PERIL IN PARIS

(La Belle France)
 

Enchanted by my recent trip to France, I decided to give TAOS season five's PERIL IN PARIS (1956) another visit. This time, I was in the privacy of my study, unscheduled, truly relaxed and I didn't need to pack and unpack daily.  Just like a fine French wine, this fine episode set, in France, is vintage and classic.

Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen are over in Paris, I gather working on an PLANET assignment, when they get a call to see the Prefect of Police.  Golly gee it's "Inspector Henderson" with a hint of a tiny moustache. Well, not really, it's "Inspector Lonier" (Robert Shayne) giving us his best French accent. Well, it certainly was an attention-grabber to start off the fifth season. The resemblance is so close to the Metropolis Inspector that Clark quips "The resemblance is truly frightening....I mean uncanny." The inspector gives Kent a letter for Superman. It's from actress Madame Anna Constantine, (Lilyan Chauvin) who writes that she is in trouble and needs his protection. Superman arrives in Paris to help the French damsel in distress to defect from an Iron Curtain country. Superman is talked into flying some very valuable jewels back into Paris and then giving them back to her at a pre-arranged meeting place. Madame C was concerned she wouldn't be able to get jewels over the border from behind the Iron Curtain. It turns out, however, that Anna is the dupe of a smuggling ring which is attempting to escape Europe with a cache of valuable jewels—and before long, Superman has been duped as well. The "police" were fakes and were actually crooks getting the ICE (as young Olsen would call it). This episode has more twists and turns in it than a croissant! It is somewhat like a spy movie in which you don't know who the good guys are…or are they the bad guys?!?  

This episode marked a refreshing departure from the usual Metropolis and Daily Planet sets. In the opening segment, there is a view of the Eiffel Tower and a mini Statute of Liberty. The Eiffel Tower is the tallest building in Paris and one of the most recognized structures in the world. It was named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel and completed in 1889 as an entrance arch for the World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. This symbol of Paris was the world's tallest building until 1930 when it was superseded by NYC's Chrysler Building. On the third floor deck of this magnificent tower is the ALTITUDE 95 RESTAURANT where my group had our farewell dinner. The small scale replica of the Statute of Liberty  is located on the far end of  the island lle des Cygnes which faces west in the direction of its larger sibling in NYC. Inaugurated 3 years after its NYC counterpart, the statute was given by the French community living in the USA to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution. Originally, it faced toward the Eiffel Tower, but was turned west in 1937 for the exposition universelle hosted by Paris that year. Its base carries a commemorative plate, and the booklet carries the inscription that recognizes the American Independence Day and Bastille Day. Superman meets Madam C and her man servant Gregor (Peter Mamako) on the "other side" (France) to return the jewels. This rendezvous was in the mist and fog of the Fountain of TreLee.  I couldn't find this location in my notes or in my research. Nevertheless, it set a most mysterious and intriguing background for the episode.

The actors in this adventure fit the Parisians in both look, demeanor and mannerism.  French-American character actress Lilyan Chauvin (Madame Anna Constantine) is a long time veteran of the European stage, and is adept at playing strict, but sometimes loving characters.  She might be best known as the sinister Mother Superior in Silent Night Deadly Night (1984), but her career started back in the 1950s when she was plucked from the stage to appear in small minor roles in motion pictures. One notable film was with John Wayne in North to Alaska (1960). Over the years, Chauvin has found herself as one of the busiest character actresses in Hollywood appearing in over forty films and numerous appearances on television. Her many film credits have included "Private Benjamin", "Predator 2", "No Place to Hide", "Universal Solider" (as Jean-Claude Van Damme's mother) and most recently co-starred with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio in Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can". Just like most of the women I encountered in France, Ms. Chauvin's character was slim, trim and impeccably dressed in black and gray tailored suits.  
Man-servant Gregor (Greek American actor Peter Mamako) reminded me of an Inspector Closeau wannabe with his dapper black suit, matching butler's derby and upturned moustache. Mamako was in 2 other TAOS episodes: KING FOR A DAY as Markel and in THE DEFEAT OF SUPERMAN as Happy King. 

Phony police official Albert Carrier (Pierre LuMont) looked very crisp and professional in his beige raincoat. Madame C said of him "Your manners are French—but that is all!" Carrier played many French waiters, servants and ethnicities in American TV sitcoms until the 1980s. 

Pug looking (especially in THOSE stripes and barret) thug Charles LaTorre (Raul Durant) last starred in TV's I SPY, BATMAN and MR. ED.
Franz Roehn (crooked jeweler turned honest jeweler Jacque du Crae) looked a little like the nutty inventor, Maurice, in Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Roehn was featured in numerous TV shows up until 1961 in westerns and mysteries.

When a very bored Jimmy Olsen writes a postcard home that reads "Having a wonderful time—wish I was there" either he should have opted for "a rousing evening at Napoleon’s Tomb" or better still, looked around to see what a great adventure he was a part of! Bon magnifique!

April 2008

---

CHARLOTTE'S WEB
By Susan Schnitzer

 

I must have been out of the WEB when I was a child and never had the chance to read CHARLOTTE'S WEB. But when I was recently cast in the role of Mrs. Martha Arable (“Mother") at the KidsVille Theater in Somerset, NJ I figured that now was the time to do my research. As originally written by Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web tells the story of Wilbur, an undersized pig (also known as a "runt") who is saved from being axed by the sweet, but headstrong, tender-hearted farm girl Fern Arable. When this "runt" does grow, he's on the verge of eating his human family (Mr. & Mrs. John Arable and big brother Avery) out of house and home. So he is moved, down the road, to Uncle Homer and Aunt Edith Zuckerman's farm because they sometimes raise pigs. When Wilbur is  big enough to be moved inside to the barn, he is befriended by a beautiful gray spider named Charlotte. Wilbur doesn't stop growing, or eating, causing the Zuckerman's to want to turn Wilburn "into ham." In the months that follow, Charlotte uses messages (i.e. —"some pig," "humble" and "radiant") to magically spin into her web to repeatedly save Wilbur from disaster. To help Charlotte is the reluctant and gluttonous rat, Templeton, who gets these catch phrases from garbage pile magazines where he frequently dines al fresco. The other animals on the farm are Goose, Sheep, Lamb and Gander. Other human characters in this pig's tale are Lurvey (the farm hand) and the Narrator.

Mother is NOT an exciting character and neither are her lines. I watched the1970's cartoon and the recent live action movie—and mother is dull. On the plus side, her dialogue is cut and to the point (plus we share the same hairdo). Since my memory is a sieve (unlike the children in the production who inhale their dialogue), it was fine that I was able to keep my script with me behind the scenes and refer to it constantly as I walked on and off stage with props. However, I noticed that some of the adult actors were also either referring to their scripts behind the scenes or had cheat cards tucked into their costumes. 

It didn't make a difference how we went about learning our parts, because the audience loved us! It was adorable how the very little audience members shyly came up to the performers at the "meet and greet" at the end of the show and handed us a pen to sign a program. The greatest compliment that I received from hubby, friends and audience members is that I was so natural playing mother (mostly because I yelled at the children so much). Basically, my acting formula was Susan being Susan. It also helped that I got my costumes from the "Susan Collection.” There were no drama queens in the production or in the dressing room. 

