The Twilight Zone: Season 1, Episode Fourteen “Third From The Sun”

Original Air Date: January 8, 1960
Writer: Rod Serling (based on Richard Matheson’s story of the same name)
Director: Richard L. Bare

“A lot can happen in a week. A lot can happen in forty-eight hours…”

Based on Richard Matheson’s 1950 short story of the same name (which first appeared in the October 1950 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine), Rod Serling stayed mostly true to the original story when he adapted the teleplay for “Third From The Sun.” Richard Matheson’s zany and paranoid characters highlight some of the best inner conflicts in The Twilight Zone. He once described the summum bonum of his writing philosophy as follows: “the individual isolated in a threatening world, attempting to survive.” And this guiding principle holds true for much of his work in The Twilight Zone. “Third From The Sun” was the first of seven episodes directed by Richard L. Bare, and cinematographer Harry Wild filled in for George T. Clemens on this episode, offering a unique perspective that I found to be quite striking.

“Quitting time at the plant. Time for supper now. Time for families. Time for a cool drink on a porch. Time for the quiet rustle of leaf-laden trees that screen over the moon. And underneath it all, behind the eyes of the men, hanging invisible over the summer night, is a horror without words. For this is the stillness before the storm. This is the eve of the end.”
-Rod Serling

Will “Bill” Sturka (played by Fritz Weaver) is a scientist who works at a covert military base developing large quantities of atomic bombs. They are preparing for imminent nuclear war (note: this episode was released a little over a year before the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion). In an effort to escape certain death, Sturka and his friend Jerry Riden (played by television actor Joe Maross) spend months prepping an spacecraft to bring their families along and escape the planet. However, just as they attempt to escape their boss their weasel-faced creepy boss, Carling (played by Edward Andrews) keeps checking on them. He makes it clear that government crackdowns are common for men working in top secret positions.

“You ever think, Sturka, there may be people on those stars too?”

The whole episode beautifully builds tension. Great beads of sweat drop off the men’s faces as they mask their plans beneath a facade of politeness. Meanwhile their boss Carling appears seemingly out of nowhere, offering ominous veiled warnings. There is one particularly memorable scene that is shot from beneath a glass coffee table showing the men’s escape plan, their nervous faces, and Carling’s eyes looming down over them. This whole episode is a nervous hand-wringer.

When Carling finally leaves their home Sturka and Riden decide they must depart that night wit their families. When they arrive at the base, their inside contact is waiting for them -a shadowy man who flashes a light at them. When he steps forward it is revealed to be none other than Carling. After a brief standoff they get into an altercation with Carling and subdue him before running onto the base, overpowering several guards, and commandeering their escape craft.

A short time later we see both families safely fleeing their planet. They wonder if there really is another planet out there populated with humans just like them. As the twist is revealed, Riden looks over at Bill and replies “It’s the third planet from the sun, Bill. It’s called ‘Earth.'”

“Behind a tiny ship heading into space is a doomed planet on the verge of suicide. Ahead lies a place called Earth, the 3rd planet from the sun. And for William Sturka and the men and women with him, it’s the eve of the beginning in the Twilight Zone.”
-Rod Serling

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My Thoughts on “Third From The Sun”

This engrossing, ominous, classic episode flips the standard narrative for a “space invader” on its head. This is actually an episode about escape rather than arrival. The twist ending is a surprising inversion of paranoid, nuclear-scared 1950s America. Today, we often wonder what other forms of life may be lurking in the outer reaches of an infinitely expanding space. Who’s to say there are not others just like us wondering the exact same thing?

Harry Wild’s disorienting cinematography particularly stands out in this episode with strange oblong shots tilted at Expressionist angles (prolific use of the “Dutch Tilt” camera technique), with shots beneath the glass card table or behind an antique sculpture, showcasing how utterly entrapped these characters truly feel. And no review of this episode would be complete without a sufficient praise of Edward Andrews’ unsettling portrayal of Carling, the ever-present lurking boss who constantly surveils his employees, always popping up at inconvenient moments.

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Credits:

