MovieChat Forums > The Twilight Zone (1959) Discussion > The end of "Elegy" is so macabre

The end of "Elegy" is so macabre

posted 7 years ago by AngularTurnip (3334)
8 replies | jump to latest

One of the more indelible "TZ" images for me is Wickwire dusting off the dead astronauts. It's just so wrong on so many different levels.

[–] Tristan_Booth (405) 7 years ago

And yet, you can't help but like him (at least I can't). Cecil Kellaway is just so darned charming.

[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 7 years ago

Genius casting. While we'd like to think we'd be able to spot a murderer from a mile away the fact is the majority of them don't telegraph their true intentions. They instead look as harmless as Cecil does here. Which is why what he does to those poor astronauts upsets me so. And makes me chuckle too. I mean the whole time he's dusting off the astronauts' corpses with a beatific smile and a spring in his step. Only Cecil could engage in activity that creepy and still be so "darned charming."

Incidentally, did this episode strike you as having a 'Kubrick feel'? Those long shots of the mayor tableau, as well as the beauty contest, reminded me of something out of "The Shining." And all of those eerie images of people standing still (and pulling it off for the most part) working in tandem with an alternately frightening and inexplicably whimsical Nathan Van Cleave score really adds up to an episode that appeals to my sicker side.

[–] telegonus (728) 7 years ago

Macabre and brisk. Elegy has become a favorite episode of mine. Not my absolute fave,--I don't really have one--but a first rate entry in my book. The casting of deeply human, sympathetic actors as the astronauts lend an added touch (of sympathy) to their plight and, especially after they drank the wine, their fate. The art direction was superb even if it wasn't much more than the MGM back lot looking frozen in time. The eerie use of music and what at times look like "costume characters" make it feel, weirdly, like A Night To Remember (1958 Titanic pic), which, upon repeat viewings, anticipates the end of the episode. Brilliantly written and filmed, I find Elegy nearly flawless.

[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 7 years ago

Except on a few occasions you can see people blinking. I'm still with you on the overall effectiveness of the episode -- though the inability of some extras to remain utterly still (which is hard to do) does undermine "Elegy"'s spell a little.

[–] strntz (11235) 7 years ago

One of the episodes I despise. Good story, great acting, but I hate when innocent people get the short end of the stick. What's worse is that they became aware that they were being murdered and had too much time to think about their impending demise.

[–] Xcalat3 (3719) 7 years ago

the line: "We meant you no harm" has stuck with me for some reason.

[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 7 years ago

What also stuck with me was Wickwire's justification for why he's killing them: "Because you are here. And you are men. And while there are men there can be no peace. "

It's creepy how starkly Cecil Calloway departs from his heretofore characteristic delivery -- solicitous and avuncular. Instead, he's cold, distant, almost robotic. His voice is also more gravelly than before. Add it all together and it doesn't seem in that moment too far-fetched that Wickwire is entirely capable of snuffing out as many astronauts and other intruders as necessary to preserve the peace and quiet of Happy Glades. Plus, the tight close-up on his face helps too.

[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 7 years ago

That's just the way it goes down sometime in the "Zone." Look at "The Midnight Sun." Or how about "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up"? All sorts of innocent people die in those two.