Best directed scenes from TOS

[Talos IV]

Always nice when a talented director took already-strong material and made it even better. Some of my favorites:

* the Riley milk poisoning scene from "The Conscience of the King" -- love the way Gerd Oswald shot the close-ups as Riley picks up the glass, thinks, then drinks. (The whole episode is beautifully directed.)

* the Red Hour scene from "The Return of the Archons" (great action and camerawork -- Joseph Pevney, director)

* the Tormolen-goes-berserk rec room scene from "The Naked Time" (tons of great reaction shots -- Marc Daniels, director)

* the Rigel XII indoor scene with Kirk, Spock and others early in Act IV of "Mudd's Women" (excellent hand-held camera -- Harvey Hart, director)

These are just a few favorites. Some others?

 

[GNDN18]

Harvey Hart's direction elevated a weak western into a playful, yet often tense, early episode. The scene on the bridge where Kirk, Spock, and Scotty ponder the problems of a million gross tons of vessel being powered by a single cracked crystal is claustrophobic. The actors are reading their lines through gritted teeth, but inflected with gallows humor.

Shatner played this part as a much older and far wearier Kirk than we would come to know. The shot of him sitting forlornly at the conn, looking downward and stroking his eyebrows, is brilliant. The composition and the performance render the Captain's Log voiceover superfluous.

Let's not forget Roger C. Carmel, or the incredibly well-drawn characterizations (especially when you consider the lines written), rendered by Karen Steele, Maggie Thrett, and Susan Denberg. And who would have imagined a puckish Spock.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hart crossed Mr. Justman's hawse and he would not be invited back. The in-camera cutting led to some interesting editorial and continuity, for sure, but the scenes were composed so cinematically that I wish Bahb could have overlooked the scheduling problems.

 

[Zaminhon]

I just watched Return of the Archons and noticed the "trolley tracks" down the middle of the steet. L.A. had an old retired electric streetcar system, wondering if those tracks were leftover from that, or perhaps they were used as a track for the camera dolly? Interesting, and definitely out of place in that episode.

 

[Talos IV]

Harvey Hart's direction elevated a weak western into a playful, yet often tense, early episode.

Indeed. I've about decided that "Mudd's Women" is the best-directed episode of the entire series (sloppy reaction shots of McCoy from the wrong scene notwithstanding). If only Hart had been invited back!

More favorites:

* The Marvick-goes-mad sequence from "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" (director Ralph Senensky showing us the side of the bridge we almost never see)

* The teaser from "What are Little Girls Made Of?" (out-of-focus backgrounds of Nurse Chapel followed by nifty zoom-ins to her and Uhura)

 

[Melakon]

I just watched Return of the Archons and noticed the "trolley tracks" down the middle of the steet. L.A. had an old retired electric streetcar system, wondering if those tracks were leftover from that, or perhaps they were used as a track for the camera dolly? Interesting, and definitely out of place in that episode.

Those were filmed on the old "40 Acres" backlot, with some facades dating back to Gone With the Wind and earlier.

http://www.retroweb.com/40acres.html

One might interpret those trolley tracks as a sign that the Beta III inhabitants once had a technology more advanced than the landing party finds.

Is that Sid Haig in your avatar? He's one of the Lawgivers.

 

[BillJ]

The "what's you prognosis?" scene from "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

 

[GNDN18]

The "what's you prognosis?" scene from "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

That is a riveting scene.

"You were a psychiatrist once. You know the ugly, savage things we all keep buried, that none of us dare expose. But he'll dare. Who's to stop him? He doesn't need to care."​

The way Shatner prowls the soundstage, vigilant for inevitable Mitchell's arrival is a striking counterpoint to Kellerman's divine aloofness. Excellent scene.

 

[Trimm]

Some great choices here. Let me point to one I don't think many will agree with, and that's the self destruct sequence in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.

On paper, that's a really static bridge scene. But the direction really brings a large amount of tension to the scene. I'm especially fond of the zoom ins on Lokai, Sulu, and Chekov.

 

[GNDN18]

Let me point to one I don't think many will agree with, and that's the self destruct sequence in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.

That is a landmark scene! Every auto-destruct sequence that followed (and, my, there have been a lot across the generations), owes a debt to LTBYLB. The deliberate way TSFS emulated this scene was more than a poignant call back: it heralded the end of the voyages of that starship Enterprise by invoking dialogue from the five-year mission, making the destruction of the ship all the more heartbreaking.

Although the shot selection and the pacing are a products of its time (not to mention the nicotine stained teeth!), it is a surprisingly suspensful bit of film, one of historic importance to the franchise.

