The Mice

A Scientist has devised some ingenious technology, that allows people to be transported to another planet, a scheme is set up to transport prisoners to The Plant Chromo in an exchange. The Prisoners are volunteers the alternative is life in prison.

This isn't an episode I'd deem a classic, I wouldn't say it has anything particularly memorable, other than the obvious, a few years ago there was an advertising campaign for a blocked nose/sinuses relief product, it put me in mind of that.

Not a classic, but definitely still full of merits, I like the question of ethics, the value of a Prisoner's life, did he have any choice but to accept the mission, it was definitely an interesting concept.

The first half has an element of suspense, that opening sequence definitely added a degree of curiosity, I found the second half just bizarre, some of it perhaps didn't make a lot of sense. It is very well paced, I really did like the characters.

There are two terrific performances here, Henry Silva and Diana Sands were both terrific I thought, and despite the less than convincing looking subject from Chromo, they both managed to make their characters so sincere, they both bolstered the story hugely.

7/10.

When the prison warden summons three inmates serving life sentences, they are interviewed by Dr. Thomas 'Kelly' Kellander that is seeking a volunteer with authorization of the government to test a teleportation system to another planet. Chino Rivera accepts the offer and learns that the advanced civilization from planet Chromos has contacted the earthlings and offered the technology for teleportation. They propose an exchange of natives from each planet and soon Dr. Kellander receives an alien that walks freely in the facility. However Dr. Robert Richardson finds a strange goo floating on the lake and decides to investigate, but is murdered by the alien. Meanwhile Chino tries to escape from the facility and stumbles upon Dr. Richardson´s body. He is accused of murder and only Dr. Julia Harrison believes him. What is the real intention of the alien from Chromos?

Despite the potential of the storyline, "The Mice" is a poorly written and acted episode of "The Outer Limits". How can an alien come to Earth and circulate unmonitored in a state-of-art military facility? The attitudes of the sluggish security officers are ridiculous. Nobody comments the fate of the officer sent to Chromos. The way Dr. Julia Harrison reports her findings nearby the lake to Dr. Kellander is unthinkable. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Os Camundongos" ("The Mice")

Viewers of the groundbreaking television show "The Outer Limits" were most likely wondering just HOW the series' creators could possibly top the memorable Zanti aliens that had been presented to them in the closing days of 1963. But in the program's initial offering of 1964, "The Mice," this fondly remembered program almost managed to do just that, giving the world an alien so truly grotesque and eye-catching that it almost carried the entire hour on its ownsome. This episode, #15 in a whopping 32-episode season (today, we're lucky if a program manages to squeeze out two dozen), turns out to be a solid albeit middling affair in a generally remarkable run of programs, saved by that creature costume and some very fine acting turns by a cast of solid pros.

In "The Mice," as in the previous "Zanti Misfits," Earth has been contacted by the beings of another world. Here, that world is Chromo, which lies comparatively close to ours, at only 10 light-years distance; around twice the distance of our nearest neighbor, Alpha Centauri. The Chromoites have given our scientists here on Earth the technological know-how to construct a teleportation device (something like the transporter beam on the upcoming "Star Trek") and have proposed an exchange of one of their race, for a visit, for one of ours. Thus, the scientist in charge of the Neo-Kinematics Division of some unnamed research facility, Dr. Thomas Kellander (Michael Higgins, who would go on to appear in such classic films as "The Conversation" and "The Stepford Wives"), seeks a volunteer for the experiment, and winds up choosing convict Chino Rivera (the great character actor Henry Silva, who had just appeared in the #13 "OL" episode "Tourist Attraction") as the guinea pig/mouse of the title. The Chromoite is successfully transported to Earth, and spends its time wandering around the facility grounds, ultimately killing a scientist who had discovered that it was growing some kind of gloppy food in a nearby lake. Chino is of course accused of the crime, although resident doctor Julia Harrison (Diana Sands, who had recently appeared in the film "A Raisin in the Sun" and that same year would star in the Broadway show "The Owl and the Pussycat" with Alan Alda) defends him and maintains his innocence. Ultimately, the Chromoites are exposed in their underhanded plot, leading to a violent confrontation....

