly rebuffs his wife’s sexual advances lends a bit of weight to this theory). If you re-watch the episode with the notion that he is in fact gay… well, it’s a very different episode (not to mention vastly more interesting, though not quite enough to make it all worthwhile).
Jeff’s transformation is too gradual, and it never really goes anywhere interesting anyway (it’s hard to get too worked up over body chills and webbed fingers). Jeff is supposed to be your average combination Spaceman Steve-Captain America hero, but Shatner’s performance undercuts that persona frequently, particularly in the second half. His histrionic outbursts feel almost subversive; it’s as if Jeff may in fact be a closeted homosexual (the fact that he repeatedly rebuffs his wife’s sexual advances lends a bit of weight to this theory). If you re-watch the episode with the notion that he is in fact gay… well, it’s a very different episode (not to mention vastly more interesting, though not quite enough to make it all worthwhile).
In
the director’s chair is Charles Haas,
who will helm three more episodes this season (“Cry of Silence,” “Keeper of the
Purple Twilight,” and “The Brain of Colonel Barham”… gee, they musta straight
up hated this guy). Haas directs the
episode in a style I like to call lazy vanilla, which means there’s nothing
interesting or notable about it (it sounds more like a scented candle my wife would buy ten of). DOP Kenneth
Peach dutifully captures the proceedings, injecting none of the flourish we
know he’s capable of (but then, this paper-thin narrative might’ve collapsed
under more dynamic photography).
I do like the brief sequence with the Venusian: despite the obviousness of its puppet nature, the creature’s slow approach is eerie and beautiful (it was filmed underwater, imbuing it with a floating, ethereal quality), and it’s only when we see it glowering at Jeff through the porthole that we realize that is in fact a pissed-off, possibly dangerous critter. The Venusian is probably my favorite alien from season two, and it deserved a way better episode than this.
I do like the brief sequence with the Venusian: despite the obviousness of its puppet nature, the creature’s slow approach is eerie and beautiful (it was filmed underwater, imbuing it with a floating, ethereal quality), and it’s only when we see it glowering at Jeff through the porthole that we realize that is in fact a pissed-off, possibly dangerous critter. The Venusian is probably my favorite alien from season two, and it deserved a way better episode than this.
The
role of Jeff Barton seems like Shatner’s audition for the role that would come
to identify him: the intrepid Alpha male Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek, which he would take on just a
few years later. When Ann describes him as “brave and handsome and bright,” she
may as well be describing Starfleet’s Finest. We get all the Kirk hallmarks
here: hilarious facial expressions, rampant overacting with the occasional
effete flourish, aggressive kissing and yes, even shirtlessness.
Speaking of Shatner sans shirt, LA artist (and friend of this blog) Woody Welch, who possesses the enviable talent of capturing likenesses perfectly using just about any medium at his disposal, absolutely nails Shatner's pensive side (left) in pencil. Woody's portfolio contains many, many female nudes, so it's nice to see him slip a little beefcake in for equal time's sake.
Jeff’s rocket is surprisingly roomy for a one-man craft (I can only imagine how much fuel is being wasted on all that extra space). The brief montage of Jeff in space (time stamp 24:10) is delightfully trippy; it might just have inspired the psychedelic celestial journey at the climax of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Hey, you never know.
The
nature of Jeff’s ailment is frustratingly vague, and the hallucinatory
flashback depicting his brush with Venus only serves to confuse matters. The
alien approaches the rocket and stares menacingly into its porthole, clearly
trying to scare him off. He is exposed to the alien virus despite the
protection of the rocket’s hull, possibly because it is transmitted via sound
waves (that’s Jeff’s theory, anyway). Back on Earth, Jeff gets dizzy, chilly,
and downright silly. We could chalk it up to a simple Venusian flu bug; perhaps
one intended to make him so uncomfortably sick that he’ll never dream of
trespassing again, a genetic Do Not Disturb sign. But then his hands mutate
into swollen webbed fins, and all bets are abruptly and maddeningly off. Is the
virus turning him into something else, some kind of aquatic creature? If so… why?
