Demon with a Glass Hand
Encyclopedia
"Demon with a Glass Hand" is an episode of The Outer Limits
television series, the second to be based on a script by Harlan Ellison
, which Ellison wrote specifically with actor Robert Culp
in mind for the lead role. It originally aired on 17 October 1964, and was the fifth episode of the second season.
(Narrator Vic Perrin
mistakenly says "Sumerican" instead of "Sumerian".)
), a woman who worked in the building and was trapped when the Kyben arrived.
For reasons unknown to him, Trent was sent into the past via a "time mirror", located in the building. A captured Kyben tells Trent that he and they are from a thousand years in the future. In that future, Earth has been conquered by the Kyben, but all the surviving humans except Trent have mysteriously vanished. The aliens are being obliterated by a "radioactive plague" that is killing all intelligent life on the planet, apparently unleashed by the humans in a last-ditch effort to repel the invasion. In a desperate attempt to find a cure for the plague and to extract whatever knowledge is stored in the hand-computer, the Kyben have followed him back in time with the missing fingers.
Eventually, Trent defeats all of his Kyben pursuers by ripping off the medallion-shaped devices they wear to anchor them in the past. Trent successfully destroys the mirror, and recovers the three missing fingers. With the computer now whole, he learns the terrible truth: that he is not a man, but a robot. The human survivors have been digitally encoded onto a gold-copper alloy wire wrapped around the solenoid
in his thorax. Immune to disease, he must protect his precious cargo for 200 years after the Kyben invasion, by which time the plague will have dissipated. Then he will resurrect the human race.
Trent had thought he was a man, and he and Consuelo had begun to develop feelings for each other. With the truth revealed, she leaves him, pity mixed with horror in her eyes. Trent is left to face 1,200 years of lonely vigil.
suggested that Ellison rewrite the episode, containing most of the action in a single structure. Ellison agreed, realizing that the change from a linear pursuit to a vertical climb, ascending as the action developed, would make for heightened tension. Most of this episode was shot in the Bradbury Building
, the same location used for the final scenes of Blade Runner
and a closing scene in the 1950 film noir classic D.O.A.
Ellison's friendship with Robert Culp dates from the production of this episode. He found Culp to be very intelligent, quite a contrast to most actors, whom he described as "dips—strictly non compos mentis."
adaptation, illustrated by Marshall Rogers
, was published by DC Comics
January 1986. It was the fifth title of the DC Science Fiction Graphic Novel series.
During the run of Babylon 5
, series creator J. Michael Straczynski
often said that Ellison would write a sequel to this story (possibly called "Demon in the Dust" or "Demon on the Run") as an episode. Ellison was a creative consultant on the series, but has since said that he never had any such intentions and it was just his friend Straczynski's wishful thinking.
However this directly contradicts a quote he made in a behind-the-scene book about Babylon 5 written during that show's third season.
In addition to "Demon With A Glass Hand", Ellison has written other stories set against the backdrop of the "Earth-Kyba War." He adapted five of these — "Run For the Stars", "Life Hutch", "The Untouchable Adolescents", "Trojan Hearse", and "Sleeping Dogs" — into the graphic novel Night and the Enemy (1987), illustrated by Ken Steacy
.
. These claims were disputed by the argument that the claim and subsequent settlement were exclusively premised upon the argument that the opening moments of The Terminator had plagiarized the other Ellison script produced by The Outer Limits, "Soldier". Harlan Ellison himself clarified this in a 2001 exchange with a fan at his website: "'Terminator' was not stolen from 'Demon with a Glass Hand,' it was a ripoff of my OTHER Outer Limits script, 'Soldier.'")
According to The Los Angeles Times, the parties settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, and an acknowledgement of Ellison's work in the credits of Terminator.
sampled
"Demon with a Glass Hand" extensively in the 1992 song "Soulenoid". The sample "There's 70 billion people of Earth, where are they hiding?" is also used in "Yashar", a track from their 1982 album 2x45
.
Also, on their 1980 album The Voice of America', the track "Stay Out Of It" contains various samples: "the third part of your brain...you know where it is?", "don't kill me please please" and "the hand...tell me what to do".
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
television series, the second to be based on a script by Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
, which Ellison wrote specifically with actor Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
in mind for the lead role. It originally aired on 17 October 1964, and was the fifth episode of the second season.
Opening narration
"Through all the legends of ancient peoples — AssyriaAssyriaAssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n, BabyloniaBabyloniaBabylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
n, SumerSumerSumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ian, SemiticSemiticIn linguistics and ethnology, Semitic was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages...
