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Movies, Science Fiction/Fantasy

[April 18, 1968] "You Damn Dirty Apes!" (Planet of the Apes)

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by Jason Sacks

Planet of the Apes is already one of the most talked-about films of 1968. My friends have been buzzing about this movie since it was first announced, and now that it’s appeared Apes is certain to dominate all the chatter until Mr. Kubrick delivers his long-promised science fiction film.

A lot of the conversation has been about the ending of this film. I can’t talk about Planet of the Apes without revealing the incredible climax ending in this review, so if you want the twist to be fresh to you, you will want to turn the page around paragraph twelve of this review.  You have been warned!

As you probably know, the movie stars Charlton Heston as George Taylor, an astronaut who journeys with his four compatriots to an alien planet via a deep sleep device. One companion dies along the way, so Taylor and his remaining pals journey across a desert. For three days (and thirty minutes of screen time), Taylor and his friends wander like Moses and the Jews across a desolate desert. Unlike wandering tribes of Israel, the astronauts eventually discover an oasis. This verdant area is beautiful and welcoming and perfect for a skinny dip. It’s also the absolute worst place they can end up.

After their spaceship crash lands in a lake, the astronauts have to flee and try to find civilization.

See, the astronauts' clothes get stolen and then the visitors become witness to an incredible tableau. It seems there are many living humanoids on this planet. They look like humans, in fact. They are dressed in rags, running around like savages, terrified of something even stranger.

The Apes rounding up humans as if people are mere animals.

What sparks their fear is something even more uncanny. What sparks their fear as gorillas. Riding horses. Attacking the humans, and slaughtering them like a big game hunter might hunt gorillas in Africa in our world. The apes are clearly the dominant species on this world. We witness the slaughter of hundreds of humans under the apes’ vicious attack. One of Taylor’s companions is killed in the massacre, while Taylor’s vocal chords are damaged by an ape rifle. Taylor is tied hands and feet, and brought to a very odd sort of jail.

The brutal aftermath of the hunt is reminiscent of the American colonization of the West

Amazingly, it’s a bespoke sort of jail, in which various ape species come to perform experiments on the humans. Scientist apes Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Zira (Kim Hunter) are amazing in their portrayals of these oddly humanlike creatures, full of empathy and confusion about Taylor and yet also a deep commitment to their own ape world. The script nicely walks a fine line with these characters.

The story squarely embeds Cornelius and Zira in the middle of this fictional world, explicitly having them react as members of their society first and foremost. Our hirusite leads react as apes with moral codes and professional ethics and wow is this a wonderful breath of fresh air compared with the way most science fiction movies portray societies.

"Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"

I’ll move away from this plot summary, at least for the moment (gotta talk about the astonishing ending!) because I must make sure I discuss the many other ways this movie stands out.

First and foremost, Planet of the Apes is a fun movie. It’s full of action and twists and surprises. The crowd at the Northgate Theatre seemed on the edge of their seats the entire time as we watched this film, and the buzz at exit was full of joy.

This scene directly alludes to history and traditions inside ape world. How many science fiction movies build such a complex world?

Which implies the film had a great script. Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone wrote the initial outline, but Michael Wilson completed it. Wilson has previously worked on the David Lean films Bridge Over the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, and he brings this film a similar combination of epic feel and personal intimacy we get in those films. Specifically, he creates a complex and fascinating society for the apes. This society has a history, and a religion, and social castes, and even mythologies they’ve created. All of it feels smartly earned, based on how I would imagine an ape society would be constructed, and I keep finding myself pondering this world.

One of my favorite magazines has a great article this month about the makeup required to turn Roddy McDowell into a chimpanzee.

One of the most important things about Apes has been receiving a lot of buzz in Famous Monsters and other recent zines: The makeup in this movie is amazing. I know there’s no Academy Award for best makeup, but the category should be reinstated just for this film. I was initially skeptical about the design of these characters going into the movie, but Dan Striepeke and his crew at Fox deliver an amazing design.

Franklin J. Schaffner directs the film. I’m not familiar with any of his recent work, but I know he directed Heston in The War Lord, and it’s obvious their previous project built some tremendous trust between the men. The direction is solid, professional and not showy. I’ve been pondering what Kubrick might be showing us in his sci-fi film, and I’m sure it will be much slicker and showier than Schaffner’s work here.

Leon Shamroy’s cinematography delivers in every scene, whether the gorgeous vistas of the American desert, the weird interiors of the Apes’ abodes, or the claustrophobic cages. Jerry Goldsmith’s atonal music adds so much to the story being told, and the set design work by Walter M. Scott and Norman Rockett really brings this world to life.

Tailor is paired up in a cell with Linda Harrison (Nova), a primitive, mute woman.

Okay, okay, yeah this movie is fantastic. It’s full of some thrilling and hilarious moments. Heston screaming “get away from me you damn dirty apes” is already starting to enter our lexicon. Sock it to me!

But the biggest reason everybody seems to leave this film giggling, the “Frankly, Scarlett, I don’t give a damn!” or “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!” moment which will go down in history, is that awesome tableau at the very end. Schaffner films the sequence perfectly. Taylor and his female companion Nova are riding a horse on a beach. We think they’re still on an alien world as the camera zooms up. We see a triangle on the edge of the screen, we witeness a pull back, and at last we get a stunning image and a powerful primal scream of anger from Heston…

"Oh my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was… We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!"

Ohh yeah! If you’re not smiling thinking about this ending, you saw a different movie than I did.

This is clearly the best science fiction movie of the year so far. I don’t know much about what Stanley Kubrick has planned, but this odyssey to the Planet of the Apes is stunning.

5 stars.




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[June 26, 1964] Curtain Call (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 33-36)

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by Natalie Devitt

Back in January, it was announced that this season would be The Twilight Zone’s last. In the show’s five year run, Rod Serling’s brainchild has produced more than 150 episodes and brought a new level of sophistication to science fiction and fantasy entertainment on television. Even with some decline in the program’s quality, The Twilight Zone still remains incredibly impressive as a whole — as the series comes an end, the show still manages to deliver some strong performances:

The Brain Center at Whipple’s, by Rod Serling

In The Brain Center at Whipple’s, Richard Deacon of The Dick Van Dyke Show plays factory owner Wallace Whipple, who unveils a new device: the X109B14 automatic assembly machine. If it works as expected, it will eliminate the need for nearly all of his employees, most other machines in his factory, and it also will decrease the number of days needed to complete tasks. Whipple plans to transition into an almost entirely automated factory within the next four months, because he prides himself on the belief that “at Whipples, we only take forward steps.”

Mr. Whipple’s plant manager, Mr. Hanley (M Squad alumnus Paul Newlan), expresses concern about displacing workers in a “heartless manipulation of men and metals”, but Whipple remarks, “that is the price to pay for progress.” Whipple discourages his employees from taking things personally, though one man in particular, a long-time foreman named Dickerson (The Enforcer‘s Ted de Corsia), does take things very personally. Deciding to take matters into his hands, he declares that the X109B14 is "not a machine. It’s an enemy, it’s an opponent."

The Brain Center at Whipple’s is more thought-provoking than it is entertaining. Rod Serling's script revisits some of the themes he explored in his screenplay for Patterns, which aired on Kraft Television Theatre. Despite some strong performances by the actors and Whipple‘s character arc, this episode feels too much like a bunch of one-dimensional men having one-sided conversations.

In addition to the flat characterizations and even flatter dialogue, nothing seems to happen visually, that is unless you count yet another cameo made by Robby the Robot in his second appearance just this season. Further, this episode does not really rank among Richard Donner’s best work as a director on the series, but it is not his worst, either. In any case, I may look back on this entry more favorably with the passage of time, but right now I feel that two and a half stars is all I can offer to The Brain Center at Whipple’s .

