AllMovie

This semicomic Playhouse 90 episode was based on a true case history, as related in The 50 Minute Hour, a book by psychologist Dr. Robert Lindner. Although Donald O'Connor receives top billing in the role of Lindner's counterpart Robert Harrison, the real star of the proceedings is David Wayne as atomic physicist Kirk Allen. Unbeknownst to his friends and colleagues, the outwardly sane and secure Dr. Allen has for many years been "embarking" upon imaginary visits to another planet. At first this mental abnormality harms no one, but when Allen begins acting strangely on the job, the Pentagon begins to suspect that he is a security risk. Under psychological counseling, Allen reveals his "secret life"--and provides surprisingly accurate extraterrestrial charts as "proof" that he is truly out of this world. Actor Burgess Meredith codirected The Jet-Propelled Couch with James Clark.