January 20, 1959 (1959-01-20) – July 4, 1961 (1961-07-04)
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (also known as One Step Beyond) is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The original series was broadcast for three seasons by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) from January 1959 to July 1961.
Overview
Created by Merwin Gerard and produced by Collier Young, One Step Beyond was hosted by John Newland, "your guide to the supernatural" (also credited as "Our guide into the world of the unknown"). Newland, who also directed every episode, presented tales that explored paranormal events and various situations that defied "logical" explanation. One Step Beyond purported only to tell stories based on "human record" (documented historical events).
Unlike other anthology programs, the ABC network series episodes were presented in the form of straightforward 30-minute docudramas, all said to be based on "human record" (implying historically factual events); however, the incidents depicted were closer to popular urban legends dramatized for the screen. The program included the corporate name of sponsor Alcoa in its title for its initial run. In syndication, the program title became simply One Step Beyond.[1]
One Step Beyond filled the time slot at 10 p.m. Tuesday vacated by the crime/police reality showConfession.
Among its varied tales, One Step Beyond dealt with premonition of death ("The Day the World Wept: The Lincoln Story") and disaster ("Tidal Wave", "Night of April 14th"); the existence of ghosts ("The Last Round", "The Death Waltz"); and wildly improbable coincidence ("Reunion"). Paula Raymond appeared in the third episode of the first season, initially broadcast on February 3, 1959, in the episode titled "Emergency Only," which also featured Jocelyn Brando as a screaming fortune teller at a party. Joan Fontaine and Warren Beatty play husband and wife in the episode "The Visitor."
"The Sacred Mushroom"
A January 1961 episode, "The Sacred Mushroom," deals with the discovery of mind-altering drugs. Newland traveled to Mexico where he met with a local shaman who was an initiate in ritual use of magic mushrooms. The then-unknown mushrooms were purportedly able to increase the user's psychic powers. Newland ingested several mushrooms and allowed his reactions to be filmed for broadcast. This was the only episode of the entire series to have a relatively reality-based "documentary" tone, rather than the scripted docudramas that comprised all other episodes. Although the subject matter (the enhancement of psychic powers) accorded with the rest of the series, this episode was somewhat controversial and was omitted from the syndication; it has been seen only rarely since its original broadcast. However, according to Newland, it was the most popular episode of the series.[2][3] A complete transcript of this episode is reproduced in chapter seven of The Sacred Mushrooms of Mexico by Brian Akers.
Writing staff
The show used a large number of writers. Larry Marcus was the most prolific contributor, with over 30 episodes to his credit. Marcus would later win an Emmy for his work on Route 66, and receive an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for The Stunt Man.
Charles Beaumont wrote two episodes of One Step Beyond just before jumping over to The Twilight Zone, to which he was a major contributor. Francis Cockrell also wrote two episodes; he was a frequent writer on Alfred Hitchcock Presents and would later contribute to the second season of The Outer Limits.
The last 13 episodes of the third season were filmed at MGM Studios, Borehamwood, England, due to a suggestion by Newland. According to Newland, "I thought it would give a little boost to the show because Great Britain offered good actors, good situations, and good settings. We sought permission from Alcoa, and they okayed it."[4]
Music
Harry Lubin composed the music for the series with a soundtrack album, Music from 'One Step Beyond' released by Decca Records (DL 8970) in 1960. The most well-known tracks of the series were entitled: "Weird" (originally composed by Lubin for the score of an April 1955 Loretta Young Show episode, "Feeling No Pain"), usually played when the supernatural aspect of the episode was being discussed, and "Fear" that became the musical theme of the series.
A woman (Barbara Lord) has a recurring nightmare of drowning in cold, dark water. The next day her fiancé (Patrick Macnee) announces that the couple will honeymoon aboard the RMS Titanic. Other premonitions of that disaster are also revealed.