Come Wander with Me, by Anthony Wilson

Come Wander with Me is the story of Floyd Burney, a singer also known as “The Rock-A-Billy-Kid.” Floyd is played by Gary Crosby of the very talented Crosby family. His character is on a mission, driving through remote regions, searching for unreleased songs. Unlike folklorist Alan Lomax, Floyd wants to purchase the rights of the songs so he can transform them into hits for himself. Floyd visits a music shop tucked away in the hills, offering to pay “top dollar” for an undiscovered folk song under the condition that the song is authentic. There, he meets Petticoat Junction’s Hank Patterson, who is returning to The Twilight Zone for his third time (see Kick the Can and Ring-a-Ding Girl) playing an old shopkeeper who proves not be very helpful, but all of that is forgotten once Floyd hears the sound of a young woman singing a haunting ballad.

As if in a trance, Floyd takes off by foot, carrying a guitar. He follows the sound of woman’s voice, through the fog, up a hill into the trees. Obsessed with owning the song he hears, he fails to notice some pretty ominous signs as he travels through the woods. He finally comes face-to-face with the young lady he heard singing, Mary Rachel, performed by newcomer Bonnie Beecher. Assuming that everything has a price, Floyd tries to buy the song, but she insists “that song is secret.” Floyd continues to pressure Mary Rachel to sell him the song, which he soon realizes has lyrics that can foretell some pretty tragic events in his future.

The episode starts off incredibly well, but ends up being too predictable, even without the main song’s lyrics. Come Wander with Me’s greatest strengths are without a doubt its cinematography and Jeff Alexander’s song written specifically for the episode. I love how as the song unfolds it becomes like a murder ballad. While the screenwriting leaves plenty to be desired, mainly that it lacked suspense and that it never really answered some questions regarding Floyd’s fate being predestined, the entry was not without some merit.

Some of the scenes in the woods are genuinely spooky. Also, with rockabilly now showing some influence on the music coming out of Britain and some of rockabilly’s promising stars, like Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran, having died tragically, I found the episode flawed but oddly fascinating. Three stars.

The Fear, by Rod Serling

Trooper Robert Franklin, played by Peter Mark Richman (The Outer Limits episode The Borderland) visits a nearby cabin after receiving reports that its owner, Charlotte Scott, had been telling strange stories about noticing bright lights in the night sky. Appearing as Scott is British beauty Hazel Court, an actress who has performed in a number of my favorite horror films (Terence Fisher's The Curse of Frankenstein and Roger Corman’s Poe cycle).

Having suffered a nervous breakdown not too long ago, Scott convinces the officer that her comments were harmless and just an attempt to “inject something new into the dialogue.” But as Franklin is about to return to his squad car, the two of them hear loud sounds overhead and see bright lights. Both of them rush outside, trying to find the cause, even though Franklin assumes it must have been “a meteor or maybe an aircraft off its course. Those would be rational explanations.”

Franklin’s squad car begins operating without a visible driver and eventually tips over, leaving him unable to radio for help. Scott’s phone is not working, either. It is not long before they start hearing unusual noises on the roof of Scott’s cabin. Franklin heads outside to investigate, only to discovers his car has been returned in its original position. Stranger yet, his car is covered in abnormally large finger prints, presumably left when moving the car back. Franklin concludes that “if they are finger prints, we shouldn’t have any trouble finding our invader, because he must stand better than 500 feet high.”

The Fear succeeds in telling a pretty basic story about two seemingly different characters growing closer as they face an unknown adversary. The episode’s leads are not spectacular but believable. The entry does suffer a little when it reveals what we are led to believe is the being, even though some of the special effects employed in the scene are actually pretty good for a television. The final unveiling is a tad sillier than I imagined, but it does not matter much because at the end of the day, The Fear is well worth the watch, even if Sterling’s screenplay simply rehashes earlier episodes of the series. It earns three stars.

The Bewitchin’ Pool, by Earl Hamner

A mother, played by Dee Hartford (The Outer Limits episode The Invisibles ) and father announce to their son and daughter, Jeb and Sport (Mary Badham of To Kill a Mockingbird) that they are filing for divorce in The Bewitchin’ Pool. The Sharewood children are instructed to pick which parent with whom they want to live. Blaming themselves for their parents' marital problems, the kids promise to “be good” in a desperate attempt to keep the family together. But when that fails to work, the children try to escape their sadness by jumping into the family’s swimming pool. Of course this being The Twilight Zone, it is not an ordinary pool. As Rod Serling’s opening monologue points out, “this pool has a secret exit that leads to a never-neverland, a place designed for junior citizens.”

They go underwater and find themselves in a new place that seems heavily influenced by Hansel and Gretel and Huckleberry Finn. There, they meet an elderly lady named Aunt T., who takes them in and gives them the care that they so desperately desire. After the children have been missing for a while, they hear what sounds like their parents calling them, but Auntie T. tells them, “Those voices you hear calling, at first, they seem quite strong. But after a while, they fade. Then one day, you just simply can’t hear them anymore.”

The show’s finale was a bit of a mess.  The teleplay is uncharacteristically weak for Earl Hamner, Jr, and that is coming from someone who has always had a soft spot for stories about children who use their imagination to escape reality. I did, however, find it interesting that the kids were given some control to change their lives. I also want to give the show some credit for trying something new with the very noticeable change of tone, and also for having the courage to not shy away from a tough topic like divorce.

The single most disappointing aspect of the entire episode was by far the bad looping used for the character Sport, who is clearly voiced by June Foray (The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show). Then there is the acting, which did not help matters because it featured some unusually bad performances by otherwise capable actors. It feels like a missed opportunity to have done something truly magical. One and a half stars.

Submitted for Your Approval

With the curtain about to fall on The Twilight Zone, I had hoped for one last great episode, but that did not happen. Nevertheless, the last month included two enjoyable episodes, another one with some intriguing ideas — and an entry that is memorable, even if it is for all the wrong reasons. The show was clearly running out of steam towards the end, continuing on a little longer than maybe it should have.

But I somehow doubt that changes how much it will be missed.

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[May 28, 1964] Down to the Wire (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 29-32)

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by Natalie Devitt

It is that time of year again. The days get longer, the weather gets warmer. For me personally, given that I work in education, things get pretty intense in that crazy race to the end of the school year. Also, this time of year, everyone’s favorite television programs usually go on hiatus. In the case of The Twilight Zone, it sounds as if their break from filming is expected to be permanent. Sure, the show is not quite what it used to be, but that still makes it better than your average television; I can only criticize it for setting the bar so high. As one of the few programs that I still make the time to follow regularly, I find myself not quite ready to give up the ritual of watching it. Luckily, we still have another month ahead of us. So, before I get ahead of myself, it is time to review the episodes this past month, to see which entries made the grade.

The Jeopardy Room, by Rod Serling

Martin Landau pays a visit to The Twilight Zone for the first time since Mr. Denton on Doomsday. In The Jeopardy Room, he portrays Major Ivan Kuchenko, a defector fleeing the Soviet Union after years of imprisonment. While hiding out in a hotel room located in a neutral country, he receives a strange phone call: on the other end is Commissar Vassiloff, who has followed Kuchenko, and is watching him through his hotel window from a building next door. Dutch actor John van Dreelen plays Vassiloff.

Following a brief conversation, Vassiloff decides to grace Kuchenko with his presence. During their visit, Vassiloff confesses, “You possess information that we would find embarrassing to have released elsewhere. So, it is not really to our advantage that you leave here.” But Vassiloff does not plan to simply kill Kuchenko. Thinking of himself as “the last of the imaginative executioners,” he turns the whole thing into a twisted game.

Vassiloff convinces Kuchenko to partake of some wine, which has been laced with an unknown substance. Kuchenko almost immediately collapses on the floor. When he regains consciousness, Kuchenko finds a tape recorder with a message informing him that while he slept, a bomb was hidden in his room. Kuchenko is warned that, “It is not visible, but it is attached to a very common object. If you trigger this object, it will be immediately blown up.” If he disables the bomb within a few hours, he is free to leave. If he turns off his lights or tries to escape, Vassiloff will not hesitate to have one of his men shoot and kill Kuchenko. In this race against the clock, will Kuchenko make it out alive?