The only reason I can surmise for the mutation is to help him withstand Venus’s
hostile climate, but this seems contrary to the Venusians’ presumed desire to keep
humans off their planet… unless I’m reading their intentions totally wrong, and
this is actually their way to invite humans to their world, which is actually
pretty friendly when you think about it (except for that pesky--- and highly
invasive--- genetic manipulation). Bear in mind that we’re never given any
indicator that Jeff’s run-in with the Venusian really happened at all… it could
simply be a feverish nightmare stemming from his overheated delirium.
Apparently the virus is the true monster of the week, versus the really cool
alien being that gets about forty seconds of total screen time (we’ll see some
more woefully underutilized aliens in “The Duplicate Man” in December).
And
there’s the matter of Jeff’s apparent attempt to destroy his files during his
above-described lunatic rumpus in act three. It occurred to me that perhaps the
Venusian virus isn’t just designed to make him ill; perhaps its coded to force him
to take specific actions (like the destruction of mission records) to thwart
future visits to Venus, a fascinating concept that “The Inheritors” two-parter
will explore quite successfully in November. But is that what’s happening here…? Nah, I don’t think so. This script just ain’t
that smart. The whole thing is just half-baked, underdeveloped, and impossible
to care about.
During
Jeff’s massive stock-footage coming-home parade (which appears to be bigger
than V-Day and New Year’s Eve in Times Square combined), we see a man climb out
onto a balcony and, for a brief moment, it appears that Jeff’s about to get the
business end of a sniper rifle. This mysterious fellow then produces a Super 8
camera and zooms in for some premium footage of America’s darling astronaut.
After the fuzzy, disappointing episode that follows, a preemptive bullet might’ve
been preferable.
One more note: does anybody else get a strong sense of Shatner-centric déjà vu when the Venusian approaches Jeff’s capsule and peers in through the porthole? It’s as if we’ve seen him in this situation before, stalked by a strange creature outside the window of a high-flying aircraft….
GRILL-WATCHING
"Cold Hands, Warm Heart" provides our first look at an odd---- yet strangely wonderful---- season two-specific phenomena: the grilling of meat; also know as barbecuing. For whatever reason, this uniquely American pastime is featured repeatedly throughout the 17 episodes that comprise The Outer Limits' abbreviated second season. This week, we see our hero charring some steaks... in his fireplace. Wait, what? Isn't that a fire hazard? Was this a thing in the early 60's?
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AURAL PLEASURE
Like
all of season two, Harry Lubin provides the underscore from his vast store of
generic library compositions. “Hostile Galaxy,” heard during the Control
Voice’s introduction in the prologue, will get lots of play throughout the rest
of the season. A cue called “Red Army March” accompanies Jeff’s parade, which
is pretty goddamned ironic if you think about it. Other Lubin cues heard in the
episode include:
Supernatural
Supernatural Planet
Space Quest
Light Years Away
Desolate Lands
Forever in Love
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Aside
from their work here, the cast members of “Cold Hands, Warm Heart” have something else
in common: they all appeared at least once on ABC’s The Fugitive, a series that would make extensive use of Dominic
Frontiere’s Outer Limits music in its
fourth season. Well, almost all of ‘em.
William Shatner (Brigadier General Jeff Barton) certainly
needs to introduction to genre fans. Genre appearances include two on The Twilight Zone (“Nick of Time” and
“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”), two on Alfred
Hitchcock Presents (“The Glass Eye” and “Mother, May I Go Out to Swim?”),
two on Boris Karloff’s Thriller (“The
Hungry Glass” and “The Grim Reaper”), and one on The Fugitive (“Stranger in the Mirror”). More interesting for our
purposes here is his starring role in TOL
creator and Executive Producer Leslie Stevens’ film Incubus (1966). More recently, he was hilarious as “Bill,” a
slightly skewed version of himself, in 1998’s Free Enterprise; he was even more hilarious as attorney Denny Crane
in TV’s Boston Legal (2004-2008). And
of course, he is (and shall always be) James Tiberious Motherfuckin' Kirk. Suck
it, Chris Pine.