In a hypnotic trance at a cocktail party, Ellen Larrabee (Jocelyn Brando) predicts a dangerous train trip for a skeptical witness, thereby preventing a collision. With Paula Raymond.
4
4
"The Dark Room"
John Newland
Francis Cockrell
February 10, 1959 (1959-02-10)
A photographer (Cloris Leachman) on assignment in the south of France is almost strangled by one of her subjects (Marcel Dalio), who turns out to be the ghost of a murderer.
5
5
"Twelve Hours to Live"
John Newland
Merwin Gerard
February 17, 1959 (1959-02-17)
After an argument with his wife (Jean Allison), a man drives away in a storm and suffers a car accident. She suddenly feels that his life is in danger. The telepathic clues she receives from him, and her determination, result in his rescue.
Carl Archer (Charles Aidman), a recovering alcoholic travels to Nevada to reconcile with his wife, Helen (Julie Adams). She and son Stevie visit a nearby silver mine when the mine collapses. Helen dies and her ghost leads Carl and others to rescue Stevie.
7
7
"The Dream"
John Newland
John Dunkel
March 3, 1959 (1959-03-03)
In World War II, Herbert Blakely (Reginald Owen), on night lookout near a coastal British town, dreams about bombs falling on his wife, and she dreams of German commandos attacking his outpost. They both awaken in time to be saved as the double dream proves true.
After the death of her mother, a haunted nursery and three dolls help a young girl reconcile with her dad. With Joanne Linville.
10
10
"The Vision"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
March 24, 1959 (1959-03-24)
French troops stop fighting and desert their trenches during World War I.
11
11
"The Devil's Laughter"
John Newland
Alfred Brenner
March 31, 1959 (1959-03-31)
In late 19th century London, prison authorities are having trouble with convicted killer John Marriott: they cannot seem to execute him.
12
12
"The Return of Mitchell Campion"
John Newland
Merwin Gerard
April 7, 1959 (1959-04-07)
A man (Patrick O'Neal) is known by everyone on a small Mediterranean island that he has never visited. Soon he, too, remembers being there before, but he was in the hospital at the time of the supposed visit. With Lilyan Chauvin.
A stowaway sends a ship off course. Because of the ships' altered position, it is able to save some of the crew of a sunken vessel. It later transpires that the stowaway was on the sunken vessel and died shortly after it sank.
14
14
"The Secret"
John Newland
Michael Plant
April 21, 1959 (1959-04-21)
An unhappy woman (Maria Palmer) is befriended by a man who lived and died long before she was born.
15
15
"The Aerialist"
John Newland
Jack Mills / Larry Marcus
April 28, 1959 (1959-04-28)
A distraught and depressed circus performer (Mike Connors) is protected from a fall by an unlikely savior. With Yvette Vickers.
While transporting a Nazi official (Werner Klemperer), a German U-boat captained by (Wesley Lau), attempts to evade detection from the sonar of the American and British ships. But their location is repeatedly betrayed by the noise of a rhythmic banging sound coming from the submarine.
18
18
"The Image of Death"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
May 19, 1959 (1959-05-19)
A French nobleman kills his wife but he cannot get rid of her ghost, who is haunting his new marriage. Starring Max Adrian and Doris Dowling.
A married couple (Nancy Hadley and Robert Webber) from New York rent an old house along the New England coast that the locals consider to be a very unhappy place.
20
20
"Echo"
John Newland
Merwin Gerard
June 2, 1959 (1959-06-02)
A man (Ross Martin) is found innocent of his wife's murder. Her brother arrives from New Zealand and precipitates the real culprit's capture.
With the death of his rival (Walter Burke) during a race, a jockey is stricken with an unknown ailment as revenge acts from beyond the grave.
22
22
"The Riddle"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
June 16, 1959 (1959-06-16)
An irrational hatred in an American tourist on the Bombay-Calcutta Mail Railroad train is considered in terms of metempsychosis -- the transmigration of souls. Starring Warren Stevens and Bethel Leslie.