The Jeopardy Room offers a break from the science fiction or fantasy stories. It is more like a slick thriller than your usual The Twilight Zone fare. Like most entries in the series, all the actors deliver fine performances, though I must admit that I was a little disappointed by Landau’s accent. Most of the episode takes place in one room, but because it is photographed with so much style, you barely notice it. The ending, while not totally unpredictable, is enjoyable if you do not take it too seriously. Overall, The Jeopardy Room earns a pretty solid three stars.

Stopover in a Quiet Town, by Earl Hamner, Jr.

Nancy Malone follows up a terrific role in The Outer Limits’s Fun and Games with Sleepover in a Quiet Town. Her character, Millie, and her character's husband, Bob, wake up one morning after a wild night spent partying in what they believe to be a quiet suburb. Mary Mary's Barry Nelson plays Bob. Neither one of them remembers how they drove there, but slowly they begin to notice that things seem a little off. At breakfast, all they can find is artificial food. When Bob tries to make a phone call, the phone comes right out of the wall.

When Millie and Bob venture outside, they find that they are in a ghost town. The couple discover fake animal and plant life. They listen for birds chirping, but all they hear is the sound of a little girl giggling, wherever they go. One of them assumes that the residents in small towns prefer to “peek from behind curtains.” As Millie and Bob continue to look for additional signs of life through all the artifice, all they notice is the constant sound of the child's laughter. The couple assumes there is an explanation for what they are experiencing, but what could it possibly be?

The episode’s script does not waste time getting started or setting things up. The audience does not see the party. What they see is a married couple waking up to a nightmare the morning after. If this month’s The Jeopardy Room did not quite feel like The Twilight Zone, Sleepover in a Quiet Town could not be more representative of the series, in terms of content and quality. The two leads are quite believable in their roles. Things wrap things up quite nicely at the end, and if someone has an idea of where the story is headed, that does not diminish how much fun the journey is. Sleepover in a Quiet Town does not break any new ground, but it is well-executed, which is why it receives three and a half stars.

The Encounter, by Martin M. Goldsmith

Neville Brand of Birdman of Alcatraz stars as Fenton, a veteran of World War II. While rummaging through his old stuff in his attic, a Japanese gardener named Taro comes to Fenton’s house, at the recommendation of a neighbor. In the role of Taro is George Takei, who has appeared on other programs like, Playhouse 90 and Perry Mason. The two men have a brief discussion about Taro maintaining Fenton‘s yard, which leads to Taro agreeing to help Fenton clear out some junk .

During their time together, Fenton reveals that he served in World War II. He also shows Taro a samurai sword from his war days, which reads, “The sword will avenge me.” But Taro, born in the United States, pretends not to speak Japanese. Fenton, all friendliness above a barely concealed racial contempt, invites Taro to share some beers. When Fenton leaves the room for a moment and returns to find his sword missing, he accuses Arthur of having stolen it. Tensions rise as the two men are stuck together in the attic, recalling their painful memories related to the war.

Most of the episode’s acting is decent, but the performers cannot save it from its writing. I hate complaining about Martin M. Goldsmith‘s script, because he also wrote 1945’s Detour, which is a fantastic movie. Then again, he also wrote the earlier episode What‘s in the Box, which I was not really a fan of. Anyway, the narrative to The Encounter starts off fine, then gets progressively worse as it goes on. The sequence of events often involves things like drinking beer, getting upset, drinking some more beer, then getting upset again. The whole thing made me feel like I was a rollercoaster ride that I could not get off of. The conclusion was also pretty disappointing. At the end of the day, I respect the show for having the courage to do a story like this. I realize that tackling such sensitive subject can be difficult to get right. But with The Encounter being far from a masterpiece, two stars, which mainly go to its actors, is all I can award.

Mr. Garrity and the Graves, by Rod Serling

Character actor John Dehner plays the title character in what is his third appearance on show, Mr. Garrity and the Graves. The scene is 1890 in a place called Happiness, Arizona, into which Garrity rides in a horse-drawn carriage. Shortly after arriving, Garrity visits the local bar, where he meets a bartender, who inquires about his occupation. Garrity tells him, “I bring back the dead.” Of course, it is not long before the news about the mysterious stranger spreads all over town.

When Mr. Garrity returns to the bar, he is asked by the townspeople about his profession, but he says he does not care to share the secrets of his trade. But around this time, a dog is killed by a wagon in the street just in front of the bar. Garrity vows, "I shall resurrect that dog!" Sure enough, he brings the dog back to life. He promises to bring back even more of the dead later that night, but not everyone is pleased with Mr. Garrity’s work.

I enjoyed Mr. Garrity and the Graves for the most part, but I must admit that at times it almost goes overboard with all of the hammy performances. This entry combines several seemingly different things — western, humor and horror — to create something pretty unique. The second half of the episode is better than the first half because what this story really excels at is horror. There are twists and turns at the end that stayed with me long after the episode was over. Three stars.

Passing Marks?

With four more episodes behind us, we are now approaching the final stretch of the show. Taking a closer look at the entries from the penultimate month of the series, one failed to meet expectations, two were good, while one was very good. With only one month still ahead of us, things could go any direction. Guess we will just have to tune in to see whether Twilight Zone graduates with honors.

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[April 24, 1964] Some Justice to Mete Out (The Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 25-28)

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by Natalie Devitt

Exploring how a person’s conduct can shape the direction their life takes has been a big part of The Twilight Zone, and this past month has been no exception. In some episodes, poetic justice seems to have been achieved by the episode‘s conclusion. Other times, characters are given punishments that do not quite seem to fit the crime. This month’s morality plays include a story about a dying man’s last wish to make sure his greedy relatives get what he thinks they deserve, a town is blanketed in darkness the morning it is scheduled to execute someone who may have been wrongly convicted of a crime, a man that annoys those around him with obnoxious noises is suddenly unable to block out sounds that he finds unpleasant, and a broke ventriloquist who pays the price when he is convinced by his dummy to take up robbery to improve his finances.

The Masks, by Rod Serling

Actress-turned-director Ida Lupino and star of The Twilight Zone’s The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine returns to the show for The Masks. This time, she is not in front of the camera but in the director’s chair. The Masks is set in New Orleans against the backdrop of Mardi Gras. In the episode, character actor Robert Keith plays Jason Foster, a rich and elderly man, who is told by his doctor that he can measure what is left of his life “in moments.” After receiving his grim prognosis, Jason vows to live at least until midnight in order to take care of some unfinished business, which includes gathering with his family for a very unusual farewell.

During the family gathering, Jason states in a very matter-of-fact tone, “You all came here for one purpose: to watch me go and cry bon voyage, to put coins on my closed eyes, and with your free hands start grabbing things from my shelves.” He tells them in order to inherit his entire fortune, they must wear hideous masks until midnight, which proves to be much harder than expected. The masks he provides them with are from “an old Cajun” and “they have certain properties.” They are told that each mask represents the “antithesis of the wearer.” But what they do not realize is that each person wears a mask that actually reflects their true nature. Also, that Jason has one final surprise planned for them at the midnight unmasking.

With a story like this, I cannot help but wonder about the events that led Jason’s family to where they are when the episode starts. The anger and the resentments building up over the years, and whether Jason may have contributed to the situation. In any case, this episode featured one of Rod Serling’s better scripts this season. In addition to Rod Serling’s stronger script, The Masks featured a mostly good cast and some of the more impressive special effects makeup I have seen on the series in recent memory. Overall, the month got off to an impressive start with this episode, which is why it earns four stars from me.

I Am the Night, Color Me Black, by Rod Serling

The Hustler’s Michael Constantine plays Sheriff Charlie Conch, who arrives at work nervous about the day’s planned execution. Oddly, it is past the time the sun usually rises and the sun still is yet to come up. One of his deputes mentions to him, “It’s 7:30 in the morning and it’s pitch black outside. I’ve never seen it any blacker.” What is strange is that surrounding towns do not seem to be experiencing the same phenomenon.

Paul Fix of television’s The Rifleman plays Colby, a reporter who questions the department’s handling of the case. Colby reminds the men at the sheriff‘s department that, “ The murdered man was not a decent man. He was a cross burning psychopathic bully who attacked the man in there.” The accused is named Jagger, and he was protecting members of a church from a racist when the alleged murder took place. Ivan Dixon, who appeared in the earlier episode The Big Tall Wish, stars as the church’s reverend.

