Reviews (73)

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street 2 KA
Rod Serling was a very odd person. He went to school to become a P.E. Teacher and ended up wrighting over one hundred stories for T.V. One of these stories is Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. This story, as you've probably guessed, takes place on Maple Street. The characters Charlie, the annoying, smart-mouthed neighbor, and Steve, the actually intelligent neighbor, are two of the lead characters in the story. I think that if Charlie had only listened to Steve a lot of bad things wouldn't have happened.
I don't think this story was very realistic. In a real neighborhood people would go crazy just because the power went out and they certainly wouldn't think it was aliens that did it. People would say, "Oh, there goes the power again." Not "The electricity's off!!"(669). Oh no! The powers out! What are we going to do? (sarcastically) The electricity goes out in our neighborhood at least once every other month. Most people would be in side all day so only about three people would have seen the U.F.O. and they would have been kids. Who would believe them? I think the people in the story really over reacted.
There were a few parts of the story that were unbelievable, like when Mr. Goodman's car started. That was really weird. I really didn't see that coming. There was also when Pete Van Horn got shot. I didn't think anything like that would happen. I knew the ending couldn't be happy. The Twilight Zone never is. The stories always seem to be so tragic. What was Rod Serling thinking? He must have been a troubled child. Any way; I can't believe that Charlie actually thought that Pete Van Horn was a monster. "You killed him Charlie. You shot him dead!"(679) How dumb could he be?
I didn't really pick this story. Ms. Chabot told us to read it. I liked it though. I think it's funny to watch old science fiction shows. I laugh at the cheesy acting and the corny special effects. You can see the strings holding them in the air. I thought it was funny how one little boy made all the neighbors think that aliens were attacking their neighborhood. Nobody would believe that now-days. Maybe people were more easily convinced of those things fifty years ago.
I think the video Monsters Are Due on Maple Street and the teleplay Monsters Are Due on Maple Street are a lot the same. They used most of the same lines and used the same camera angles. Just like this line, "What was that? A meteor?" The story took a lot longer to read though. The video was only a few minutes. The book took days. It had more detail than the video did. Just like when they showed the space ship. You could see at least five strings coming off of it. Every body in the class laughed. It was really funny.

4jk
Rod Serling was a former boxer and a future PE teacher. He takes a path uncommon to jocks and science fiction. He wrote a movie called "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street." The characters in this movie are: Charlie the wise-cracker know it all, Steve the wise one, Don the laid back one, Tommy the kid who knows what's gonna happen, Sally his mother, and Pete Van Horn a scientist. You don't here a lot about Pete Van Horn because he leaves Maple Street at the beginning of the movie because he goes to another neighborhood to see if the power is on there. It all happens on Maple Street, USA.

My feelings as I read this book were that I couldn't understand why everybody was fighting and blaming each other. It's like you wanna yell " Jiminy Christmas." It's like what Rod serling said, "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, and prejudice to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudice can kill and suspicion can destroy and a thoughtless frightened search for scapegoat has a fallout all its own for the children... and the children yet unborn.
Pg [684.]

I wonder why the town is so peaceful, now and days you see kids about 13-16 on the street smoking, drinking and doing drugs. You might see parents telling there kids there grounded and then later you see the kids sneaking out the window. I mean come on who in the right mind would believe that? "Maple Street, U.S.A., late summer. A tree-lined little world of front porch gliders, hopscotch, the laughter of children, and the bell of an ice cream vendor." Pg [668.]

My favorite part of The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, is when everybody was accusing each other of who where the aliens. Everybody was bickering and fussing about this and that and everything that was going on. Tommy came running up the street yelling an alien is coming, so Charlie took his shotgun and shot what was coming up the street. It was Pete Van Horn, Charlie shot Pete Van Horn. [He swings the gun around to point it toward the sidewalk. The dark figure continues to walk towards them. The group stands there, fearful, apprehensive, mothers clutching children, men standing in front of wives. Charlie slowly raises the gun. As the figure gets closer and closer he suddenly pulls the trigger. The sound of it explodes in the stillness. There is a long angle shot looking down at the figure, who suddenly lets out a small cry, stumbles forward onto his knees and then falls forward on his face. Don, Charlie and Steve race forward over to him. Steve is there first and turns the man over. Now the crowd gathers around them.] Pg 679.

I felt that the book was good. It was very weird I wonder what's going to happen to all of the other people in the book. I wonder if the aliens are going to take over the whole world. Like hypnotizing all of the animals in the whole world to attack and kill all the people in the world except for one person to tell them how all humans lived and the aliens will all move down to earth and start living like humans. Then the whole world will never be the same again. Are you wondering what happened to that one guy? Well they kept him alive, and hypnotize him to think that the aliens are really humans and he married an alien, which he thought was a human. Are you wondering what happened to the animals? Well there alive to but the aliens experimented on them and mixed all of them up. It is freaky dude. I just hope that one of you aren't the one left not killed, because if I were I would just not feel right but I couldn't feel right because I would be hypnotized. Well I change my mind I would want to be the one left behind because I would act like I was hypnotized then I would get some weapons and kill all the aliens in the world. Then I would search all over the world and try to find pieces of the people that were killed then I would go to a lab and clone everybody so that all the people in the world would be back to life but they would be clones but I still would be happy because all of my friends, teachers, family members and other people in the world would be alive. But before I could clone people I would have to read the manual on how to work the cloning machine, then after I read that I would have to read the manual on how to clone people. Then I would fix all the animals back together. Wow! Sorry got off the subject there. Well the book was good I like it a lot I hope you like it to. So you have to read "Monsters are Due on Maple Street"

