The beginning of the marathon... - The Twilight Zone (1959) Discussion

Kellam seeing the ghosts in the mirror in Fathom Grave is eerie stuff. Oakland does "irritated" well, haha.

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While "Grave" would have been improved by being trimmed to 25 minutes it's still in its bloated form a pretty eerie experience.

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

The final shot of "The Howling Man" gets me every time.

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[–] TexasJack (12515) 6 years ago

I remember Midnight Sun well, so I’m doubling back to watch this one now...

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[–] Scarecrow88 (57) 6 years ago

I couldn't agree more. It would've been a nice thirty five minutes episodes

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

We see nothing when the maid opens the closet door ... but the suggestiveness of that moment beats a slicing and dicing Freddy Krueger in creepiness any day.

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[–] Scarecrow88 (57) 6 years ago

I do plan to revisit The Howling Man in its unedited form most definitely this month but missed it early this morning because I was asleep

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

Ellington is at the height of his fever dream when the prisoner transforms. To take out that transformation is to take out the essence of the episode.

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[–] Scarecrow88 (57) 6 years ago

Syfy can be ridiculous with it's editing of the show. Gotta get in those Happy commercials.

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[–] TexasJack (12515) 6 years ago

I wasn’t aware that SyFy edited them. I watched it on Netflix. What did SyFy take out?

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[–] Scarecrow88 (57) 6 years ago

I believe as the released man walks free his transition into Ole Scratch is edited.

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[–] croft_alice (12180) 6 years ago

Finished season 4.

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

What was your favorite?

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[–] croft_alice (12180) 6 years ago

Jess - belle and printer's devil.

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

Burgess Meredith makes the latter.

I love "The Parallel" and "Miniature" myself.

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

The hammering sound in "Thirty Fathom Grave" is just the kind of subtle horror so rare in modern cinema.

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[–] practicepiano (57) 6 years ago

I'm here! I watched some from my bedroom TV, then got up to do chores for a while.

Well, at least I think I'm actually awake. I could be dreaming, like Adam Grant . . .

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

We all could be "just players in someone's feverish, complicated nightmare."

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[–] practicepiano (57) 6 years ago

This one must have been an actor's dream for a few people -- to get to play different roles in the same project.

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[–] Turkday23 (37) 6 years ago

Joe Maross (Peter Craig) seems to have been good at playing scaredy cats; he did the same in Hawaii 5-O.

Also, how do I post messages w/out having to nest them?

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[–] practicepiano (57) 6 years ago

Reply to the first post in the thread, and your post should appear at the bottom but not nested (I think!).

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[–] Jennie_Portrait (804) 6 years ago

Do you want to start a new thread? Then go to https://moviechat.org/tt0052520/The-Twilight-Zone and click "add new post."

If you want to not be nested in an existing thread, your best bet is to reply to the first posting only.

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[–] brimfin (26) 6 years ago

My season 4 favorites were "In His Image" and "Valley of the Shadow". "No Time Like the Past" and "Passage on the Lady Anne" were well-done too.

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[–] practicepiano (57) 6 years ago

Valley of the Shadow has a bit of big-city chauvinism about it. Serling even says something in the introduction about wondering why people stay in a small town.

Um, maybe people in small towns are busy, oh, I don't know, living their lives?

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[–] Jennie_Portrait (804) 6 years ago

Yes, that occurred to me too when Rod said that. Now it really doesn't matter where you live, because you can work remotely.

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[–] TexasJack (12515) 6 years ago

Who wouldn't want to live in a place called "Peaceful Valley"?

Mr. Scott from Star Trek is in this one...

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[–] practicepiano (57) 6 years ago

And an actor with one of the most fun names to say: David Opatoshu.

Opatoshu! Opatoshu! Opatoshu!

What a shame he didn't live long enough to work with Benedict Cumberbatch.

But perhaps he once worked with Maria Ouspenskaya.

Why, yes, I was raised by a father who loved interesting multi-syllabic names -- why do you ask?

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[–] TexasJack (12515) 6 years ago

Nice! How many syllables did he gift you with?

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[–] practicepiano (57) 6 years ago

Only two!