Practically everyone in town shows up for the hanging in “the remote, little mid-western village.” It is getting closer and closer to the execution time and the sun still has not risen. While the rope is being prepared for Jagger’s hanging, the journalist asks one of the deputies, “Did it ever occur to you that there is something odd going on around here? Perhaps we better dispense with business as usual until we find out exactly what is going on.”

I Am the Night, Color Me Black, looks great and features a number of outstanding performances, but it would have benefited from being a little more subtle. For anyone willing to look past how heavy-handed the moralizing in this entry can be, it is a good but not amazing episode. Three stars.

Sounds and Silences, by Rod Serling

John McGiver returns to the The Twilight Zone after appearing in The Bard. In Sounds and Silences, he plays Roswell G. Flemington, a man who takes delight in making noise. As Rod Serling’s opening monologue states, Roswell’s “noise-making is in inverse ratio to his competence and his character.” Roswell runs a model ship company, spending much of his free time blustering around the office like a modern day Queeg, and listening to blaring recordings of fighting battleships, much to the dismay of those around him.

One day, his wife tells him that she just cannot take it anymore. She complains, “What was once an idiosyncrasy of yours is now an obsession. This insistence on blaring noises and running a household like it was a destroyer escort on convoy duty- the combination has now become quite impossible and I can’t live with it.” After a couple decades of marriage, they are finished. But Roswell is happy about his marriage ending, because now he can devote more attention to making noise.

Shortly after, while trying to sleep, he wakes up to the sound of a leaky faucet, unusually loud and unpleasant. Once the faucet stops making noise, another sound begins to bug him. Soon little noises are driving him to the brink of madness. Eventually, he has to seek professional help. Is this punishment for what he has put others through all these years?

The episode has few redeeming qualities. The script leaves a lot to be desired. I think this entry is supposed to be funny, but it I do not remember laughing once. The main character acts like a giant child, which I know is kind of the point, but that begins to wear thin after a while. Most of the characters, which include his wife and his employees, are not much more tolerable than he is. It was hard resisting the urge to change the channel, so one and a half stars is all that I can give to Sounds and Silences.

Caesar and Me, by Adele T. Strassfield

Former child star Jackie Cooper is perfectly cast as Jonathan West, a penniless ventriloquist in Caesar and Me. He and his dummy, Caesar, perform under the name Little Caesar and Jonathan. Jonathan has difficulty securing a stable source of income, but he dreams that one day Little Caesar and Jonathan will be a headlining act. Jonathan has an unhealthy attachment to Caesar and tells the dummy that they are “together forever.” Caesar is mentioned in Rod Serling’s opening monologue as being a “small splinter with large ideas.” Jonathan considers supplementing his income with a side job until his work with Caesar starts to bring in the big bucks. The only problem is that Jonathan has never held down a “real job.”

But Caesar has been paying attention. One day Caesar asks him, “Just a little money for food and rent, is that it? Is that all you want out of life?” Caesar convinces Jonathan that robbery is the solution to his money woes, saying “Open your eyes. Look around you. The streets are paved with gold, and it’s sitting out there, waiting for us.” Caesar feeds Jonathan more lines like, “After tonight’s job, we’ll be on easy street.” Of course, things do not go exactly as planned.

I tried to watch Caesar and Me with an open mind. It is not really bad, just frustrating because it feels too much like a rehash of The Dummy. It brings absolutely nothing new to table. In fact, they even reused the same dummy. The talented Jackie Cooper could not completely save this episode. Then there was the ending, which while mildly entertaining, is hardly fair. Poor Jonathan just cannot seem to catch a break. Caesar and Me receives two and a half stars.

Characters during the past month of The Twilight Zone have encountered some interesting and sometimes unexpected outcomes as a result of their actions. Regarding the quality of the episodes, however, two were enjoyable while the other two offerings were a little disappointing. With only two months left before the end of the season, I hate to admit that I am a little nervous about the forthcoming episodes.

[Come join us at Portal 55, Galactic Journey's real-time lounge! Talk about your favorite SFF, chat with the Traveler and co., relax, sit a spell…]



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[January 24, 1964] In the Misty Regions of The Twilight Zone (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 13-16)

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by Natalie Devitt

This past month of The Twilight Zone has offered plenty of imaginative stories, including a ring that influences a young woman's actions, a car with a conscience, a couple grappling with the challenges of long term suspended animation, and a man suddenly discovering that he has the ability to trade circumstances with others. As you will see, the show’s tales of the fantastic still have substance and the ability to entertain.

Ring-a-Ding Girl, by Earl Hamner, Jr.

In Ring-a-Ding Girl, Oscar-nominated actress Maggie McNamara stars as Bunny Blake, a movie star who returns to her hometown of Howardsville after receiving an unusual ring. The piece of jewelry is a gift from the residents of Howardsville and was selected by her sister, Hildy. When Bunny gazes into the ring, she sees her sister begging her to "Come home." About to start filming a picture in Rome, but feeling compelled to see her sister, Bunny stops in Howardsville to pay a visit to Hildy and Hildy’s son, Bud.

Bunny plans to stay in town for just one day, but her visit falls on the same day as a city picnic, which most residents plan to attend. Bunny begins seeing images of the local family doctor inside the gemstone of her ring. Suddenly, Bunny starts to feel ill, so the family calls for the doctor to visit the house. While there, Bunny asks the doctor, who also helps organize the event, to postpone the picnic. He brushes off her request as presumptuous; "This isn’t Hollywood," he says. The doctor then encourages her to relax, because he thinks she is "under a strain."

Still receiving premonitions from her ring, she disobeys the doctor’s orders. Bunny continues to see familiar faces almost every time she stares into her new jewelry. Determined to visit everybody she sees in her ring, she asks her nephew to drive her around town. The actress even stops by the local television station to see an old friend, who is now employed there. Bunny goes on-air to make an announcement: she has plans to put on a performance that will occur at the same exact time as the picnic, forcing those in Howardsville to choose between the two and leaving her family puzzled by her behavior.

Ring-a-Ding Girl takes a while to really get going. It probably does not help that Bunny is not the easiest character to tolerate, exclaiming, “I’m a star,” and otherwise seeming insufferable. But Ring-a-Ding Girl is worth sticking it out for because things really come together nicely at the end. In addition to the strong conclusion, I enjoyed the musical score, which includes cues with a theremin that plays every time Bunny looks into her ring, accompanying the swirl of clouds that then part to reveal the image of someone from her past. The episode earns a pretty solid three stars.

You Drive, by Earl Hamner, Jr.

Oliver Pope is, as Rod Serling’s opening monologue states, a “businessman turned killer” in You Drive. After hitting a paperboy with his car, Oliver flees the scene. Not long after the incident, the headlights of his car start blinking on and off for no apparent reason. Then, his horn begins honking at random. But even after disabling the horn, it continues to honk. Oliver’s wife, Lillian, grows concerned, while he tries to convince her that the problems are just a sign that the car is getting old.

His wife takes it upon herself to take the car to the shop, but once she is behind the wheel, the car takes her to where the paperboy was struck, before suddenly breaking down and forcing Lillian to call for help. Once the car finally makes it to the repair shop, it mysteriously reappears in the Popes’ garage. When Oliver and Lillian contact the mechanic, they are told their car simply disappeared.

Shortly after, Oliver is visited by a co-worker by the name of Pete Radcliff, who after discussing work, informs them that the paperboy has succumbed to his injuries. Pete is later accused of being the driver in the deadly hit-and-run after an incorrect tip. But even with the police thinking they have their suspect, Oliver still has plenty to worry about.

I really enjoyed the plot of You Drive, but my biggest complaint about this episode is not the writing as much as the casting. While I like character actor Edward Andrews, he sometimes seems a bit awkward in the role of Pope. Then there is the supposedly 12 year old paperboy, who looks like he is probably closer to 20. Having said all of that, I did enjoy You Drive, which is why I feel it deserves three stars.

