The Cage

Just think...if Jeffrey Hunter had wound up playing the Captain in Star Trek, he might be alive today. Hunter died in 1969 from a subarachnoid hemorrhage, probably caused by an explosion that imploded instead during a film he was working on in Europe. Interesting thought.

The Cage was the most expensive pilot in NBC history to that point. Though the Star Trek idea had its supporters, the network couldn't see past its nose to pick up the series. They did, however, agree to a second pilot with some changed elements - like a woman who was second in command. The reasons why Hunter did not do the next pilot have been debated. A friend of Hunter's stated that Hunter's wife, Dusty, thought science fiction was low class and didn't want him involved in the show. And, according to Shatner's book, she also made unreasonable demands of the producers.

It's worth remembering that back in the '60s, science fiction, space movies, etc., did not have the "A" status that they do today. B movies only became A movies after Star Wars.

The Cage is a not only very good but touching, and of course, it's fascinating to see "Star Trek" before it became a cult classic. The story concerns a planet that exists basically on Mind Control, and the inhabitants in charge capture Pike in the hope that he can help replenish their race with an earth woman who is there as a result of a ship crashing. Susan Oliver is the woman.

During the run of the series, in order to recoup some of the costs of this fabulously expensive pilot, it was incorporated into a two-part episode, with another actor playing the now near-vegetative Captain Pike.

I love seeing films such as this that were done before all the special effect technology became available, because they were done in such innovative and imaginative ways. The Cage is worth a look to see the genesis of a show that became part of our culture.