He just liked to say names that were fun to say. Rhymes entered into it, as well. When I was little, we had a whole routine about an imaginary movie starring Peggy Lee, Sandra Dee, Bobby Vee, Ruby Dee (etc., you get the idea). It always ended with "and Oskar Homolka!"

There was a great short story that became a skit, in which a woman has a dream about hosting a party full of people with lots of two-syllable names, all of whom she must introduce to each other, which is wonderfully silly. My family has been quoting it for years. Here is Anne Bancroft performing it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdagPyHgfFg

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[–] TexasJack (12515) 6 years ago

Thanks for the link. That was really funny. The therapist cracked me up, too. He seemed like he wanted to scream "Get me out of here!"

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[–] practicepiano (57) 6 years ago

That's Lee J. Cobb, of all people!

I bet they both enjoyed a break from drama. I don't know how he felt about having nothing to say, but he might have enjoyed that, as well -- no angry diatribe like in 12 Angry Men, just facial "takes."

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[–] Jennie_Portrait (804) 6 years ago

Also this episode is a good example of an hour long episode that would have worked better as a half hour one. It just feels long and padded.

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[–] practicepiano (57) 6 years ago

"Also this episode is a good example of an hour long episode that would have worked better as a half hour one. It just feels long and padded."

Absolutely.

Although, if they had more shots of that cute dog, I could watch more. That's one adorable fuzzball.

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

Did the main character in "Valley of the Shadow" imagine it? It seems the ending leaves it open to that reading.

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[–] TexasJack (12515) 6 years ago

That was my take.

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[–] Jennie_Portrait (804) 6 years ago

It seems that this story is a kinder, gentler version of "People are alike all over."

I think the people of Peaceful Valley have it all wrong. They could have sent emissaries all over the world and secretly tried to benefit others. That way they could have controlled the use of their technology.

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

They could have benefitted others with their gift but instead didn't bother and horded it all for themselves. And while I understood the hero perceiving them as selfish I can also see how the denizens of Peaceful Valley would worry that their technology would be perverted into something awful. Interesting moral quandary this episode poses.

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[–] shannongr (187) 6 years ago

Agreed. A bit too long.

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[–] Scarecrow88 (57) 6 years ago

Unfortunately most episodes in the fourth season feel that way. Good episodes that would have great if in their intended format.

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[–] TexasJack (12515) 6 years ago

I still have not seen all of the episodes. The Prime Mover was a new one for me. I was going nuts trying to place Jimbo so I had to cheat and look it up -- it was Buddy Ebsen from The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones.

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[–] andreaahr (2333) 6 years ago

I'm watching the Twilight Zone marathon right now! Love it!

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[–] Scarecrow88 (57) 6 years ago

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Hc8XpoGUAGI/TTO_hdNdjII/AAAAAAAAB2o/cNc5hAEw6pI/s1600/TWILIGHT_ZONE_SEASON_2_DISC3-13.bmp

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[–] Scarecrow88 (57) 6 years ago

"The animal grunts of pleasure."

Lateness indeed.

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

LOL

Were they living in some kind of post-apocalyptic world in "Lateness of the Hour"?

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[–] Scarecrow88 (57) 6 years ago

That's an interesting question. We never know exactly. But the point I guess is that anything out there would beat living inside the house a shut-in

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

Maybe the robot daughter could have ventured into the wasteland and helped Bemis find a new pair of glasses.

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[–] Scarecrow88 (57) 6 years ago

She's the maid now, so that idea is moot.

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[–] AngularTurnip (3334) 6 years ago

Maybe our world is such a steaming pile because we're at the mercy of a Peter Craig.

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[–] practicepiano (57) 6 years ago

Lateness of the Hour is one of those that, while an interesting episode, makes you go "hmmmm" when you look back on it from the end.

She despairs that she cannot feel love. If she can feel despair, not to mention frustration, anger, and boredom, why couldn't she feel love?

If "Dad" programs the robots to be content with their lot, why is she not?

I guess we can assume that "Dad" had just made an error when programming her -- maybe trying to make her more sophisticated as a "daughter" than a servant would need to be -- but it's never really stated.