"The Human Factor"

Production Order #3 and Broadcast Order #8 Shooting Days: 31 May-10 June 1963 First Air Date: November 11, 1963

Production Credits: Writer: David Duncan Director: Abner Biberman Assistant director: Lee H. Katzin Director of Photography: Conrad Hall Composer: Dominic Frontiere (original score with additional materials from "Stoney Burke") Cast of Characters: Harry Guardino as Major Roger Brothers Gary Merrill as Dr. James Hamilton Joe de Santis as Colonel William Campbell Sally Kellerman as Ingrid Larkin Ivan Dixon as Major Harold Giles Shirley O'Hara as Dr. Soldini James B. Sikking as the Orderly

Opening Narration:

"In Northern Greenland the mountains stand like a wall along Victoria Channel, whose straight course marks the line of the Great Baffin Fault. Until recently, not even the Eskimos ventured into this Arctic waste. But today, as in other lonely places in the world, the land is dominated by those instruments of detection which stand as a grim reminder of man's fear of man. This is Point TABU, a name given this predominantly underground base by a young officer who explained that the letters in TABU stood for Total Abandonment of Better Understanding. Some two hundred men and a few women make this their permanent residence. Their task is to maintain a constant alert against enemy attack, and be prepared to respond to it, devastatingly..."

Plotline:

In an iceland secret base, a mentally-ill military engineer, Major Brothers, is haunted by the death of Private Gordon (one of his men) and wants to explode an atomic bomb near the base to erase his guilt. His superior, Colonel Campbell sends him to the office of psychiatrist Dr. Hamilton. Major Brothers undergoes a new experiment which allows to probe his emotions but unfortunately, during the operation, an Earthquake occurs. And therefore it disturbs the invention of Dr. Hamilton and creates a mind transfer between both men. Now, Major Brothers is in the body of Dr. Hamilton and he is ready to use the nuke.

Closing Narration:

"A weapon? No, only an instrument, neither good nor evil until men put it to use. And then, like so many of man's inventions, it can be used either to save lives or destroy them, to make men sane or to drive them mad, to increase human understanding or to betray it. But it will be men who make the choice. By itself the instrument is nothing until you add the human factor."

Quote:

"We live in a world of cowards, Dr. Hamilton... every man is afraid of his brother. And most men try to hide from that awful fact. Even here, the men are afraid to see the evil, that is here, on this base. And there are responsible for it."

—Major Roger Brothers (Harry Guardino)

Comments:

Another episode which is about the atomic threat ("The Architects of Fear", "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork" and "Production and Decay of Strange Particles"), the figure of the brain ("The Sixth Finger" and "The Guests") and the integrity of the privacy a la "O.B.I.T." throughout the psyche device and its first victim: Ingrid, whose secret love is revealed. As in "The Sixth Finger", the social position of the two leading characters is reversed owing to a device: the doctor becomes the patient (Major Brothers is turned into Dr. Brothers unlike Dr. Hamilton into Major Hamilton) and you can actually witness Mr. Hyde's side (the beast) of Dr. Hamilton during the arrest of the real Dr. Hamilton who justifies himself in front of two soldiers: "I was born in Billings, Montana... I went to the University of Chicago... And I'm going to destroy everyone on this base", said Dr. Brothers while eating his sunflower seeds with his ape-like face. The opening narration makes reference to the word "TABU", a clue to understand the purpose of the drama—a taboo used to be a ban in the ancient pagan civilisations, a sacred rule that is forbidden to transgress, but, in the context of the story, the taboo is the goverment's secret base and the secrecies of the mind that you are not allowed to know. Dominic Frontiere's original score is recycled, among other things for "The Sixth Finger", "Specimen: Unknown" and "The Chameleon". A "Stoney Burke" martial cue is heard when Dr. Hamilton-as-Major Brothers escapes from his cell and returns to the psychiatrist office. Oddly enough, Major Brothers' sun flower seeds remind the bear from "Specimen: Unknown", and, Harry Guardino's hysterical and paranoiac performance as Major Brothers, with his seeds twitch, is memorable: "Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran" and "I don't drink [coffee]... I've given up all habits that might effect my nerves or weaken my mind and body... These are a... a lot healthier: sun flower seeds" and Dr. Hamilton replies: "Yeah... as the old woman said as she kissed the cow, 'each to our own taste' ". Notice the family name Major Roger Brothers: brothers, a religious term that mean your fellowmen. And in the case of the mad Major, it implies himself and his guilt that he calls "the thing", especially during his delusion of grandeur: "every man is afraid of his brother." (...); it can be interpreted as every man is afraid of Major Brothers. As in "The Man Who Was Never Born", the truth reveals itself thanks to a woman and the language of the eyes (also see "The Bellero Shield"), in other words, Ingrid stares at Dr. Hamilton throughout Major Brothers' eyes. This is the first role of Sally Kellerman. This is also a love affair episode between the characters of introvert Dr. Hamilton and his glamorous young assistant Ingrid (perhaps, "Bergman") Larkin with her feline look (eyes and fur): "It's your mind that attracts me most". Above all, this is Conrad Hall's first assignement for "The Outer Limits". An impressive trick-shot is seen when Major Brothers comes out of the elevator and is surprised by the ghost of Private Gordon who comes charging at him: Conrad Hall uses an ultra wide angle lens combined with a low-key lighting to distort the face and to express the insanity of the character. As in "The Zanti Misfits", the drama takes place in a barren land and under a very contrasted climat a la "The Thing from Another World" (1951). In this episode, a hidden reference to producer Stefano and his assistant Morheim is present when Dr. Hamilton in Major Brothers' body is lied down, held by Dr. Soldini's medics in order to receiv an injection: "I know both your sons, Joe and Lou!". The end narration is ambiguous when it says "A weapon? No, only an instrument" but what instrument: the mind probe device used and misused by Dr. Hamilton or the atomic cartridge that Major Brothers wants to trigger. Notes: William O. Douglas is the ice ghost of Private Gordon and Vic Perrin is the Intercom Voice. Sally Kellerman appears in "The Bellero Shield" and Ivan Dixon in "The Inheritors".

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