— runs the saga of the Eternal Man, the one who never dies, called by various names in various times, but historically known as GilgameshGilgameshGilgamesh was the fifth king of Uruk, modern day Iraq , placing his reign ca. 2500 BC. According to the Sumerian king list he reigned for 126 years. In the Tummal Inscription, Gilgamesh, and his son Urlugal, rebuilt the sanctuary of the goddess Ninlil, in Tummal, a sacred quarter in her city of...
, the man who has never tasted death... the hero who strides through the centuries..."
(Narrator Vic Perrin
Vic Perrin
Vic Perrin was an American actor and voice artist. He is best remembered as the "Control Voice" in the original version of the TV series The Outer Limits ....
mistakenly says "Sumerican" instead of "Sumerian".)
Synopsis
Trent is a man with no memory of his life before the past ten days. His left hand has been replaced by an advanced computer shaped like his missing hand and protected by some transparent material. Three fingers are missing; the computer tells him they must be reattached before it can tell Trent what is going on. Trent is being hunted by a handful of humanoid aliens called the Kyben; they have the missing appendages. The action takes place in a large rundown office building which the Kyben have sealed off from the world. In his deadly game of hide-and-seek, Trent enlists the help of Consuelo Biros (Arlene MartelArlene Martel
Arlene Martel is an American actress and acting coach. Prior to 1964, she was frequently billed as Arline Sax, Arlene Sax, or sometimes as Tasha Martel....
), a woman who worked in the building and was trapped when the Kyben arrived.
For reasons unknown to him, Trent was sent into the past via a "time mirror", located in the building. A captured Kyben tells Trent that he and they are from a thousand years in the future. In that future, Earth has been conquered by the Kyben, but all the surviving humans except Trent have mysteriously vanished. The aliens are being obliterated by a "radioactive plague" that is killing all intelligent life on the planet, apparently unleashed by the humans in a last-ditch effort to repel the invasion. In a desperate attempt to find a cure for the plague and to extract whatever knowledge is stored in the hand-computer, the Kyben have followed him back in time with the missing fingers.
Eventually, Trent defeats all of his Kyben pursuers by ripping off the medallion-shaped devices they wear to anchor them in the past. Trent successfully destroys the mirror, and recovers the three missing fingers. With the computer now whole, he learns the terrible truth: that he is not a man, but a robot. The human survivors have been digitally encoded onto a gold-copper alloy wire wrapped around the solenoid
Solenoid
A solenoid is a coil wound into a tightly packed helix. In physics, the term solenoid refers to a long, thin loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electric current is passed through it. Solenoids are important because they can create...
in his thorax. Immune to disease, he must protect his precious cargo for 200 years after the Kyben invasion, by which time the plague will have dissipated. Then he will resurrect the human race.
Trent had thought he was a man, and he and Consuelo had begun to develop feelings for each other. With the truth revealed, she leaves him, pity mixed with horror in her eyes. Trent is left to face 1,200 years of lonely vigil.
Cast
- Robert CulpRobert CulpRobert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
as Trent - Arlene MartelArlene MartelArlene Martel is an American actress and acting coach. Prior to 1964, she was frequently billed as Arline Sax, Arlene Sax, or sometimes as Tasha Martel....
as Consuelo Biros - Abraham SofaerAbraham SofaerAbraham Sofaer was a stage actor of Burmese-Jewish descent who became a familiar supporting player on film and television in his later years. He was born in Rangoon, Burma...
as Arch - Bill Hart as Durn
- Rex Holman as Battle
- Robert Fortier as Budge
- Wally Rose as Kyben #1
- Fred Krone as Kyben #2
Awards
The teleplay by Harlan Ellison won several major awards:- 1965 Writers Guild of America AwardsWriters Guild of America Awards 1965The 18th Writers Guild of America Awards, given on 23 March 1966, honored the best film and television writers of 1965.-Film:*Best Written American Comedy:**A Thousand Clowns - Herb Gardner*Best Written American Drama:**The Pawnbroker - Morton S...
