To Serve Man: Why Was This Classic Twilight Zone Episode Filmed Twice?

[film reel sound]

Based on a short story
by Damon Knight

and adapted for television by Rod

Serling, this Twilight Zone story is

arguably one of the best and most

remembered of the
entire series. And

that's saying something, as Rod

Serling's The Twilight Zone is one of

the most respected and probably the best

anthology series of all time.

Originally published in Galaxy Science

Fiction magazine in November of 1950, the

short story, To Serve Man, differed

somewhat from the TV adaptation, but the

story was basically the same.

A race of alien beings lands on Earth

and offers to bring mankind the peace

and plenty, which they themselves enjoy

and which they have in the past, brought

to other races throughout the galaxy. In

Knight's short story, the aliens or

Kanimits, as they're called, are short,

hairy pig-like creatures that walk

upright. But in The Twilight Zone episode,

they are nine-foot-tall giants with

enormous heads and telepathic powers of

communication.

It's great re-watching these classic

Twilight Zone episodes, as they are, in my

opinion, much better than anything on

television today. The effects may be

dated, but the stories and

characterizations are solid.

There are some minor plot holes, but the

writing and the dialogue are so good,

that they don't affect the basic story.

The story opens on board the Kanamit

spaceship in a framing sequence which

was later added by Rod Serling.

The main character, Michael Chambers, is

seen lying down, smoking a cigarette,

while a voice on the intercom tells him,

"It is the meal time. Kindly state your

preference."

Chambers then narrates the scene, as we

flash back to the Kanamit's first

appearance on Earth. There's a shot of

New York's Times Square and the United

Nations building and then a shot of a

UFO flying overhead.

It's footage taken from the 1951 film,

"The Day the Earth Stood Still."

Inside the U.N., they announce that the

first official arrival of alien

creatures from outer space has happened.

The air is filled with tension as the

alien enters the building. We don't

actually see the alien in this scene,

just his tall shadow, the shocked looks on

the delegates' faces, and the back of the

alien's head.

After that, we get the great Rod Serling

monologue that brings us to the first

break.

Respectfully submitted for your perusal,

a Kanamit.

Height a little over nine feet. Weight in

the neighborhood of 350 pounds.

Origin unknown.

An intriguing story with a shocking

twist ending, To Serve Man had its share

of production problems.

There were two
different versions

that were shot.

Then the footage from both versions was

combined to make the episode that we see

today.

Richard Kiel, later of James Bond

villain fame, plays the nine foot tall

Kanamit that first addresses the U.N. and

then he plays every Kanamit that was

seen after that.

Kiel was just over seven feet tall in

real life and wore a large prosthetic

appliance on his head to give the

appearance of a large brain

and he also wore thick soled platform

shoes to increase his height even more.

Kiel was in the
middle of filming the

movie, Eegah, a 1962
indie horror film, but

Director Richard Bare was able to shoot

around his filming schedule.

Pioneering makeup artist William Tuttle,

who also did the makeup for the classic

Twilight Zone episodes Nightmare at

20,000 Feet, Eye of the Beholder,

and The Masks, also created the

prosthetics used for the alien's head

and it's still very creepy to look at.

When we come back from break, we see that

the Kanamit is speaking, but his mouth

isn't moving, voicing instead through

some sort of telepathy. He says that they

come in peace and friendship and that

their intentions are honorable.

They wish above all things to help the

people of Earth.

They promise cheap unlimited energy, an

end to famine, and an end to all wars.

They only ask us to trust them, as they

have no ulterior motives. They just want

to help us.

After answering some questions from the

delegates, the Kanimit leaves behind a

book written in their alien language.

We then see our main character, Michael

Chambers, a government cryptographer who

was given the assignment of translating

the book.

People are naturally distrustful of the

Kanamit's intentions, but are slowly

persuaded to change their minds, as the

aliens begin to deliver on their

promises to put an end to world hunger,

energy shortages, and the arms race.

At this point, Patty,
a member of Chambers'

team, enters the room and happily

announces that they've
licked the book's

title. She presents a sheet of paper with

the title printed in English to Chambers

and two representatives
of the Army, who

are also there.

