September 2, 2024: The Twilight Zone rewatch continues with season episodes 9-12!

Season 3, Episode 9, “Deaths-Head Revisited”

This episode first aired November 10, 1961.

Rod Serling was inspired to write this episode by the trial of nazi Adolf Eichmann.

The episode title is a play on Evelyn Waugh’s novel Brideshead Revisited.

The exteriors were shot on MGM’s Lot 3, the set that was once a Western fort.

After the episode aired, one viewer wrote in to accuse Serling of “having a preoccupation with nazism”, something he vehemtly denied.

Actor Joseph Schildkraut, who played Alfred Becker, had been promised the lead role in “The Obsolete Man” only to have the part go to Burgess Meredith. Here, Serling made good on his word to cast Schildkraut by giving him a role in this episode.

Schildkraut was an Austrian-born matinee idol of the silent films who eventually graduated to Broadway and playing onscreen villains. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Life of Emile Zola (1937) but was told he was not going to win so he didn’t bother attending. He was in bed when he received a frenzied call informing him that he was actually going to win so he rushed to the event just in time for Frank Capra to present him with the award. Unfortunately, his career declined after he signed with low budget RKO Pictures.

Schildkraut suffered a fatal heart attack in 1964 after a song-and-dance rehearsal for the musical comedy “Cafe Crown”.

Oscar Beregi Jr., who played Gunter Lutze, was a good friend of Schildkraut and, like him, built a career playing accented villains. He previously appeared in “The Rip Van Winkle Caper”.

Karen Verne, who played the Inkeeper, appeared in mostly B movies. After marrying actor Peter Lorre, she put her career on hold – and spent five years in a miserable marriage that saw her make several suicide attempts. The two eventually divorced and Verne tried to resume her career but, by that point, the opporitunities had passed her by. She passed away at the age of all-too-young-age of 49, officially of a fatal heart attack although there were rumors she took her own life.

Ben Wright, who played the Doctor, was a master of dialects who kicked off his career on radio, being the last person to portray Sherlock Holmes during America’s golden age of radio. His final role was the voice of Grimsby in The Little Mermaid (1989).

Well, if there’s one thing Serling could never be accused of it was being too subtle. While somewhat overtly clunky, this is still a solid, well- directed episode buoyed by strong performances. But, in the end, not a Top 10 candidate for my season 3 list.

Season 3, Episode 10, “The Midnight Sun”

This episode first aired November 17, 1961.

This episode was shot in a mere three days.

A scene that ended up on the cutting room floor involved a repairman fixing Mrs. Bronson’s refrigerator and demanding payment in cash. When the cash-strapped Mrs. Bronson offers up her wedding ring instead, the repairman agrees to accept payment on credit.

Another scene that ended up cut involved a police officer coming by to warn the women that the police force was being disbanded and to exercise caution. He gives them a gun and informs them it was going to keep getting hotter “until it’s too hot to stand”. Then, throwing a meaningful look to the gun, advises: “Then use your judgment, ladies.” Actor John McLiam, who played the cop, also appeared as a detective in the episode “Uncle Simon”, but his scene in that episode also ended up on the cutting room floor.

To pull off the scene where the paintings melt, wax was used instead of paint and a heater was placed behind the canvas.

Actress Lois Nettleton, who played Norma, was a Miss America finalist who started her career on Broadway. She was married for seven years to Jean Shepherd, the host of a radio show she called into, becoming a frequent guest caller before tying the knot with him. They divorced after seven years of marriage.

Nettleton was nominated for an Emmy Award six times, winning twice, and received a Tony nomination in 1976.

Reflecting back on her TZ experience, she said: “I came out from New York for The Twilight Zone and loved every minute of it. The lamps that created the heat on the set helped create the illusion. That’s all it was, an illuision. The heat in the studio wasn’t enough. Someone was spraying water on our faces between shots. Anton Leader, the director, made all of us feel comfortable on the set. He was the kind of director all method actors longed for on televsion.”

Betty Garde, who played Mrs. Bronson, was a prolific radio and theatre actress who previously appeared in “The Odyssey of Flight 33” as a chatty passenger.

Jason Wingreen, who played Mr. Shuster, previously portrayed the conductor in “Last Stop at Willoughby”.

I have many fond memories of watching this for the first time back in the day and absolutely loving the twist. Atmopsherically oppressive, this episode has stood the test of time and I’d rank it right up there among this season’s best.

Season 3, Episode 11, “Still Valley”

This episode first aired November 24, 1961.

This episode was based on Manly Wade Wellman’s short story “The Valley Was Still” which was first published in the August 1939 issue of Weird Tales.

Cliff Robertson was originally slated to play the part of Sgt. Paradine but he was unable to reschedule some prior commitments, so the role went to Dina Merrill.