I'd like to share with everyone the nice sentiments that I received from cast members (the entire cast also received sentiments according to their personality). The little blond lighting lad "A" wrote:

--- "Mrs. Arable (Susan) - It has been a huge amount of fun to see you play the part of Mrs. Arable in this show. When I am in the tower, I always look forward to being entertained by you!"

--- On a paper plate given out by the Narrator, I received this award "Susan --- Best Style.”

--- The Sheep "J" traveled all the way from PA to be in this production. She presented me with this moving passage:
"Susan, You are so talented! What a wonderful mother you've been, on and off the stage. I feel as though I could go to you on a rainy day when I'm feeling blue, and you would make me laugh hysterically! Your fun stories about your home life are what keep me going most of the time during intermission, and I just wanted to thank you for being so kind and friendly! I hope everything goes well with the singing career, I see big things for you!"

With nice people like this to perform with, I don't mind being called a "mother .....”

March 2008

 

---

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED

FOR YOUR APPROVAL:

The Genius of ROD SERLING

IN EVERY SEASON...PART III

By Susan Schnitzer

THE FIRST SEASON (1959 - 60)

“A year ago, when the first publicity came out on the series, I was inundated by submissions from agents offering me six foot nine actors with long necks to which electrodes could easily be attached. One agent told me that he had an actor so versed in horror movies that he’d taken to sleeping in a box in the basement.” – Rod Serling 

Producer Buck Houghton, Rod’s producer and script editor on Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, was not Rod Serling’s original choice to produce the series. Fortunately, he was so impressed by the first 2 striking scripts, that his enthusiasm took over and he couldn’t wait to be a part of the TZ. For the first 3 years of the TZ, considered the best years of the series, Houghton was singularly mostly responsible for translating Serling’s and other writers’ story visions off the paper and unto film. Houghton purchased scripts (other than Sterling’s), cast actors, scored music, cut/edited and got final approval to everything. Houghton would listen to suggestions and be very supportive to the director and actor in their original idea as much as possible. The pilot (“Where Is Everybody?”) had been shot at Universal as a courtesy to CBS who did not rent its facilities to outside production companies.

So Houghton decided to rent space and facilities at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).  MGM kept everything they ever made, so they had the best storehouse of sets in the business. Next, Houghton hired the production crew from the art department of MGM Oscar winner William Ferrari (for the movie Gaslight and The Time Machine). From his Schlitz associations, Houghton hired director of photography George T. Clemens (a distant relative of Samuel L. Clemens aka Mark Twain), as well as a cameramen on High Noon, The Great Dictator, Frederic Marchs’ Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Valentino’s Blood and Sand. For casting directors, network boss William Dozier suggested Mildred Gusse. Serling, Houghton, and George Clemens arranged to hire directors who were just as enthusiastic as everyone else on the creative team. Of special importance was hiring Mitchell Leisen who directed the classic fantasy Death Takes a Holiday starring Frederic March. Houghton hero worshipped Leisen ever since he was the 4^th assistant director on one of Leisen’s movies. However, hiring movie directors to do TV didn’t always go smoothly as when Oscar-winning editor/director Robert Parrish (Body and Soul, A Double Life and All The King’s Men) directed TZ’s episode “One for the Angels,” starring Ed Wynn. Parrish didn’t know anything about TV and was shocked to receive a 30-page script, to be done in three days, whereas he was used to shooting only five pages a day on a movie. Systemically, Parrish brought in a legal-size piece of paper with all of the setups and crossed off all of the shots that represented two ways of doing the script. Then he crossed off all of the shots that were redundant. This gave him a choice between over-shoulders and close-ups. Thus, the shooting was done in three days.

Each episode was given one full day of rehearsal plus three shooting days beginning in June. Twenty episodes were made before public reaction came in. Serling’s commitment to the show was total. He worked 12–14 hours a day, 7-days a week. He was the only person, according to writer Mary Wood, who could get a tan and make money at the same time while working by his poolside. Serling would finish writing by lunch time and then drive to MGM where he would work on until late into the evening. Serling was instrumental in the development of the scripts and rewrites, in on the post-production and always looked at the dailies. He was always ready to rewrite very quickly. Serling had a very short attention span and was forever on the run and couldn’t sit around for dubbing, or going through casting lists, or cueing music. He left all of that up to the executive producer. But he DID have the final say. Over a period of 9 months, Serling produced 28 of the first season’s scripts. These scripts fell into three basic categories: science fiction, horror, and fantasy—using the surprise twist ending which came to characterize the program. Each script took from 35–40 hours to complete. Serling was able to keep up with this whirlwind pace because he had a backlog of story ideas and many of the stories had already been written in his mind. Serling’s writing followed a rigid pattern. He would dictate the first draft for a secretary to type up then he would rewrite any trouble spots and tighten up the timing. Though he usually didn’t have to do a second rewrite, the director and cast would sometimes makes pencil changes. There was a lot of excitement amongst the crew. Each script was different, unique and everyone looked forward to what was coming up next.

Production of the first season came to an end early In April, 1960. In total, 36 episodes had been produced. In the spring of 1960, John Brahm won a Directors Guild Award for “Time Enough at Last.” Buck Houghton picked up a Producers Guild Award for Best Produced Series. The show won numerous awards. In April, Bantam Books released  Stories From The Twilight Zone, a paperback collection containing 6 of Serling’s  teleplay adaptations (“The Mighty Casey,” “Escape Clause,” “Walking Distance,” “The Fever,” “Where Is Everybody?” and “The Monsters Are Due on  Maple Street.”) The reviews were favorable and sold well.

Now Rod Serling was a TV star recognized walking down the street or going into public places. Unfortunately, Serling photographed taller and handsomer than he was in person for which fans commented. Serling’s daughters, Anne and Jodi, were embarrassed by the attention that their famous father received and wished that he would tell fans that he was “someone else” but he was too kind to people. Despite the pitfalls, Serling rather enjoyed his new-found celebrity status. He was living out everyone’s fantasies and figured that he was the best known and most highly paid writer on TV. He loved his creation. On June 21, 1960, he won his fourth Emmy for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama. If he had actually thought that he would have won—he would have shaved before the broadcast. He thought that he would be just another face in the audience applauding the winner. HE WAS BEYOND SHOCKED when he accepted his award. Serling had taken a chance with his new series and won.

THE SECOND SEASON (1960 – 61)

After the success of the first season, TZ had found its audience. There were fan clubs in 31 states and the show received about 500 letters a week. On the average, 50 story ideas per week came in. There were TZ products: a comic book, a record album, a board game and Serling’s More Stories From the Twilight Zone, which was in its second print two weeks after its release. There were production bonuses to boot. After the first season, there was absolutely no trouble getting a cast. The stars would work for half of their normal amount in order to join this prestigious program.

This season only saw 29 episodes (down from the previous year). CBS was more concerned about the cost of the shows in relation to the ratings. They taped in order to save some money. Six episodes were videotaped as a cost-cutting measure.

