The mad scientists of an unnamed, Asian country under the thumb of a brutal strongman (Red China? North Korea? You pick one, doesn't matter....), have dabbled in 'molecular plasticity'. Huh? Well, a few minutes after some poor sucker gets a jab of their secret serum, his skin turns to silly putty, capable of being squished, pressed and molded into whatever you want. (which leads to the episode's signature special effects wowzer, the scientist plowing his fingers deep into the test subject's face like a kindergartner making his first clay ashtray....) While this looks like a whole lot of fun, the Commie fiends have a higher purpose ..... the injected guy clamps a metal face mold over his newly rubbery skin (sort of a salad bowl with somebody's facial features carved into the bottom) After he's done pressing the salad bowl really hard against his wobbly face......voila, he's an instant duplicate for whoever the fiends want to duplicate.
And the evil country's nefarious dictator (naturally played by Richard Loo, the purring sadist of countless World War II movies) has already picked his target, since the salad bowl mold has turned the test minion into a double of the populist, certain-to-win U.S. Presidential candidate, William Lyons Selby (Sidney Blackmer, who you might remember as Mia Farrow's nosy satanic neighbor in "Rosemary's Baby") This was before presidential candidates received Secret Service protection, so the Asians have no trouble sneaking into Selby's hotel room, killing him and replacing him with their fake Selby. Faux-Selby sweeps into the Oval Office of course, a literally Manchurian Candidate....designed to undermine the U.S. from within.
Since Kim Jung Loo's master plan involves replacing lots of U.S. pols and media figures with his Pottery Barn duplicates, the Veep (Phillip Pine) is next up, but escapes death after bumping into his own home-invading doppleganger. Lucky for us, the horrified Veep starts to smell a silly putty rat.....he wonders why Selby suddenly goes all touchy-feely in negotiations with the Dictator Loo's rogue nation.....(now there's a scary notion for you, a President cozying up to a scumbag, murdering thug....thank God this show's just science fiction, right?....) Furthermore, our ever vigilant Veep, on a hunting trip with Selby, noticed the Prez take unerring aim at a rattlesnake.....when previously Selby was a Dick Cheyney/Elmer Fudd-type hunter who shot his own finger off........(and yes, the evil Unnamed Nation, clever bastards, remembered to pre-chop the finger off their Selby.)
The valiant Veep survives another Unnamed Nation assault....and with the help of what appears to be the White House's one and only Secret Service guy, confronts the Faker-In-Chief at a State department reception. Just in case we all forgot who this creep really is, Sidney Blackmer's phony Selby, once cornered, malignantly squints his eyes tight like Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu.....(you would think the Unnamed Nation's masterminds would have warned him to avoid doing that, especially at heavily attended diplomatic events....) Then comes our favorite moment.....the vengeful, righteous Veep, now in possession of the Asian wacky-wobbly juice, gives Phony Baloney Prez another injection......and digs his hands right into the faux Selby's malleable face, freely rearranging it so the villainous schlub resembles one of the pig-people from the 'Eye Of The Beholder' 'Twilight Zone' episode. Needless to say, a smooth transition of Presidential power to the Veep occurs on the spot. Ex-President Oriental Selby is led off, his career as a 'Meet The Press' pundit all but ruined.
Silly beyond words and laughable now, we know (or is it?).....and the Asian stereotyping is painful to behold and unfortunately at the time,supplied the only work opportunities available for these gifted character actors (including the young James Hong, who's still going strong at age 88, much beloved for his starring turn in John Carpenter's "Big Trouble In Little China".) But in l963, this dark, gloomy little 50 minute drama effectively carved out its own sub-genre, Sci-Fi Noir, amidst the rampaging creatures later to slither and crawl through subsequent 'Outer Limits' episodes. On that basis, we'll duplicate 4 stars **** for its own offbeat craziness.
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