- Outstanding Script for a Television Anthology - 1972 Georges Melies Fantasy Film Award - Outstanding Cinematic Achievement in Science Fiction Television
Production
As originally written by Ellison, the episode depicted a sprawling, cross-country chase between the Kyben and Trent. Because this would have been prohibitively expensive, producer Robert H. JustmanRobert H. Justman
Robert Harris "Bob" Justman was an American television producer, director and production manager. He worked on many television series including Lassie, The Life of Riley, Adventures of Superman, The Outer Limits, Then Came Bronson and Mission: Impossible.- Career :Bob Justman was one of the...
suggested that Ellison rewrite the episode, containing most of the action in a single structure. Ellison agreed, realizing that the change from a linear pursuit to a vertical climb, ascending as the action developed, would make for heightened tension. Most of this episode was shot in the Bradbury Building
Bradbury Building
The Bradbury Building is an architectural landmark in Los Angeles, California. The building was built in 1893 and is located at 304 South Broadway in downtown.-History:...
, the same location used for the final scenes of Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
and a closing scene in the 1950 film noir classic D.O.A.
D.O.A. (1950 film)
D.O.A. , a film noir drama film directed by Rudolph Maté, is considered a classic of the genre. The frantically paced plot revolves around a doomed man's quest to find out who has poisoned him – and why – before he dies.Leo C...
Ellison's friendship with Robert Culp dates from the production of this episode. He found Culp to be very intelligent, quite a contrast to most actors, whom he described as "dips—strictly non compos mentis."
Adaptation and non-sequel
A graphic novelGraphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
adaptation, illustrated by Marshall Rogers
Marshall Rogers
Marshall Rogers was an American comic-book artist best known for his work at Marvel and DC Comics in the 1970s, particularly as one of the illustrators of Batman and Silver Surfer...
, was published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
January 1986. It was the fifth title of the DC Science Fiction Graphic Novel series.
During the run of Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
, series creator J. Michael Straczynski
J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski , known professionally as J. Michael Straczynski and informally as Joe Straczynski or JMS, is an American writer and television producer. He works in films, television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. He is a playwright, a former journalist,...
often said that Ellison would write a sequel to this story (possibly called "Demon in the Dust" or "Demon on the Run") as an episode. Ellison was a creative consultant on the series, but has since said that he never had any such intentions and it was just his friend Straczynski's wishful thinking.
However this directly contradicts a quote he made in a behind-the-scene book about Babylon 5 written during that show's third season.
“I want very much to write this script and Joe very much wants it, and I think it probably will get written during this next season, but one never knows. I don't want to promise because if you promise, then all of a sudden fans on the internet start screaming, 'Well, where is it, where is it? Why doesn't he do it, why isn't he doing it? He's late again, he's late again.' And then I have to get cranky, go to their house and nail their heads to a coffee table!”
In addition to "Demon With A Glass Hand", Ellison has written other stories set against the backdrop of the "Earth-Kyba War." He adapted five of these — "Run For the Stars", "Life Hutch", "The Untouchable Adolescents", "Trojan Hearse", and "Sleeping Dogs" — into the graphic novel Night and the Enemy (1987), illustrated by Ken Steacy
Ken Steacy
Ken “Value Added” Steacy is a Canadian comics artist and writer best known for his work on the NOW Comics comic book series of Astro Boy and of the Comico comic series of Jonny Quest, as well as his graphic novel collaborations with Harlan Ellison and Dean Motter...
.
Plagiarism
Many mainstream media outlets report that Demon with a Glass Hand was the basis of a settlement that Ellison received after it was allegedly plagiarized for The TerminatorThe Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...
. These claims were disputed by the argument that the claim and subsequent settlement were exclusively premised upon the argument that the opening moments of The Terminator had plagiarized the other Ellison script produced by The Outer Limits, "Soldier". Harlan Ellison himself clarified this in a 2001 exchange with a fan at his website: "'Terminator' was not stolen from 'Demon with a Glass Hand,' it was a ripoff of my OTHER Outer Limits script, 'Soldier.'")
According to The Los Angeles Times, the parties settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount, and an acknowledgement of Ellison's work in the credits of Terminator.
Sampling
The industrial band Cabaret VoltaireCabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.Their earliest performances...
sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
"Demon with a Glass Hand" extensively in the 1992 song "Soulenoid". The sample "There's 70 billion people of Earth, where are they hiding?" is also used in "Yashar", a track from their 1982 album 2x45
2x45
2x45 is an album by industrial/post-punk band Cabaret Voltaire, released in 1982 and re-released on CD on The Grey Area in 1990. The title comes from its original format - two 45 RPM 12" discs. The album features an industrial take on funk music, starting a trend featured on later albums...
.
Also, on their 1980 album The Voice of America', the track "Stay Out Of It" contains various samples: "the third part of your brain...you know where it is?", "don't kill me please please" and "the hand...tell me what to do".