For Serling, the spring of 1961 was a replay of the past year with a host of awards. In May, another Emmy, once again for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama, was presented to Serling. Serling held up the award and said to the other writers, “Come on over, fellas, and we’ll carve it up like a turkey.” George Clemmens got an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in TV Cinematography.

CBS toyed with the idea of expanding the TZ to an hour format in hopes of attracting a larger audience. This was ultimately done in the third season. Up until this time, 65 episodes had been produced. Some of the “worst” episodes were still entertaining while the best remain unforgettable. For now, the series was at its peak. Few TV series before or after have ever reached this level.

THE THIRD SEASON (1961 – 62)

“Next year, I’m going to do the commercials – ‘In the Twilight Zone, nine out of ten doctors recommend you smoke …’ They’ll say I’ve really sold out.” – Rod Serling

Rod Serling became drained of ideas. Whereas stories used to bubble out of him so quickly that he couldn’t set them down on paper fast enough but after writing 47 TZ scripts and 13 for the next season, he became woozy. His enthusiasm began to lag and he was afraid that he couldn’t retain his usual high quality. He began to borrow from himself. However, other Serling’s talents were called into play when the American Tobacco Company, now one of the show’s sponsors, asked him to endorse their product. There were no writing blocks in talking about the full pleasure of Chesterfield cigarettes—…”great tobaccos make it a wonderful smoke. Try ‘em, they satisfy.” By the close of the third season, “the twilight zone” was a catch phrase to describe just about anything. In the spring of 1962, the TZ was late in finding a sponsor for its fourth season and another show was programmed in its time slot. Without prior warning, the TZ was OFF the air. Serling’s agent frantically tried to work out some kind of deal with CBS so the series would remain on TV. Houghton found himself without a job and took an offer from Four Star Productions. At the 11^th hour, CBS decided to renew the TZ, in a different format. Each of the 18 episodes was an hour to begin airing in January, 1963 as a mid-season replacement. CBS hired producer Herbert Hirschman to supervise these shows.

With the close of the third season, along with Houghton, Serling was also leaving the series. Serling accepted a teaching position at Antioch College from September 1962–January, 1963. Serling was tired and burned out. Over the next two seasons, Serling’s involvement would be greatly diminished. Though he would still host the show and contribute scripts but production decisions would be made by others. He needed change, time to exhale, and an opportunity to pick up some knowledge and renew his perspective. If CBS dropped the show and Antioch dropped Serling, he wanted to go fishing for the rest of his life! In the early days of the show, the quality of the show was so special that the crew would finish up at 2 am and go out for a beer while discussing the show. In future seasons, this would not happen again. Many memorable shows would be made but the innovation and freshness were gone. This was a different show.

THE FOURTH SEASON (1962 – 1963)

 “Ours is the perfect half-hour show … If we went to an hour, we’d have to fleshen our stories, soap-opera style. Viewers could watch fifteen minutes without knowing whether they were in a Twilight Zone of Desilu Playhouse.”  -- Rod Serling 

With the show’s return, the series featured a new name: TZ (without “The”) which was rather appropriate because with its new producer and expanded length, the series bore little resemblance to its predecessor. The hour length show didn’t move as quickly and could no longer sustain its previous smashing payoff. It wasn’t thought that story material would carry for an hour. New producer Herbert Hirschman had worked his way up in the business and knew the ins and outs of his job from experience with Studio One, Playhouse 90, Perry Mason and Dr. Kildare. Hirschman didn’t try to change the formula nor come with his own fixed ideas. This worked great with the rest of the crew. If retakes were necessary, he wouldn’t bring back the director, but direct it himself. The shooting schedule for an hour show was six days. There was a day of rehearsal and a day of set pickups. So the work would be eight days with four days and the weekend off. Robert W. Pittack was hired to alternate with Hirschman as director of photography for back to back episodes.  Hirschman had to get scripts from scratch.

Far from being on vacation while teaching at Antioch, Serling was also working on a screenplay adaptation of Seven Days in May.  In addition he turned out a number of TZ scripts and mailed them to Hirschman. Serling would be sent other scripts and would discuss these over the phone with Hirschman. Hirschman expected more from Serling who wrote so easily. Serling would fly to L.A. to film the openings standing in front of a gray background and do 3–4 tapings at a time. Hirschman created the main title, the clock ticking, the mannequin and supervised the making of the props and came up with the notion of things floating through the void. Serling wrote the narration. Hirshman bought high-quality scripts from Matheson, Beaumont, Reginald Rose and Earl Hamner, Jr while recruiting alumni directors Buzz Kulik, Don Medford, John Brahm and Abner Biberman.  Different episodes were filmed simultaneously, on different stages at a brisk pace. Serling was NOT thrilled with the new Thursday 9:00 timeslot that eliminated a sizeable young audience that Friday night had brought in.

In the spring of 1963, TZ was back for its 5^th season and back to its half an hour format. The network experiment had failed and the expanded timeslot had not made for an expanded viewing audience. The shows were too padded, lacked the excitement and punch of the shorter TZ dramas. Serling favored his own hour episode “On Thursday We Leave for Home” (starring James Whitmore) but thought it was overwritten. Though Serling was quite hard on himself and the series, the hour length show still held merit and did not disgrace itself. By this time, the show was winding down and beginning to show its age.

THE FIFTH SEASON (1963 – 1964)

“There was this knock on the door of my office – I had this huge office – and Rod came in on his knees, he walked in on his knees like Toulouse-Lautrec, see…. And I said ‘What have you done now?’ He says, “Well, I’ve just blown Twilight Zone, that’s what I’ve done!” – William Froug.

TZ had lost a great deal of its zest, vitality, thoughtfulness and innovation of previous years. Lacking, too, were some of the show’s best directors and the quality of writing. Towards the end, Serling felt that he was losing his perspective on what was good or bad. By far, TZ was STILL better than the majority of other TV programs of its time. It only faded in comparison to its former self. At the end of January, 1964, CBS canceled TZ. The president of CBS was sick of the show though it was still rated well. The episode “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” put the show back under budget thought the series had never been over budget. According to Daily Variety Serling was quoted as saying that he canceled the network!

After five years and 156 episodes—92 scripted by Serling—Cayuga Productions closed its doors. In 1962, when it looked like TZ was about to be canceled, Serling was quoted as saying “We had some real turkeys, some fair ones, and some shows I’m really proud to have been a part of. I can walk away from this series unbowed.”

I hope that everyone has enjoyed their walk through the Twilight Zone and come out with a further enrichment and enjoyment of Rod Serling’s works that speak volumes for itself.

