Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Maybe it's because I AM in the advertising business. Maybe it's because I'm a nostalgic romantic who yearns for the "simpler days" of a hundred years ago (which is why I enjoyed Jack Finney's "Time and Again" novel so much). Maybe it's just because I enjoy Rod Serling's writing so much.
Don't know. All I know is that "A Stop at Willoughby" is one of my all-time three favorite TZ episodes ("Time Enough at Last" and "Walking Distance" being the other two).
Sharing a theme similar to "Walking Distance" (another episode about a burned out advertising executive who gets to step back in time), "A Stop at Willoughby" is the story of a harried, "average" man caught up in a lifestyle that pushes him to ulcers and dreams of days gone by. While on board a train returning home one evening, he dozes off only to be awakened by the conductor calling out the stop -- "Willoughby" -- a place not even found on the map. Of course, it's summer in Willoughby. And the townspeople are happy, slow-paced and friendly...a life the ulcerated ad-man wishes he could step into.
Of course, he does. And there's a typical TZ twist at the end.
I bought this DVD just for "A Stop at Willoughby." And it's a good thing, too. Althought the episode "Twenty-Two" is interesting (especially watching Lost in Space's Jonathan Harris in the role of a doctor), it's not even close to Willoughby's finesse.
The third episode -- "I Dream of Genie" -- is interesting only because Andy Griffth Show's Howard Morris stars. Other than that, it's nothing worth remembering.
If you're a middle-aged advertising executive, you need to see "A Stop at Willoughby." Or, then again, maybe not. That first step is a doozy.
Click Here to see more reviews about: The Twilight Zone - Vol. 34 (1959)
Episodes: "A Stop at Willoughby" (Ep. 30, May 6, 1960) - Advertising exec Gart Williams (James Daly) cracks under the pressures of his job. But, in this classic episode, he dreams about a peaceful town named Willoughby. "Twenty-Two" (Ep. 53, February 10, 1961) - Liz Powell (Barbara Nichols) is terrified by a recurring nightmare involving the number 22. Her doctor (Jonathan Harris) reassures her that it is just a bad dream, yet Miss Powell is soon to learn differently. "I Dream of Genie" (Ep. 114, March 21, 1963, 50 min.) - George P. Hanley (Howard Morris) never had much success in life. But when he rubs a magic Arabian lamp and a genie (Jack Albertson) emerges to grant him one wish, he imagines all kinds of possibilities.
Get 3% OFF
Click here for more information about The Twilight Zone - Vol. 34 (1959)
0 comments:
Post a Comment