The Bellero Shield
The Outer Limits (1963)
The Bellero Shield, directed by John Brahm.
Experimenting with laser weapons, a scientist pulls a being from some other-dimension realm of light into his house. His wife, Lady Macbeth-like, is eager to exploit any opportunity to advance her husband's fame. Murder and madness follow.
She calls the laser beam shooting into the sky their Bifrost, a mythological usage even more familiar now from the Marvel Thor films. Electronic humming permeates the story, the sound of contact with another dimension.
This could easily be a play: five characters, limited set, a plot driven by the characters' motivations.
The result is modestly creepy-ass. The alien itself is inoffensive, and like the visitor in The Galaxy Being sacrifices itself for the humans, who are dark and sinister. It had been warned: "This is a world ruled by Fear". And he takes precautions: the Shield.
Have done murder the lady of the house is forgiven, but will remain imprisoned in her mind until she forgives herself.
John Hoyt (Don't Open Till Doomsday) returns, unrecognizable in face, figure and voice:
Others returning:
Martin Landau -- The Man Who Was Never Born
Sally Kellerman -- The Human Factor
Neil Hamilton -- The Invisibles
Director John Brahm -- ZZZZZ
Chita Rivera looks so familiar but I don't know where else I've seen her. She is kind of witchy here: barefoot, armed, and utterly devoted to her mistress. With that long necklace chain and key I think of here as the "chatelaine".
The wikipedia cites speculation that this episode did much to promote the Little Gray Men image of alien contactee lore and fiction.
Photographed by Conrad Hall, playing with light and shadow, showing a creature of light on this dark planet.
The Blu-ray commentary track is another by Tim Lucas. He gives much biographical information, praises the visual design and tends to Freudian interpretations of the plot.