February 2008

---

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED FOR YOUR APPROVAL:

The Genius of ROD SERLING—

THE TAOS CONNECTION PART II

By Susan Schnitzer

 

TWILIGHT DELIVERY

After I completed Part I of this write up last month,  I ordered from AMAZON.COM  2 reference books: THE TWILIGHT ZONE COMPANION – Second Edition by Mark Scott Zicree and INTO THE TWILIGHT ZONE – The Rod Serling Programme Guide by Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier. When I ordered the books over the internet, my given delivery date was December 23. The next evening, resting on the bench of my front porch was THE TWILIGHT ZONE COMPANION. The only sound I could hear in the otherwise stillness of the night was DA DA DA DA DA DA DA. The second book arrived 10 days later. With these excellent reference books providing details as to storyline and cast and crew members, I have decided, instead of critiquing MY favorite episodes , to delve into TAOS members and story lines that have crossed over into—THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

NERVOUS MAN IN A FOUR DOLLAR ROOM

(10/14/60 Episode # 39)

Written by: Rod Serling

Jackie Rhoades: Joe Mantell

Rod Serling intro narration:

“This is Mr. Jackie Rhoades, age 34, and where some men leave a mark on their lives as a record of their fragmentary existence on earth, this man leaves a blot, a dirty, discolored blemish to document a cheap and undistinguished sojourn amongst his betters. What you’re about to watch in this room is a strange and mortal combat between a man and himself, for in just a moment Mr. Jackie Rhoades, whose life has been given over to fighting adversaries, will find his most formidable opponent in a cheap hotel room that is in reality the outskirts of the Twilight Zone.”

Jackie Rhoades is a scared, nail biting, sweaty little excuse of a man who lives in a stuffy, dingy and insufferable oven of a room. Jackie is more mouse than man who has been ordered by a gangster to murder the owner of a bar. Jackie doesn’t have the spine to refuse his order and he knows that he’ll be caught if he commits the crime. While shakily looking for a match, Jackie is shocked beyond belief to see that his mirror image is already smoking a lit cigarette. This Jackie is the total opposite—he’s intelligent, strong, self-assured and in total control of himself. If Jackie would have chosen a better path in life—this imagine would have been him. Frantically, Jackie tries to bolt out but sees the same alter image in other mirrors in the closet, bathroom and the hallway. The gangster arrives to deal with Jackie, who has not murdered the owner of the bar. But THIS Jackie is different—he’s very forceful when he tells the gangster that he is resigning from a life of crime, beats up the gangster and literally throws him out of the room. The mouse known as Jackie Rhoades is now in the mirror and is replaced by Mr. John Rhoades, his own man—who is checking out of his room and checking into life!

Rod Serling ending narration:

“Exit Mr. John Rhoades, formerly a reflection in a mirror, a fragment of someone else’s conscience, a wishful thinker made out of glass, but now made out of flesh and on his way to join the company of men. Mr. John Rhoades, with one foot through the door and one foot out—of the Twilight Zone.”

Though known as a low key actor, Joseph Mantell was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Angie (his classic line “So, whad do ya wanna do tonight Marty...) in the 1955 film Marty, which earned the Best Picture Award, and the Best Actor Oscar for Mantell's co-star, Ernest Borgnine (“Marty”). Mantell also appeared in Storm Center (1956) and Chinatown (1974). In the latter he played the fairly small role of Walsh the photographer, who delivered the film's famous last line, "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown". Mantell is on a high note in this TZ episode and shows tremendous range. Rear projections were used for the mirror imagine of John, the stronger personality. Even the music cues were different for both personas—for Jackie, the music was quick and uneven. Joe Mantell, just like George Reeves, plays a highly believable dual role. Jackie and John are total opposites and the stronger one remained the victor! Clark Kent is slightly meek and evasive when need be in order to hide his secret identity. However, he manages to put out his all in researching, and writing his articles while conveying wit and warmth as a person. As Superman, he remains the masterful keeper of the peace but remains fair and firm while dealing with adversity. Both are strong characters, do well for all and are in constant check of their purpose in life and rarely, if ever, let their guard down. Towards the end of TAOS run, we view, in brief glimpses, Superman having more of Clark’s qualities but since he wasn’t wearing his glasses—no one noticed!

STATIC

(3/10/61 Episode # 56)

Written by: Charles Beaumont

Based on an unpublished story by OCee Ritch

Ed Lindsay: Dean Jagger

Vinnie Brown: Carment Mathews

Prof. Ackerman: Robert Emhardt

Mrs. Nielsen: Alice Pearce

I dedicate this passage to Bill Dillane of CT who DJ’s in Connecticut and invited me to see radio legend Bobby J at the Radio Oldies luncheon in NYC in early December. Bill was unfamiliar with this episode, so I’ve decided to tie it in to both TAOS and the radio event.

Rod Serling intro narration:

“No one ever saw one quite like that that, because that’s a very special sort of radio. In the days, circa 1935, its type was one of the most elegant consoles on the market. Now, with its fabric-covered speakers, its peculiar yellow dial, its serrated

knobs, it looks quaint and a little strange. Mr. Ed Lindsay is going to find out how strange very soon—when he tunes in to the Twilight Zone.”

Feed up by the worthless and mindless TV watching that his fellow boardinghouse dwellers stare at, crusty middle- aged bachelor, Ed Lindsay, digs out his old radio from the basement and hooks it up in his room which served as a source of relaxation and entertainment in the “good old days” before TV.  When he’s alone, the vintage radio receives programs from the past (“Major Bowes”, “Fred Allen” and “Tommy Dorsey” all long dead). Lindsay, in his glory, tells the others about this miracle, but they can only hear static. Worried that Ed’s mental state will lead to a breakdown, former fiancée Vinnie (also a boarder), is sure that it’s Lindsay’s sense of nostalgia for the “good old day” when the 2 were engaged with the promise of a happy life together that is causing this. The couple waited so long to marry because Lindsay’s mother was ill, that happiness eluded them. Vinnie gives the radio to the junk man. Ed rushes out and buys the radio back for $10. Ed and Vinnie have a confrontation. Vinnie points that though they were engaged 20 years ago and listened to these shows together, the past cannot be retrieved and Ed should let it go. As Vinnie returns to her room, Ed turns on the radio. Immediately, it is 20 years ago and the couple is young again and lovingly listening to their radio shows. They are reliving their lives and setting the dial on “right.”

Rod Serling ending narration:

“Around and around she goes and where she stops nobody knows. All Ed Lindsay knows is that he desperately wanted a second chance and he finally got it, through a strange and wonderful time machine called a radio…in the Twilight Zone.”

The idea of this episode came from OCee Ritch, a friend of Charles Beaumont when Beaumont gave a party attended by old-time radio fans who performed bits of radio nostalgia. Ritch recalls “I think I said something like, ‘Hey man, wouldn’t it be great if you could just tune in those old things?” So Ritch went home and wrote a story called Tune in Yesterday. Beaumont suggested that it be made into a TZ ep instead of submitting it as a short story. Beaumont did the teleplay based on it for the series and reworked the storyline to a once engaged couple instead of an unhappily married one. I enjoyed this episode because my parents and extended family always spoke of the days before television (the idiot box) where the pictures where in your head and NOT on the screen.