Geraldine Brooks (Ann Barton) returns to The Outer Limits in a veritable reprise of her earlier role as
Yvette Leighton in season one’s “The Architects of Fear,” which turned 50
almost exactly one year ago today. She first worked for Daystar Productions in
the “Death Rides a Pale Horse” episode of their pre-TOL series Stoney Burke
and, like almost the entire cast of this week’s episode, appeared on The Fugitive (“Ticket to Alaska,” “Everybody
Gets Hit in the Mouth Sometimes” and “The Ivy Maze”). I called her a TOL Babe
when I reviewed “Architects,” but she’s somehow less attractive here. I dunno,
maybe my disappointment in this episode is affecting my capacity for arousal.
Lloyd Gough plays General Matthew Claiborne in his only Outer Limits appearance. Sci-fi fans can also spot him in the “Wall of Crystal” episode of Quinn Martin’s The Invaders; he also appeared twice on The Fugitive, another Quinn Martin production (“The Survivors” and “Dossier on a Diplomat”).
Malachi Throne (Dr. Mike) is probably most identifiable to sci-fi fans from his Star Trek roles (he played Commodore Mendez in “The Menagerie” two-parter on the original series and the Romulan Senator Pardek in the two-part “Unification” on Star Trek: The Next Generation); for our purposes here, it’s more interesting to note that he appeared in "Lori" on I Spy, a series which starred our beloved Robert Culp. But did he appear on The Fugitive? Why yes, twice in fact (“Rat in a Corner” and “Conspiracy of Silence”).
If James B. Sikking (Botany Phil) looks
familiar, it’s because we saw Sally Kellerman lock him in a storage closet in
season one’s “The Human Factor.” Sikking’s other genre credits include stints
on The Invaders (“Valley of the
Shadow”), Rod Serling’s Night Gallery
(“Nature of the Enemy” and “Death in the Family”) and, of course, The Fugitive (“Home Is the Hunted,”
“Last Second of a Big Dream” and “Ten Thousand Pieces of Silver”). Trek fans may remember his turn as U.S.S. Excelsior Captain Styles in Star Trek III: The
Search for Spock, which co-starred TOL alums Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan and of course, the one and only William Shatner.
Dean Harens (Medicine) logged appearances on Stoney Burke (“The Journey”) and The Invaders (“Storm"). He was also seen in “The Journey” on Men into Space, a series which was heavily mined for stock footage for season one’s “Moonstone.”
Lawrence Montaigne (Construction) portrayed both a Romulan (“Balance of Terror”) and a Vulcan (“Amok Time”) on the original Star Trek. He served a total of four tours of duty under Quinn Martin (“The Experiment” and “The Ransom” on The Invaders; “The Old Man Picked a Lemon” and “Conspiracy of Silence” on The Fugitive), plus he crossed paths with Robert Culp on I Spy (“It’s All Done with Mirrors,” which also costarred TOL vets Carroll O’Connor and James Frawley).
Henry Scott (Electronics) last visited The Outer Limits way back in “The Hundred Days of the Dragon” (as FBI Agent Marshall), but his association with
Daystar goes back to Stoney Burke (“A
Matter of Pride”). He also crossed over into The Twilight Zone twice (“The Thirty-Fathom Grave” and "The Big Tall Wish") and graced The Fugitive twice (“This’ll Kill You” and “The Sharp Edge
of Chivalry”).
Scott (left) with TOL alums Walter Burke and Ivan Dixon.
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HOME VIDEO RELEASES
“Cold
Hands, Warm Heart” was one of the final Outer
Limits episodes to be released on VHS (around June 1991, my sources
indicate), and damn, that's a really cool cover. For the episode's inclusion in Columbia House’s mail-order club, it shared
tape space with season one’s “Production and Decay of Strange Particles,” and
honestly, I’m not sure which of them is worse.
The
first Outer Limits LaserDisc collection
was released in November 1990, offering eight episodes in that era’s version
of high definition (it certainly pales in comparison to the Blu-rays we enjoy
today, but it was the highest quality format at the time), including “Cold
Hands, Warm Heart.” That’s right, this silly offering was slotted in alongside classics like “The Architects of Fear” and "Demon with a Glass Hand," and it
hit LD a full six months before VHS. This may have been a calculated move by
MGM to increase LaserDisc sales and, before you accuse me of being a jaded cynic,
let’s fast forward a few years to…
...DVD!