Season 2 (1959–60)
No. overall
No. in season
Title
Directed by
Written by
Original air date
23
1
"Delusion"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
September 15, 1959 (1959-09-15)
A man with a rare blood type (Norman Lloyd) has a psychic connection with people that he gives blood transfusions to. Having a vision of the murder of a woman he gave blood to (Suzanne Pleshette), he tries to prevent it.
24
2
"Ordeal on Locust Street"
John Newland
Michael Plant
September 22, 1959 (1959-09-22)
A woman enlists the aid of a hypnotist in order to cure her deformed son.
A ship's medic, haunted by his brother's death, must save the captain's life.
26
4
"Doomsday"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
October 13, 1959 (1959-10-13)
During the 1600s an innocent woman, before being burned as a witch, curses the Earl's family so that each generation the eldest son dies before the father. Starring: Don Harron, Torin Thatcher and Patricia Michon.
27
5
"Night of the Kill"
John Newland
Merwin Gerard
October 20, 1959 (1959-10-20)
Little Davey Morris, lost in the woods, is protected by a giant furry friend.
28
6
"The Inheritance"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
October 27, 1959 (1959-10-27)
A seemingly sentient diamond necklace strangles its wearers. Starring Sean McClory and Jan Miner.
29
7
"The Open Window"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
November 3, 1959 (1959-11-03)
A struggling artist witnesses a recurring vision of a woman attempting suicide through an open window of his Greenwich Village apartment.
30
8
"Message From Clara"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
November 10, 1959 (1959-11-10)
The gift of a brooch causes a woman (Barbara Baxley) teaching English to immigrants to write messages in a foreign language from a dead woman.
A gravestone cutter writes people's death dates (correctly) before they die.
35
13
"Father Image"
John Newland
Merwin Gerard
December 15, 1959 (1959-12-15)
A man (Jack Lord) inherits an old burlesque theater, and learns more about his father than he expected.
36
14
"Make Me Not a Witch"
John Newland
Gail Ingram
December 22, 1959 (1959-12-22)
A young farm girl (Academy Award-nominated actress Patty McCormack) suddenly acquires the psychic power to read minds and, despite warnings from her parents that others will call her a witch, she sneaks off at night and assists a priest in reading the mind of an elderly stroke victim who knows the location of two missing children.
37
15
"The Hand"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
December 29, 1959 (1959-12-29)
A murderer cannot seem to wash the blood off his hand.
38
16
"The Justice Tree"
John Newland
Merwin Gerard
January 5, 1960 (1960-01-05)
A dangerous criminal threatens a widow and her son, but they have an unlikely protector.
39
17
"Earthquake"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
January 12, 1960 (1960-01-12)
A lowly bellhop (David Opatoshu) tries to convince people of his vision of an earthquake that destroys San Francisco.
A pilot (Wesley Lau) believes that he is possessed by an Egyptian prince.
47
25
"The Haunting"
John Newland
Gabrielle Upton
March 8, 1960 (1960-03-08)
In the Swiss Alps, a paranoid man (Ronald Howard) kills the best man of his upcoming wedding. A strange chill surrounds him and anyone that he associates with. With Christine White and Veronica Cartwright.
An explorer in the Sahara desert is led to water by a man who died the year before.
49
27
"The Clown"
John Newland
Gabrielle Upton
March 22, 1960 (1960-03-22)
After murdering his wife (Yvette Mimieux, in her debut), a man continually sees the image of Pippo the Clown (Mickey Shaughnessy), whom she befriended, in reflections, trying to strangle him.
50
28
"I Saw You Tomorrow"
John Newland
Merwin Geràrd
April 5, 1960 (1960-04-05)
An American diplomat staying at an Englishwoman's 'stately home' experiences a vision of a murder. Later, as fellow guests, the murderer and his victim wife arrive.