Dean Jagger (Lindsay) worked in stock, vaudeville and radio. At first, Hollywood attempted to turn Jagger into a standard leading man, fitting the prematurely balding actor with a lavish wig and changing his name to Jeffrey Dean. It wasn't long before the studios realized that Jagger's true calling was as a character actor. One of his few starring roles after 1940 was as the title character in “Brigham Young, Frontiersman”, cast as a fictional Mormon follower. Jagger won an Academy Award for his sensitive performance in Twelve O’clock High (1949) as one of General Gregory Peck's officers (and the film's narrator). Physically and vocally, Jagger would have been ideal for the role of Dwight D. Eisenhower, but he spent his career studiously avoiding that assignment. Having commenced his professional life as a teacher, Dean Jagger came full circle in 1964 when cast as Principal Albert Vane on the TV series Mr. Novak.

Carmen Mathews’ (Vinnie) long career encompassed stage, screen and television. Mathews did not take her first acting bows on stage until her early '30s. Prior to her American stage debut, Mathews had attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and had honed her skills in Shakespearean plays. Mathews made her film debut with an uncredited role in The Butterfield 8 (1960). Her television appearances include M*A*S*H (1972) and in the television movies The Last Best Years of My Life. Robert Embardt (Professor Ackerman) began his Broadway career as an understudy for corpulent character star Sidney Greenstreet whom he closely resembled. In films, the paunchy, phlegmatic Emhardt carved a niche in characterizations calling for gross, obnoxious villainy. His best and most typical screen role was the respectable crime boss in Sam Fuller's Underworld U.S.A. (1961). A television fixture well into the 1980s, Robert Emhardt showed up in several Alfred Hitchcock Presents installments, in various SUSPENSE episodes (with George Reeves in Murder at the Mardi Gras), was seen on a regular basis on the daytime soap opera Another World, and won an Emmy for his performance as an ulcerated businessman stranded in Mayberry, NC, in Man in a Hurry, a 1963 episode of The Andy Griffith Show.

Alice Pearce (Mrs. Nielsen) built her reputation in Broadway musicals. Her first screen appearance was as Lucy Schmeeler, the girl with a really bad sneeze, in the Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra musical On the Town (1949). Preferring stage to screen work, she didn't settle down in Hollywood on a permanent basis until the early '60s. At the time of her death, Alice Pearce was appearing as nosy and neurotic neighbor Gladys Kravitz on the TV sitcom Bewitched, a role which won her a posthumous Emmy.

VALLEY OF THE SHADOW

(1/17/63 Episode # 105)

Written by: Charles Beaumont

Philip Redfield: Ed Nelson

Ellen Marshall: Natalie Trundy

Father: James Doohan

Evans: Dabbs Greer

Rod Serling intro narration:

“You’ve seen them. Little towns, tucked away far from the main roads. You’ve seen them, but have you thought about them? What do the people in these places do? Why do they stay? Philip Redfield never thought about them. If his dog hadn’t gone after that cat, he would have driven through Peaceful Valley and put it out

of his mind forever. But he can’t do that now, because whether he knows it or not his friends’ shortcut has led him right into the capital of the Twilight Zone.”

Reporter Philip Redfield (Ed Nelson) is lost and almost out of gas. He pulls into Peaceful Valley, a small everyday town or so it seems until his dog (Rollo) chases a cat. The little girl who owns the cat uses a strange machine that makes Rollo disappear. The girl’s father (James Doohan) dismisses the disappearance as he returns Rollo, claiming the dog only ran around the side of the house. Redfield senses something wrong.  Stopping at the only hotel in town to get Rollo a steak, he meets up with attractive Ellen Marshall who claims to run the hotel. Strangely, the hotel has no guests and the most recent paper dates back to 1953! To the contrary, Ellen tries to convince Redfield that the hotel is full but asks him to please leave the town. In a huff, Redfield drives away and his car smacks into an invisible force field at the edge of town. The car is wrecked and Rollo is killed. Some townsmen come to his aid, and unseen by Redfield, use a device to fix the car and restore Rollo to life. Redfield is taken to the town chambers and meets Evans (Greer), Dorn and Connelly. The men tell him he will never leave Peaceful Valley. Regardless, Redfield tries to escape but a device is used to teleport him from the doorway to a chair. It is explained that 100 years ago, a stranger, perhaps from outer space, arrived in town introducing an energy source with equations and other devices that moves matter, reshapes it and reverses the flow of time. This information is forbidden to be shared with the outside world until they are at peace. Redfield firmly disagrees and says that the townspeople have a moral responsibility to share these secrets with the world. In protest, Redfield is given 2 choices: stay in Peaceful Valley or DIE! Redfield elects to stay and is imprisoned in a force field house. Ellen helps him to escape by going to the town chambers, finding the stored equation that will produce a .38 gun that he uses to shoot the 3 townsmen when they try to stop him. Once at the edge of town, Redfield looks at the stolen equation papers and finds them blank. Ellen teleports him back to the 3 townsmen to find that it was all a test and Redfield has failed!  The men aim a device at him putting Redfield back in his car BEFORE his dog jumped out of the car and chased the cat. All memory of his experiences in Peaceful Valley have been erased. However, as he drives away, he spots Ellen in the shadows and briefly stares at her in puzzled recognition as he drives off.

Rod Serling ending narration:

“You’ve seen them. Little towns, tucked away far from the main roads. You’ve seen them, but have you thought about them? Have you wondered what the people do in such places, why they stay? Philip Redfield thinks about them how and he wonders, but only very late at night, when he’s between wakefulness and sleep—in the Twilight Zone.”

Most of the FX in this episode was accomplished by reversing the footage so that blood seems to flow backward and disappear. For the illusion of teleportation, a scene was jump cut of a person standing in the middle of a room to a shot of the exact scene less that person. For the FX of the car crashing into the invisible force field, two identical cars were used and wrecking the front of one of them. Through a series of cuts, the car appeared to slam into the unseen force field. A one-inch chain placed on the back axle and running it with about 20 feet of slack, to a nearby tree where it was tied off. A stunt person drove the car into the camera frame, when the slack was used up, was slammed against the steering wheel.

In 1964, Ed Nelson won his most famous role portraying Dr. Michael Rossi on the drama Peyton Place. Nelson's fellow cast members included Mia Farrow and Ryan O'Neal . Dr. Rossi proved to be so popular that by 1968, he became the lead actor on the show. Nelson reprised his role in two made-for-TV movies, Murder in Peyton Place and Peyton Place: The Next Generation.

Natalie Trundy made a sizeable contribution to the Planet of the Apes movie series during the 1970s. She appeared as the telepathic mutant, Albina, in the first sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, as Dr. Stephanie ("Stevie") Branton in Escape from the Planet of the Apes, and as the chimpanzee Lisa, the mate (later wife) of Caesar, in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. On the small screen, Dabbs Greer is a TAOS favorite appearing in 3 episodes (Superman on Earth, Five Minutes to Doom and The Superman Silver Mine). Greer had a prominent continuing role in the NBC TV series Little House on the Prairie as Reverend Alden. Often cast as a minister, he performed the marriages of Rob and Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show and of Mike and Carol Brady on The Brady Bunch. He tended to the spiritual needs of the townsfolk in fictional Rome, Wisconsin, as Reverend Henry Novotny in Picket Fences. In films in I Want to Live!  he played the San Quentin captain who finished strapping down Barbara Graham in the gas chamber prior to her execution and was the last person to speak to her. He had a similar role in the 1999 film The Green Mile  in which he played the elderly version of Tom Hanks' Death Row officer Paul Edgecomb.