MGM (like all studios) dropped LaserDisc like a hot potato and invested heavily
in the CD-sized format, and released The
Outer Limits in two full-season sets (season two arrived in September 2003,
just in time for the 39th anniversary of “Cold Hands, Warm Heart”).
That’s all fine and dandy, but they proceeded to release the series again in
2007 and 2008… and only changed the fucking packaging. So yeah, those
triple-dipping bastards almost certainly pressured eager fans into upgrading to
LaserDisc back in the day just so they could get their sweaty paws on this crappy episode.
Still
no Blu-ray. Still. New fans, or old fans still watching your videotapes and/or
LaserDiscs, speak with your wallets and don’t buy the DVDs. Just don’t. Point
your browser to Hulu, where you can watch all 49 episodes for free. Stick it to the man!
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TRADING CARD CORNER
In a
move both surprising and deeply inexplicable, Rittenhouse chose to open their
2002 Outer Limits card series with
nine cards devoted to “Cold Hands, Warm Heart.” And it was here that they
really set the tone for the entire set: boring face shots and an almost
pathological avoidance of the aliens and monsters; there are a exceptions here and there,
of course, but Rittenhouse really missed an opportunity here. All nine cards
are Shatner-specific, creating a kind of “9 Moods of William Shatner” mosaic
(see directly above). The Venusian puppet alien is never glimpsed (not even on a card back; seriously, what the fuck, Rittenhouse?), and we get two different shots
of Jeff and Ann Barton passionately kissing (apparently they weren't above
evoking Jim Kirk’s legendary lady-killing prowess).
The
72-card base set can be found pretty cheap these days; however, the chase and autograph
cards are a different story. Shatner can be found in both the "Stars of The Outer Limits" and the "Authentic Autograph" insert sets. I recently spotted the autographed Shatner card on
eBay for $300.00!
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MERCHANDISE SPOTLIGHT
“Cold Hands, Warm Heart” hasn’t spawned any collectibles to speak of, but I suppose one could very easily customize their own General Jeff Barton out of the endless Captain Kirk action figures that have been released over the decades. Otherwise, you may want to check out the beautiful 1/8-scale Dimensional Designs model kit of the Venusian (DD/OL-16), sculpted by Chris Choin. The detail is pretty amazing, and look--- it’s got hair! It’s probably my single favorite kit in the entire line and it’s at the top of my list of kits to eventually pick up, but I’ll almost certainly need somebody to paint it for me… like the talented Mr. Enamel, who never disappoints.
I
also found another painted specimen in my extensive internet scrounging, this
one by Rhinoctopus over at Hobby Talk, which is equally impressive (and features what appears to be a custom
base):
Here’s
yet another (front and back), this one by a fellow calling who goes by the moniker Chinxy (who also fabricated his own base):
If you want your own (and why wouldn’t you? Look at it!), be prepared to fork over $49.95 plus shipping.
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THE WRAP UP
Okay, kids, let's do the math: tepid, underdeveloped script + uninspired direction + underused awesome alien puppet ÷ Shatner ham = an unfortunate flop. “Cold Hands, Warm Heart” is a big step down from last week’s “Soldier,” but it’s by no means the worst that this season has to offer, which is…. well, you’ll see soon enough.
Yay! To Charles Thaxton!....and what gender was the Venusian? Interesting "Invisibles" thread...
ReplyDeleteDammit...I forgot how much I hate this episode and then THIS post has to go and remind me. My own fault. I am addicted to the blog. Sorry Craig...no disrespect. The one scene that makes this episode worth watching at least once a year is when Jeff is in the steam room and starts to dream about the decent into the Venusian atmosphere. After fighting with my folks to even watch the episode at all when the show got to decent I thought to myself "now the cool stuff begins". It kind of di and I agree the alien is cool even though clearly a puppet. It was scary. It still is scary. It's a fucking puppet and I can't watch it unless a light is on...so Shatner's reaction to a puppet that scary has some merit. Anyway, as we all know, the episode went to hell from there. At this point I remember thinking the new season will pick up now. It will get better. It's The Outer Limits. It has never let me down for more than one episode...and then Episode 3 of Season 2 happens and...well I don't want to spoil it. Tune in next week. As for now I have to take some strong medicine. (tequila maybe) I think I have a Venusian virus trying to get me.
