The Inheritors (episode)
Encyclopedia
"The Inheritors" is the only two-part episode of the original The Outer Limits
television show. Part I was first aired on November 21, 1964; Part II on November 28, 1964.
) is shot in the head. Rescued, he is operated on by American doctors. Adam Ballard (Robert Duvall
) watches the operation. Minns begins to show the same brainwave patterns that three other men have shown — each one shot in the head by a bullet made from a meteorite fragment.
Ballard explains to his superior (played by Ted De Corsia
) that he believes the Earth has been invaded, and that these four men are in league with the extraterrestrials.
As Ballard investigates, he discovers that the men are building a starship. He also discovers that Lt. Minns is going around recruiting children to take with him on a long trip. All the children are handicapped in some way — from being blind, to being deaf/mute, to having to walk with leg-braces, and so on.
Ballard is afraid these helpless children are being taken somewhere to be subjected to degrading studies and hideously painful experiments. He finds the location where the ship has been built, but the men within are sealed off by a force field which nothing can get through. Ballard begs the men to fight the "Charlie" in their heads, turn off the force field, and not kidnap the children.
Three of the four men attempt to do just that, obliging Lt. Minns to explain the project's purpose. The children are not to be studied, they are to be helped. They will be taken to a new world, where their handicaps will be healed. Indeed, the special air within the spaceship has even now healed them.
Ballard is allowed to go inside the ship, and sees what Minns says is true. He exits, and the four men are given a choice, stay on Earth or go with the children. They elect to leave with the children for a new world and a new life.
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 show. Part I was first aired on November 21, 1964; Part II on November 28, 1964.
Introduction
Four U.S. Army soldiers, with nothing in common other than having served in a combat zone and been shot in the head with bullets forged from a meteorite, cheat death and begin working on a mysterious project. Intelligence officer Adam Ballard attempts to unravel the mystery behind the strange behavior of the men, who have each attained I.Q.s of over 200.Opening narration (The Inheritors, Part I)
- In the troubled places of the world, the Devil's Hunter finds rare game. For man-made savagery is only the instrument for a secret terror stirring from its dark place of ambush...
Plot
Lt. Minns (played by Steve IhnatSteve Ihnat
Steve Ihnat was a Czechoslovakian-born actor and director. He immigrated to Canada when he was five years old, and later became a United States citizen.-Early life:...
) is shot in the head. Rescued, he is operated on by American doctors. Adam Ballard (Robert Duvall
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
) watches the operation. Minns begins to show the same brainwave patterns that three other men have shown — each one shot in the head by a bullet made from a meteorite fragment.
Ballard explains to his superior (played by Ted De Corsia
Ted de Corsia
Ted de Corsia was a radio and movie actor.He is probably best remembered for his role as a gangster turned state's evidence in The Enforcer...
) that he believes the Earth has been invaded, and that these four men are in league with the extraterrestrials.
As Ballard investigates, he discovers that the men are building a starship. He also discovers that Lt. Minns is going around recruiting children to take with him on a long trip. All the children are handicapped in some way — from being blind, to being deaf/mute, to having to walk with leg-braces, and so on.
Ballard is afraid these helpless children are being taken somewhere to be subjected to degrading studies and hideously painful experiments. He finds the location where the ship has been built, but the men within are sealed off by a force field which nothing can get through. Ballard begs the men to fight the "Charlie" in their heads, turn off the force field, and not kidnap the children.
Three of the four men attempt to do just that, obliging Lt. Minns to explain the project's purpose. The children are not to be studied, they are to be helped. They will be taken to a new world, where their handicaps will be healed. Indeed, the special air within the spaceship has even now healed them.
Ballard is allowed to go inside the ship, and sees what Minns says is true. He exits, and the four men are given a choice, stay on Earth or go with the children. They elect to leave with the children for a new world and a new life.
