Favorite dialogue-free moment?

Mine is the final shot of "Balance of Terror": Kirk has just consoled Angela (to the extent she needed it; she already had a new guy by the time of "Shore Leave") and, after a moment to reflect on what's been one hell of an episode, he turns and exits the chapel - and just as he leaves, the music switches to the main theme of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (energetic, neither major nor minor, a triangle jangling throughout) and suddenly he's surrounded by a wide variety of crew members all going somewhere purposefully, and of course he's doing so himself. For those few minutes he is just a part of his crew. And it ends beautifully: He walks (briskly) offscreen while the camera keeps moving backward and we continue to see everyone else going both ways down the corridor.

 

The Naked Time...the scenes of Joe Tormolen in the Crewmans’ Lounge before Sulu and Riley enter.

 

My big dialogue-free moments are all music-driven.

- "The Cage" and "The Menagerie": urgent attempt with hand lasers to rescue Pike from being abducted ("Bottled").

- Kirk's fistfight with Gary Mitchell in WNMHGB ("Situation Grave").

- Kirk's final trip to the bridge in "The Naked Time" ("The Big Go"). The landing party's arrival in "The Return of the Archons" is a second helping I'd eagerly wait for in the syndication era.

- "The Paradise Syndrome" ending with "Death of Miramanee."

 

- The landing party's discovery of the singing plants in "The Cage."

- Elaan's beam-in in the teaser, when everybody agrees to kneel before her without saying a word.

- The bum accidentally dematerializing himself in "The City on the Edge of Forever."

 

Preceded by two lovely pieces from "The Cage" while Kirk is with Angela: "Surivivors" (wordless) and "Doctor Bartender".

 

McCoy breaking the fourth wall at the end of Journey to Babel. One of the funniest things in TOS.

 

Oh, yeah. In the '70s, before Star Trek music releases and home video even seemed possible, I was very concerned about saving little gems like "Doctor Bartender" from extinction. The 16 mm syndication prints were visibly deteriorating, and I didn't know about the 35 mm negatives that were safely stored away, so I thought Star Trek as such was going to vanish from the Earth at some point. It was worrisome.

 

Kirk's stealing of the cloaking device - the tension is all based on the music.

 

Cute, but Leslie's cube is on the bridge!

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x22hd/byanyothernamehd0863.jpg

 

That was a great ending.

I have one in mind but I have to check to make sure there's no dialogue.

 

For me the OP's example is one of the very best. Immersing Kirk in the crewmembers for whose lives he is responsible. Although, as this episode shows all too well, he cannot keep them all alive.
However, another great dialogue free scene, for me, is the Lockheed F104 Starfighters taking off at the start of Tomorrow is Yesterday. It immediately takes us out of our usual futuristic space travel setting and establishes that we are firmly on current (at the time of original viewing) Earth.

 

Does laughter count? I recall "The Naked Time" when Spock is walking through a corridor and a crewman, having just painted on the wall "SINNER REPENT!" and cackling maniacally being a very effective moment.

 

Space Seed: knockout gas comes into conference room, everyone scrambles. Scotty heads for the door, re-thinks, pivots and sucker punches one of Khan's guys before running away.

 

Kirk wiping the blood from his mouth in the turbolift en route to the bridge in "The Naked Time".

Kirk tapping Styles console, as he's staring down Spock in "Balance of Terror".

 

I thought I recognised them!

 

Plus, that photo is so begging for a caption... so here goes:

Dude in the middle is rolling his eyes and his eyebrows look like a birdie about to fly away.

Dude on the right, the one who looks like that one chap in "Family Guy" only not in cartoon form, is angry he's not in the middle seat, not to mention it's the one time he isn't mugging the camera... possibly because he's embarrassed that his uniform delta is sewn on well below the others'... unless delta position has something to do with rank... or it's a section 31 thing, at which point I'm rolling my eyes just like the dude in the middle.

Lady on the left is actually wondering what's about to happen, the only actor to be in the zone as the other two seem zoned out.

"By Any Other Name" had some great moments. Certainly terrified me as a kid. And it is a neat way to commit suspended animation for a life form. Just don't pitch 'em into the grain silo where the quadratriticale and tribbles are...

 

Nah, he rises and punches the guy straight out of his chair, then heads for the exit, where he somehow demonstrates his immunity to the gas. He's awesome.

 

It’s not completely dialogue free, but the first few seconds of the opening credits of TOS before Shatner starts his narration is awesome.

 

Whilst not dialogue free, I do like the Captain’s Log by Lester in the opening of Act II in Turnabout Intruder. That, aided by Shatner's superb acting, really convey both Lester's new exploration of the ship she now commands, and her victory. And of course, only we the audience hear all this. Even down to the subtle sitting in the Captain’s chair the first time.

 

In the fourth act of The Enemy Within:

SULU: "Can't ... last ... much ... longer."

followed by that three-second shot of the Enterprise orbiting the planet -- no music, just a sound effect. My favorite dialogue- (and music-) free moment in all of Star Trek.