The Long Morrow, by Rod Serling

The Long Morrow is the story of Commander Douglass Stansfield, an astronaut. In the role of Douglass is Robert Lansing, the charismatic star of the previously reviewed 4-D Man. Douglass has been selected to go on an expedition to a star 141 light-years and 40 traveling years away. Unaware that his life would change dramatically before the expedition, he agrees to do it. But right before he is scheduled to depart, Douglass meets and falls hard for Mariette Hartley’s character, Sandra Horn. They go on a date that night, during which they confess their love for one another.

Douglass, who is currently 31, is told by his employer that when he returns from his voyage that “the Earth will have aged, but you will not.“ Sandra, at age 26, tells him that she is willing to wait for his return. The only problem is that she will grow older all through his journey. When he arrives from his expedition, she will be “the little old lady in the lace shawl. The one waving the welcome home sign.” It probably should come as no surprise that things do not go exactly as the couple plans.

If you are willing to believe that the two characters fall in love as quickly as they do, this is a pretty enjoyable episode. The lead actors are quite good in their roles. Also, while it is not too hard to predict what becomes of the characters, it almost does not matter because the episode has an almost hypnotic quality to it, and it gives you the feeling that you will enjoy it no matter what happens. One big distraction to the story, though, is the special effects makeup, which is too heavy. The wrinkles used to convey age are incredibly dark and the product used to whiten hair is so thick that it appears to have the consistency of toothpaste. Overall, I give The Long Morrow three stars.

The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross, by Jerry McNeely

Don Gordon, who appeared in The Twilight Zone’s The Four of Us Are Dying, plays the abrasive title character in this adaptation of Henry Slesar's story [which I pegged as Zoney back then (Ed.)]. Don Siegel returns to the series as the episode's director. Salvadore is a man who has his eyes set on one woman, a social worker named Leah, played by television actress Gail Kobe. She’s already broken up with him, but Salvadore believes that he can win her back. “I ain’t always going to have dirt on my hands. I don’t need no books to show me which way is up. I got the map and I’ll get there,” he says.

Salvadore soon discovers that he has the ability to trade circumstances with others. He offers a wealthy older man his youth in exchange for the old man’s money. With that, he buys everything he wants, including his youth back. Now, young and rich he thinks he has a good shot at winning Leah back.

The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross is probably my least favorite entry this month. While I do not mind an episode that does not try to explain absolutely everything, I must admit that I am a little curious about how Salvadore ended up with his magical ability to switch situations with others. The acting is decent, but the script leaves more to be desired. One thing that this episode has going for it is that it has slightly better special effects makeup than The Long Morrow. Two and a half stars is about all that I can give to the month’s weakest offering.

Signing Off

The most recent episodes of The Twilight Zone have been mostly enjoyable. The only exception being The The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross. While the show is still capable of producing some creative and thought-provoking episodes, it failed to present anything truly outstanding. Perhaps The Twilight Zone, itself, has reached its twilight…

(Did you read about all the ways the Journey expanded last year? Catch up and see what you missed!)



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[December 29, 1963] Meet the Unknown (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 9-12)

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by Natalie Devitt

[Time is running out to get your Worldcon membership! Register here to be able to vote for the Hugos.]

This past month several characters tried their best to deal with the uncertainties commonly found in the dimension known as The Twilight Zone. Everybody encountered something unfamiliar. There were strange planets to explore, men reliving the distant past, effects of an experimental serum, and a man trying his best to avoid the ultimate unknown, death.

Probe 7, Over and Out, by Rod Serling

Moby Dick actor Richard Basehart plays Colonel Adam Cook in Probe 7, Over and Out. Cook has crashed his spacecraft on another planet. During the crash, he sustained a number of injuries, including two broken bones and one broken arm. To make matters worse, he only has about enough food to last him a week. In hopes of getting help, he tries contacting his planet of origin, only to be told by his home base that his planet may be on the brink of war and probably would not be able to offer him much assistance.

As Probe 7, Over and Out’s opening monologue states, “He survived the crash, but his ordeal is yet to begin.“ Assuming that he is all alone on this planet and that he will probably have to make it his new home, Cook begins to explore his surroundings. What he does not realize is that there is one other inhabitant, a young woman named Norda, played by television actress Antoinette Bower, also stranded on the planet. The two struggle to adjust to one another and to carve out an existence on a planet very foreign to both of them.

I am happy to see The Twilight Zone return after a couple of weeks off of the air, even if Probe 7, Over and Out is not the strongest entry in the series. The episode is not the first science fiction story to basically retell the story of Adam and Eve, and I cannot imagine that it will be the last. Also, it reminds me a little of previous The Twilight Zone episode Two. Despite not having the most original story, Probe 7, Over and Out works surprisingly well, which is why I give it three stars.

The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms, by Rod Serling

The 7th is Made Up of Phantom tells the story of a group soldiers in 1964, who are undergoing some training exercises near the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn. The men, played by Ron Foster, Randy Boone and Warren Oates, soon realize that the battle actually occurred on exactly that same day back in 1876. As Rod Serling says in the very beginning of the episode, “Past and present are about to collide,” and there could not be a more accurate way of describing what happens in The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms.

Throughout their training, the men retrace the steps of the 7th Calvary. They find a tipi tent, a soldier’s canteen, the men hear sounds made by plains tribesmen, and they see smoke signals. The soldiers use their knowledge of the battle to try to make sense out of a very extraordinary situation.

The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms has a pretty good premise, but it is not very satisfying. Though, the episode is not without some merit. This entry leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Sometimes that can hurt a story or it can work in its favor. In the case of The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms, I really like that things are not over explained and that you never see anybody from the opposing side, which I think only added to its eeriness. Also, I enjoyed the episode's ending. All in all, I give this entry two and a half stars.

A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain, by Rod Serling

Patrick O’Neal stars as Harmon in A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain. Harmon is a wealthy older gentleman, who as the story’s opening narration states is “enslaved by a love affair with a wife forty years his junior.” His much younger and beautiful wife, Flora, is portrayed by Ruta Lee of Seven Brides of Seven Brothers. Flora seems to be in the marriage for Harmon’s money, and often complains that her husband lacks the energy necessary to keep her interested.

In an act of desperation, Harmon begs his brother Raymond, played by Walter Brooke, to inject him with a youth serum that his brother has only tested on lab rats. Hesitant at first, the scientist eventually agrees to administer the drug to Harmon. At first, the serum works quite well. Much to Flora’s delight, Harmon begins to look like a younger and more handsome version of himself, but like everything in The Twilight Zone, the drug does come with a downside.

Overall, A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain is just fair. The twist ending was entertaining, even if it was a bit predictable, though I cannot help but wonder what happened to the characters after the episode ended. My biggest problem with this episode is that none of the characters are very sympathetic. Sure you feel bad for Harmon, but only for a little while. This entry is a little underwhelming, so it deserves two stars.

Ninety Years Without Slumbering, by Richard De Roy

In Ninety Years Without Slumbering, Ed Wynn and Rod Serling work together yet again, after previous projects, like Playhouse 90’s Requiem for a Heavyweight and The Twilight Zone’s One for the Angels. This time around, the incredibly versatile Wynn plays Sam, an elderly man who lives with his granddaughter and her husband. Sam’s loved ones notice that Sam is becoming increasingly obsessed with caring for his grandfather clock. Sam never seems to sleep, and instead spends his nights tinkering with the clock.

Concerned that this obsession is consuming his life, his family encourages him to seek professional help. After some convincing, Sam agrees to see a psychiatrist. In privacy, Sam tells his shrink that the clock was purchased on the day he was born, and that he fears that his life depends on the clock continuing to tick. Upon hearing Sam‘s confession, his psychiatrist urges him to sell the clock.

Sam considers putting the device up for sell, until a neighbor tells him that she is interested in buying the clock. Worried that the price may be a little too steep for her to afford, Sam offers to give the neighbor a deal to postpone payment as long as she lets him maintain the clock, which requires winding every two days. Needless to say, the arrangement does not work for long.

