rogueforte

As most others are saying, this is one of the better TZ episodes, and it's entirely due to 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance', soon-to-be-famous trio. Their A-list movie acting is what really sells the story and you have to wonder how that came about, considering how close it was to the making of the movie. Serling must have had some connections that got those guys together to make a few extra bucks before the movie was released the following year, not to mention it could have helped publicity. It was quite a shrewd move, however it was accomplished.

And then there's the little-known Elen Willard. I swear, she looks like a younger version of the omnipresent Antoinetted Bower, mainly her cat's eyes.

Even the obvious cemetery set works, adding to the surreal, dream-like quality of the set-up. It reminds me of the great 'Night of the Hunter'.

All told, it's just a high-quality episode that verifies that TZ could occasionally cross-over from just a better tv show to a great one.

There were some terrific Cold War thrillers in the sixties: 'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold' and 'The Quiller Memorandum', to name a couple. But this isn't one of them.

Another reviewer said it's a mash-up of 'Fantastic Voyage' and 'Escape from New York'. Throw in a little of 'Dr. No', and that about sums it up. Unfortunately, it works about as well as someone would expect, which is to say, not at all.

Besides the contrived premise, I also found the soundtrack annoying. And Arthur Hill wearing glasses with one lens darkened? Isn't that more of a bad guy thing? A scheming George Smiley (or even 'M') spy puppet-master he most definitely is not.

The whole thing is a mess. Even the title is a strange choice that has little to do with the movie since 'the chairman' (Keye Luke) plays only a minor role that has virtually nothing to do with the plot. I suspect the character was thrown in as an effort to add some period relevancy.

Gregory Peck is simply not movie espionage material. He's no Sean Connery, or even George Lazenby. Another reviewer theorized that Peck needed a paycheck and, man, does it seem that way here. Really, 'The Chairman' is only for diehard Peck fans, and I suspect even they will be disappointed.

It seems strange to say that, other than 'The Omen', by this time in Peck's career, he had peaked and was already beginning to wind down, taking on movie roles he had no business doing.

This episode is pretty much limited to interactions between Martin Landau and Barbara Luna with zero of the technical gizmos and machinations MI is known for.

If someone likes Luna, that's enough; she was extremely attractive and her acting was okay (for television, anyway). One of my favorite tidbits about her is she lost out to Rita Moreno for the role of Anita in 'West Side Story'. Now, wouldn't that have been interesting casting.

But, otherwise, this is a snooze-fest as far as MI episodes go. All the goofy, psychological mumbo-jumbo and halucinations just doesn't work without Barney, Willie, and their gadgets.