Closing narration (The Inheritors, Part I)
Man looks up at the stars, and dreams his futile dreams. Child of the universe, his toys are ignorance, his games, fantasy. Not even master of his own fate, it is the Devil's Puppeteer who stretches his fingers to answer the question: What will happen next?Opening narration (The Inheritors, Part II)
The Earth, tumbling grain of sand in the darkness of unending space, plays host to a strange and awful guest, unsought, uninvited, possessor of fearsome power, purveyor of dark deed, a relentless traveler on the road to its mysterious goal...Closing narration (The Inheritors, Part II)
The Inheritors are on their way. In a universe of billions of stars, there are places of love and happiness. On this Earth, in this spot, magic settled for a moment. Wonder touched a few lives, and a few odd pieces fell smoothly into the jigsaw of Creation.Cast
- Robert DuvallRobert DuvallRobert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....
– as Adam Ballard - Donald Harron – as Art Harris
- Steve IhnatSteve IhnatSteve Ihnat was a Czechoslovakian-born actor and director. He immigrated to Canada when he was five years old, and later became a United States citizen.-Early life:...
– as Lt. Minns - Ivan DixonIvan DixonIvan Dixon was an American actor, director, and producer best known for his series role in the 1960s sitcom Hogan's Heroes, for his role in the 1967 telefilm The Final War of Olly Winter, and for directing hundreds of episodes of television series...
– as Sgt. James Conover - Dee Pollock – as Francis Hadley, PFC
- James FrawleyJames FrawleyJames Frawley is an American director and actor. Frawley was born in Houston, Texas. He has worked on Smallville, Ghost Whisperer, Judging Amy and The Monkees, as well as many other programs...
– as Pvt. Robert Renaldo - Ted de CorsiaTed de CorsiaTed de Corsia was a radio and movie actor.He is probably best remembered for his role as a gangster turned state's evidence in The Enforcer...
– as Randolph E. Branch - Kim Hector – as Johnny Subiron
Part I only
- James ShigetaJames ShigetaJames Shigeta is an American film and television actor. He is also a standards singer, musical theatre and nightclub performer, and recording artist. He is a Nisei or second-generation American of Japanese ancestry.-Early life:...
– as AIO Captain Newa - Dabbs GreerDabbs GreerRobert William "Dabbs" Greer was an American actor who performed many diverse supporting roles in film and television for some fifty years. His distinctive, southern-accented voice fitted well in shows featuring rustic characters, such as westerns...
– as E. F. Larkin - William Winterside (William Wintersole) – as Prof. Andrew Whitsett
- Robert Cinder – as Jessup
- Leon AskinLeon AskinLeon Askin was an Austrian actor best known for portraying the character "General Burkhalter" on the TV sitcom Hogan's Heroes.-Early life:...
– as Shop Superintendent - Sy Prescott – as The Guard
- Linda Hutchings – as The Nurse
- Robert J. Nelson – as The Surgeon
- Yoneo Iguchi – as Soldier (uncredited)
Part II only
- Jan Shutan – as Mrs. Subiron
- Joanne Stuart – as Miss Steen
- Paulle Clark – as Second Nurse
- David Brady – as Danny Masters
- Suzanne Cupito (Morgan BrittanyMorgan BrittanyMorgan Brittany is an American film and television actress. She is possibly best known for her role in the 1980s primetime soap opera Dallas, where she portrayed Katherine Wentworth, the scheming younger half-sister of Pamela Ewing and Cliff Barnes.-Early career:Under her birth name, Brittany...
) – as Minerva Gordon - Jon CedarJon CedarJon Cedar was an American character actor, screenwriter and producer. Cedar's best known roles included Corporal Karl Langenscheidt on the CBS television series, Hogan's Heroes, which aired from 1965 to 1971...
– as Grainger (uncredited) - Charles Herbert – as Boy (uncredited)
- Michel Petit – as Child (uncredited)
- John Harding – as Kid #1 (uncredited)
External links
- "The Inheritors" appreciation by David C. Holcomb
- "The Inheritors" – Part 2 at TV.com
- "The Inheritors" Photobook