1VJ
"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," is a classical episode of the Twilight Zone. I like how it showed that we can be prejudice and suspicious. It's also interesting how all the "monsters", or aliens, had to do was flick on and off a few lights to scare the people. Then the rest was the peoples own doing. The movie is very dramatic, and is almost exactly the same as the teleplay. The fact that it is in black and white makes it even more intense, in my opinion. The video and the teleplay both had the same scene of fright where the lights go out and nothing works. This then goes on to mass confusion, foreshadows the coming of aliens, and shows the weak points of the human race.
The plot advances with chaos. The people get scared and confused. They blame each other for having something they don't. This causes mass confusion and general panic. Things only get worse after that. One thing happens after another. The suspicious grows and the people get paranoid, until someone is killed. This person was Pete Van Horn. "You killed him, Charlie. You shot him dead!" (679)
As the plot advances they also foreshow what will come. The aliens are the ones who cause all the lights to fail, but the humans are the ones who became suspicious. This foreshadows the doom of the humans. The aliens plan to go from Maple Street to Maple Street and do the same to cause the fall of humans. "Then I take this place... this Maple Street...is not unique."
Rod Sterling's theme for "Monsters are due on Maple Street" is you shouldn't be too quick to judge people. Or be suspicious of people who have things you don't. Chaos supports this theme in showing how easily we can become suspicious of others. Then from there chaos and mayhem come. The theme could also be a kind of moral. "They pick the most dangerous enemy they can find... and it is them selves" (682) I think this quote is a good quote to describe the theme.
I think "Monsters are due on Maple Street" is really great. It has a wonderful plot. When I read the teleplay, I thought it was just like the other Twilight Zones. (I have seen a few others. One was about a man being in isolation.) I really enjoyed the Monsters are due on Maple Street. The teleplay was almost exactly like the movie or visa versa. My favorite part in this one was at the end where the sudden quietness is shocking. Then the aliens come and start talking, and it fades out to Sterling's face and he said his "And this is the Twilight Zone." I also like the beginning/ending songs. In conclusion I think the teleplay and the movie were both equally interesting.

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street 1KC
" The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"

Rod Serling, a screenplay writer for MGM in the 1950's wrote many famous science fiction teleplays, movies, Broadway shows, and television entertainment shows. Serling has won multiple Emmy awards for his work. He wrote 92 twilight zone episodes that were aired on CBS. They became one of America's most recognized, and most popular television series.
Some of Serling's most famous writings include: "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and "Time Enough at Last". "Time Enough at Last" was written in 1959. I do not know when "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" was written but I assume it was around 1959.
Rod Serling died on June 28th, 1975. He died during a coronary bypass operation in Rochester, New York. Rod Serling's stories of aliens and super natural happenings are entertaining for all to this day. His name will live on in science fiction history forever.
"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street", a teleplay and television entertainment show, was written by Serling in the nineteen fifties'. I love how Serling describes les Goodman's car starting up with no one in it (673). This event brings chaos and unproven assumptions. Other things, such as flickering lights, happen all down Maple Street. They are mostly all blamed on Les Goodman because of his insomnia. These things bring complete and utter chaos.
Confusion breaks free when all of the lights and appliances down Maple Street turn off and stop working (668-669). This advances the plot to confusion. Chaos doesn't come until Les Goodmans' car starts up with no one inside. People turn wild as new and crazy things happen down Maple Street. Sound effects in this section of the teleplay are screams, crying, and gunfires.
Other crazy things happen down Maple Street. Lights flicker, appliances turn on and off, and again chaos starts up (683). Mostly these things are blamed on Les Goodman. They think he is an alien because his insomnia sometimes wakes him up. So to occupy himself he takes walks at night and claims to be looking at stars. But the families all down Maple Street think he is looking for his alien friends. This foreshadows who is behind all of the chaos and confusion.
I thought Rod Serling's teleplay, "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street", was very realistic when referring to human nature. Even though it is believed that alien or outer space life forms are not real. The car starting then produces this assumption.
I thought it was interesting how Serling never gave a definite ending to "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street". He never gives a definite ending to the teleplay. I just assumed the chaos went on until every human life on Maple Street was dead or confused for their lifetime. Even though I am not into science fiction writings, I really enjoyed "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street". I would call this science fiction movie and teleplay one of the best from the 1950's.

1OE
The Monsters Due On Maple Street

"The Monsters Due On Maple Street" was probably the only kind of movie that was supposed to be scary back then. Since I'm in the year 2003 that movie was pretty dumb, but back in that time it must have been awesome. The aliens looked really dumb with those two antennas. I liked seeing all the fake shooting and killing. I can now see how far we have come with movies since then. The movie was confusing until the alien started to talk. They told their plan of taking over the Earth by flickering some lights and making some stuff mess up. When they said that, it put all the pieces of the movie together, and foreshadowed that the human race would end because of prejudice.
I think the way he ended the movie was great. He told about the plan and makes you think, could that happen to us? That is how he advanced the plot, he told the story about the alien's plan and then had them talk and tell how everybody is the same. He had the aliens take off saying they were going to take over the world just by sitting down. Then left for another place to terrorize.
When the aliens talk it foreshadows the Earth in complete destruction. Dying because of them assuming that their friends are the enemy, when really they are the most dangerous because they terrorize people as innocent as them. When the aliens talk they say the theme of how people can be so prejudice. "They find the most dangerous enemy they can find............and it's themselves" (682). It is the probably the best and easiest plan the aliens have ever come up with.
The theme in this story is not to be prejudice. My part advanced the theme by talking. The aliens tell their plan about using prejudice to destroy the humans. As much as that sounded stupid, it was smart. The aliens could actually make their plan work, and that is what The Monsters Due Maple Street shows. About everyone has a little bit of prejudice inside him. After reading the story, realizing the theme, and thinking about it, you will think could that happen to me?
The book and movie are so close to each other. You can read from the book and they will say almost all of the same lines in the movie. That is what helps me relate to the movie. I can just see if the picture was same in the movie as in my mind. In other movies they are far off from the book, so it changes the whole view of the story. The author picked a great way to show how everyone can be so prejudice. When I read the story I also was prejudice. I thought Charlie was the alien, but as I found out nobody was. That surprised me a lot. This was the first book that showed that nobody was the bad guy, and that made the story's end great. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

RE: An Unlocked Window
To Beverly Ann Cameron, who wanted to know how to get the episode
called "An Unlocked Window".

