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{{primary sources|date=November 2008}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
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{{Infobox television episode {{Infobox television episode
| title = The Man Who Was Never Born | series = ]
| series = The Outer Limits
| image = | image =
| caption = | caption =
| season = 1 | season = 1
| episode = 6 | episode = 6
| airdate = October 28, 1963 | airdate = {{Start date|1963|10|28}}
| production = 12 | production = 12
| writer = Anthony Lawrence | writer = Anthony Lawrence
| director = ] | director = ]
| photographer = ] | photographer = ]
| guests = {{ Plainlist| | guests = {{Plainlist|
* ] * ]
* ] }} * ]
}}
| episode_list = List of The Outer Limits (1963 TV series) episodes | episode_list = List of The Outer Limits (1963 TV series) episodes
| prev = ] | prev = ]
| next = ] | next = ]
}} }}
"'''The Man Who Was Never Born'''" (original title: "Cry of the Unborn") is an episode of the original '']'' television show. It was first broadcast on October 28, 1963, during the first season. "'''The Man Who Was Never Born'''" (original title: "'''Cry of the Unborn'''") is an episode of the original '']'' television show. It was first broadcast on October 28, 1963, during the first season. Its premise — preventing the birth of someone in the past to change the future — is echoed in the '']'' films.


==Plot== ==Plot==
Having accidentally travelled through time, astronaut Joseph Reardon lands on Earth in the year 2148 A.D. to find it a desolate realm. He meets Andro, a mutated human stricken with a disfiguring disease for which there is no cure. Andro is one of the few survivors of a biological disaster brought on by an ambitious scientist named Bertram Cabot Jr., who isolated and developed a viral symbiont from an interstellar microbe. Cabot's symbiont physically altered the human race, precluding the ability to reproduce, and turned much of Earth's landscape into a barren wasteland. Having accidentally traveled through time, astronaut Joseph Reardon lands on Earth in the year 2148 A.D. to find desolation. He meets Andro, a mutated but erudite survivor of a biological disaster brought on by an ambitious 20th century scientist named Bertram Cabot Jr. Cabot isolated and developed a viral symbiont from an interstellar microbe that physically altered the entire human race, precluding the ability to reproduce, and turned much of Earth's landscape into a barren wasteland.


Andro laments that there is no hope for mankind to survive after the last of his generation die off. But Reardon claims there is hope, and decides to see if he can return to his own time, taking Andro with him to show others what the future will be and to prevent the disastrous outcome. However, while making the return journey through the time rift, Reardon suddenly feels himself slowly dying and mysteriously vanishes, possibly from the stress brought about by making the journey twice in one day. He manages to tell Andro to kill Cabot if he has no other way to stop him, to save billions of lives at the cost of one. Andro laments that there is no hope for mankind to survive after the last of his generation die off. But Reardon claims there is hope, and attempts to return to his own time, taking Andro with him as a warning of what the future holds and to prevent the disastrous outcome. However, while making the return journey through the time rift, Reardon slowly dies and mysteriously vanishes. He manages to give Andro a gun and tells Andro to kill Cabot if there is no other way to stop him to save billions of lives.


The deformed Andro can project himself as a normal human using hypnotic suggestion, and uses this ability to begin searching for some way to stop Cabot's work, even if it means his ]. It soon becomes clear that Andro has arrived on Earth prematurely: Bertram Cabot Jr. has not been born yet, and his parents, Noelle Anderson and Bertram Cabot Sr., are only about to be married. Andro, in the guise of a normal human of the time, attempts without success to convince Cabot that he should not marry Noelle. The deformed Andro, now landed on Earth in the present, can project himself as a normal human using hypnotic suggestion, and uses this ability while searching for Cabot. It soon becomes clear that Andro has arrived too soon: Bertram Cabot Jr. has not been born yet, although his parents, Noelle Anderson and Bertram Cabot Sr., are about to be married. Andro, in the guise of a normal human, tries unsuccessfully to convince Cabot that he should not marry Noelle.


