"The Invisibles"

Production Order #20 and Broadcast Order #19 Shooting Days: 6-14 November 1963 First Air Date: February 3, 1964

Production Credits: Writer: Joseph Stefano Director: Gerd Oswald Assistant Directors: Lee H. Katzin and Claude Binyon, Jr. Director of Photography: Conrad Hall Composer: Dominic Frontiere (original score) Cast of Characters: Don Godon as GIA Agent Luis B. Spain Chris Warfield as GIA Agent Johnny Tony Mordente as Genero Planetta William O. Douglas, Jr. as Henry Castle George MacReady as Governor Lawrence K. Hillmond Walter Burke as the Invisibles recruiter John Graham as the Attachment supervisor Neil Hamilton as General Hillary J. Clarke Dee Hartford as Mrs. Clarke Richard Dawson as Oliver Fair

Opening Narration:

"You do not know these men. You may have looked at them, but you did not see them. They are newspapers blowing down a gutter on a windy night. For reasons both sociological and psychological these three have never joined or been invited to join society. They have never experienced love and friendship or formed any lasting or constructive relationship. But today, at last, they will become a part of something. They will belong. They will come a little bit closer to their unrealistic dreams of power and glory. Today, finally, they will join the hu... I almost said the human race. And that would have been a half-truth. For the race they are joining... is only half-human..."

Plotline:

In order to thwart the master plan of the world-wide conquest, CIA-like agent #0021 Luis B. Spain infiltrates a group of anti-social recruits who join in an underground organization called "The Society of Invisibles" whose headquarter is located in cheap closed down barracks and run by State Governor Lawrence K. Hillmond and alien parasites possessed statesmen. Each Invisibles kamikaze operative must receive an "inoculation" of the disease virus of an invaded victim to avoid accidental contamination and each one must infiltrate a key member of the economical or political power. Spain becomes the friend of misfit Planetta--giving him a phone number--and is sent to work as a chauffeur for influential military official General Hillary J. Clarke--profession: Chief of Advisory Board of Joint Services, Division of U.S. Defense Department--at number 6 Arlington Drive, Chevy Chase, Washington D.C. Unfortunately, Clarke and his aide Oliver Fair are already Invisibles and suspect Spain who runs in a hurry to "Sforza - Water & Power Company" to find again Planetta whose primal target is: Government Intelligence Agency... agent Luis B. Spain.

Closing Narration:

"You do not know these men. You may have looked at them, but you did not see them. They are the wind that blows newspapers down a gutter on a windy night... and sweeps the gutter clean."

Quote:

"We were conceived in the nothingness of space, sired by a satyr of cosmic energy, formed by the coming together of sick, nameless nuclei that waited a billion, billion years for that precise, ungodly moment. We fell to Earth, and the velocity of that fall quickened the seed of intellect at the same time it stunted the evolution of our primitive form."

—Governor Lawrence K. Hillmond (George MacReady)

Comments:

A tale of suffocating paranoia with hidden spies and the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" concept of conspiracy which dives the audience into a neurotic and masochistic mood, especially during the attachment scenes when the alien crab stings the back of the young social outcast recruits, see the fate of Henry Castle (see the deformed back) which is epitomized by Governor Hillmond: "Their victims suffer to the edge of death... and they're never the same again..." This is the second plot, after "The Mice", that shows a gouvernment official selecting dropouts for a dirty job. Notice the unusual stop in the course of the narration which seems to indicate that the Control Voice makes a mistake of appreciation: “Today, finally, they will join the hu... I almost said the human race.” This sudden break in rhythm explains what the writer—Joseph Stefano—think of the statesmen. This episode is the fantastic TV version of John Frankenheimer's pamphlet "Seven Days In May" (1964) in which a General and a senator wish to overthrow America by a putsch; in the context of the episode, you also find a military officer and an official of the State but who wants to subvert the country by infiltration. As in "The Hundred Days of the Dragon", a member of the conspiracy (here, General Clarke) reveals names of infected (infiltrated) key people ("All over this rich, great country, hosts in all the right places... men like Senator Springer, Wilson Greenburg, Billy... Men in places so high, no one would believe how high they are."). Don Gordon's underground spy part is splendid with his tough "heroes die alone" attitude and above all, after being crashed by Mrs Clark's car, he desperately crawls and escapes from the bedroom with his injured ankle and restrains his dreadful suffering. Two characters of high officials of the State have sudden alien-induced behavior breakdowns which end with intense delusion of grandeur speeches: terrific George MacReady as the charismatic and fanatical leader of the Invisibles ("Master... Mas-ter... We are hurried... We are hurried... We are hurried... Mas-terrrrrr!" and "Welcome gentlemen. The society which you have voluntarily joined is called 'The Invisibles'. It is subversive and illegal. It is also powerful and large. And it is ready. When 'The Invisibles' become the masters of everyone and everything on this planet, you, the vanguard of this virulent, violent inevitability, will sit so high, that mankind will come to recognize you by the lines on the soles of your feet." and "I'm the r-r-ruler... of the society... of 'The Invibles'... nothing less."), and of course, inquisitive Neil Hamilton as the cynical general ("Yes... Yes, master, oh... I know... I am ...vainglorious... I say too much... I endanger us all.") with his "friend or foe" behaviour: "More pay, more friend?". Another weird character, General Clark's right-hand man: Oliver Fair, watches, controls and manipulates his wife ("I keep Mrs. Clarke downstairs until twelve... also, I play fine piano I know all the sad songs... she gets so drunk on sad songs.") and even tries on Luis Spain in vain. Notice the spy lingo during Spain's secret intercourse with his government colleague agent #4 Johnny (taped with a portable recorder) in the woods: "Daddy doesn't know I'm out" meaning the Invisibles don't know Spain escapes from the place to meet a contact. Once again, the Expressionist troika (Stefano-Oswald-Hall) makes this one very engrossing and shocking. There are a lot of distorted close-ups (George MacReady and Neil Hamilton) made possible with the wide angle lens. The score of this episode is simply a variation on "The Architects of Fear" and "The Man Who Was Never Born". A martial cue from "Stoney Burke" is heard during the hectic outcome near Shed 49. Notes: Vic Perrin is the voice of GIA Chief and Robert Johnson is the Invisibles radio voice. Don Gordon re-appears in "Second Chance", George Macready is best-known for his part in the 1940's Film Noir "Gilda" and returns in "Production and Decay of Strange Particles", Neil Hamilton in "The Bellero Shield" and Walter Burke in "The Mutant".