I saw it as a child and remembered it vividly after many years. It is indeed scary. I purchased a copy recently from a internet video site called Finders Keepers, http://www.finderskeepersvideos.com

Click on the retro-tv button to find the listing. They have both
DVD and VHS. It's well worth having.

rg125@comcast.net

Great Series....
To Beverly Ann Cameron who requested info. about the Alfred Hitchcock Hour featuring a nurse named Stella and a "nurse murderer" on the loose. I saw this when I was 12 and it scared the pants off me! It's called "The Unlocked Window". I am trying to find out how to get a copy, too. I saw a section of it on a PBS station a couple years ago....it was STILL scary and very intriguing. Anyone else know where they sell the whole anthology of the Alfred H. hour? The episodes contained on this video are all excellent, but the "Unlocked Window"...along with another spooky episode called "The Jar" are gems. Please pass along any info. on where to order the whole Hick TV series. Thank You.

sophia1@mindspring.com

Open Window - Episode
Does anyone have the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode, I think it was titled "Open Window"? The main charter was a nurse named Stella who took care of an invalid. Nurses were being murdered. The episode showed an open window thus the murder was able to gain access to the house. What is the name of that episode? How can I get it?

get now
Alfred Hitchcock{psyco,rear window,the birds}famous hollywood director came in 1955 to host and direct Alfred Hitchcock presents. In truth Hitchcock only directed 20 of the original episodes.The show ran on cbs from 1955 to 1960 and then from 1962 to 1964 and also on nbc from 1960 to 1962 and then from 1964 to 1965 and many future box office stars appeared on the show like Steve Mcqueen, Robert Redford,Judy Canova,Dick Van Dyke,Cloris Leachman,Peter Fonda,Gena Rowlands,Brian Keith and Charles Bronson and also as a director was Robert Altman{M*A*S*H,Nashville} the opening would show Alfred Hitchcocks silhouette would play the funeral march of a marrionette and Hitchcock would say gooooood eeevening. the shows best episodes were in the 50s on nbc in 1964 from a half-hour to an hour was called the Alfred Hitchcock hour and was one of the best shows of the 50s.

Nice Assortment Of Hitchcock Tales
This "GoodTimes Home Video" release contains four fine episodes of Alfred Hitchcock's 1950s television series, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". .......

"The Horseplayer" (with Claude Rains).

"Man From The South" (featuring Steve McQueen and a subtly ghoulish Peter Lorre, who appears more than willing to use that chopping knife he's holding above the hand of a nervous McQueen).

"Mrs. Bixby And The Colonel's Coat" (with Audrey Meadows starring).

"A Dip In The Pool" (Keenan Wynn).

I enjoyed all of these programs, with the Lorre/McQueen outing being the standout.

This VHS video is a good addition to anyone's Hitchcock Collection. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

I just wanted to come back and hear the calliope
WALKING DISTANCE is probably the best episode ever produced. Gig Young acts out Serling's prose so perfectly that he speaks for every man that ever wished he could go home again. It is a very moving episode. Bernard Herrmann's score intuitively picks up the emotion and heartfelt sincerity that Serling wrote into this story. This was Rod Serling's, Bernard Herrmann's and Gig Young's finest work for any medium. I think it is the finest piece of work ever put on film. KICK THE CAN is thematically similar and also very moving. It examines what it means to grow old and if one must give up the very things that makes us who we really are. It too is a very heartfelt episode, sincere and remains one of the best.

Timeless and Forever.
Long ago when Television was young there were indeed programs of quality and value. One of the great icons of the era was for sure Rod Serling. Mr. Serling has been gone now since 1975...but his vision and talent and taste for the ironic live on in " Twilight Zone" episodes.

In "Walking Distance" Martin Sloan( Gig Young) gets to look back on his life in a very special way. A shock to himself when he sees himself, as a boy, carving names into a post on a gazebo..( a gazebo that could have been possibly in Serling's home town of Binghamton New York.

The quagmire of time and space are now imposed on Martin Sloan..and this unique teleplay is one of the best 26 minutes you might see on Television. The montage scene on the merry go round...the field is at first tilted...then corrects itself with a return to Mr. Sloan's reality..Frak Overton, Byron Foulger and Ronnie Howard round out the singular cast.

If this were all not enough, Bernard Herrman lends a most meloncholy score to the whole proceedings. This is what happens when great artists combine talents to produce something timeless.

Some " Wisp of Memory" indeed!

This tape has Serling's classic episode "Walking Distance"
In Rod Serling's classic episode "Walking Distance," Martin Sloan (Gig Young) leaves his car at the gas station and walks into his hometown, where suddenly everything is just as it was when he was a child. In fact, he encounters his younger self (Michael Montgomery), and has to come to terms with the fact that he has not been happy with his life for a long, long time. The episode, directed by Robert Stevens, is one of Serling's best evocations of nostalgia, with a cast that includes Pat O'Malley and young Ronnie Howard. "Kick the Can" was George Clayton Johnson's final script for the series, and was the episode adapted by Steven Spielberg in "Twilight Zone: The Movie." Charles Whitley (Ernest Truex) and his friend Ben Conory (Russell Collins) are residents of Sunnydale Rest, a home for the aged. Charles becomes convinced that the secret to being young is acting young, and one night he begs the others to join him for a game of kick-the-can. Everyone agrees to join in the game, except Ben. Because this is the Twilight Zone, this is a tragic mistake and one that Ben will regret the rest of his life. This is an okay episode, but not a classic like the first one on this tape.

Short subjects as timeless as their medium...
This is another fine package in the series, two classics that have obvious but effective stories to tell. "Walking Distance" is about Martin Sloan, successful in business but not successful in that walk of life that all men try sooner or later: trying to go home again. "Kick the Can" is an enormously moving and engrossing piece with Charles Witley dilivering the goods as an old man who refuses to die in Sunnydale Rest. He is a man who knows that he will die in this world if he does not escape...into the Twilight Zone. This is one you should see.