51
29
"Encounter"
John Newland
De Witt Copp
April 12, 1960 (1960-04-12)
A plane disappears and the pilot turns up 1,000 miles away, claiming that he was kidnapped by a UFO.
52
30
"The Peter Hurkos Story (Part I)"
John Newland
Jerome Gruskin
April 19, 1960 (1960-04-19)
Coming out of a coma after a 50-foot fall, Peter Hurkos (Albert Salmi) develops psychic powers, and goes into show business.
53
31
"The Peter Hurkos Story (Part II)"
John Newland
Jerome Gruskin
April 26, 1960 (1960-04-26)
Dissatisfied with being a carnival freak, Hurkos undergoes testing to proves he is genuine, and assists in solving a terrible murder.
54
32
"Delia"
John Newland
Merwin Gerard
May 3, 1960 (1960-05-03)
A man spends eight years searching for a girl who vanished from an island.
55
33
"The Visitor"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
May 10, 1960 (1960-05-10)
A bitter wife (Joan Fontaine) is visited by a younger version of her husband (Warren Beatty), who wants to rekindle their failing marriage.
56
34
"Gypsy"
John Newland
Gail Upton
May 17, 1960 (1960-05-17)
After a prison escape, a young man (Robert Blake) is convinced by one of the other convicts to surrender himself. But the gypsy convict was killed in the attempt and never made it over the wall.
57
35
"Contact"
John Newland
Paul David
May 24, 1960 (1960-05-24)
A gift of a pocket watch from his wife (Catherine McLeod) causes a man (Ron Randell) to foresee a murder and attempt to prevent it.
58
36
"The Lonely Room"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
May 31, 1960 (1960-05-31)
Shy Henri wants to date Therese, but his biggest competition is, a more confident version of himself!
Lilly (Elizabeth Montgomery), a manipulative general's daughter, arranges for one of her suitors to go on a dangerous mission so she can go to a ball with the other. When he is killed, his remark "I would come back from Hell to be with you.", becomes true.
65
4
"The Return"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
October 11, 1960 (1960-10-11)
During the Korean War, a wounded soldier makes his way back, despite being blind.
66
5
"If You See Sally"
John Newland
Howard Rodman, Roberta Martin
October 18, 1960 (1960-10-18)
Sally Ellis, unjustly blamed for the death of her brother, absconds from home. Finally forgiven, she tries and tries to return home, even after death.
Bad-tempered dress designer Karen Wadsworth (Joanne Linville) can, when angry, literally wish someone to death.
68
7
"To Know the End"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
November 1, 1960 (1960-11-01)
During 1939 a woman has a vision of losing her husband (whom she has not met) in the war. During 1943, it begins to come true.
69
8
"The Trap"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
November 15, 1960 (1960-11-15)
Dominic is in Chicago, dehydrated and suffocating, unaware his twin brother is trapped in a mine shaft in Arizona.
70
9
"The Voice"
John Newland
Charles Larson
November 22, 1960 (1960-11-22)
During 1902 a reporter (Robert Lansing) covers the trial of some villagers who burned down a barn trying to kill a demon.
71
10
"The Promise"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
November 29, 1960 (1960-11-29)
In London after WWII, a former German soldier (William Shatner) redeems himself defusing bombs, with a baby on the way.
72
11
"Tonight at 12:17"
John Newland
Larry Marcus, Jane Anna Pritchard
December 6, 1960 (1960-12-06)
Every night at 12:17, expectant mother Laura Perkins (Peggy Ann Garner) hears the sound of a small airplane crashing through her roof.
73
12
"Where Are They?"
John Newland
Larry Marcus, Merwin Gerard
December 13, 1960 (1960-12-13)
Two stories of strange disappearances. In the first a man calling himself the Ghost causes stones to rain daily on Chico, California, before vanishing. In the second, Charles Elton invents a pellet that turns water into gasoline, but disappears, taking the secret with him.