James Doohan was a Canadian character and voice actor best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series Star Trek. Doohan's characterization of the Scottish Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise was one of the most recognizable elements in the Star Trek franchise.

Comparison with: TAOS Ep # 82, 1956

Airdate:  22 March 1957 (Season 5, Episode 3)

THE TOWN THAT WASN’T

This episode also stars 3 men who are affiliated with a town (a fake judge and two fake officers). But this time, it’s a “fake” town that’s always on the move. Their aim is to hijack trucks with precious cargo that they can sell. Instead of just one reporter caught in the town’s web, the Daily Planet offers 3 reporters. Jimmy is the first to get caught in a speed trap (actually going under the speed limit). Lois investigates the diner on highway # 53 to Dartsville and gets arrested and placed in a cell next to the 2 truck (which equals 3 people in jail. Then Jimmy, Clark and Inspector Bill go to find Lois (another trio). Always on the sharp, Lois realizes that though the town has been moved in the middle of the night, the prisoners are transplanted back into a jail cell. Clark sets himself up to be arrested in the speed trap. Inspector Bill is practically accused of being a “fake” cop and the 3 are arrested and placed in the same jail cell. Poor clumsy Clark gets locked out of his cell and Superman captures the judge, officer and Joe from the diner (all three) in one car. In TAOS, the town consists of 4 stick like portable buildings. In the TZ, it’s a complete permanent town with a force field. In both episodes, reporters are put in jail, though in the TZ the force field is a jail and in TAOS there is an actual jail cell. The lady in the hotel is shady and on the side of the town, where as Lois Lane is outspoken and always on the side of her workmates and Inspector Bill.

January 2008

---

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED FOR YOUR APPROVAL:

The Genius of ROD SERLING-PART I

by Susan Schnitzer

INSPIRATION

Searching my memory banks of vintage TV programs that left more than a indelible trace and a truly unforgettable impression on my young brain was THE TWILIGHT ZONE (1959 – 64) and the slight, but overpowering, figure of creative genius—ROD SERLING who introduced each and every episode. With his well-tailored suits, style, polished voice, handsome mannerism, over the top comments, logic, wisdom and sure attitudes of a mysterious other dimension, he reminded me of a small screen Cary Grant. The show was presented on CBS and I felt that the logo CBS eye was a perfect segue way for the show’s long lashed doll’s eye image. Of course I loved The Adventures Of Superman, Bonanza and countless comedy and variety shows of the time, but like a good filling meal, Rod Serling’s works has stuck to my mental ribs throughout the decades. True, Mr. Serling wasn’t an actor, but an outspoken writer whose works enabled other talented actors of his time, a chance to shine forth with pearls of his script verbiage.  Mr. Serling wrote 70% of the episodes and never missed a mark in his commentary and social conscience. Though there was Alfred Hitchcock Presents with Mr. Hitchcock’s macabre sense of humor and Edgar Alan Poe type of episodes, I wasn’t impressed. Mr. Hitchcock wasn’t attractive and I didn’t find him funny or likeable. When the series became available on DVD at my local Suncoast store several years ago, I was surprised on how many episodes I remembered by just sitting lotus style on the floor and scanning the DVD covers. A funny thing occurred while I sat organizing the episodes—several customers came up to me to ask me where certain TV shows and movies where. I pointed to the appropriate aisle and commented “I don’t work here—I just look like I do.”

A LIFE SCENARIO

Rodman Edward Serling was born on Christmas Day in 1924 in Syracuse, NY. Rod was an outgoing boy who read Sci Fi magazines and was involved in high school drama. People were drawn to his charisma and self assuredness. Growing up, he had few disappointments and life was safe. He spent afternoons and summer nights with his brother at the movies. During World War II, Rod enlisted in the paratroops the day that he graduated high school and served in the Philippines. After leaving the service, he attended Antioch College in Ohio. While still a student, he sold his first script to a radio show—Dr. Christian. Afterwards, Rod was soon selling his scripts both to radio and TV shows. In 1955, he made the leap to national prominence with his TV screenplay Patterns (1956) as shown on Kraft TV Theater. It dealt with the cutthroat world of corporate business. The script won Mr. Serling’s first of his 6 Emmys and was made into a film.  At the age of 34, Rod Serling was the top writer of TV’s Golden Age. More winning scripts followed as presented live for 90 minutes on Playhouse 90:  The Comedian (1956 - Mickey Rooney) and Requiem For A Heavyweight (1957). By the end of the 1950s, Rod Serling was TV’s most esteemed and popular writer. Unfortunately, he found himself increasingly constrained by sponsor censorship.

To avoid this, he created The Twilight Zone (TZ).  His reasoning was correct and the sponsors dismissed his stories as fantasy and didn’t notice his hidden social comments. Mr. Serling even made a commercial sales pitch to the sponsors predicting the high quality of the series promising to put viewers at the edge of their seats. In turn, he was sure that these same viewers would hurry to the stores and buy the sponsor’s products (he used instant SANKA coffee as an example of an item that would “disappear” off of the shelves.)  For TZ, Mr. Serling enlisted the finest actors of the time (Robert Redford, Robert Duvell, Lee Marvin, Art Carney, Ed Wynn, Keenan Wynn and Jack Klugman, etc.). Many of these actors he met in his Playhouse 90 days. He also enlisted the directing talents of Richard Donner (TZ episode “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet” [William Shatner] and on the big screen Superman and Lethal Weapon).  Bernard Hermann composed music for the movie Citizen Kane and later was incorporated to score both the initial theme and a number of TZ episodes before he moved on to score for the films Psycho and Taxi Driver.  Rod had the insight for hiring gifted performers that brought their own specific voice to this unique show.

What attracted these talent pools was the writing and astounding variety of the series produced at a dizzying speed.  Mr. Serling sat by his swimming pool in his back yard at his Pacific Palisades, CA mansion and dictated and worked, 12–14 hours a day–7 days a week, into a tape recorder for a secretary to transcribe. Then he would make line changes by hand producing 10–15 pages of script per day. Rod wrote 70% of the 156 scripts with writers Charlie Beaumont and Richard Matheson filling in as needed.

During and after The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling continued to craft his moving and memorable work. He continued with the TV series The Loner (starring Lloyd Bridges), Night Gallery and films Seven Days in May and Planet of the Apes.

Interview with Mike Wallace

At the time TZ came to the small screen in ’59; Rod Serling was, in a cloud of shared cigarette smoke, interviewed by Mike Wallace. He started off as a staff writer, a dreamless occupation, at a Cincinnati, Ohio station. He wrote testimonial product endorsements. Totally fed up with his position, he sat down with wife Carol and decided to quit his job and to write free lance. It wasn’t just about the money—it was the battle of writing so that he could be his own man. Rod Serling loved to write about the controversy of socially relevant materials. He hated commercials that interrupted a broadcast every 15 minutes that had absolutely nothing to do with the show.

