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The Invaders (The Twilight Zone)
Encyclopedia
"The Invaders" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone
.
) is apparently living alone in a very rustic cabin. She is dressed shabbily and there are no modern conveniences in evidence. After hearing a strange noise from the sleeping loft, she is accosted by small intruders that come from a miniature flying saucer
that has landed on her house, equipped with two tiny people in spacesuits. In proportion to the old woman, the intruders appear to be only a few inch
es high.
She battles them for many minutes, finally killing one and following the other back to his ship. There she hears one of the space-suited intruders, speaking in English
with an apparent American accent (voiced by Director Douglas Heyes
), send off a desperate warning to other potential invaders that the people from the planet are giants and very difficult to defeat, after which she destroys the ship with a hatchet
and then, exhausted, collapses. (Before this scene, the episode has no dialogue
.)
The camera pans and we see the side of the ship display U.S. Air Force
Space Probe No. 1.
Although NASA was formed in 1958, a US Air Force logo appears on the ship.
As in many episodes, props were recycled from Forbidden Planet
(1956). Most noticeable here is the United Planets Cruiser.
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
.
Synopsis
An old woman (Agnes MooreheadAgnes Moorehead
Agnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. Although she began with the Mercury Theatre, appeared in more than seventy films beginning with Citizen Kane and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than thirty years, Moorehead is most widely known to modern audiences...
) is apparently living alone in a very rustic cabin. She is dressed shabbily and there are no modern conveniences in evidence. After hearing a strange noise from the sleeping loft, she is accosted by small intruders that come from a miniature flying saucer
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
that has landed on her house, equipped with two tiny people in spacesuits. In proportion to the old woman, the intruders appear to be only a few inch
Inch
An inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
es high.
She battles them for many minutes, finally killing one and following the other back to his ship. There she hears one of the space-suited intruders, speaking in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
with an apparent American accent (voiced by Director Douglas Heyes
Douglas Heyes
Douglas Heyes was an American film and television writer, director, producer, actor, and composer with a long list of accomplishments.He was the father of actor Douglas Heyes, Jr..He died in Beverly Hills, California....
), send off a desperate warning to other potential invaders that the people from the planet are giants and very difficult to defeat, after which she destroys the ship with a hatchet
Hatchet
A hatchet is a single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade used to cut and split wood...
and then, exhausted, collapses. (Before this scene, the episode has no dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
.)
The camera pans and we see the side of the ship display U.S. Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
Space Probe No. 1.
Trivia
This is the only episode with only one person and no spoken dialog at all (except at the very end); Agnes Moorehead performs primarily in pantomime.Although NASA was formed in 1958, a US Air Force logo appears on the ship.
As in many episodes, props were recycled from Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet is a 1956 science fiction film directed by Fred M. Wilcox, with a screenplay by Cyril Hume. It stars Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, and Anne Francis. The characters and its setting have been compared to those in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and its plot contains certain...
(1956). Most noticeable here is the United Planets Cruiser.
See also
- "Third from the SunThird from the Sun"Third from the Sun" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a short story of the same name by Richard Matheson.-Synopsis:...
", a Twilight Zone episode in which two families flee their planet on the verge of a nuclear war. - List of The Twilight Zone episodes