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, but Malachi Throne's bio is off: In Trek, he only did a voice (for one of the Keepers) in "The Cage." He did appear as Mendez in "The Menagerie," which used much of "The Cage" for its back-story.
ReplyDeleteD'oh! Fixed.
DeleteIs "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" truly nothing more than a run-of-the-mill TV melodrama, or is it a brilliant comedic effort featuring hilarious dialogue and skillfully performed physical gags?
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw this, I actually wrote a review on a classic TV and film forum and I was very generous to it. I didn't heap praise upon it, but I didn't think it was that bad. Maybe even then I realized "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" is a sci-fi spoof. I mean this isn't just corny, it's ladled on, creamed-corn corny.
The "speech to the planets" that Geraldine Brooks yells out her back door is great. I always wonder how she kept a straight face. It's an endless source of enjoyment for me. As is Shatner's "waving of the steaks" from his fireplace-mounted Weber. I'm always overcome with panic about the grease he's dripping on the living room carpet. How does Geraldine not fly off the handle about his spraying beef fat all over the place? That's what would happen at my house. Then again, she's probably afraid he's going to smack her around if she says anything about it. Remember when he's drinking the hot coffee? She gives him a little lip and he back hands her and her little one-piece jumper halfway across the room. Later, he starts himself on fire, starts flailing around and knocks her unconscious. The episode credits should read "Geraldine Brooks: Wife/Sparring Partner".
Seriously, how can anyone watch this and not be endlessly entertained by Shatner's over-the-top facial expressions. Just look at the sheer expressions of pain he relays in that "man on fire" scene. What an actor! I also remember laughing out loud when Shatner dips his spaceship below 20,000 feet when entering Venus's atmosphere. We know it's a bad thing because the ship does some sort of vertical hiccup and then quickly settles back into it's normal orbit. And then there's Dr. Mike fat-fingering his rotary phone. I don't think he actually manages to make the call before we cut away to a different scene. The dude is obviously shaken that his friend is turning into the Creature From the Black Lagoon.
Craig, this is one of my favorites in your list of episode reviews so far. Your memes had me rolling.
I'm going to be controversial. This is not a well-written, well-shot episode. But damn! It is unintentionally fun! Thanks Shat! I may just have to watch this again. (7/10)
It's terrible, but impossible not to enjoy. I really wish Mystery Science Theater 3000 had tackled this.
DeleteI sheepishly admit that I have a certain fondness for this episode, for one reason only: the exteriors right after the main title were shot just a few blocks from the house I grew up in. Those mid-century modern black-glass buildings were then home to TRW Space and Defense (now Northrop Grummann) and I passed by them on a daily basis for many years. A bit of my alma mater Aviation High School is visible in the distance in three or four shots; the structure that looks like a big Quonset hut was the school's swimming pool. (I was two years old when this episode first aired, so it's unlikely I was on campus the day they were filming.) To this day I get a kick out of the fact that something so close to home appears in my all-time favorite television series, even if it's not a particularly good episode.
ReplyDeleteFunny, as bad as this episode was/is, it's one I saw a lot both first run and RE-run as a kid, and the monster part always terrified me. Boy, I wish they could hide the puppet strings on this pineapple-faced thing now. Maybe I could move it one notch up on my list of lame episodes that way. Again, as a 10 year old, this one unnerved me the dozens of times I saw it in the 60's.
ReplyDelete"Cold Hands, Warm Heart" was fairly "middling" OL fair for me; wasn't among the worst by any means. It's one of their typical slow-moving, plodding works that definitely had an underdeveloped plotline. That having been said, when I first saw it in the 1960s (no, I'm a bit too young for it's network run) but in syndication on a local L.A. station later on during the 1960s, it was THE most frightening OL of them all. That Venusian "swimming" in the thick, murky atmosphere towards the spaceship's porthole was terrifying, and I do recall having nightmares about it. Because of that episode, I made sure my window shades were ALWAYS drawn at night. I didn't want to wake up some night, gaze out my window, and see THAT scary thing floating towards me! (lol) Now, I'd like to own one of those cool figures of the Venusian shown! BTW, Lawrence Montaigne also had a minor role as a policeman (Gary Merrill's partner) in the classic 1968 George Pal production of "The Power". James B. Sikking was on daytime's "General Hospital" as the alcoholic Dr. Hobart in the early 1970s (on the show he was married to long-time GH regular Nurse Audrey March, played by Rachel Ames).
