The story is basically one where nothing externally happens, that's really the point. The slow pace of the trip, the discovery of love, the loss of the old world.
But this episode, while retaining large chunks of dialogue from the short story, has conflict and mystery forced upon it. but not enough to turn it into a thriller or into a supernatural tale either. It's also like these elements were put in to make it TWILIGHT ZONEY and to try to have little cliff hangers before commercial breaks. A bigger problem may be in having the lead couple be bitter bickering people we are then forced to spend time with and watch smoke and drink in classic 50's era fashion.
So I'm saying the short story works, the longer screenplay, for the most part, doesn't.
The results are these changes don't track into the story leading to an obscure mystery ending that also doesn't track back to the moments of TV drama injected into it.
For example one cliff hanger moment has a nice old lady saying. "It means we don't have to kill you." Come back from commercial and the lead couple doesn't even seem worried or curious about this comment. The comment doesn't really make sense by stories end either.
The ship interiors themselves are pretty impressive, no doubt sets from some shipboard film, maybe even the, at the time, recent Titanic film. The cabin the couple has is carefully overdecorated as a honeymoon suite might be. Also an asset is a long involved music score by Rene Garriguenc, a regular and under appreciated part of the series crew.
The other thing forced onto the screenplay is almost to, Serlingize it. Instead of the loving newly weds of the original story we here have Beaumont(if indeed he did the adaptation himself) turning them into a typical Serling 1950's victim of the corporate rat race bickering with his wife who then turns to drink. It's hard to relate to this bitter lead couple as they basically hate each other and everybody else. It's also Serling like in that people talk and talk and talk.
So their encounters with the ship and the nice old couples aboard is supposed to transform the couple, but how any of this does that is a mystery. There are moments where the couple seems to want to get along, the actors do what they can, but the story never shows them change, they just suddenly are in love again. So, of course, the old people around them almost gain your sympathy and interest--only for the odd threatening moments.
The wife vanishes in mid sentence at one point leading to the husband running around looking for her only to have her reappear without explanation. This then is supposed to make the husband now appreciate his wife, but really, having to look for her for five minutes overcomes all? The wife has no such moment at all. Initially she is the hopeful one, this hope then gets crushed but we see no recovery.
The end of the short story is clear, if budget busting, ship exploding and sinking, in the episode it rides off into mystery and is never seen again, though you can still, I guess it may well have sank rather than get scrapped.
Like many of the hour long episodes the story is padded but in this case the padding doesn't match the rest of the piece of furniture that could be lovely.
So yes, fans of the older cast can enjoy some nice monologues they are given, but it all doesn't add up.
So I'm saying the short story works, the longer screenplay, for the most part, doesn't.
The results are these changes don't track into the story leading to an obscure mystery ending that also doesn't track back to the moments of TV drama injected into it.
For example one cliff hanger moment has a nice old lady saying. "It means we don't have to kill you." Come back from commercial and the lead couple doesn't even seem worried or curious about this comment. The comment doesn't really make sense by stories end either.
The ship interiors themselves are pretty impressive, no doubt sets from some shipboard film, maybe even the, at the time, recent Titanic film. The cabin the couple has is carefully overdecorated as a honeymoon suite might be. Also an asset is a long involved music score by Rene Garriguenc, a regular and under appreciated part of the series crew.
The other thing forced onto the screenplay is almost to, Serlingize it. Instead of the loving newly weds of the original story we here have Beaumont(if indeed he did the adaptation himself) turning them into a typical Serling 1950's victim of the corporate rat race bickering with his wife who then turns to drink. It's hard to relate to this bitter lead couple as they basically hate each other and everybody else. It's also Serling like in that people talk and talk and talk.
So their encounters with the ship and the nice old couples aboard is supposed to transform the couple, but how any of this does that is a mystery. There are moments where the couple seems to want to get along, the actors do what they can, but the story never shows them change, they just suddenly are in love again. So, of course, the old people around them almost gain your sympathy and interest--only for the odd threatening moments.
The wife vanishes in mid sentence at one point leading to the husband running around looking for her only to have her reappear without explanation. This then is supposed to make the husband now appreciate his wife, but really, having to look for her for five minutes overcomes all? The wife has no such moment at all. Initially she is the hopeful one, this hope then gets crushed but we see no recovery.
The end of the short story is clear, if budget busting, ship exploding and sinking, in the episode it rides off into mystery and is never seen again, though you can still, I guess it may well have sank rather than get scrapped.
Like many of the hour long episodes the story is padded but in this case the padding doesn't match the rest of the piece of furniture that could be lovely.
So yes, fans of the older cast can enjoy some nice monologues they are given, but it all doesn't add up.