Rocks: silent, inanimate objects torn from the Earth's ancient crust. Yielding up to man over the long centuries all that is known of the planet on which we live withholding from man forever their veiled secrets of the nature of matter and cosmic catastrophe, the secrets of other worlds in the vastness of the universe, of other forms of life, of strange organisms beyond the imagination of man.
Plotedit
Intelligent, parasitic extraterrestrials that resemble Terran rocks, intent on enslaving the human race, find a hideout in geologist Dr. Jonas Temple's lab. Although undetected by ordinary humans, physician Dr. Paul Cameron, who has a surgically implanted metal plate in his skull, is able to "hear" the alien "rocks" communicate with each other. Aware that he can hear them (while referring to Paul as "the listener"), they realize he is a threat, and compel him to kill himself by jumping from the lab window. At the last moment he is saved when his wife, Laurie, Dr. Temple's assistant, returns to the lab, breaking the aliens' mind control.
Thinking he is going insane, Paul takes an impulsive vacation to Mexico with Laurie to help clear his troubled mind. Dr. Temple, now controlled by one of the "rocks" after it enters his body, pursues them.
In Mexico, Laurie becomes possessed after Dr. Temple finds her alone in the remote desert cabin that she and Paul had rented, and is commanded by the aliens to possess her husband upon his return. Fighting for his life, Paul is forced to stab Temple, and shoot Laurie (though it is not clear that she dies), forcing the aliens to evacuate the bodies they inhabited, thus showing their true form –hideous, shiny-black, crab-like beings with two glowing eyes. He then starts a fire inside the cabin, where the aliens are presumably destroyed, while carrying Laurie's seemingly lifeless body away from the blaze.
Closing narrationedit
Two black crystalline rocks: unclassifiable. Objects on the border between the living and the nonliving. A reminder of the thin line that separates the animate from the inanimate. Something to ponder on. Something to stay the hand when it reaches out innocently for the whitened pebble, the veined stone, the dead unmoving rocks of our planet.
Backgroundedit
Adapted from Louis Charbonneau's novel Corpus Earthling, first published by Zenith Books in 1960. In the novel, Paul is an unmarried university instructor with amorous desires for Laurie, one of his students. He is a latent telepath who has been compelled, on at least three occasions, toward suicide by an alien force that calls him "the listener". The invaders were brought to Earth with the first geological samples from Mars (the story is set post 1990). Dr Temple, who diagnoses Paul as schizophrenic after he reveals he hears voices, is the first to be possessed when he touches the alien rocks with his tongue. At the end, after killing the aliens, Paul finds a telepathic girlfriend.[1]
This was the second of three episodes to star Robert Culp (the other two were "The Architects of Fear" written by Meyer Dolinsky and "Demon with a Glass Hand" by Harlan Ellison). Culp indicated that of the three episodes, he felt the "talking rocks" episode was the one he liked least of "The Outer Limits" episodes he shot.[2]
Original air dateedit
The original air date for the episode was four days prior to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The following episode, "Nightmare", would be delayed an extra week and would air on December 2, 1963.
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This article relies excessively on references to primary sources Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources Find sources Corpus Earthling news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2008 Learn how and when to remove this message Corpus Earthling is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show It first aired on 18 November 1963 during the first season Corpus Earthling The Outer Limits episodeEpisode no Season 1Episode 9Directed byGerd OswaldStory byLouis CharbonneauTeleplay byOrin BorstenCinematography byConrad HallProduction code16Original air dateNovember 18 1963 1963 11 18 Guest appearancesRobert Culp Salome JensEpisode chronology Previous The Human Factor Next Nightmare List of episodes Contents 1 Opening narration 2 Plot 3 Closing narration 4 Background 5 Original air date 6 Cast 7 References 8 External linksOpening narration editRocks silent inanimate objects torn from the Earth s ancient crust Yielding up to man over the long centuries all that is known of the planet on which we live withholding from man forever their veiled secrets of the nature of matter and cosmic catastrophe the secrets of other worlds in the vastness of the universe of other forms of life of strange organisms beyond the imagination of man Plot editIntelligent parasitic extraterrestrials that resemble Terran rocks intent on enslaving the human race find a hideout in geologist Dr Jonas Temple s lab Although undetected by ordinary humans physician Dr Paul Cameron who has a surgically implanted metal plate in his skull is able to hear the alien rocks communicate with each other Aware that he can hear them while referring to Paul as the listener they realize he is a threat and compel him to kill himself by jumping from the lab window At the last moment he is saved when his wife Laurie Dr Temple s assistant returns to the lab breaking the aliens mind control Thinking he is going insane Paul takes an impulsive vacation to Mexico with Laurie to help clear his troubled mind Dr Temple now controlled by one of the rocks after it enters his body pursues them In Mexico Laurie becomes possessed after Dr Temple finds her alone in the remote desert cabin that she and Paul had rented and is commanded by the aliens to possess her husband upon his return Fighting for his life Paul is forced to stab Temple and shoot Laurie though it is not clear that she dies forcing the aliens to evacuate the bodies they inhabited thus showing their true form hideous shiny black crab like beings with two glowing eyes He then starts a fire inside the cabin where the aliens are presumably destroyed while carrying Laurie s seemingly lifeless body away from the blaze Closing narration editTwo black crystalline rocks unclassifiable Objects on the border between the living and the nonliving A reminder of the thin line that separates the animate from the inanimate Something to ponder on Something to stay the hand when it reaches out innocently for the whitened pebble the veined stone the dead unmoving rocks of our planet Background editAdapted from Louis Charbonneau s novel Corpus Earthling first published by Zenith Books in 1960 In the novel Paul is an unmarried university instructor with amorous desires for Laurie one of his students He is a latent telepath who has been compelled on at least three occasions toward suicide by an alien force that calls him the listener The invaders were brought to Earth with the first geological samples from Mars the story is set post 1990 Dr Temple who diagnoses Paul as schizophrenic after he reveals he hears voices is the first to be possessed when he touches the alien rocks with his tongue At the end after killing the aliens Paul finds a telepathic girlfriend 1 This was the second of three episodes to star Robert Culp the other two were The Architects of Fear written by Meyer Dolinsky and Demon with a Glass Hand by Harlan Ellison Culp indicated that of the three episodes he felt the talking rocks episode was the one he liked least of The Outer Limits episodes he shot 2 Original air date editThe original air date for the episode was four days prior to the assassination of President John F Kennedy The following episode Nightmare would be delayed an extra week and would air on December 2 1963 Cast editRobert Culp as Dr Paul Cameron Salome Jens as Laurie Cameron Barry Atwater as Dr Jonas Temple David Garner as Ralph Ken Renard as Caretaker Robert Johnson as voice of Alien Rocks uncredited References edit Schow David J amp Jeffrey Frentzen The Outer Limits The Official Companion New York Ace Books 1986 p 157 Robert Culp 22 October 2017 External links edit Corpus Earthling appreciation by Mark Holcomb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Corpus Earthling amp oldid 1217396056, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
