Immediately, the differences become apparent. The images are soaringly elegant and striking science fiction. The Guardians of Forever—the tall, petrified, ancient keepers of the Time Vortex—resonate mysticism and the quality of legend. How awesome, in the truest sense of the word, it would have been to have seen these immensely dignified science fiction figures realized cinematically.
Even the language of the stage directions and descriptions is compelling poetry. The sun of this alien planet is described as “a burnt out ember…hanging dolorously in the cadaverous sky.”
There is a real villain here, not our good Doctor McCoy temporarily crazed. The odious act of drug dealing is still today, as it was in the 1960s, and as it will always be, an agonizingly real societal cancer. The evil is pure, constant and absolute, as is the goodness.
And in Harlan’s original, the play and the balance between evil and good, death and life, is made more intriguingly ambiguous in the larger context of history. The aching tragedy and personal pain of Verdun (absent in the filmed version) is dramatically poignant in the longer perspective of time. The vast, epic scope of Harlan’s original gives “The City on the Edge of Forever” the resonance of legend.
This manuscript truly tantalizes the mind. Yes, I can understand Harlan’s frustration. Yes, I would love to have seen this original filmed. This is one of the intriguing “what ifs?” of life—but time has played out this plot differently—just as in his story.
Harlan, you rascal, you master manipulator—you’ve done it again. You’ve placed a clear mirror in front of a tarnished mirror. Is that expression I see reflected on your face one of frustration, or a Cheshire Cat grin?
Harlan Ellison, The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay
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