Rod was known as “TV’s angry young man” because he refused to be told what to write. There was always a sense of outrage in Rod’s writing. It showed human’s potential for evil. For a thinking human being, humanity is our business. He took on issues that the networks and sponsors were against. He wrote a TV play A Town That Goes to Dust about a black man being lynched in the south. It was butchered, emasculated and sanitized to death so much that it became antiseptic. He protested this action all the way. It was Rod’s belief that all evils grow from prejudice. Rod very clearly articulated the evils of censorship. He spoke about a lovely episode of Lassie about the birth of pups. His young daughters, Jodi and Anne, enjoyed watching the birth process as it was quite innocent. Protest letters came flooding in to the station that it was a “sex” show. In his Playhouse 90 days in Judgment at Nuremberg there was a line about gas chambers that was cut because the sponsor of the program sold gas ovens. Rod was totally against any type of sponsor interference.

In the first year of filming 18 episodes of TZ, only one line was changed by the sponsors. The action took place in England where they were serving tea. The sponsor happened to sell coffee so the line was changed to bringing in a tray of food. Rod’s half an hour dramas couldn’t probe like a 90 minute show so the writing had to be concise. The show was adult, very polished and high quality. Rod felt that a play couldn’t be chopped with an axe and took great pride and wouldn’t write beneath himself. His role was that of the tired nonconformist who didn’t want to compromise nor fight the sponsors.

When asked by Mike Wallace if he thought out of the TV box, Rod commented that he wasn’t sure that he could make it out of TV. His movies were less than spectacular and he wanted to stay in the womb. However, Rod wanted to do Requiem again as a theater play. Eventually, he would have loved to write a novel. He wasn’t ashamed of what he was doing and had turned down low quality at the sake of high pay. The Velvet Alley was part autobiographical dealing with the corruption of getting into big money and the preoccupation with status. Rod’s biggest value in life was his family but it was difficult to balance along with his overloaded work schedule. He wasn’t concerned that a contract would bring in a lot of money but would rather do a project for it’s built in challenge.

In closing, Rod felt that some TV was good and some was wonderful. TV had much promise as it’s a real art form that could be improved tremendously. From 40 rejection slips to Emmys; from a trailer park home to a mansion – Rod Serling came a long way. 

THE CREATIVE HEART OF ROD SERLING

In his pre TZ live TV plays days, Rod Serling wrote an autobiographical account of his climb and pitfall of stardom—The Velvet Alley starring Art Carney (as Ernie the writer), Jack Klugman (the agent) and Leslie Nielsen. The young writer came from the heartbeat of a big city, after countless rejections, where it took 8 months to complete a script. But in Hollywood, he fell into the Hollywood rat race of life where he had to crank out script after script at a lightening pace. In life off the page, Rod Serling came to NYC in 1954 in a world that fueled a writer for TV and a new breed of writer emerged. Rod Serling succumbed to writing and gladly had no other choice.

People came out of theater or basically nowhere to be on live TV.  Rod Serling lived every line of agony in his Playhouse 90 (The Comedian and Patterns) days. Anything could and would happen during those live TV days and Rod agonized through it all. Performers Kim Hunter and Richard Kiley both liked the moment of truth on live TV for its mad dashing around from scene to scene. While it was thrilling and invigorating; if an actor screwed up it was “curtains.” Patterns (a recurrent theme also in the TZ episode *Stop at Willoughby* was that of the push, push, push of a businessman causing him to be on the brink between life and death) was a story of a powerfully heartless boss (played by Everett Sloan) pushing out an elderly worker (Ed Begley). It’s a tale of morality vs. success at the shady side of the corporate street. It proved an overnight success for Rod Serling and pushed him into the limelight. Rod’s wife Carol Serling said that her husband dealt with success very well on the surface but he had to maintain it. Every script was expected to be a success.

Also on CBS’ Playhouse 90—Requiem For A Heavyweight,  Keenan Wynn, manager, Ed Wynn, trainee, of fighter Jack Palance on his final bout where after he was discarded and used up just like the life of a writer. Everyone feeds off of the fighter’s misery. Ed Wynn portrayed his trainer with an innocence and love for the fighter. Kim Hunter played a social worker. This proved to be a most electric work of Rod Serling and put TV ahead 10 years. It was the hit of the season and won 5 Emmys.  Rod Serling won for best writer. Serling, at this point of his career, had won 3 Emmys (Pattern, Comedian and Requiem).  

The last Playhouse 90 was In The Presence of the Enemy telling of the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. Rod Serling researched this piece for 8 months and many sponsors turned it down. It starred Robert Redford and Charles Laughton and was the first to deal with the subject of the Holocaust. It was taped and the sound effects were put in afterwards on an empty sound stage. After this work, live TV was history and never the same. The writers went west to further their craft.

In Los Angeles 1959, offers flooded in for Rod Serling and more scripts came pouring out. He was trapped in success. He was quoted as saying “LA is Ok if you’re a grapefruit.” Regardless, Rod loved to rub elbows with the stars but he didn’t think Hollywood would sport his The Velvet Alley style.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE 1959 – 64

At first no one wanted to buy the idea of this most unusual series. Rod Serling got the idea of the pilot Where Is Everybody (Earl Holliman) while he was walking through an empty movie studio as the story of the last man on Earth. Everything takes place in the mind of this astronaut for space research to determine if space travelers could tolerate loneliness. The episode was so reality based that the sponsors liked it immediately. It turned out to be the fastest sale of a pilot ever! From then on, Rod Serling’s imagination went beyond the twilights. Rod Serling was sharp and outspoken for a “little guy.” He saw the TZ (both as writer and co producer) as half hour well polished films dealing with fantasy and imagination with social messages “subtly” put in. The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street signifies that scapegoats and prejudices can kill. This idea was taken from the McCarthy era where Rod’s friends were seared and branded as “reds.” WE are the enemy. In *The Eye of the Beholder*—what is beautiful and what is ugly? *Number Twelve Looks Just Like Me* is another example of a totalitarian society where everyone must look the same. But what exactly is lost in the transformation?  The Masks, set at a Mardi Gras party shows us the real faces we wear in life. Nothing in the Dark is when a very unlikely Mr. Death (Robert Redford) comes to the door of an elderly woman (Gladys Cooper) who is afraid to let him in. Death comes in as a loving salvation and as a whisper. All of the men in Rod Serling’s life died very young so perhaps he was preparing himself to meet Mr. Death shortly.

Jack Klugman (who was in 3 TZ episodes) revealed that Rod wrote with an actor’s sensibility in mind. The dialogue had a crisp, snap, crackle and pop sound that actors loved to speak. In Passage with a Horn, Jack plays a down on his luck horn player, an everyday person, who feels unloved, neglected, and dispossessed. His suicidal character feels that he has nothing to hold on to but is given a chance to redeem himself to start again. He had forgotten about all the good things in his life and just concentrated on the bad. *To Serve Man* is a very bizarre twist on the “good neighbor policy.” *Time Enough at Last* starring Burgess Meredith (who was in 3 TZ episodes) let’s us know to be careful what you wish for—you may get it!  This was also the theme with Mickey Rooney as a jockey not being caught short in The Last Night of a Jockey and in The Trade In where an elderly couple is willing to trade in their life’s savings for a robot fountain of youth.  

