Nimoy's Directing Debut: "Death on a Barge"

Leonard Nimoy is well-known for portraying Mr. Spock in both the original Star Trek TV series as well as reprising the role in a number of Trek films, and on the spinoff Star Trek: The Next Generation. Nimoy was also a successful director, having helmed Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, as well as the hit comedy Three Men and a Baby. Nimoy actually began his career behind the camera way back in 1973, on an episode of Night Gallery. "Death on a Barge," a third season episode of the classic Rod Serling hosted anthology series, is an offbeat vampire tale featuring Lesley Ann Warren, who like Nimoy, had appeared on the Mission: Impossible TV series. "Death on a Barge," is based on a story by Everill Worrell, and was adapted for Night Gallery by Halsted Welles.

Nimoy had appeared in "She'll Be Company For You," an earlier third season episode of the series, and had talked with Night Gallery producer Jack Laird about directing for the show. Laird had already engaged other actors, including Jeff Corey, to direct for the series, and agreed to let Nimoy try his hand at helming an episode. "Death on a Barge" concerns a young man named Ron, who meets a mysterious woman named Hyacinth, who is confined to a barge that's anchored on a wharf. Ron is beguiled by the beautiful Hyacinth, who only appears during the evening hours. She explains to him that she can never leave the barge, and alludes to the fact that they can never really be together. Ron becomes obsessed with Hyacinth, and is determined to discover her secret, which he eventually learns, with tragic results.  

Lou Antonio, Brooke Bundy & Robert Pratt

"Death on a Barge" is an eerie, atmospheric tale, well directed by Nimoy. Lesley Ann Warren (then billing herself as Lesley Warren) is excellent as the alluring, sensual Hyacinth. She effectively conveys the loneliness and longing of the character. Robert Pratt does a decent job as Ron, and the supporting cast includes familiar faces Lou Antonio (who also went on to a career as a director) as Ron's brother, and Brooke Bundy as his girlfriend Phyllis, who Ron pushes to the background when he becomes smitten with Hyacinth. Nimoy does a fine job working with the actors, which was a hallmark of his later work as a director. Lesley Ann Warren noted in an interview featured on the commentary for the Night Gallery third season Blu-ray set that Nimoy was wonderful to work with, and that he spent time talking with the actors about their process, and their approach to the characters,

The look of "Death on a Barge" is slightly hurt by the fact that the crew, because of budgetary restrictions, had to shoot some sequences "day for night," a common practice in television production during this period. Despite this drawback, Nimoy and cinematographer Gerald Perry Finnerman (a veteran of Star Trek) manage to to imbue the episode with a haunting and romantic visual feel. It's a shame that the episode has a shorter running time (Night Gallery was been cut from an hour to a half hour in length for its third season) which doesn't allow the story room to breathe and develop a bit more. "Death on a Barge" is still an effective, mesmerizing tale of love, obsession and death. It's one of the better episodes of Night Gallery's final season, and excellent debut behind the camera by the multi-talented Leonard Nimoy. The episode is available as part of the Night Gallery Season 3 Blu-ray set, which was recently released by Kino Lorber Home Video.