The Human Side to the Twilight Zone
Rod put a lot of humanity into these two episodes of the Twilight Zone. The first story deals with a man's return home to his childhood trying to find his younger self that he left behind. The second story deals with people in their senior years who play a game of "Kick the Can" and discover that being young and old is very closely linked, and not seperate. Even if you don't like science fiction, watch these two Twilight Zone stories, they are human stories. ... Read more

Amazon.com

No Clint Eastwood in this classic episode of Rawhide, but special guest star Miss Barbara Stanwyck as Nora will make your day. In "The Captain's Wife," Lady Macbeth has nothing on Nora, who is dissatisfied with her life on a remote frontier outpost. When comancheros terrorize the region, she sees their capture as "the way back to Washington," whispering in her husband's ear, "It's boldness that makes heroes." Interfering with her plans is herd boss Gil Favor (series star Eric Fleming), who arrives at the fort for supplies. Nora has already defied regulations and risked lives and aided her husband's court martial by dispatching "every able-bodied man" to join her husband on patrol. That leaves "two women, four civilians, one of them a boy, and two troopers from sick bay" to fend off an anticipated raiding party. Tay Garnett (The Postman Always Rings Twice) directed. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Flat out great entertainment
In this one, the crew come across an abondoned fort, and with wild 'Camancheros' running loose in the territory, Mr. Favor is in a tight spot! Tense scenes and bold interactions mark this episode as a personal favorite. A great series for guys of all ages. an additional note:This is made in black and white, but the color isn't what's important, it's the stories and the characters that are important! 'Rawhide has character interaction not seen today.' Eric Fleming is amazing in this series. There hasn't been a show in the past thirty years that can hold a candle to Rawhide. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Clint sings! This memorable Rawhide episode steers off the cattle-drive trail for an often-comical story about a snake-oil hustler's redemption. Buddy Ebsen guest stars as Dr. Stimson, a "Golden Remedy" purveyor, whose pitch wagon is attacked by Indians. Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) rides to the rescue, but in the ensuing skirmish one of his men, Frank Miller, is killed. The drivers pitch in to send money to Frank's widow and two children, but Stimson has a plan to raise the stakes. Feeling that he "owes this boy's family a debt," he suggests a way to turn the tables on a local crooked poker game (run by venerable character actor Jack Elam) using Mushie (James Murdock), thefrontier Gump, as the "pigeon." This being Mushie, the con is soon discovered, but Stimson has another ace up his sleeve. When his estranged wife (Joan O'Brien) arrives to announce she is remarrying the more respectable Sam (Hugh Marlowe of All About Eve and The Day the Earth Stood Still), Stimson convinces her to impersonate the popular singer Jenny Lind and perform a recital. Yet another setback finds Stimson, Rowdy, and the boys alone to face an audience of increasingly agitated high-paying customers. "Rowdy," suggests grizzled cook Wishbone, "why don't you go out there and sing?" This is an atypical Rawhide episode, but one that pays off in unexpected, off-center moments. And Ebsen, for one, is in his element as the folksy, fast-talking Stimson. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Rawhide should be on DVD. DVD please!
I recently read that Rawhide was one of the most popular TV western series of all time. They should put the Rawhide series out on DVD. They're converting all the other old TV series out on DVD, why not Rawhide? Also, there were about 270 one hour episodes made in seven or so years. Think of the all that great western footage from the golden years of Eastwood and the Western! I saw a short clip of Rawhide on the Eastwood documentary 'Eastwood-the Man from Malpaso' , and even that brief scene was good, so you know there's some good stuff hidden in all those episodes. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Ultimate Camp Classic is an enormous unheralded gem
campy thriller, brilliantly acted by its main protagonists. The fantastic Geraldine Page stars as a psychotic widow with a penchant for growing the very sturdiest and handsome of Pine trees - her secret is human fertiliser in the form of a series of butchered companions. Slowly suspicion rises and a friend of one of the deceased, now fertiliser fodder, begins to catch on to Page's dastardly deeds. Geraldine Page delivers a tour de force performance as Claire Marrable - oozing a charming menace and evil with every breath. Yet there are severe undertones of humour and one senses that the actors involved would have a good cackle after every take. Page's performance rates with the most vintage camp EVER. She obviously relished and thoroughly enjoyed the role. Ruth Gordon, best remembered from the wonderful Harold and Maude, delivers a typically feisty and spunky performance as the Aunt Alice of the title. It is vintage stuff and works equally successfully as a taut thriller but best of all as the blackest and most wicked of comedies. Please also appreciate the totally schizo music score that is so appropriate for the film. A gem from director Robert Aldrich who gave us another cult favourite, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

Page and Gordon sparkle in witty, melodramatic thriller
In the early 1960s director Robert Aldrich teamed aging stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in a suspense thriller called "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" The movie was a smash hit. Two or three years later he brought the two actresses back for "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte". Crawford dropped out and was replaced by Olivia De Havilland. Again, Aldrich struck pay dirt. In 1969 his production company made yet another such movie, "Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice?", starring Geraldine Page and Ruth Gordon. This was directed by Lee H. Katzin. I don't think it was as successful at the boxoffice, but the important thing is that Alice is almost as much fun as Jane and Charlotte.

Page plays Claire, a woman of sixty or so. In the opening scenes she finds out that her recently deceased husband left her with virtually nothing. Furious because her grand lifestyle has ended, Claire moves to the American Southwest, where she cooks up a scheme. She hires timid little old lady housekeepers and, over time, convinces them that she can make them a lot of money in the stock market. Once an unsuspecting employee turns over her life savings, Claire kills her and buries her in her garden, marking each grave with a new pine tree. Soon the yard is filled with trees. One day a new housekeeper named Alice [Ruth Gordon] shows up. Alice, however, has an ulterior motive. One of the women was her friend, and Alice suspects that Claire is responsible for her disappearance. Thus begins a grand game of cat and mouse.

Unlike Davis and Crawford, Page and Gordon were not movie stars fallen on hard times. They were great character actresses with extensive stage experience. Both had had an occasional starring role in films but had played mostly supporting roles over the years. They were older but hardly faded. If anything, they were at the height of their popularity when they made "Alice". They are the reason the movie, otherwise an outlandish melodrama, is still worth seeing. Gordon is outrageous fun as Alice, playing the part with true professionalism, yet barely able to conceal her glee and amusement at being in such a movie. But it is Page who dominates throughout. Her Claire is both hilarious and sad. Sometimes she stalks, sometimes she slithers through the movie, reminding one of a cross between a leopard and a cobra. She's obviously having a grand time.

Other Geraldine Page movies I particularly like are "Summer and Smoke", "The Trip to Bountiful" and "Sweet Bird of Youth". Great Ruth Gordon movies include "Harold and Maude", "Where's Poppa?" and, of course, "Rosemary's Baby".