"The Mice," as I mentioned up top, is a solid-enough episode that is redeemed by three factors: the Chromoite itself, a very fine acting contribution by Henry Silva, and the inclusion of Diana Sands in a supporting role. Let's take the alien first. It is truly a bewildering mess of a creature, resembling nothing less than a bipedal blob of melted wax and overly microwaved headcheese, equipped with twitchy, crab-claw appendages. It is a truly revolting-looking creature, one of the most way out of all "Outer Limits" creations, and never more hideous than when it is stuffing that lake-spawned doughy glop into its midriff orifice. Unfortunately, I have always felt that the creature costume here was a bit insufficient, and that the outfit itself should have been longer, so as to reach down to the feet of the actor wearing the darn thing. How much more effective would it have been if the alien seemed to be gliding along on the ground, rather than running on two legs! As for Silva, who is thankfully still with us (age 88, as of this writing), he is simply dynamic, and gives an energetic and vital performance. And then there is the matter of Diana Sands, an attractive black actress playing a doctor on a television show of the early '60s...and with nothing being made of her race whatsoever! I know that this sounds fairly unremarkable now in the early 21st century, but trust me, back in the early '60s, this was rather remarkable. (Similarly, the Duane Jones character in "Night of the Living Dead" would be praised, five years later, for the fact that nothing whatsoever was made of his race, either.) Other than the "Amos 'n' Andy Show" of the early '50s, not too many African-Americans had been permitted to carry a television show, or even appear as lead performers, and even then, certainly not portraying skilled professionals. That same '63 - '64 season, the TV show "East Side, West Side" was being aired, which starred George C. Scott and Cicely Tyson, and her role was seen as something of a big deal at the time. ("East Side, West Side" producer David Susskind would soon bring in Diana Sands and James Earl Jones to star in one Emmy-winning episode, "Who Do You Kill?.") Anyway, my point is that the inclusion of a black woman as a doctor here, and with the inference that nothing is very remarkable about that fact, was very praiseworthy, and deserving of any modern-day viewer's approbation. "The Mice" gives us an interesting script, courtesy of co-writer (and first-season producer) Joseph Stefano, always-interesting cinematography by the great Conrad Hall (especially the shadowy outdoor scenes), and just adequate direction by Alan Crosland, Jr., who would go on to helm episode #25, "The Mutant." It also features a unique score for an "OL" episode by Dominic Frontiere, with none of the usual musical cues to be had. In all, it is a fairly entertaining and memorable hour, slightly padded as it is (LOTS of shots of that Chromoite lumbering around by the lake and through the countryside). Still, it was certainly better than just about anything else on television on the night of January 6, 1964, I have a strong feeling....

A distant planet contacts Earth and sends plans for a matter-transmitter (a primitive prototype for the Transporter seen on STAR TREK 3 years later). The authorities decide to test it by using a convict pulling a life sentence. But when the alien arrives, things get a LOT stranger than anyone imagined...

Like a lot of "lesser" OUTER LIMITS episodes, this one rambles a bit, and the more action-filled 2nd half is more confusing than suspenseful. But there are 2 standouts that make it memorable. One is Henry Silva's convict, who proves a far more fascinating and likable character than one might expect (indeed, I find this one of his BEST roles!). The other is the alien, which I can only describe as looking like something you'd get if you blew your nose too hard. Not sure if the thing is actually frightening, or just really disgusting to look at!

Look quick (and carefully) near the end for an early cameo role by Dabney Coleman, still more than a decade away from fame as the preacher on MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN (growing that moustache must be the best career move he ever made).

I get a kick out of it when Silva's character hands a revolver over and says, "Just watching him for you. He's a killer!"

"The Mice" is rarely singled out as a noteworthy OUTER LIMITS episode, yet it has many distinctive qualities. The strangeness that we find in the best episodes of this series is here in full force. A prisoner exchange between Earth and a little-known alien society allows a bizarre creature to arrive on this planet. This prisoner behaves in its own alien way and is creepy and fascinating to watch. There are a couple of suspenseful scenes when the creature is on the loose and wreaks some havoc. In the cast are Michael Higgins, Diana Sands and Henry Silva: all very good actors who bring plenty of realism to their roles. It's especially interesting to watch the sympathetic connection between Sands and Silva. This episode does not waste Henry Silva (a wonderful performer) as another entry, "Tourist Attraction", does. He really carries the show and makes it a must-see for anyone who in interested in early 60s TV drama.