A Middle Eastern general (General Gamal portrayed by Malachi Throne) has created a dangerous magnetic weapon that renders steel useless, called the Magnus Beam, and he plans to use this to destroy the Seaview and control the Suez Canal, in turn, gaining a lot of power. An underground movement (led by Jacques Aubuchon and Monique Lemaire) will aid a beaten and battered Captain Crane (Hedison) who went on shore to find them, instead encountering the general's soldiers, in the possible raid of Gamal's cavernous underwater control center where the Magnus Beam is located. When Gamal's right-hand man, Major Amadi (Mario Alcalde) is able to get on board the Seaview, he will try to get Admiral Nelson to take the sub just close enough to the Magnus Beam for its power to capture it. As the beam pulls the Seaview closer to it, Crane and company (Crane is saved thanks to Aubuchon's Abdul Azziz and Lemaire's Luana coming to his rescue) will try to use what men they have to stop Gamal's soldiers surrounding the beam. With the Seaview inoperable due to the beam's magnetized power against their steel machinery, how will Nelson be able to save his sub and possibly destroy the Magnus Beam? This episode really establishes the animosity that exists with the conniving Amadi on board the Seaview; the men, including a fighting mad Nelson, are barely able to contain their repulsion for him and Amadi revels in their unfortunate dilemma even though he himself is as trapped and in danger as they are. Crane, as in times past, is on the verge of perishing after being captured by The Enemy, this time at the hands of Gamal, once again rescued in the nick of time. How Nelson comes up with a way to get out of the missile room is quite ingenious, and Aubuchon has a ball as a freedom fighter, always praising Allah before preparation to go to battle.
4 Reviews
A middle of the road episode.
planktonrules20 September 2017
Some evil Middle Eastern country is using something called the Magnus Beam to knock American U-2 spy planes out of the sky*. Coincidentally, the Seaview is in the Red Sea and are able to investigate. The trail takes them to a sleazy Major...and he offers to help the team get to the beam. The problem is...can they trust the guy?
This episode is enjoyable and is following the trend of espionage shows. Again, like a few others, this one is a bit like a "Mission: Impossible" episode. In my opinion, it beats the giant monster episodes.
*The only big problem I had with this episode is that the U-2 they show in the show is actually an F-86 fighter plane...two planes which are completely unlike each other. In car terms, it's like having a Camaro played by a VW.
This episode is enjoyable and is following the trend of espionage shows. Again, like a few others, this one is a bit like a "Mission: Impossible" episode. In my opinion, it beats the giant monster episodes.
*The only big problem I had with this episode is that the U-2 they show in the show is actually an F-86 fighter plane...two planes which are completely unlike each other. In car terms, it's like having a Camaro played by a VW.
Based in part on the Middle East politics of the day?
cpotato101020 March 2019
After all, the main Middle East character is is 'General Gamal', and the President of Egypt at the time was Gamal Abdel Nasser.
It was less than three years later that Nasser tried to blockade Israel from using the Straights of Tiran, when may have been one of the starting points of the 6-Day War.
As for Fox Studios, it is not that large. Plus there were a number of these TV series being filmed at the same time between 1965 and 1968, starting with Voyage in 1964, LIS in 1965, Green Hornet, Time Tunnel and Batman in 1966. Land of the Giants came along a little later, after some of these series had ended.
Aside from wanting to save money by reusing as much as possible. How many times did we see some variation of the Seaview diving bell on LIS and TT?
btw, something I remember from one of my visits to Fox - Christmas 2014 I received the Blu-ray set of the 1966 Batman show. We started watching the first season. At the beginning of episode Fine Feathered Finks (1966), there was the landing of a giant umbrella, signaling the premier appearance of the Penguin.
Three weeks later, I was walking from the parking structure at the north end of the lot and came to one of the smaller surface parking lots. I suddenly recognized it as the site where the above scene had been filmed 48 years earlier. The buildings were pretty much the same, but the trees were much bigger.
Given the budgets for these shows, they reused as much as possible and I think a lot of the exterior shots, like the smaller one-story buildings surrounded by ivy or small shrubs, were some of the production offices on the west side of the lot.
It is amazing, given the low budgets, that most of these shows were able to do as much as they did. These shows, along with a few predecessors like The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits, and of course, the contemporary Star Trek, showed there was an audience for imaginative shows, even if the means were limited.
It was less than three years later that Nasser tried to blockade Israel from using the Straights of Tiran, when may have been one of the starting points of the 6-Day War.
As for Fox Studios, it is not that large. Plus there were a number of these TV series being filmed at the same time between 1965 and 1968, starting with Voyage in 1964, LIS in 1965, Green Hornet, Time Tunnel and Batman in 1966. Land of the Giants came along a little later, after some of these series had ended.
Aside from wanting to save money by reusing as much as possible. How many times did we see some variation of the Seaview diving bell on LIS and TT?
btw, something I remember from one of my visits to Fox - Christmas 2014 I received the Blu-ray set of the 1966 Batman show. We started watching the first season. At the beginning of episode Fine Feathered Finks (1966), there was the landing of a giant umbrella, signaling the premier appearance of the Penguin.
Three weeks later, I was walking from the parking structure at the north end of the lot and came to one of the smaller surface parking lots. I suddenly recognized it as the site where the above scene had been filmed 48 years earlier. The buildings were pretty much the same, but the trees were much bigger.
Given the budgets for these shows, they reused as much as possible and I think a lot of the exterior shots, like the smaller one-story buildings surrounded by ivy or small shrubs, were some of the production offices on the west side of the lot.
It is amazing, given the low budgets, that most of these shows were able to do as much as they did. These shows, along with a few predecessors like The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits, and of course, the contemporary Star Trek, showed there was an audience for imaginative shows, even if the means were limited.
Seven Out Of Ten Adventure
StuOz1 November 2016
A magnetic ray from criminals in the Middle East is causing problems, so Seaview is called in.
A fine episode that strong Irwin Allen fans can play spot the always used 20th Century Fox sets with.
Sets used in Lost In Space's Invaders From The Fifth Dimension (1965) and Time Tunnel's Raiders From Outer Space (1967) can clearly be seen here. The Seaview docking bay is turned into a hang out for the Middle Eastern creeps of the week. We see that street, the one The Green Hornet (1966) and Time Tunnel (1966) used, yet again!
My point is: if Fox was such a grand and massive studio of the 1960s...why do us viewers feel the studio had limited sets??
But anyway, forgetting all this, The Magnus Beam is a great cold war adventure with plenty of solid drama on board the Seaview...mainly from Richard Basehart as Nelson.
A fine episode that strong Irwin Allen fans can play spot the always used 20th Century Fox sets with.
Sets used in Lost In Space's Invaders From The Fifth Dimension (1965) and Time Tunnel's Raiders From Outer Space (1967) can clearly be seen here. The Seaview docking bay is turned into a hang out for the Middle Eastern creeps of the week. We see that street, the one The Green Hornet (1966) and Time Tunnel (1966) used, yet again!
My point is: if Fox was such a grand and massive studio of the 1960s...why do us viewers feel the studio had limited sets??
But anyway, forgetting all this, The Magnus Beam is a great cold war adventure with plenty of solid drama on board the Seaview...mainly from Richard Basehart as Nelson.
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