Devilish fun!
Claire Marrable, a destitute widow, finds a way to keep herself living the good life by hiring a series of housekeepers whom she eventually murders, steals their life savings and buries them in her desert pine tree garden. An incredibly fun movie which derives pleasure from the lead actors. Geraldine Page (as Mrs. Marrable) and Ruth Gordon (as Alice Dimmock, the latest housekeeper who is actually trying to find out what happened to her friend who mysteriously vanished while working for Marrable) chew the scenery to the hilt and it is so much fun watching the interactions between the two. Watch Page's reaction when Gordon tells her the amount in her savings account - priceless! The film as a whole suffers somewhat from some dull supporting characters and a dreary romantic sub-plot involving Gordon's nephew and Page's neighbor. Still worth it for the acting dynamo of Page and Gordon and even Mildred Dunnock manages some nice moments in her few scenes. And you'll never forget the frenetic zither music score!

The quality of the dvd is very good. The picture is sharp and the colors are strong. The only extra feature is a trailer for the film which delivers the memorable tag-line - "Whatever happened to Aunt Alice is more terrifying than what happened to Baby Jane"!

Sheer brilliance
They do not make movies like this anymore. Geraldine Page plays a nutcase hell bent on murdering every housekeeper that comes to work for her. What makes it so memorable is how she discards of the bodies (I won't give anything away here). Also adding effect is the spectacular music. Ruth Gordon joins the cast as a housekeeper trying to catch her out. Bad move Ruth.
While this film might seem dated to many, no moviegoer can argue the brilliant acting and suspense. An all round favourite.

my take on WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE
I LOVE THIS MOVIE, IT IS HIGH CAMP, FUNNY AND BLACKLY HORRIFYING ALL AT THE SAME TIME. BOTH GERALDINE PAGE AND RUTH GORDON HAVE FUN WITH THEIR ROLES, ESPECIALLY THE FORMER, USING HER FACIAL EXPRESSIONS TO THE HILT, ROLLING HER EYES AND INFLECTING A SARCASTIC TONE INTO HER VOICE. RUTH GORDON, IF MORE RESERVED, IS JUST AS GOOD, AND VERY DIFFERENT THAN IN ROSEMARY'S BABY, SHE SEEMS REFRESHINGLY SANE IN THIS. THE PLOT MOVES ALONG AT A FAST BUT ENJOYABLE SPEED, WITH ONE OR TWO RED HERRINGS A LONG THE WAY. IF YOU LIKE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLERS, A WITTY SCRIPT AND GOOD ACTING, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ONE. I RECOND HITCHOCK WOULD HAVE ENJOYED IT TOO. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

the best movie
it was a good movie i would reccamond it for other people.

A copy of airplanes fly into "The Twilight Zone"
Airplanes taking trips into "The Twilight Zone" is obviously the common denominator for these two first rate episodes from the celebrated television series. "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" stars William Shatner as poor Bob Wilson, who has left a sanatorium only to take a plane flight where he keeps seeing a gremlin trying to sabotage the engine. Of course, no one wants to believe him. Written by Richard Matheson, who wrote the original short story, "Nightmare" was directed by Richard Donner, who went on to be a film director of some note. "The Odyssey of Flight 33" might be a notch below classic status but it is still a solid "Zone" episode. The story by Rod Serling, directed by Justus Addiss, is of a plane that picks up a freak tail wind that sends it back in time. John Anderson as Captain Farver leads the excellent cast that makes this rather far-fetched idea utterly believable. Serling made a point of finding out what real pilots say in the cockpit, which certainly helps the story along. But Shatner's performance is what you will remember from this tape.

THE SKY IS THE LIMIT IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE
These are two of the best episodes from this great TV series. In one episode a commercial airliner Captained by veteran actor John Anderson goes back in time in THE ODYSSEY OF FLIGHT 33. Writen by Rod Serling this modern-moody episode is both memorable and entertaining. In the other episode, William Shatner gives a dazzling performance in NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET written by Richard Matheson from the 5th season. As a just-released mental patient on an airplane flying home with his wife (Christine White), Shatner peers out the window and sees a wooly creature on the wing, dismantling one of the engines. This is one of my favorites and is probably the most recognizable episode from the entire series. Richard Donner ingeniously directed it.

Great Stocking Stuffer from the Twilight Zone
From the 2nd season "THE ODYSSEY OF FLIGHT 33" is a good episode about a commercial airliner that goes back in time to a prehistoric era and that's only the beginning. John Anderson is very good as the plane's pilot. William Shatner gives a brilliant performance in "NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET" from the 5th season and directed by Richard Donner. As a newly recovered patient from a psychiatric institution, Shatner peers out the window of commercial airliner and sees a bestial creature on the wing, tampering with one of the engines. One of the best scenes is when Shatner has to remove a gun from a sleeping passenger. Only Shatner could have pulled this one off. This is one of my favorites and still holds up to repeated viewing because it is so well crafted.

View these episodes before boarding your next flight.
Serling must have had a ball narrating and scripting these two classics, but he embraced them more than the average viewer will. Twilight Zone fans can't really say they are a fan until they've atleast watched these, but people who can't use their imaginations will be put off. Anyway fans, enjoy your flight! ... Read more

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Round up this vintage Rawhide episode originally broadcast in 1963. Clint Eastwood stars as Rowdy Yates, who becomes "Sir Lancelot" to Judy Hall (guest star Susan Oliver), a freshly tarred and feathered saloon singer to whom he offers safe haven with the cattle drive. Trail boss Gil Favor (Eric Fleming) disapproves of her disruptive presence. Out of spite, she vows, "By the time I finish with his crew, he'll be lucky if he has one cow left." James Best, perhaps best known as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard, guest stars as Willie Cain, whose interest in Judy ("She bounces class like a fistful of diamonds") dramatically increases when it is revealed that she is in fact an heiress. The legendary Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man) gives a heartbreaking performance as gentle giant Rock, who tragically defends her honor. As usual, grizzled cook Wishbone (Paul Brinegar) gets the episode's best line. Suspecting that Lola's Saloon is watering its drinks, he remarks of the carousing drovers, "Usually they'd be so drunk they couldn't hit the floor with their hat in three throws." --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Episode
To quote another reviewer, this is indeed proof of the golden days of the western and Clint Eastwood. In this one, the crew goes to a saloon in a nearby town to relax, but the locals have a scene hatched - steal their money and their supplies! One of the sweet lady singers in the saloon warns them, and a good old fashioned bar brawl ensues! But there are two evil lady saloon singer gals who didn't like her telling the visitor to the saloon what was going on, so they decide to take it out on her. The crews hears everyone laughing at her..." do you hear that... that's the sound of someone else taking pleasure in someone else's misery!"
They offer her safe haven with them for a while, but one of the guys is kind of bent on getting to know her, and she is hard to get to know. Each individual has their own unique personality such as the one guy who likes the new lady: "Noone laughs at me - nobody!"
Very realistic confrontations in this series. They are shown more the way hard feelings develope in real life. Character interaction is excellent.
First class western bravado. ... Read more

