The Twilight Zone: Vol. 11 (1959) Review

The Twilight Zone: Vol. 11 (1959)
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THE FEVER from the First season aired on January 29, 1960 and was written by Rod Serling. Everett Sloane is brilliant as a married man who continually lectures his wife on the pitfalls of gambling after winning a trip to Las Vegas. Goaded into it Sloane puts a coin into a slot machine, wins and the cycle begins. This is an interesting episode, not necessarily against gambling but one that addresses the nature of obsession and the lengths of self-destruction that it can lead to. It also addresses a familiar TWILIGHT ZONE theme about man and his confrontation with the machines that he creates. THE DUMMY from the Third season aired on May 4, 1962 and was written by Rod Serling. Cliff Robertson plays a down-and-out ventriloquist who has dilutions that his mannequin may be getting the better of him. This is an interesting study into the mind of man and the manmade with a denouement that is riveting. THE AFTER HOURS remains just as fresh and effective as when it was first aired on June 10, 1960 and its lingering haunting imagery remains engraved into one's subconscious. Who can ever forget Anne Francis as Marsha. Her impeccable performance and exquisite face are indelible. "Marsha" that very name and the way it was repeated over and over was so eerily unsettling sending chills down one's spine. This episode when compared to WALKING DISTANCE demonstrates the great versatility of Rod Serling as a writer. WALKING DISTANCE is probably the best prose that Serling ever penned where every bit of dialogue was so heartfelt and moving. In THE AFTER HOURS Serling gives us a more visual tale where the storytelling is more dependent on the images. Serling gives us a story of two strikingly opposite worlds that co-exist within a department store. The vivid contrast and the realistic depiction of those two worlds is at the core of this story that has a strange tinge of melancholy about it. Thanks to effective lighting, production design, photography, Douglas Heyes' Direction and impeccable acting it succeeds on all levels and is one of the definitive episodes of the series. Your heart kind of goes out for Telly Savalas in LIVING DOLL. As much of a no-good creep of a stepfather Savalas is, you just gotta feel bad for this guy as he gets outdone by a doll, Talky Tina. The doll is almost as evil as he is and this becomes very evident in the final scene at the bottom of the living room staircase. A lot of the viewers' ambiguous feelings are the result of Bermard Herrmann's innovative score. It has a childlike quality that taunts and teases both Telly Savalas and the viewer. This is an excellent episode written by Charles Beaumont from the Fifth season and is one of the best and most memorable from the entire series. This is an excellent volume.

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