One of the script notes Rod Serling received was a suggestion to change the word “hypnotism” to the more widely-used-at-the-time term “mesmerism”. Serling chose to ignore the note.

Actor Gary Merrill, who played Paradine, is perhaps better known for his portrayal of Dr. Leonard Gillespie in Young Dr. Kildare (1972). He eventually left film to pursue politics and, later in life, enjoyed a steady career doing voice work.

Vaughn Taylor, who played Teague, was the first character to be found guilty on Perry Mason (1957). He portrayed Janet Leigh’s boss in Psycho (1960) and appeared in five episodes of The Twilight Zone.

Ben Cooper, who played Dauger, reflected back on his Twilight Zone experience: “I was in awe of Gary Merrill at the time. Merrill was a veteran. He was on the set on time, he knew his lines, and he knew how to overplay his role. I assumed that Merrill researched the subject, and Civil War scouts were like that, because of the tasks they had to perform. JIm, the director, is a good friend of mine. We had been friends for years. Jim told me aside that I was to play my role down a bit, so Gary Merrill would shine on stage.”

Well…okay. A fine episode I suppose but devoid of any clever twist, wondrous reveal, or delightful comeuppance. It culminates all culminates in one of the most muted endings in this show’s run. Not a favorite.

Season 3, Episode 12, “The Jungle”

This episode was first broadcast December 1, 1961.

This episode was based on a short story by the same name (I coincidentally read about a month ago) written by Charles Beaumont and first published in the December 1954 issue of the pulp magazine If: Worlds of Science Fiction.

Producer Buck Houghton was not convinced they could pull off the onscreen adaptation without watering down the original source material.

The board meeting set is the same one used for the board meeting in “A Stop at Willoughby” (1960), while
the stairs in the city street Alan runs up to look into the bar, is the same set from “One for the Angels” (1959) where Louis Bookman made his sales pitch to Mr. Death.

Actor John Dehner, who played Allan Richardson, got his start in show business as an assistant animator at Disney, working on sequences for Fantasia (1940) and Bambi (1942) before eventually finding work on radio, film, and television. He auditioned three times for the role of Gunsmoke’s Matt Dillon but ultimately turned down the role because he didn’t want to be typecast as a cowboy. Not sure why he auditioned in the first place.

Reflecting back on this episode, Dehner said: “I was instructed not to smile during the entire film. Take everything serious. I guess it was my saturnine face that cinched it for me. The real challenge was to stay within the marks. They had me run through a park and it was late at night. The sun had set so they placed these markers in the earth so I would run within view of the camera. My job was to keep looking behind me, because something was chasing me through the park. I had difficulty looking behind me and down in front of me to see the markers without Bill shouting for me to stop and do another take. The camera was moving alongside of me as I ran, but I kept getting out of range. I couldn’t look at the markers and look behind me at the same time. As I recall, we went quite a while getting the run through and I got home way after midngiht.”

Emily McLaughlin, who played Doris Richards, was the Queen of Daytime Soaps. She was one of the founding cast members of General Hospital (1963), a show on which she portrayed the character of Jessie Brewer for 28 years until her passing in 1991. Interesting trivia note: In 1982, she adopted a 23 year-old-female fan (!).

Zamba was the 529 pound lion featured in the final scene. He was named after the Zambezi River where he was discovered, near death, by a couple on a photographic safari. They brought him to America and left him in the care of exotic animal trainer Ralph Helfer who owned a ranch called “Nature’s Haven: Wild Animal Rentals Co,” in Van Nuys, California that he opened in 1955. Ralph raised Zamba using his own animal training philosophy he called “Affection Training” that emphasized love, patience, understanding and respect. Zamba had his own bed but often slept at the foot of Ralph’s bed or, occasionally, between Ralph and his wife Toni. Zamba became a beloved family member, coming to Toni’s defense when an employee broke into the home and attempted to assault her, chasing the attacker out of the house.

Because of his gentle disposition (outside of one incident when he tried to maul Bob Denver) he was well known in the entertainment industry. So well known, in fact, that the guards at the various studios would just wave Ralph through whenever they’d spot Zamba sitting in the back of his station wagon.

Zamba passed away peacefully on his 18th birthday. The winner of five PATSY Awards, he was honored with a statue at Africa, USA, a wild animal sanctuary outside of Los Angeles co-founded by Ralph Helfer.

As I said, I read the original short story about a month ago and can confirm the adaptation pales in comparison (Houghton was right!). The final scene of the husband returning home to find the lion feasting on his wife is much more harrowing in the story but, to be fair, this was t.v. in the early 60’s so they could only go so far. Kind of felt sorry for that poor cab driver who ended up collaterol damage, and then casually abadoned in his taxi for, presumably, the police to find the next day.

To be fair, not as bad as I was expecting, but also not good enough to warrant a Top 10 placement.

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