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Inger Stevens and Ida Lupino visit the Twilight Zone
Inger Stevens and Leonard Strong turn in strong performances as Nan Adams and the title character in Serling's "The Hitch-Hiker," based on the radio play of that name by Lucille Fletcher. Following a blowout, Nan repeatedly sees the same hitch-hiker as she travels along the highway. Since this is, after all, the Twilight Zone, we all know the true identity of the hitch-hiker. "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine," written by Serling, stars Ida Lupino as Barbara Jean Trenton, an aging actress who just sits n her private screening room watching her old films. Martin Balsam turns in an nice performance as her agent, trying to coax her back to the real world. But trying to get her a part in a film and having her former leading man visit her only backfire. Watching this one certainly reminds you of "Sunset Blvd." with a rather happy ending. Both episodes feature fine performances by all the principles, which is why these end up being a couple of above average trips into the Zone.

stupid don't buy it
dum

Going My Way?
One of Rod Serling's masterpieces which features a young, attractive woman on her way to California, who cannot escape the haunting vision of an eerie man thumbing a ride wherever she goes.

Going My Way? For fans of the Twilight Zone, this is a must-see indeed! ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Rod Serling + Art Carney = MAGIC!
Every time I watch this I tear up at the end.

This was a hastily done show to get it done in time for Christmas. Serling himself said that there was a holiday spirit on the set, maybe because they had more children than usual on the set.

Art Carney's acting ability makes this episode shine with the magic of the season.

A must have for sentimentalists who still enjoy the Magic of Christmas.

Art Carney stars in Serling's Twilight Zone Christmas Gfit
Night of the Meek," written by Rod Serling, finds poor Henry Corwin (Art Carney), a department store Santa who shows up drunk on Christmas Eve and is fired. Wandering the streets, he discovers a magic bag that can dispense any gift he asks for. The question is, what will Henry do with this most unusual bag? Definitely a seasonal message from Serling and directed by Jack Smight, this episode originally aired on December 23, 1960. Legend has it Serling wrote the episode just to see Art Carney play Santa Claus, and if that story is not true, then it should be. The excellent support casts sports the recognizable John Fielder as Henry's short-tempered boss and Burt Mustin as a friendly bum on the streets, but this is Art Carney's triumph.

still has it
Art Carney (star of THE HONEYMOONERS)(still has it). What I mean is great acting. Rod Serling is a genious making this episode. This is one of my favorite Twilight Zone episode.

Pure Serling
Rod Serling's yearning for those cherished days long gone or a part of ourselves that we think was lost is always evident in his best works. NIGHT OF THE MEEK is very uplifting and may bring a tear to those who cherish this episode. Art Carney showed us all a great dramatic side and depth which enhances this beyond the ordinary. The fact that this was one of the six episodes of the "Twilight Zone" that were recorded directly onto videotape instead of film gives it that 'live' appearance and helps add to its validity as an icon of the days of 'good television.' NIGHT OF THE MEEK is pure Serling.

A Great Christmas Film
I rate this as one of the best Christmas films to come off of televisions. Compassionate and moving, and not overdone. Arguably the best Twilight Zone. ... Read more

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Living Doll, one of The Twilight Zone's scariest episodes, written by Charles Beaumont, stars Telly Savalas as a mean-spirited man who makes a pint-sized enemy in his stepdaughter's new and very protective doll, Talky Tina (June Foray, the venerable Queen of Cartoons, who is best known as the voice of Rocket J. Squirrel). He thinks after tossing her in the garbage can that he's seen the last of Tina. But then the telephone rings: "My name is Talky Tina ... and I'm going to kill you." This video also includes one of Rod Serling's best episodes, the thoughtful The Eye of the Beholder, in which unseen plastic surgeons labor intensively to make their desperate female patient look "normal." This is one of three must-own volumes of vintage Twilight Zone episodes released to commemorate this timeless series' 40th anniversary. Tape 1 features the video premiere of The After Hours (the one with the mannequins) and Time Enough at Last starring Burgess Meredith as the post-apocalyptic bookworm. Tape 3 features the alien-in-a-diner puzzler Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up, as well as the signature episode To Serve Man, which TV Guide rightfully ranked as one of TV's top 100 episodes of all time. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (9)

The classic "Eye of the Beholder" and deadly Talky Tina
"The Eye Of The Beholder," a classic Twilight Zone episode written by Rod Serling, tells the story of Janet Tyler, a woman whose hideously deformed face has made her an outcast all of her life. Now she faces her eleventh and final operation in a last chance to look normal. Maxine Stuart plays Janet under the bandages, and Donna Douglas plays her as revealed. This is one of the show's finest episodes, although probably more people have seen the Saturday Night Live takeoff than the original. Then we have Telly Savalas as Erich Streator, who is threatened by a "Living Doll" in this episode written by Jerry Sohl. Erich does not like the Talky Tina his wife has bought for Christie, his step-daughter. However the doll, voiced by the great June Foray (the voice of Rocky J. Squirrel), tells Erich she hates him too. A gripping episode since Talky Tina never talks when anybody else is around. Poor Erich. An above average Zone episode and while I would not have thought of putting this particular pair together on the same videotape, it is certainly one of the better volumes in this series.

My name is Talky Tina and I will Kill You.
Those words spoken by a Living Doll who protects the young daughter of a cruel step father played by Telly Salavis in "Living Doll", one of the most frightening episodes of the Twilight Zone, and scored with suspenceful music by Bernard Herrman. The next episode after that "Eye of the Beholder", penned by Rod Serling, is a statement of what it means to be ugly or beautiful when a woman wakes up on some world in the future or the past (It's never revealed) where her face stands out in a world where the other human faces look vastly different. The erie atmosphere of the story is also added by the strange haunting (and yet somewhat hopeful) music again scored by Bernard Herrman. A must of for any Twilight Zone fan's video collection.