 

[Ssosmcin]

The "what's you prognosis?" scene from "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Every time I watch this scene, which is pretty often, I think "Shatner just sold the series." The whole episode is splendid, but his energy, passion and mad skills really bring the entire episode to life.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The "what's you prognosis?" scene from "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

That is a riveting scene.

"You were a psychiatrist once. You know the ugly, savage things we all keep buried, that none of us dare expose. But he'll dare. Who's to stop him? He doesn't need to care."​

The way Shatner prowls the soundstage, vigilant for inevitable Mitchell's arrival is a striking counterpoint to Kellerman's divine aloofness. Excellent scene.

Tense, effective shot selection. The height of kirk's pleas were tight close ups--his partial anger and desperation sold on his face, then, the scene going back to the wide, in anticiaption of the conflict, the camera not yet revealing Mitchell in the open area. There's a creepiness and drama about it all.

 

[CrazyMatt]

A few come to mind...

1. The scene with Spock embarrassingly trying to explain Pon Farr to Kirk in his quarters (directed by Joe Pevney). Also backed by some great music from Gerald Fried...

2. The Edith Keeler death scene (also directed by Joe Pevney).

3. A shout out to my inspiration... The scene in The Doomsday Machine where Decker tearfully admits to Kirk that his crew is dead, victims of their own commander's misjudgment (directed by Marc Daniels).

 

[T'Girl]

^"Don't you think I know that?"

Single best delivered line of dialog in all of Trek.

 

[EnsignHarper]

A LOT of Naked Time - if not the whole thing:

All of the corridor shots - the camera tracking is done just right for each scene- Riley playfully stumbling down the way to sicbay, then 'blowing open' the doors - too funny! Spock trying to maintain his composure when he is infected, stiffing himself up when crew people walk by, then losing it after they are gone, etc.

I will always maintain the whole last act is as well directed as any - Spock's slow meltdown in the briefing room especially: One long slow dolly shot, one take, done with the clock ticking - both production wise, and the story also! And then what follows - Kirk coming in...slapping Spock, who BLASTS Kirk with the flick of a wrist, Kirk realizing he is melting down..Spock dawning on a possible solution, and then Scotty walks in to see both the Captain an 1st Officer off their rockers - the look on Scott's face is PRICELESS - Kirk mooning about not being able to notice Rand...realizing that the ship is his true mistress And then when Kirk is leaving the room, trying to gather himself...and then the way Shatner stiffly leaves the room...pausing one more second to look up, and half murmur...."never lose you.....", all really great stuff.

Mirror, Mirror might the best epidsoe as a whole, Daniels does things JUST different enough to make you feel a little uneasy. He works better than most with the background people - a lot of which are not the usual group of Paskey, Blackburn, etc in this one (look at the guy at Bridge Engineering)...He also was apparently the one who gave Spock a Vulcan bodyguard - a GREAT touch it took me a LONG time to notice.

Daniels and Pevney, are, naturally the two most consistent directors Trek had, most of the ones from the third season are pretty awful...

 

[EnsignHarper]

An appreciation of Marc Daniels

 

[CorporalCaptain]

A really excellent scene is of Rojan crushing the cuboctahedron of Yeoman Thompson.

Marc Daniels directed "By Any Other Name."

I like the whole segment, from distilling Thompson and the guard to Kirk picking up some dust of Thompson.

 

[BillJ]

The "what's you prognosis?" scene from "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Every time I watch this scene, which is pretty often, I think "Shatner just sold the series." The whole episode is splendid, but his energy, passion and mad skills really bring the entire episode to life.

+1

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The "what's you prognosis?" scene from "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Every time I watch this scene, which is pretty often, I think "Shatner just sold the series." The whole episode is splendid, but his energy, passion and mad skills really bring the entire episode to life.

Shatner was the magnet of that episode--I cannot imagine Hunter (in any performance I can recall from the man) generating that much energy, pain and fearlessness all in the same scenes.

 

[Dale Sams]

^"Don't you think I know that?"

Single best delivered line of dialog in all of Trek.

I favor "Tomlinson!" when Stiles sees the phaser coolant escaping. He knows that stuff is some bad news. Given there are no respirators around, it must have nerve gas effects.

 

[Trimm]

A subtle moment, but well directed is the moment in Operation: Annihilate where Kirk tells McCoy that the satellites worked. The shot of Shatner saying "Bones...Bones..." is just beautifully lit and framed, and a fine bit of delivery by Shatner too.