It's revealed that the title of the book

is To Serve Man

and Chamber seems to think that this

proves the intention of the aliens.

The Army reps are still skeptical, but

hopeful and Chambers tells them that if

true, they'll all be out of a job.

We then switch to a scene where a

Kanamit is taking a lie detector test.

They ask him questions while monitoring

the results.
How did you get to this

planet?

Walked.

Once again, how did you get to this

planet?
In a spaceship.

After the scientists are convinced that

the detector is working,

they ask what is the motive of the

Kanamit people in offering such great

gifts to the people of the Earth?

To bring to you the peace and plenty,

which we ourselves enjoy

and which we have in the past

brought to other races throughout the

galaxy.

After winning humanity's trust, the

aliens begin an exchange program with

the Kanamits coming to Earth while

humans go to the Kanamit homeworld to

enjoy a long vacation.

They don't know just how long it's going

to be. Everyone is excited to leave on

the alien spaceship, as they think

they're going off to some sort of

paradise. There's a great shot of people

stepping on a large scale before

boarding the spaceship and the Kanamit,

in great foreshadowing, has a really

creepy smile on his face.

After the famous "it's a cookbook" scene,

Chambers tries to run down the stairs of

the spacecraft, but is blocked by the

Kanamit and forced onto the ship.

The rest of the book, To Serve Man,

it's a cookbook!
[dramatic music]

No! No!

As the ship takes off, there's a shot of

a flying saucer taken from the 1956 film,

Earth Versus the Flying Saucers. Famous

special effects artist Ray Harryhausen

created the original effect, but is never

credited in the episode.

When Serling first watched the rough

cut of the episode, he wasn't happy with

it. Serling told the author, Damon Knight,

that they were going
to re-shoot some

scenes. And it was Rod's hope to at least

come within a few hundred yards of

Damon's great story.

They made plans to film additional

footage, rewrite the alien's dialogue, and

re-record the voice-over tracks.

In the original cut of the ending, when

Patty shouts "To Serve Man, it's a

cookbook!"

there was a close-up of Chamber's

shocked face as the alien's hand reaches

up to pinch his cheek, feeling for

tenderness, before shoving Chambers up

the stairs and closing the door.

Serling wrote the two additional scenes

at the beginning and ending with

Chambers on board the spacecraft as a

framing device to tie the episode

together.

They then used
the rest of the footage

that was already in the can as flashback

sequences with Chambers narrating.

It was the only Twilight Zone episode

where a character in the story directly

speaks to the viewers, other than

Serling himself.

Serling also rewrote his opening and

closing monologues to better reflect the

final episode. By the time the script

revisions were made, Kiel wasn't

available to re-record them, so Joseph

Ruskin stepped in to do the voiceover.

Ruskin had played
the genie in the

Twilight Zone episode, The Man in the

Bottle, but he was never credited in this

episode. Kiel himself stated he was so

tired after driving all night from one

job to another and then doing brutal

makeup, that when they gave him the

script for his lines, he wasn't prepared

and didn't do a
very good job on the

voiceover.

He wasn't surprised
that they

re-recorded his lines, just disappointed

in himself.

Serling left on a five-week vacation

and when he got
back and viewed the

results, he agreed it was much better

than before.

A number of scenes were deleted and the

order of some scenes was switched for

better clarity of storytelling.

Author Damon Knight was extremely

pleased with the episode's outcome and

shot off a note to Serling, thanking him

for making a dandy show that his kids

loved, but that they thought there should

have been more to the story.

Serling replied, telling Knight that he

wasn't sure that they did justice to his

story but every effort was made to do so

and he hoped they
were able to work

together again. That was not to be the

case though, as none of Damon's other

scripts ever made it into production. Was

this one of your
favorite Twilight Zone

episodes? If not, what are some of your

favorite episodes of this classic series?

I have so many
favorites, it would take

me a long time to write them all down.

But let me know
your thoughts in the

comments below and, as always, this is

Rich from Rerun Zone signing off.
Please,

Mr. Chambers, eat.

We wouldn't want you to lose weight.

[music]