All Is Not What It Appears to Be
Your heart kind of goes out for Telly Savalas in LIVING DOLL. As much of the no-good creep of a stepfather he 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 ambiguous feelings the viewer feels is 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 from the 5th season and the entire series for that matter. THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER also taunts the main character and the viewer. The suspense of what lies beneath those bandages is unbearable. This story is not only a parable of beauty being in the eye of the beholder but makes a strong statement on fascism. Bernard Herrmann's score once again is on target as his rather ominously suspenseful scoring pulls in the viewer for a twist of fate. THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER is another excellent episode.

My name is Talky Tina and You had better watch this Video
LIVING DOLL and THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER are two of the best episodes of "The Twilight Zone." Telly Savalas gives us a cruel yet sympathetic portrayal of a stepfather in LIVING DOLL with a great score by Bernard Herrmann. THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER you might say examines the theory of relativity in a very different yet personal way with another great score by Bernard Herrmann. Both classics!

My two favorite episodes
These two episodes totally sum up the Twilight Zone. The original Twilight Zone had a very low budget but magnificent writing and storylines. "The Living Doll" was the original premise for "Child's Play", except that Chucky isn't half as scary. "Eye of the Beholder" has to be the greatest episode of all time. I'm not gonna spoil it for anyone, but let me warn you that even though it's not really scary, you will be shocked by the time the episode is done. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Twilight Zone at its most nightmarish, and without sermons!
No effort was spared by director Robert Florey (co-scripter of the first Karloff Frankenstein movie, and director of Murders in the Rue Morgue, Beast with 5 Fingers, Thriller's best Karloff episode "The Incredible Doctor Markesan") to film scenes of actual dark rides at San Francisco's now lost Playland-at-the-Beach and Pacific Ocean Park. This footage of the ñLimboî display case shot for Twilight Zoneïs ñPerchance To Dreamî is the real star of the episode, but Richard Conte gives one of his solid hard-boiled film noir characterisations. LimboÍs sinister mechanical paper mache star attraction was a vampire witch, with sharp fingernails that swayed hypnotically with dangling metallic drops of blood hinged to those freakish hands. Also seen and archived for posterity in this overlooked T. Zone are several other "lost" side show icons (created by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company in the '40s) displayed above the spook ride entrance: a bloody ape, hands reaching from a grave (a nod to the Zone's short-lived companion series hosted by Roald Dahl, WAY OUT) and a Tor Johnson-esque monster in velvet. Watch for the nearby giant skull. There are several studio mock-ups not nearly as convincing, however- such as the gorilla that rolls by Conte and the "Cat-Girl. "Perchance To Dream" along with "Shadow Play" are the most essential dream-within-a-dream Twilight Zones. You won't hear the usual moral sermon from Serling either. Top-notch TV terror from the '60s. ... Read more

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A couple of "Twilight Zone" episodes with Rod Serling twists
Rod Serling wrote both of these episodes of "The Twilight Zone," each of which evidence the sort of O. Henry "surprise" endings that would become better known as "Twilight Zone" twists. "To Serve Man" (March 2, 1962) adapted by Serling from Damon Knight's short story, is one of the most famous Zone episodes with its "Soylent Green" ending. A 9-foot tall Kanamit (Richard Kiel) has come to earth to create a golden age with the advanced technology of his race. However, Michael Chambers (Lloyd Bochner), a government decoding expert, learns to learn the true meaning of the title of the book left by the Kanamit. Not as much fun the second time around when the ending seems so obvious, "To Serve Man" teaches the old lesson that appearances can be deceiving, especially when dealing with strange visitors from another planet.

Episodes: "Judgment Night" (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. Written by Serling, 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.

Top of the line "Two-Fer"
Most two episode tapes contain one classic and one sleeper. This is an exception. "To Serve Man" is the ultimate tale of where laziness and self-glorification can get you, and "Judgement Night" is a plain old shivers-down-the-back story of final payment coming due. Excellent combination. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Psychic Hotline, Retro-Style; and, The Last Road To Eternity
Twilight Zone enthusiasts will enjoy this tale of fortune cookie wisdon gone arye. A newlywed couple, in the fifties, stop at a small diner and enter the Twilight Zone. William Shatner stars as the husband, obsessed with the fortune dispensing machine, much to his brides' dismay. A must see episode for Shatner fans. A frail southern woman, during the Civil War, desparately awaits her husbands return from the battlefield as she watches the "Passers-By", on the road at the edge of her property. The constant dabbing at her brow, with her handkercheif, and her anxious demeanor, arouse suspision. Through her conversations, with several travellers, she comes to a startling realization. A predictable, yet worthwhile selection.

One of the best
Let's face it: for all of the fame surrounding _The Twilight Zone_ a lot of the episodes (most of them penned by Serling himself) were dogs. But when things worked, oh, did they work. They even outdid its main competitior, _The Outer Limits,_ which was by far a consistently superior series. And "The Nick of Time" might be the best _Twilight Zone._ A newly-married couple stop at diner. In their booth is a small fortune-telling machine with a little bobbing devil's-head on top. For amusement they drop in a penny. Out comes some advice they fail to follow...with near castastrophic results. After that it's all downhill. Well, not quite. This episode is truly eerie, and should scare just about everyone.

Another hit!
William Shatner plays a newlywed who falls prey to a fortune telling machine. Incredible!

My Favorite TZ episode of them all
The Passersby is my favorite TZ episode. The image of the people walking down the road to symbolize war dead is brilliant. The bitter widow the war torn veteran speak of a life they once lived that no longer is never knowing that they have died and entered another dimension. I especially love the end when the widow resisting her fate, is convinced by none other than Abe Lincoln who is the last man on the road symbolizing the end of the war. A brilliant episode that hit me very hard.

