Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 2 days ago
Star Trek The Original Series TV episode Catspaw (S.2, E.7 -1967) may contain future easter eggs to director Orson Welles. Antoinette Bower plays Sylvia, Theo Marcuse is Korob and Michael Barrier returns as DeSalle.
- The 3 witches in this story reminded me of William Shakespeare's Macbeth.
- There is a hint to voodoo in Catspaw, where Bower's character places the chain and Enterprise pendant in the flame of a candle.
- One of Welles' early projects was adapting Macbeth for an urban audience for the NYC Federal Theatre Project. Nicknamed Voodoo Macbeth, Welles moved the setting to a Caribbean Island and brought in an all black cast. An ideographic reference to this play may be hinted at in Catspaw.
- Welles had links to Trek actors: He narrated the trailer for Star Trek The Motion Picture in 1979. He played a menacing robot in Japanese animated film The Transformers: The Movie in 1986. Leonard Nimoy (Spock) voiced renewed villain Galvatron.
- Antoinette Bower was later in horror film Superbeast in 1972 with Filipino actor Vic Diaz.
- Diaz later played an evil monk in 1982 action / horror film Raw Force.
- Cameron Mitchell of this cast appeared in Welles' unfinished 1969 satirical drama, The Other Side Of The Wind.
- Actress Jillian Kesner & husband Gary Graver worked to preserve Welles film which was finally completed & released in 2018.
- Geoffrey Binney played Compton in '68 Trek episode Wink Of An Eye.

Category

🎈
Fun
Transcript
00:00While recently watching original series Star Trek episode, Cat's Paw from 1967,
00:07I stumbled on a fascinating future Easter egg reference to director and actor Orson Welles.
00:15I developed this and would like to share some of the connections.
00:19The cast featured Antoinette Bauer as Sylvia, Thea Marcuse as Korob,
00:25Michael Barrier returns for this one as Assistant Chief Engineer DeSalle.
00:30He was previously in Squire of Gothos with William Campbell.
00:35Trek regulars, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly, James Doohan, and George Takei.
00:42In this story, the Enterprise loses contact with their landing party.
00:47Spock, Kirk, and McCoy beam down to investigate.
00:51They encounter three witch-like entities and proceed to discover a European-style medieval castle,
00:59a black cat wearing a diamond pendant.
01:02The floor collapses.
01:03They're knocked out, awakening, chained and shackled in a dungeon.
01:08They then meet their hosts, the aliens, played by Marcuse and Bauer.
01:14The witches reminded me of William Shakespeare's play, Macbeth.
01:19There is an element of voodoo shown in this episode,
01:24and it's when Sylvia takes the necklace with a silver pendant styled after the Starship Enterprise,
01:32places the ornament into the flame of a candle.
01:35This immediately causes the real Enterprise to heat up in temperature, endangering the crew.
01:42One of Orson Welles' early projects was adapting Shakespeare's Macbeth to a stage play for a Federal Theater Project 1936
01:55New York production.
01:56This was nicknamed Voodoo Macbeth.
02:00Welles' version famously featured an all-black cast and moved the setting to a Caribbean island.
02:07I think this is shown ideographically in Star Trek Catspaw.
02:12Now, Welles had some links to the cast of Star Trek.
02:15He narrated the 1979 teaser trailer for the first film version, Star Trek The Motion Picture.
02:23Trek, Spock, Leonard Nimoy, and Welles both voiced characters in the 1986 animated film,
02:32The Transformers the Movie.
02:34Welles played Unicron, and Nimoy played a metamorphosed version of Megatron,
02:42Galvatron.
02:43Internet Bower was later in the 1972 horror film, Super Beast, starring Craig Lidler, Harry Louder, and Vic Diaz.
02:55Now, Diaz later played an evil monk in 1982 martial arts action film, Raw Force.
03:04The cast consisted of Cameron Mitchell, Jillian Kesner, John Dresden, Jennifer Holmes, and Hope Holiday.
03:14The story of Raw Force, the Burbank Karate Club travels to a forbidden island of disgraced martial artists,
03:22where they do battle with zombies, mercenaries, and kung fu masters.
03:26There are big Orson Welles connections in Raw Force, and it relates to his satirical drama, The Other Side of
03:35the Wind.
03:35This was unreleased and unfinished for many decades.
03:40Welles started production in 1969.
03:43The cast featured John Huston, Peter Bogdanovich, Susan Strasberg, and Oya Kodark.
03:51Cameron Mitchell of Raw Force had a part in this as a makeup artist.
03:57And additionally, Jillian Kesner and husband Gary Graver worked to preserve Will's film
04:05in an attempt to finish The Other Side of the Wind.
04:08This eventually saw the light of day, courtesy Netflix, in 2018.
04:14World Force's Jeffrey Binney played Compton in the Star Trek, the original series, third season episode,
04:22Wink of an Eye, broadcast in 68.
Comments

Recommended