74
13
"Legacy of Love"
John Newland
Howard Rodman
December 20, 1960 (1960-12-20)
A couple who have never met before are inexplicably drawn together and begin to experience memories of another life.
75
14
"Rendezvous"
John Newland
Merwin Gerard, Josefina Seiler
December 27, 1960 (1960-12-27)
A widow is protected from harm by her husband's ghost.
76
15
"The Executioner"
John Newland
Bob and Wanda Duncan
January 3, 1961 (1961-01-03)
A Confederate soldier is protected by the ghost of his loyal dog.
Stephen Bolt has a reoccurring nightmare of a bearded man (Roger Delgado) stabbing him to death. He decides to kill him first.
86
25
"The Room Upstairs"
John Newland
Merwin Gerard, Larry Marcus
March 28, 1961 (1961-03-28)
Esther Hollis (Lois Maxwell) is afraid of family madness affecting both her and her unborn baby when she sees an apparition of a sick child in their upstairs sewing room.
During WWII, three British sailors receive premonitions about their ship, HMS Hood.
88
27
"The Confession"
John Newland
Larry Marcus
April 11, 1961 (1961-04-11)
An innocent man is hanged because barrister Harvey Lawrence (Donald Pleasence) destroys a confession that would have cleared the man he was prosecuting for political reasons. Later, that confession just will not go away.
During 1915, a German officer (Christopher Lee) insists that he murdered his unfaithful lover, despite the fact that he was 800 kilometers away at the time.
Walking across a foggy London Bridge one night, a writer falls in love with a beautiful woman he meets. Howewver, she isn't quite what she seems to be.
One night during 1883, the night editor of the newspaper Boston Star has a seizure, and writes about the eruption of Krakatoa, weeks before it could be confirmed.
Syndication
After its cancellation during 1961, the series continued to be shown throughout the United States in off-network syndication until the early 1980s.
For its re-release to television for the Sci-Fi Channel during the 1990s, the initial and end titles were given new theme music and graphics designed for the time, as if the show had continued into the 1990s. These episodes were also edited for time from 25 minutes to 22 minutes.
Episodes are currently broadcast by the Retro Television Network available as a digital subchannel in some US markets. Full episodes are also available for digital streaming on Amazon Prime (charge per episode as of 2021), FMC Movie Classics (free), Tubi (free), and Amazing Classics (free).
In May 2021 the UK nostalgia channel Talking Pictures TV began to broadcast the series, with the first episode airing on 11 May.[6]
Home media
Delta Entertainment Corporation in 2005 released a collection of 33 (presumably public domain) episodes on eight region-free DVDs.
During 2007, Mill Creek Entertainment released a 4-disc Region 1 DVD set entitled The Very Best of One Step Beyond. The set contains 50 episodes. The quality varied drastically from episode to episode.
On September 15, 2009, CBS Home Entertainment (distributed by Paramount under this label) released One Step Beyond - The Official 1st Season on Region 1 DVD.[7]
The Film Chest Media Group released the series in a six-disc Collector's Box on April 7, 2015.[8] The boxset contains 70 episodes of the series in total across six DVDs, which consist of all 22 episodes of Season 1, 32 of the 39 episodes of Season 2, but only 16 of the 36 episodes of Season 3. The set also includes synopses of the episodes inside.[9]
One Step Beyond was the first pre-1973 in-house production of ABC to get a DVD release from CBS/Paramount. Other shows once distributed by ABC Films (which became Worldvision Enterprises) were either released by CBS/Paramount because the company owns the libraries of the actual producers of the shows (such as The Fugitive or The Mod Squad), or were released by different companies because ancillary rights are owned by other entities (such as George of the Jungle).
The Next Step Beyond
During 1978, the series was revived partly by Gerard and Young, with John Newland hosting and directing most of the episodes; the new series was named The Next Step Beyond. The series was broadcast for one year with 25 episodes, 14 of which were remakes of One Step Beyond episodes.