• Director: Richard L. Bare
• Written by: Rod Serling (based on “Third From The Sun” by Richard Matheson originally published in the October 1950 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction, his second published story in the very first issue of Galaxy Science Fiction)
• Music: Stock
• Director of Photography: Harry Wild
• Production Manager: Ralph W. Nelson
• Art Directors: George W. Davis and William Ferrari
• Film Editor: Bill Mosher
• Assistant Director: Edward Denault
• Set Decorations: Henry Grace and Rudy Butler
• Sound: Franklin Milton and Philip Mitchell
• Casting Director: Mildred Gusse
• Starring:
  • Fritz Weaver…..Will Sturka
    • Fritz Weaver (1926-2016) appeared in over 170 theatre, television, and film productions in a career spanning nearly 60 years. He won the 1970 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance for his performance as Jerome Malley in the original Broadway production of Child’s Play, and was nominated for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for The Chalk Garden (1958). He was also well-known as a Shakespearean, and known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the musical Baker Street. He appeared in many science fiction and fantasy shows, including The Twilight Zone, ‘Way Out, Night Gallery, The Martian Chronicles, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and The X-Files. He had previously served in the Civilian Public Service as a conscientious objector during World War II. He was married twice and had two children. Years later, Fritz Weaver described his experience on The Twilight Zone as “a baptism by fire.” The actor was unfamiliar with acting in front of cameras, having spent his career in the theatre, and during filming, director Richard Bare had to guide Weaver along to use the props and appear more natural in his performance. He appeared again in The Twilight Zone episode “The Obsolete Man.”
  • Edward Andrews…..Carling
    • Edward Andrews (1914-1985) was a memorable character actor whose stark white hair, imposing build, and horn-rimmed glasses often cast him as an ornery boss, a cagey businessman, or other bureaucratic types. He appeared in many popular films, including Elmer Gantry (1960) in which he was memorable as George F. Babbitt in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961). He also appeared in countless television shows, his two episodes of The Twilight Zone were “Third From the Sun” and “You Drive.” He served as the captain and commanding officer of Battery C within the 751st Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army during World War II, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. He married and had three children.
  • Joe Maross…..Jerry Riden
    • Joe Maross (1923-2009) performed in a wide variety of series and made-for-television movies from the early 1950s to the mid-1980s, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason, Mission: Impossible, The Fugitive, The Outer Limits, Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Invaders, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, Twelve O’Clock High, Kentucky Jones, The Time Tunnel, Bonanza, and many others. He starred in two episodes of The Twilight Zone: “Third from the Sun” and “The Little People.”
  • Denise Alexander…..Jody Sturka
    • Denise Alexander (1939-2025) was best known for her role as Lesley Webber on General Hospital. This was her only episode of The Twilight Zone.
  • Lori March…..Eve Sturka
    • Lori March (1923-2013) was best known for her roles on daytime soap operas and six episodes of Perry Mason. Her obituary on the Television Academy’s web site noted that she was dubbed “First Lady of Daytime Television.”
  • Jeanne Evans…..Ann Riden
    • Jeanne Evans (1924-2012) was the wife of director Richard L. Bare. She also appeared in the Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man” (which was also directed by her husband).
  • S. John Lauder…..voice over loudspeaker
  • Will J. White…..a guard

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The Twilight Zone Trivia:

• Both Fritz Weaver and Edward Andrews appear in later Twilight Zone episodes as well. Fritz Weaver also appeared in “The Obsolete Man” and Edward Andrews also appeared in “You Drive.”
• Stock footage of the alien spaceship was used at a cost of $500 from Forbidden Planet (1956), a film which was borrowed from again and again throughout the series. The initial glimpse of the spaceship is a matte painting from the film. The interior set used for the United Planets Cruiser C-57D was also the same used in Forbidden Planet, as was the glass dome at the center of the controls (it was later reused in The Twilight Zone episode “Hocus-Pocus and Frisby“). Many of the props featured in this episode can be found in future Twilight Zone episodes like “People Are Alike All Over,” “I Shot an Arrow into the Air,” and “In His Image.”
• “Third From The Sun” was the first of seven episodes directed by Richard L. Bare. He had recently won a Directors’ Guild Award for best-directed television film of 1958 for “All Our Yesterdays.”
• The original story “Third From The Sun” by Richard Matheson was purchased by Cayuga Productions for $1,000.
• Rod Serling named Sturka’s daughters in this episode after his own two daughters, Jodi and Anne.
• The Earth is said to be 11 million miles from the planet in the episode, even though in reality the planet Venus is 24,600,000 miles from Earth.
• The opening scene of this episode of William Sturka leaving the security plant (called the Ministry of Science), was filmed on location at the Southern California Edison Substation, located at Culver and Overland Boulevards in Culver City, adjoining the MGM Transportation Pool. Permission was granted by Mr. John Davies, district superintendent, and Mr. Aughy (pronounced “Oye”). There was no charge for filming. It was shot on the third day of filming.
• The automobile that Sturka and Jerry use to flee with their family was the “Blue Danube” which was designed and built by George Barris who customied the Buick (and a number of other cars) for use in a key scene in The Time Machine.
• The “Time Passage” musical theme that recurs in this episode was taken from Bernard Herrmann’s Outer Space Suite.
• The odd looking telephone Sturka uses was considered a newer model at the time (“Ericofon”). It was a Swedish design that was largely prohibited from use in the United States due to AT&T’s monopolistic control of the market. It was built to appear futuristic but the trend never really caught on. The same phone would later be featured in the episode “One More Pallbearer.” If you look closely, the dial on the Ericofon is missing the number “9”. This wasn’t a prop error. Some models of the Ericofon “Cobra” had the cord entry where the 9 would have been.
• The painting hanging on the wall behind the card table is also featured in the episode “The Midnight Sun.”
• The sign reading “Security Gate 22” might have been a reference to Stage 22 where scenes for this episode were shot. The gate and signs were reused in the episode “People Are Alike All Over.”
• The people who exit Security Gate 22 at the beginning of the episode are “Parkinson, Chemical Warfare,” “Amberly, Hydrogen Armament,” “Mills, Germ Warfare Research.,” and “Sturka, Hydrogen Armament.”
• Sturka’s employee badge reads: “Employee 369-MI5 Restricted.”
• Actress Jean Evans was actually the wife of director Richard L. Bare. Two years later, he would arrange for her to again appear in the classic episode “To Serve Man.”
• Elements of this episode were incorporated into the original Battlestar Galactica series.
• Per a June 20, 1983 newspaper article, this episode was Stephen King’s favorite of the series.
• The odd music playing when Sturka goes home is actually a piece called “Teddy’s Blues” by French avant-garde Jacques Lasry. Lasry wrote the song for his son Teddy. Lasry had formed a musical group with his wife and their music was featured in Jean Cocteau films, and one of their unusual instruments was featured in this episode (there are several little clues in the show that suggest the men are not on planet Earth).

Click here to return to my survey of The Twilight Zone series.

Click here for my Short Story Review: “Third from the Sun” by Richard Matheson