Andro himself begins to fall in love with Noelle. While planning to shoot Cabot during the couple's wedding ceremony with a revolver obtained from Reardon, Andro hesitates and is in turn assaulted by Cabot and his wedding party, revealing his true appearance in the process. Andro flees, but Noelle follows him. He explains his mission, and Noelle confesses that she has fallen in love with Andro. She convinces him to take her with him to the future, thereby avoiding any possibility that she and Cabot will have a child. Andro himself begins to fall in love with Noelle. While attempting to shoot Cabot during the couple's wedding ceremony, Andro hesitates and is assaulted by Cabot and the wedding party. Andro's true appearance is revealed and he flees. Noelle runs after him and he explains his mission to her. Noelle confesses that she has fallen in love with him and does not see his deformity. She convinces Andro to take her with him to the future, thereby avoiding any possibility that she will have a child with Cabot.


But unfortunately, the flow of time has been altered through Andro and Noelle's actions: because Bertram Cabot Jr. was never born, the symbiont that made Andro's mutated existence possible never existed, meaning that Andro was also never born. Andro disappears just as the ship arrives in 2148 A.D., leaving Noelle, weeping, to face the future alone. However, the flow of time has been altered by Andro and Noelle's actions: because Bertram Cabot Jr. was never born, the symbiont that made Andro's mutated existence possible was never created, and Andro was also never born. Andro vanishes just as the spaceship arrives in 2148 A.D., leaving Noelle, weeping, to face the future alone. The final scene breaks the ] by showing Noelle in her spaceship seat next to a similar empty seat, on a dimly illuminated stage instead of in the confines of a spaceship.

==Closing narration==
{{cquote|It is said that if you move a single pebble on the beach, you set up a different pattern, and everything in the world is changed. It can also be said that love can change the future, if it is deep enough, true enough, and selfless enough. It can prevent a war, prohibit a plague, keep the whole world… whole.}}

==Quotes==
{{over-quotation|date=August 2015}}

{{cquote|We have memorized every detail of his life – his various addresses, his cares, his joys, his friends, his family. Noelle, they called his mother...Noelle. A woman who issued destruction for all future Christmases.}}

{{cquote|Come...I will show you all that is left of moments, men and places.}}

{{cquote|It's good to cherish old things...beauty is always on the edge of being lost.}}

{{cquote|He's all the things I ever dreamed of in a man. He doesn't play at life, or dream it...he lives it, in all its seriousness and pleasure.}}

{{cquote|I've often wondered what that quality of mind is that enables a soldier to encounter death with firmness, valor and boldness.}}

{{cquote|To save your own child from destruction, would you press a button destroying all the children of another land?}}

{{cquote|Look at me. There are travelers in time, Noelle. There are people in tomorrow's cities; living, breathing strangers whom you never see, but who are there, just the same. And, instead of the glorious future all men envisioned, there is only a dark and empty road, leading to misery and mourning. This is the world from which I came, Noelle...a world of tomorrow...a world you will help make.}}


==Cast== ==Cast==
<!-- Deleted image removed: ] -->
* ] – as Andro * ] – as Andro
* ] – as Noelle Anderson * ] – as Noelle Anderson
Line 61: Line 42:
* Marlowe Jensen – as Minister * Marlowe Jensen – as Minister


==Legacy== ==Production==
The story's origin is revealed in an interview with its writer, Anthony Lawrence:<ref> Original TOLAIR interview available on Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri blog.</ref> The story's writer, Anthony Lawrence, said in an interview that the story was inspired by "...one of my old favorites, Jean Cocteau's '']'', the French version, which was a beautiful film. I was thinking of that film, and also just the idea that had always kind of fascinated me. Joseph Stefano loved the idea, and it had , as I remember, a lot of what I was feeling at the time. I always liked romantic stories, and this was a chance to do something that you really don't get to do very often in television. I gravitated toward that."<ref> Original TOLAIR interview available on Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri blog.</ref>

<blockquote>
''Q: How did “The Man Who Was Never Born” come about?''

A: I had this idea in my mind, a kind of a beauty and the beast idea, and so it kind of developed from that, because that was one of my old favorites, Jean Cocteau’s '']'', the French version, which was a beautiful film. I was thinking of that film, and also just the idea that had always kind of fascinated me. Joseph Stefano loved the idea, and it had , as I remember, a lot of what I was feeling at the time. I always liked romantic stories, and this was a chance to do something that you really don’t get to do very often in television. I gravitated toward that.

