Barrier of Silence

Unfortunately, this well-acted episode of the sci-fi series is utterly static, unfolding more like a radio play than a motion picture. A certain amount of suspense is generated, but so is a maximum amount of dullness.

Warren Stevens is in a coma, and two weeks of his life spent in Europe are missing. Adolphe Menjou plays a scientist trying to break through, experimenting on him with sound to break through, and ultimately discovering that "complete silence" breaks through.

Show's topic of destroying a human's will turns out be more about a new weapon of espionage, which Menjou ends up hoping will be beneficial to humanity. It's the opposite message of most science fiction, which more accurately poses the threat of new discoveries falling into the wrong hands, whether nuclear weapons or this far-fetched type of brainwashing technique. At any rate, the concept is poorly dramatized, and the emphasis on a Cone of Silence lent itself better to comedy a decade later on Mel Brooks/Buck Henry's tv series "Get Smart".