I must admit that Ninety Years Without Slumbering was not the strongest story. Also, the ending, while not entirely expected, may require a little too much suspension of disbelief, even for The Twilight Zone. When it comes down to it, it is really Ed Wynn’s performance as Sam that single-handedly makes the episode worth watching. The episode receives three stars just for that.

The Twilight Zone is always a nice break from the ordinary. This time is no different. The most recent episodes were worth watching, even if they would not rank among the most memorable of the series.



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[November 29, 1963] An old doll's new tricks (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 5-8)

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by Natalie Devitt

The latest season of The Twilight Zone is back in full swing, complete with great storytelling and acting that still outshines most other shows on the air. For those of you who may not be staying up every Friday night to catch The Twlilight Zone, allow me to bring you up to speed.

The Last Night of a Jockey, by Rod Serling

In The Last Night of a Jockey, Mickey Rooney plays Michael Grady, a man who has based his self worth on his success as a jockey. When he is suspended from racing after being accused of race fixing, he isolates himself in his tiny apartment. All alone, he dwells on his fears that his career is over. After having devoted to his life to the race track, he worries that he will be left with few career opportunities, except perhaps as a driver to a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park.

Grady is small in stature, and this experience leaves Grady feeling even smaller, so he wishes one night to be taller. The next morning, he wakes up to find his feet hanging over his bed. He looks in the mirror and sees how he towers over everything in his studio apartment. Initially pleased with his sudden growth spurt, he declares, “I’m big, honey, you understand that? I’m b-i-g.” As the story progresses, he begins to realize that everything in life is a trade-off.

The Last Night of a Jockey feels like a bit like a chamber play. It all takes place in one room. Rooney is the only actor who is ever shown on screen, so Grady reveals information about himself and his feelings by either speaking to himself or through phone conversations, where the other characters are never present. The episode is only a half an hour, but even that felt a little too long because The Last Night of a Jockey does not have much going on visually. It could have used a little more emphasis on the lighting or maybe different camera angles to make it look less flat. The script relies almost too much on dialogue, which I hate to say because I like dialogue driven stories, but it can be difficult to do effectively when the other person’s reactions are never shown. In addition, The Last Night of a Jockey suffers from being one of the less effective The Twilight Zone entries with the message “be careful what you wish for.”

Having said that, Rooney really shows his dramatic range as Grady. His role in The Last Night of a Jockey stands in stark contrast to his breakout performance as Andy Hardy in all of MGM’s Hardy films. The Last Night of a Jockey receives two and a half stars from me, which is entirely for Mickey Rooney’s performance.

Living Doll, by Charles Beaumont

Living Doll tells the story of Talky Tina, a doll that, you guessed it, talks. Tina has recently found a new home with a little girl named Christie. Christie lives with her mother, played by Bye Bye Birdie’s Mary Laroche and stepfather, portrayed by Birdman of Alcatraz’s Telly Savalas. She and her stepfather, Erich, have struggled to build a relationship with one another. When Christie, played by little Tracy Stratford, first receives Tina, the doll seems like any wind-up toy, telling her, “I love you very much.” However, when Christie’s stepfather is alone with the doll, he soon realizes through a series of not so subtle hints that Tina is no ordinary doll. The first of which is her telling him, “My name is Talky Tina and I don’t think I like you.” Shortly after that, the doll winks at him. Testing the doll, he lights a match in its face and threatens to hurt to hurt her, only for Tina to react with, “Not really, but I could hurt you.”

Erich grows more and more suspicious each time he sees the doll. At one point, he theorizes that his wife has installed a walkie-talkie in the doll as some sort of prank, but he soon finds holes in that theory. Things continue to escalate. Fed up, Erich throws the doll in the trash. Thinking he is finally free from Tina, he receives a phone call with what sounds like Tina on the other end, now threatening, “My name is Talky Tina and I am going to kill you.” Startled by this, Erich checks on his stepdaughter in her bedroom, where he finds Tina next to Christie in bed. Things erupt into an all out war as he confronts Tina, but can he defeat a seemingly indestructible doll?

Living Doll is interesting because it can be looked from different angles. Is the doll’s behavior a reflection of Christie’s feelings towards her stepfather or rather or a reflection of Erich’s own insecurities? The story never really answers all of my questions, which I think makes the episode all the more frightening. Dolls, especially porcelain ones, can be scary, perhaps due to their incredibly life-like appearance. The episode certainly brings to mind Michael Redgrave’s living dummy in Dead of Night, and I would imagine that The Twilight Zone fans would probably be reminded of The Dummy.

The already strong story is topped off by very believable performances by all of the actors involved. Living Doll is easily one of the strongest episodes of the season, which is why I rate it at four stars.

The Old Man in the Cave, by Rod Serling

It is the year 1974, ten years since a nuclear war. One group of people who have survived it have had difficulty finding a reliable food source. When they finally do find some canned goods, conflict arises. Is it worth the risk to eat food that could have been exposed to radiation? To settle things, they look to the title character: the old man in the cave, a mysterious entity. The men and women in the group never see him, but he always gives reliable advice. His track record is so good that when word returns that the food is not safe, the people decide not to take a gamble on the possibly contaminated food.

Not long after, some soldiers, led by The Magnificent Seven’s James Coburn, arrive in town. Coburn plays the role of Major French. French and his men claim to know of other survivors, but he may not be completely trustworthy and could just be after the cans of food. Nevertheless, this sows the seeds of doubt and leads some folks in the town to question the old man’s words.

The Old Man in the Cave seems like it could be about anything — from religion to politics to technology. In addition, it could easily be about hardwired human behavior. In fact, the episode lends itself to so many different interpretations, which is what I think makes it an interesting watch. The work of actors like James Coburn and John Anderson do not hurt, either. While The Old Man in the Cave is not as strong as other The Twilight Zone tales that have taken place in a post-apocalyptic world, such as Time Enough at Last, it certainly is a worthy entry to the series. I happily give it three stars.

Uncle Simon, by Rod Serling

How much can a person take? This question never left my mind while watching Uncle Simon, an episode directed by Don Siegel, director of 1956's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Television actress Constance Ford stars as Barbara, a woman who has devoted her life to caring for her cruel elderly uncle Simon, perfectly cast as theater and film actor Cedric Hardwicke. Each day Barbara endures insult after insult from her uncle. It may one day pay off when Simon passes away and she inherits his fortune, but is it worth the days she spends dutifully by his side at every beck and call until that day comes? When Simon is not busy looking for any reason to put Barbara down, he spends his time in the basement, working on an invention that he goes to great lengths to keep secret from Barbara.

One day Barbara decides that she is going to find out exactly her uncle is working on down in the basement, but he catches her breaking into his lab, which results in an altercation. Simon falls and Barbara allows him to die as a result of his injuries. After he passes away, Barbara is not really free from her uncle after all. In fact, the terms of his will state that she must care for his secret invention, which Barbara comes to find out is a robot, in order to inherit his estate. Simon has figured out a way to keep her trapped, even in death.

Uncle Simon is pretty depressing and difficult to watch. It’s easy to say Barbara should leave, but I am willing to bet most of us have had situations in life that where we tolerate things for much longer than we should, which is part of what makes this story so depressing. Simon certainly has a lot of memorable one-liners, some of which are quite good while others are a tad silly.

On the bright side, Uncle Simon does have Robby the Robot. I must add that while I sometimes complain that The Twilight Zone reuses too many things from Forbidden Planet and I know I sometimes fail to take into account the budget for television, the robot designed by Robert Kinoshita was very welcome, and certainly made a dark episode a little brighter. While not bad, Uncle Simon is a bit draining emotionally. Maybe that shows its effectiveness. I could just be the tone of this entry that I find so off-putting. In any case, I am going to have to I give it two stars.

All in all, The Twilight Zone continues to move along, with stories that still intrigue and challenge its audience. Living Doll and The Old Man in the Cave are certainly great examples. I must say that I look forward to the episodes that are still forthcoming.




