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(More customer reviews)The common denominator for three of the four episodes on Volume 13 of "The Twilight Zone" is World War II, although since the fourth system deals with a totalitarian society that is clearly patterned on a fascistic state. All four of the episodes were written by Rod Serling, so there is that unifying aspect as well. As interesting collection, although none of these would be universally considered classic episodes:
(10) "Judgment Night" (Written by Rod Serling, First aired December 4, 1959) is an early first season episode set in 1942 when a German named Carl Lanser (Nehemiah Persoff) finds himself on the deck of a British steamship. He has no idea why he is there, but he does have an overwhelming sense of doom, which gives us a pretty good clue as to who Lanser is and why he is aboard the S.S. Queen of Glasgow. However, Persoff's performance makes up for the shortcomings of the script. This is another "Twilight Zone" episode where justice is delivered in a way that would have made Dante proud. This episode has Ben Wright as Captain Wilbur, Patrick Macnee as the First Officer, and young James Franciscus as Lieutenant Mueller.
(80) "A Quality of Mercy" (Written by Rod Serling, First aired December 29, 1961) stars Dean Stockwell as Lt. Katell, who has recently arrived in the Philippines in August of 1945 and wants to prove himself in battle before the war ends. When he orders an attack on a group of starved Japanese soldiers trapped in a cave, Sgt. Causarano (Albert Salmi) tries to talk him out of it. Katell refuses and suddenly finds himself as Japanese Lt. Yamuri, ordered by his captain (Jerry Fujikawa) to attack a cave where wounded American soldiers are holed up. Now the shoe is on the other foot. Neither of these is a classic Zone episode, but they are still worthy of your consideration.
(65) "The Obsolete Man" (Written by Rod Serling, First aired June 2, 1961) offers a dystopian word in which religion and books have been banned. The title character is Romney Wordsworth (Burgess Meredith in another stellar performance) as a librarian who is judged obsolete and sentenced to death by the Chancellor (Fritz Weaver). Wordsworth is allowed to select the moment and method of his public execution, and what he comes up with will mean that his death was not in vain. The closing narration is a bit hyperbolic, but Meredith's performance grounds the morality in more human sensibilities.
(19) "The Purple Testament" (Written by Rod Serling, First aired February 12, 1960) offer Serling's take on World War II and the brutality of war. Set on the Philippine Islands during the war, William Reynolds plays Lt. Fitzgerald, who sees a strange light on the faces of those men in his platoon who are about to be killed in battle. As you can imagine, this shakes the young lieutenant up and affects how he does his duty. Also in this one are the familiar faces of Dick York as Captain Riker, Barney Phillips as Captain Gunther, and Warren Oates as the Jeep Driver.
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