''Q: Did Stefano, the show’s producer, contribute to the script of “The Man Who Was Never Born”?''

A: Not much to that.
</blockquote>


==See also== ==See also==
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Latest revision as of 22:21, 4 January 2025

6th episode of the 1st season of The Outer Limits
"The Man Who Was Never Born"
The Outer Limits episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 6
Directed byLeonard Horn
Written byAnthony Lawrence
Cinematography byConrad Hall
Production code12
Original air dateOctober 28, 1963 (1963-10-28)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"The Sixth Finger" 		Next →
"O.B.I.T."
List of episodes

"The Man Who Was Never Born" (original title: "Cry of the Unborn") is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It was first broadcast on October 28, 1963, during the first season. Its premise — preventing the birth of someone in the past to change the future — is echoed in the Terminator films.

Plot

Having accidentally traveled through time, astronaut Joseph Reardon lands on Earth in the year 2148 A.D. to find desolation. He meets Andro, a mutated but erudite survivor of a biological disaster brought on by an ambitious 20th century scientist named Bertram Cabot Jr. Cabot isolated and developed a viral symbiont from an interstellar microbe that physically altered the entire human race, precluding the ability to reproduce, and turned much of Earth's landscape into a barren wasteland.

Andro laments that there is no hope for mankind to survive after the last of his generation die off. But Reardon claims there is hope, and attempts to return to his own time, taking Andro with him as a warning of what the future holds and to prevent the disastrous outcome. However, while making the return journey through the time rift, Reardon slowly dies and mysteriously vanishes. He manages to give Andro a gun and tells Andro to kill Cabot if there is no other way to stop him to save billions of lives.

The deformed Andro, now landed on Earth in the present, can project himself as a normal human using hypnotic suggestion, and uses this ability while searching for Cabot. It soon becomes clear that Andro has arrived too soon: Bertram Cabot Jr. has not been born yet, although his parents, Noelle Anderson and Bertram Cabot Sr., are about to be married. Andro, in the guise of a normal human, tries unsuccessfully to convince Cabot that he should not marry Noelle.

Andro himself begins to fall in love with Noelle. While attempting to shoot Cabot during the couple's wedding ceremony, Andro hesitates and is assaulted by Cabot and the wedding party. Andro's true appearance is revealed and he flees. Noelle runs after him and he explains his mission to her. Noelle confesses that she has fallen in love with him and does not see his deformity. She convinces Andro to take her with him to the future, thereby avoiding any possibility that she will have a child with Cabot.

However, the flow of time has been altered by Andro and Noelle's actions: because Bertram Cabot Jr. was never born, the symbiont that made Andro's mutated existence possible was never created, and Andro was also never born. Andro vanishes just as the spaceship arrives in 2148 A.D., leaving Noelle, weeping, to face the future alone. The final scene breaks the fourth wall by showing Noelle in her spaceship seat next to a similar empty seat, on a dimly illuminated stage instead of in the confines of a spaceship.

Cast

Production

The story's writer, Anthony Lawrence, said in an interview that the story was inspired by "...one of my old favorites, Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast, the French version, which was a beautiful film. I was thinking of that film, and also just the idea that had always kind of fascinated me. Joseph Stefano loved the idea, and it had , as I remember, a lot of what I was feeling at the time. I always liked romantic stories, and this was a chance to do something that you really don't get to do very often in television. I gravitated toward that."

See also

  • La Jetée, 1962 French short film in which a man travels back in time from a devastated post-nuclear future as part of a project to rebuild.
  • 12 Monkeys, 1995 American film based on La jetée in which the protagonist must find in the past the source of a bacteriological infection that has devastated his future earth.
  • "Patient Zero", episode of the 1990s Outer Limits revival series in which a future soldier travels back in time to prevent the formation of a deadly virus

References

  1. Original TOLAIR interview available on Peter Enfantino and John Scoleri blog.
The Outer Limits episodes
1963 series
(episodes)
Season 1
Season 2
1995 series
(episodes)
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