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[October 26, 1963] [Return to Form] (Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episodes 1-4)

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by Natalie Devitt

In case you have been living under a rock or moved on to newer programs, like The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone returned to television for a fifth season. The series has also returned to a half-hour format and is once again airing on Friday nights. Back in May, I wrote that I hoped the program would be renewed for at least another season, because I just could not bear the thought of a once great series ending its run with an episode like The Bard. Well, it seems as if the television gods must have been listening because my wish has come true. If you have not been tuning in consistently for the past month, here is what you may have missed:

In Praise of Pip, by Rod Serling

In In Praise of Pip stars The Twilight Zone regular Jack Klugman. Klugman plays Max, a bookie who learns that his son, Pip, a soldier in Vietnam, has been wounded and may pass away soon. Shortly after hearing the news, Max is involved in a business deal gone terribly wrong, which results in Max being wounded himself. Max decides not to seek medical attention. Instead, thinking only of Pip and regretting that he did not spend as much time with his son as he would have liked, Max wanders down a street at night. He stops in front of an amusement park and is overcome by memories of his son. Just then, Max spots a boy who looks eerily similar to a young Pip.

There is no shortage of episodes of The Twilight Zone where a character is able to relive and/or change past events. One thing that In Praise of Pip has going for it is that is better written than a number of recent episodes with a similar plot, like The Incredible World of Horace Ford, which you may recall from last season. Jack Klugman delivers a strong performance as Max, as does another The Twilight Zone regular, Billy Mumy. Mumy may be a young boy, but anyone who has watched The Twilight Zone will probably remember him from stories like It’s a Good Life and Long Distance Call. In Praise of Pip includes strong cinematography and an a conclusion that is enjoyable, but the finale is perhaps a little too reminiscent of the film Lady from Shanghai. Overall, the episode earns a solid three stars.

Steel, by Richard Matheson

Steel takes place in the not too distant future. More specifically, the year 1974. Boxing has been deemed too dangerous of a sport for human participation, so the sport is now played using androids. Lee Marvin plays Steel Kelly, coach to one of said robots. Sadly, the android Kelly coaches is outdated and in desperate need of repair. In an effort to earn the money necessary to repair his robot, Kelly hatches a plan to beat the latest model of boxing robots.

In Steel, Marvin is Kelly, a coach with nothing to lose. I am used to seeing Marvin playing a tough guy, but I am not used to him seeing him play a character who is this desperate underneath the tough exterior. Gone is the actor who I know for playing a man who poured hot coffee on Gloria Grahame in The Big Heat. Marvin is replaced with a character who has plenty of experience inside the boxing ring, but with laws changing and advances in technology, has really been left behind in the dust.

While Marvin may have disappeared into his role as Kelly, the special effects makeup used this time around did not always disappear onto the faces of the actors as much as I would have liked. Nevertheless, this week’s episode was a pretty good entry in this anthology, which is why I give it three stars.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, by Richard Matheson

William Shatner, an actor you have probably seen on other fine programs such as One Step Beyond, Thriller and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (not to mention The Twilight Zone!), plays Robert Wilson, a man who is recovering from a nervous breakdown. Wilson seems to be making improvements in his mental health, until he and his wife board plane. During the flight, Wilson catches a glimpse of a strange creature on one of the wings of the plane. It is referred to as a gremlin, and it may be trying to cause a plane crash. The only problem is that Wilson seems to be the only person aboard the plane who can see it.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet does an excellent job of creating an atmosphere of claustrophobia and the feeling of powerlessness that Wilson clearly feels during the flight. The tension builds each and every time, he peeks out his window. My only complaint is that the gremlin kind of looks like a man in a sheep costume, but costumes aside, this is by far the strongest story I have seen on The Twilight Zone this season. This one earns four stars from me.

A Kind of a Stopwatch, by Rod Serling

Richard Erdman plays the role of Patrick McNulty, a man who after being fired from his job decides to drown his sorrows in some booze at his local watering hole. While there, he meets a drunk, who gives him a stopwatch. But the stopwatch that Erdman receives is not an ordinary stopwatch: it has the power to stop time. Erdman, not surprisingly, decides to use the watch for his own personal gain.

A Kind of a Stopwatch is another example of how The Twilight Zone fails pretty miserably when it comes to comedy because nothing about is particularly funny. It does not help that the episode has pretty predictable story. A story that even as short as it is, still seems to drag. A Kind of a Stopwatch is easily the weakest entry in this program all month. For those reasons, I give it two stars.

I was not sure what to expect from The Twilight Zone this time around. Luckily, the series made the most of its return to television after its break between seasons. I just hope The Twilight Zone can keep the momentum going through the season.



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[July 6, 1963] A new star…  (Gamma — a new science fiction magazine)

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by Gideon Marcus

The history of our genre, like that of all things, contains several ups and downs.  From its beginnings in the pulp explosion, to its near-extinction during the second world war, to the resurgence during the digest age starting in the late '40s, and finally, to its decline at the end of the last decade.  At its most recent nadir, the number of science fiction periodicals had dropped to six from a high of forty.  Many predicted the imminent death of the genre, and not without justification.

1963 may well be remembered as the year things turned around.  In February, Worlds of Tomorrow was introduced as a sibling to sister magazines, Galaxy and IF.  To all accounts, it is a successful venture.  And last month, another digest joined the throng.

Back in 1949, the digest boom was kicked off by the birth of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.  It was, in many ways, a repudiation of the pulp genre, or perhaps a sign of its maturation.  F&SF set its literary standards bar very high, filling its pages with some of the most articulate works and authors our field has seen (and, with some hiccoughs, continues that tradition to this day).  For fourteen years, it stood unique in SFF.  This is not to say that other magazines did not approach or even surpass it in quality, but the combination of breadth of subject matter and eloquence of presentation made it a creature unto itself.

Until now.

The newest SFF mag is called Gamma, and here's how its editor, Charles E. Fritch, introduces it:

The Dictionary defines GAMMA for us: "…to designate some bright star."  One look at our cover and at the stunning lineup of stellar names for our next issue will confirm that definition.  Indeed, GAMMA is the bright new star of the science fiction/fantasy field, and we intend to see that it continues to light up the heavens.  The dictionary goes on to mention the gamma function — and we'll assure you that the GAMMA function, in our case, is to give our readers the best fiction, by the finest talents in and out of the sf field — fiction of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  GAMMA will unearth classic fantasy from obscure, out-of-print markets, while creating its own classics and memorable stories in each issue.

Ambitious, to be sure.  For those of us who remember the arrival of F&SF, we cannot help note the similarities of the two magazines.  The style and composition of the sole piece of art (and the fact there is just one throughout the whole book) is highly reminiscent of the older digest.  Inside, too, there are sixteen pieces, none longer than twenty pages.  The majority of the listed authors have had work published in F&SF, too.

Just as F&SF has "theme" issues, this "FIRST BIG ISSUE" of Gamma has a clear The Twilight Zone angle.  All five of the anthology show's main authors have a piece in the mag, and Rod Serling gets top (or, I suppose it can be argued, bottom) billing. 

But does this F&SF doppleganger live up to the standards of its predecessors?  You'll have to read it and find out (hint: You won't be disappointed):

Mourning Song, by Charles Beaumont

Beaumont is one of the "Zone's" most prolific guest writers, and his pieces are generally marked with authorial expertise.  He is, in many ways, what Bradbury should be: Emotional without being mawkish; literate without self-indulgence.  Mourning Song, about a sightless old bard who claims to know when death is coming, and the young man who dares to disbelieve, is one of the most poignant things I've seen Beaumont produce.  Five stars.

Crimes Against Passion, by Fritz Leiber

The damned in hell get a chance to re-plead their cases, with the help of a psychiatric public defender and the burgeoning field of Analysis.  It's meant to be a funny piece, but largely fails at comedy (save for one genuinely funny line, when Macbeth shouts irritably at his former adversary, "Lay off, MacDuff!") Lieber's been hit or miss lately, and this is a definite miss.  Two stars.

Time in Thy Flight, by Ray Bradbury

A reprint from the July 1953 Fantastic Universe, this tale of young time travelers from an antiseptic future, and the girl who decides to stay in 1928, is played for every sentimental note.  Brush your teeth afterwards.  Three stars.