ReplyDeleteYou make Cold Hands, Warm Heart and William Shatner seem terrible compared to Robert Culp and Architects of Fear.Sorry,Shatner was employed to play a guy on the edge,just the guy in Terror at Thirty Thousand Feet.You guys seem to not performances where the main character acts scewy.The Star Wars prequels come to mind.Haden Christiansen was employed to play Anakin Skywalker hero and nut.Shatner was employed to play,basically a sailor being possessed by what a Venusian demon mermaid ?
ReplyDeleteSure,I could have not have the webbed hands,but duh,I was what give or six at the time.Like Joseph Stefano and Lesley Stevens was going to listen to kid.and yeah maybe Shatner drinking all that hot coffee might annoying.But as for the science,it's not as weird as any other episode.If they went further into,it might begin to look stupid.And they wanted to maybe,make appearJeff Barton was delicious and delusional.Maybe.
The story has about as much flaws as Architects of Fear.Both episodes,trying to tell a story,twist how real astronauts might actually react.Architects of Fear is a bunch of scared,screwy scientists,doing something really stupid.This about possession.Jeff Barton is a hero,pushed to the limit by something an alien did him and the Space Program,wanting their hero to give results on Project Vulcan.Jeff Barton couldn't handle it.There was nothing gay here,except in the mind of one veiwer.Shatner did play gay,in the last episode of Star Trek in the Turnabout Intruder,but not here.Sorry.He did play screwy,just Robert Cult played screwy.Don't like Shatner or his over the top acting,well it got through three seasons of Star Trek.He is not Robert Culp.Full was subdued.That's how,he played everything,until Bill Maxwell,where he went Shatner on Greatest American Hero.That by the way,was an annoying series.A hit song,Connie Selica,and Robert Culp,but show was bad.Even Steven J.Channel said so,in the pages of Starlog decades ago.
Cold Hands, Warm Heart and William Shatner did what could.If you want to knitpick,you could do so with every episode.Weird thing,whereas Jeff Barton couldn't deliver on Project Vulcan,but William Shatner did by way of Star Trek.Vulcan ? Come on, Gene Roddenberry was known to have watched this episode.It might have appeared weak to you,but Architects of Fear of Robert Cult did not give one of the most successful science fiction franchise.Duhhhhh.Perhaps you rewatch the episode so with new eyes and see what they were trying to say and not what you think they were trying to say.
Theres life on Venus and it peeks through Space Ships Portholes at you and it don't comb its hair and it don't use Conditoner and it will scare the hell out of you
ReplyDeleteA decent episode but the cop-out ending lets it down. Shatner is terrific. I don't know how MST3K could have made fun of the puppet Venusian when they have shitty robots as the main characters. Best wishes, Zokko
ReplyDeleteWe all criticize "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" a lot, and deservedly so. Between the half-baked script, the mediocre direction, the over-the-top performances, and the silly speeches ("You married a man, not a headline...", "I'm his best world!"), there's a lot to make fun of. However, what I find most disappointing is that it's a missed opportunity. I would have loved to see Jeff and Ann Barton written as well as the loving but ill-fated married couples in "The Architects of Fear", "Corpus Earthling" and "A Feasibility Study" (or for that matter, the unhappy couples in "The Bellero Shield" and "The Guests"). It would have made their triumph over the Venusian menace really resonate. Instead, the script makes them strident caricatures who are difficult to relate to. Since their relationship is the heart of the story, this is the episode's biggest failure.
ReplyDeleteLawrence Montaigne also did some sci-fi work for Irwin Allen, appearing twice on The Time Tunnel ("Massacre", "Idol of Death") and once in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ("Man-Beast"). He also guested in sci-fi adjacent series such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Virtue Affair", "The Maze Affair"), Batman ("The Joker's Last Laugh", "The Joker's Epitaph") and Mission: Impossible ("Odds on Evil", "The Miracle").
ReplyDelete