"The
Hundred Days of the Dragon"
| Production
Order #7 and Broadcast Order
#2 Shooting Days: 3-11 July 1963 First Air Date: September 23, 1963 |
| Production
Credits Writers: Allan Balter and Robert Mintz Director: Byron Haskin Assistant Director: Lee H. Katzin Director of Photography: Conrad Hall Composer: Dominic Frontiere (original score with additional materials from "Stoney Burke") |
| Cast
of Characters: Sydney Blackmer as William Lyons Selby Philip Pine as V.P. Theodore "Ted" Pearson Nancy Rennick as Carol Selby Conner Joan Camden as Ann Pearson Mark Roberts as Dr. Bob Conner Richard Loo as Li Chin Sung Aki Aleong as Dr. Su-Lin Clarence Lung as Operative Major Ho Chi-Wong |
Opening
Narration:
"Somewhere
south of the Mongolian border and north of the Tropic of Cancer, in that
part of the world we call the Orient, a slumbering giant has shaken itself
to wakefulness. Passed over in most histories as a nation forgotten by
time, its close-packed millions, in the short span of twenty years, have
been stirred to a fury by one man: Li Chin-Sung. A benevolent despot in
his homeland, Sung stands as an irresponsable threat to peace in the eyes
of the rest of the world. William Lyons Selby-candidate for the Presidency
of the United States; predicted by every poll, survey and primary to be
a certain winner in the forthcomming election..."
Plotline:
Chinese scientist Dr. Su-lin invents a serum combined with a metallic mold which
allows to change the look of a face 40 to 70 seconds after the injection and during 2 minutes. The first test is undergone by agent Major Ho Chi-Wong because the Chinese government plans to takeover America
by infiltrating and substituting all the Officials at the White House.
During the campaign trail, William Lyons Selby is gunned down and replaced in his Chicago hotel room.
And his duplicate is finally elected. Things turns bad when a Chinese operative fails to take the place of Vice President Ted Pearson.
Closing
Narration:
"For
Theodore Pearson, not even so monstrous a crime as the assassination of
William Lyons Selby justifies an act of war, because there is no war as
we know it-only annihilation. A great American has been killed in the
service of his country. Now it is the job of those who continue to serve
to carry on guarding our freedom with dignity and unrelenting vigilance."
Quote:
"Look!
Did he just resemble you? Or was he like a mirror image?"
—Dr. Bob Conner (Mark Roberts)
—Dr. Bob Conner (Mark Roberts)
Comments:
A
political-fiction story, written by "Mission: Impossible" Allan
Balter (who will also write "The Mutant" with Robert Mintz)
which deals with the classic theme of the Doppelgänger as in the
season two episode: "The Duplicate Man". The makeup effects
of the malleable faces is still amazing. Sydney Blackmer is just fabulous
as the two presidents—watch closely his Eisenhower-like features; the wrong Selby slightly closes his eyes, is unusually gifted for hunting (see the shot of the snake) and whose daughter finds his behavior odd, modifies his relations with China.
Thanks to Conrad Hall, the Chinese opening scene with the entry of the
militaries (a long corridor harshly lit with ceiling sources where the ruler and his three guards slowly walk to go to the State lab which is composed of shadowgraphs of a tree's branches), the voice imitation by Major Ho Chi-Wong ("But an American on guard, an American that remains the guide and bearer for the steady march towards peace of all free people cannot, indeed, will not--"), and the tools (the flexible metallic mask and fingerprints gimmick)—notice the detail
of the half finger: a 1953 minor hunting accident which caused the loss of the third finger of the left hand, at the second joint—are exemplary. Without forgetting, the unique
and colourful orchestration of Dominic Frontiere which is rarely heard
during the show. Music supervisor John Elizalde adds bits from "Stoney
Burke": "The Weapons Man" and "Point of Entry".
One "Stoney Burke" plane footage is recycled from "The
Weapons Man". For the anecdote, when the second Selby meets Lin Chin Sung at the White House, he is given a list of key money men to be replaced and among them, a member of ABC television: see the euphemistic reference to a certain "Herbert Mead, Broadcasting Corporation of America". This episode was broadcast two months before Kennedy's
assassination. The political campaign mood is in the line of Franklin J. Schaffner's 1964 "The Best Man". This episode and "Nightmare" make reference to
story elements from John Frankenheimer's "The Manchurian Candidate".
Notes: For the dark irony, actor Sydney Blackmer played one year earlier in the macabre episode of "Thriller" entitled: "The Premature Burial". Both Balter and Mintz went on working on "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" from 1964 to take care of William Read Woodfield's Cold War-oriented plots: see "Time Bomb" with actor Richard Loo. Vic Perrin is the voice of Mr. Schumacher and Leslie Stevens is
the voice of election returns commentator. Joan Camden re-appears in "It
Crawled Out of the Woodwork" and Aki Aleong in "Expanding Human".