The Vengeance of Nitocris, by Tennessee Williams

Now here's an interesting one, the very first sale of arguably the world's greatest living playwright.  This tale of a vengeful Egyptian Empress of the Old Kingdom first appeared in the August 1928 Weird Tales.  It's nothing if not lurid, and the story it tells is a true one (or, at least, attested back to ancient times — I checked the sources cited).  Three stars.

Itself, by A. E. van Vogt

A robotic anti-sub is the star in Van Vogt's aquatic answer to Laumer's sentient tank story, Combat Unit.  Just not as good.  Two stars.

Venus Plus Three, by Charles E. Fritch

A disenchanted wife brings his husband to savage Venus so that man-eating plants can preclude the need for a messy divorce.  An outdated, pulpish tale, but still entertaining.  Three stars.

A Message from Morj, by Ray Russell

The pulsing from the distant world could be none other than a communication — but just what was it trying to say?  This vignette manages to be, by turns, both surprising and predictable.  Three stars.

To Serve the Ship, by William F. Nolan

When your occupation has been to be sole pilot of a starship for eight decades, it can be pretty hard to adapt to retirement.  Author Nolan takes on a subject that both James White (Fast Trip) and Anne McCaffrey (The Ship Who Sang) have handled better.  Three stars.

(And now, you may be thinking, "With the exception of the Beaumont, this doesn't sound like a great magazine."  Fear not.  It's all gravy from here.)

Gamma Interview: Rod Serling, by Rod Serling

Any conversation with one of television's brightest lights is bound to be an engaging one.  The Twilight Zone's creator does not disappoint.  Five stars.

The Freeway, by George Clayton Johnson

Johnson is another Zone regular, and in this tale of the breakdown of an automatic car in the middle of the desert, he highlights the danger of over-reliance on technology.  Could you survive?  Not just the physical peril, but the knowledge of just how ill-equipped we are to deal with nature undiluted?  A solid three stars.

One Night Stand, by Herbert A. Simmons

Horn-blowing misfit finds his groove and love in a gig on the Red Planet.  The first SFF story I've read by a Black man (that I know of), it's a satisfyingly hep read.  Three stars.

As Holy and Enchanted, by Kris Neville

I first fell in love with a fictional character when I was ten.  It was Polychrome, the fairy daughter of the rainbow who first fell to Earth in The Road to Oz, and I wrote several childish tales that detailed our meeting and (innocent) courtship.  This reprint from the April 1953 Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader covers similar ground, but far more beautifully than I ever could have managed.  Four stars.

Shade of Day, by John Tomerlin

A sick salesman whose life zagged when it should have zigged revisits the last happy time of his life, touring the Junior High of his early teens.  Heavy, subtle, effective.  Four stars.

The Girl Who Wasn't There, by Forrest J. Ackerman

If you don't yet know 4E, that legendary SFF fan who helms magazines, anchors conventions, and keeps old magazines in his refrigerator for want of space elsewhere, this tale of a lonely, invisible girl is a good introduction.  Four stars.

Death in Mexico, by Ray Bradbury

I spend much of my time praising Bradbury with faint damns, but this poem is a genuinely worthy piece.  Four stars.

Crescendo, by Richard Matheson

It's never a bad idea to wrap up a magazine with Matheson, possibly the best SFF screenwriter of our age.  Who else could make an electric church organ so plausibly menacing?  Four stars.

Viewed with the dispassionate eye of a statistics collector, GAMMA garners a strong, but not noteworthy, score of 3.4 stars.  Taken as a whole, however, this is a stunning first issue.  For those who like F&SF and wish there were more magazines like it, your prayers have been answered.  Here's looking forward to GAMMA 2, coming out in the fall.

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TV

[June 6, 1963] Bringing it home (The Twilight Zone, Season 4, Episodes 17-19)

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by Natalie Devitt

I finally finished the fourth season of The Twilight Zone. For the most part, I enjoyed the most recent episodes. The entire season has been all over the place, which unfortunately meant that I really did not know what to expect this time around. The final three episodes of the season retained this record, which meant they were not without their disappointments, but also not without selling points. This is my breakdown of the final three episodes of the season.

On Thursday We Leave for Home, by Rod Serling

The month of May got off to a great start with what is probably the most well-made episode of the month, On Thursday We Leave for Home. James Whitmore stars as Captain Benteen, the leader of a colony in space. It is the year 1991. Captain Benteen’s people fled Earth three decades ago in hopes of starting a better life in space, on a more peaceful planet. What they found was a planet with a harsh climate, where they spend their days just struggling to live to see another day.

The group contacts Earth with the intention of returning to the planet, which some members of colony hardly remember and others have never seen before. As they wait to return to their planet of origin, the people in the colony begin asking questions about Earth. At first, they listen carefully as Benteen tells them about the planet. After a while, they begin to romanticize Earth, so much so that it begins to affect the captain’s ability to control his people.

The script paints a pretty bleak picture of the future, even though I am sure that some people will argue that the episode comments accurately on the world today. Certainly one could see Captain Benteen as a man with too much power, or perhaps this is on its most basic level a tale about a man refusing to adapt to the rapid changes taking place around him. This kind of deep and allegorical story is what audiences used to expect regularly from the series.

Having said that, I must mention that I have only one small complaint about the episode, regarding the sets. I know I am probably just looking for something wrong in an otherwise very strong episode, but is there an episode that takes place in space that does not reuse something from Forbidden Planet? It took only seconds for me to recognize a spaceship from the film.

Of course, if I only have one complaint, then this must be a solid entry in the series. This one easily earns four stars.

Passage on the Lady Anne, by Charles Beaumont

Passage on the Lady Anne is the story of the Ransomes, a young couple played by Lee Philips and Joyce Van Patten, who after years of marriage, can barely keep their relationship going. In their final attempt to save what is left of their marriage, they decide to take a cruise. They visit a travel agent, who reluctantly books them a trip aboard an aging ship. Upon boarding, the young couple notices that all of passengers aboard the ship are senior citizens, and while friendly, are constantly trying to discourage them from staying on the ship. At first, the Ransomes shrug it off, but after a while, they begin to grow suspicious.

While many might argue that this episode is not quite on the same level as On Thusday We Leave for Home, it still has plenty of charm. It does not hurt that I am kind of partial to the episodes written by Charles Beaumont. As a warning to those who prefer their entertainment faster-paced, this is definitely one of the slower and more atmospheric stories on The Twilight Zone. There is also plenty of fog, which helps to create a very haunting atmosphere.

Most people will probably figure out where things are headed long before the conclusion, though it is never really completely spelled out for the audience, which just adds to the aura of mystery. All in all, it is a fun journey with some recognizable actors playing the elderly characters. I rate it at three and a half stars.

The Bard, by Rod Serling

The Bard is the story of a struggling screenwriter named Julius. While in a bookstore one day, Julius, played by Jack Weston, finds a book on black magic and takes it home. He decides to try out some of the book’s spells, one of which helps Julius to conjure up the spirit of none other than William Shakespeare, played by John Williams, who he uses to help catch his big break as a screenwriter.

After the last two solid episodes, I knew things were going a little too well. Then I watched The Bard. The episode was yet another failed attempt at comedy for The Twilight Zone. As much as I like stories about black magic, I found very few redeeming qualities in The Bard. First, the episode is jam-packed with cheesy one liners like, "I’m conjuring, baby." Second, the constant reliance on sound effects to remind the audience to laugh wore very thin over the course of the episode. Third, the ending made a silly episode even sillier. The one thing the episode had going for it is Gunsmoke actor Bert Reynolds doing a pretty good Marlon Brando impersonation, but even that was not enough to save this trainwreck of an episode.

This story barely earns one and a half stars.

On Thursday We Leave for Home was a return to form for the series, then Passage on the Lady Anne kept things going strong. Sadly, The Bard single-handedly destroyed this month’s winning streak. I can only hope that such a disappointing episode will not cause the curtain to finally come down on the anthology series. I really would like to see the show end on a high note. I guess we will just have to wait and see if the show gets picked up for another season.



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