Mark Twain in the Zone
What do Mark Twain and Rod Serling have in common? The Passersby. For a complete experience, read Twain's "The War Prayer," then watch Serling's "The Passersby." Both do an impressive job (including very similar details!) of portraying the journey from naive hero marching down the road to glory to war victim passing down the road to judgment. A thought-provoking indictment of war. ... Read more

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Christian Nyby (The Thing) directed this thoughtful, eloquent, and superbly acted Rawhide episode. Michael Ansara guest stars as Joseph, a Comanche who a short-handed Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) hires for the cattle drive. Racial tensions within the camp ("Once a Comanche, always a Comanche") are heightened with the arrival of Colonel Macklin (James Whitmore), who led a massacre of the Comanche and is in defiance of a recently signed treaty. The paranoid and increasingly unstable Macklin is gunning for Chief Iron Bull, who he has never seen but is convinced that he "is out to get me." Trail boss Gil Favor (Eric Fleming) warns Macklin that "our business is driving cattle, not fighting Indians." But Macklin's taunts("Maybe Chief Iron Bull is hiding with the women," he challenges tribal elders) and the tragic shooting of an Indian boy sets the stage for a showdown, unless Gil turns over to the Comanche "a gift": Macklin. Whitmore gives an Emmy-worthy performance. His climactic recounting of the massacre he led is chilling. Another standout is veteran character Richard X. Slattery as the camp's most venal racist. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (2)

DVD please! All the Rawhide episodes deserve to be on DVD!
Not putting Rawhide on DVD is such a loss of great entertainment. Rawhide was one of the longest runnnig and loved western series ever made! When Rawhide was originally shown on Friday nights in the 50s and the 60s it had a good number of devoted fans. (It even made it into the top ten list of most popular television shows). Abroad, however it enjoyed a fanatical level of viewership, especially in Japan! Now why don't they put this on DVD! DVD please!
Ok, as for this episode, Iron Bull, it's a good episode. The 'Iron Bull' in the title refers to the legend of an Indian named 'Iron Bull'.In this episode a military man of the time has it out for 'Iron Bull', and Iron Bull's warriors have it out for the miliatary man, with Mr. Favor in the middle! It's hard to say too much about the episode because it's better to watch the episode and let it unfold itself.

Pretty Cool
I think these people how made the movie were kinda good I really enjoyed this movie! :) :) ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The best "Twilight Zone" love story (and another one)
Both of these episodes of "The Twilight Zone" reflect one of Rod Serling's favorite themes, which is people being given a second chance. "The Trade-Ins" (April 20, 1962) features veteran actors Joseph Schildkraut and Alma Platt as John and Marie Holt, who visit the New Life Corporation hoping to translate their personalities into beautiful young, artificial bodies. However, they only have enough money for ONE operation. This episode is my favorite "Twilight Zone" love story, made all the more effective by the performances of Schildkraut and Platt. You would have thought that with all those other episodes to choose from they could have come up with a better second episode to pair with it on this videotape.

"Third from the Sun" (January 8, 1960) is about the end of the world (almost). Adapted by Serling from Richard Matheson's short story, the episode tells of scientist William Sturka (Fritz Weaver), who is convinced the world is about to end in a nuclear war. Along with test pilot Jerry Riden (Joe Maross), they escape with their families to a new planet. This is one of those episodes that is going to be more effective for those who were not weaned on "The Twilight Zone," because most of us can see the twist coming at the end of this one. Yes, the spaceship used in this episode is the one from the classic 1956 film "Forbidden Planet."

Stories about new chances
It could be said that the episodes on this compilation share a common theme of getting a chance to start again. They are, however very different. While i found The Trade-Ins a pleasant, if unspectacular watch, Third From The Sun blew my top.
In a strong contrast to the Trade-Ins, an emotional episode, Third From The Sun is a nervous, tight piece of doomsday fear. I must say, the USA of late 50's let some VERY thinly disguised political criticism be broadcast..The strong visual style and the pacifist theme of the story remind me very much of the Outer Limits.
Third From The Sun is one of those very few TZ episodes that might have worked even at 45 minute length. The tension starts in the first scene and keeps up until the end...and what an end!
I strongly recommend this episode to anyone comparing TZ and Outer Limits unfavorably. The two series had a LOT in common, Twilight Zone is just a lot more varied. And oh yes, The Trade-Ins isn't a waste of time either :-)

Excellent Tape....period.
I am a huge fan of the Twilight Zone. "The Trade Ins" is a mildly disturbing tale, yet good. But "Third from the Sun is one of the series's best. Good overall episodes. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A pair of sub-par "TZ" episodes by Montgomery Pittman
This particular volume in "The Twilight Zone" videotape series has a pair of episodes written and directed by Montgomery Pittman, which might explain why they are a couple of subpar efforts overall. "The Grave" (October 27, 1961) starts with Pinto Sykes (Richard Geary) being gunned down by the folks in a western town. They had hired Conny Miller (Lee Marvin, in his first "TZ" appearance) to do the job, but he never caught up with Sykes and we have doubts about his courage. Now Miller hears that before he died Sykes vowed to grab Miller if he ever came near his grave. The mood is rather spooky, but why a killer would want to get the coward who never even tried to kill him is a rather big hole that keeps this one from really working. Look for familiar faces Strother Martin as Mothershed and Lee Van Cleef as Steinhart in this one.

"The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" (February 23, 1962) finds the title character (James Best, who had the bit of Johnny Rob in "The Grave") suddenly sitting up in his coffin at his funeral. However Jeff does not seem exactly normal; in fact, he seems better. Now he likes to work hard and can win fistfights, all of which has the local folk and his fiancee Comfort Gatewood (Sherry Jackson) a might spooked. There is certainly a rustic charm to this episode, which is the second best one on the disc. I would have sworn it was an Earl Hammer, Jr. episode, but I was certainly wrong on that score (if Hammer had written it, "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" would have been a lot better).

So-so
I have to agree with the previous reviewer; "The Grave" had a promising premise, but was undermined by a weak ending; however, it is worth watching the typically strong performance by the great Lee Marvin. Unfortunately, however, this episode is paired with "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank", a silly episode with James Best delivering a typically overwrought portrayal of his usual annoying cornpone clown, the sort of half-witted hayseed character which has long been his trademark. So, for optimum viewing pleasure, enjoy Lee Marvin, and fast-forward through James ("aw, shucks") Best.

Lee Marvin's first role in the Zone...yipee.
The brilliance of writer-director Montgomery Pittman enhances the first episode, which could've really soared if it hadn't bogged down in a weak finale. A twist it is but a shock it is not. "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" is a joke for the Zone, a poorly plotted and only intermittenly successful twist on funerals. If you enjoy Lee Marvin, by all means buy it. But if you don't, don't say I didn't warn you! Collectors will be the only ones interested. ... Read more