Though Rod Serling complained about all of the trappings of fame, he was a real ham in front of the camera. He loved being a celebrity and being highly recognized on the street. In a skit on the The Jack Benny Show he introduced himself as the Mayor of a small town and called himself “Mr. Zone.” Only 5’5”, being a star fed his insecurities,  

At times, he was fondly nostalgic about the simpler life he led back in Binghamton, New York as opposed to his hectic pace in Hollywood. In Walking Distance (Gig Young) a businessman goes back in time to revisit his boyhood. The moral of the story is “Can you REALLY go back again?” Enjoy that time of your life and remember it well. Daughter Jodi Serling felt that writing was therapy for her father to relieve him of his emotional pain.

The Purple Testament (Dick York) was a flash back to Rod’s paratrooping days in the Philippines of World War II. Rod had nightmares for the rest of his life due to his war experiences. Fortunately, these nightmares proved for great writing therapy. In this episode, death is shown on the faces of soldiers who wouldn’t be going home.  The nightmare of war continued with A Quality of Mercy (Dean Stockwell) during the last day of the war where the tables are turned on an American solider set to destroy Japanese soldiers.

Towards the end of the series, Rod was writing at a pace of 36 hours for each episode. In addition, he oversaw the filming of the episodes. This was a departure from his Playhouse 90 days where it took him months to complete a script. He became drained of ideas and needed 6 months to stop and replenish himself. He wanted OUT. Outspoken Rod always went to the press if he disagreed with procedure and was so harsh that CBS was up against him. So he was more than OK and philosophical when the program was cancelled in ’64.

Rod Serling went on to other writing opportunities after the cancellation of TZ. The Loner (1965 Lloyd Bridges) was a thinking man’s western. Critics and sponsors panned it because there was not enough action and violence and it wasn’t a typical western. Rod Serling wanted believable characters only.

In 1969, NBC aired a Serling-penned pilot for a new series, Night Gallery. Set in a dimly lit museum, the pilot film featured Serling (as on-camera host) introducing three tales of the macabre, unveiling canvases that would appear in the subsequent story segments. The series, which premiered in December 1970, focused more on gothic horror and the occult than did TZ.  Serling, no longer wanting the burden of an executive position, sidestepped an offer to retain creative control of content—a decision he would come to regret. Although discontented with some of producer Jack Laird's script and creative choices, Serling maintained a stream of creative submissions and ultimately wrote over a third of the series' scripts. By season three however, Serling began to see many of his script contributions rejected. With his complaints ignored, the disgruntled host dismissed the show as “Mannix in a cemetery." Night Gallery lasted until 1973. While the series has its own cult following, it was not as successful as TZ and is generally regarded, sometimes unfairly, as a pale shadow of Serling's previous series. Wife Carol Serling said that Rod should never had done the TV series because Rod acted merely as a “front” to introduce the episodes. 

Serling wrote a number of short stories in the science fiction and horror genres, which were collected into three volumes of TZ stories (1960, 1961, 1962), two of Night Gallery stories (1971, 1972) and a collection of three novellas, The Season To Be Wary (1968). Many of Serling's stories can stand as genuinely original and meritorious works of prose fiction.

Rod Serling took his craft to the large screen and wrote screenplays with a political focus. The film Seven Days in May (1964-Frederick March) was quite a superior telling of an attempted military coup against the President of the USA. Planet Of The Apes (1968-Charlton Heston), which later evolved into numerous sequels and a TV series, is a turned around world where the masters of the planet are NOT human. The Man (1964) was about the first African American President.

Serling had taped introductions for a limited-run summer comedy series on ABC, Keep on Truckin', which was scheduled to begin its run several weeks after his death; these introductions were subsequently edited out of the broadcast episodes. He also wrote the pilot episode for a short-lived Aaron Spelling series called The New People in 1969.

Serling returned to radio in 1974 as the host of a new mystery/adventure series called The Zero Hour. The show aired for two years and Serling wrote several of the scripts. It failed to find a large audience due to its radio serial format and lack of promotion. He did voiceovers for various projects and narrated documentaries featuring French undersea explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and (uncredited) performed the narration for the beginning of the Brian De Palma film Phantom of the Paradise.

After his death, several Serling scripts were produced. In 1988, J. Michael Straczynski scripted Serling's outline Our Selena Is Dying for the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone; Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994), was a TV movie based on a Serling script and an outline for another story (the latter was expanded and scripted by Richard Matheson); In The Presence Of Mine Enemies (1997) was set in the Warsaw Ghetto; a science-fiction remake of A Town Has Turned To Dust (1998) and A Storm In Summer (2000) followed.

In his last years, Rod took to teaching writing in Ithaca College, NY where the pressure was low and he loosened up with his students. In a TZ episode Changing of the Guard (Donald Pleasance) a teacher is forced to retire. At the crossroads of his life, the teacher wonders if he left a favorable mark on his students. The same sentiments rang true for Rod Serling who didn’t trust enough in his own talent.  The TZ episode One for the Angels (Ed Wynn) dealt with an aging salesman who wants to make “one big pitch” with the angel of death before he replaces himself with a little girl dying in his building. Just like Rod Serling, he wanted to know that he achieved something of value in his life.

 Living on a diet of too many cigarettes, chewed up fingernails, black coffee, and stressful deadlines affected his creative heart. Rod Serling died of complications from open heart surgery at the age of 50 on Tuesday, June 28, 1975, thus ending his life but not his legacy as a memorable writer. Rod Serling was like a modern day Aesop who slipped some information into our pocket and then slipped away—too early. 

December 2007

---

SO PROUDLY WE HAIL

(1943)

By Susan Schnitzer

World War II (USA involvement 1941 – 45) became the defining moment in the lives of an entire generation of Americans. But most accounts do not tell the whole story of the courage, tenacity, and faith of American nurses during those four terrible years. To qualify for commission as an Army nurse, one had to be graduated from an approved nursing school, be under 40 years of age, unmarried, and (presumably) female. For the new nurse recruits, the actual experience of military life was very different from the recruiting posters. Depending on their assigned locations, nurses found themselves sharing their thatched-roof communal bathroom with lizards, snakes, monkeys, and rats scampering through camp. Some nurses found accommodations more suitable but were plagued with insects, scorpions, and the diseases they carried. Writes one nurse veteran: "I wish I could forget those endless harrowing hours. Hours of giving injections, anesthetizing, ripping off clothes, stitching gaping wounds, of amputations, sterilizing instruments, settling the treated patients into their beds, covering the wounded we could not save. I had still not grown accustomed to seeing people torn and bleeding and dying in numbers like these". Another nurse relates: "Nurses had to assume a lot of responsibility...as there were not enough doctors to supervise every case at every stage". In some cases, nurses were forced to use helmets as washbasins and bedpans, rainwater for bathing and drinking, and local herbs for healing ointments. At one evac hospital the nurses joked that the water was so polluted that they were forced to brush their teeth with champagne. One nurse recalled a patient brought into her evac hospital directly from the battlefield, missing both arms and both legs; undaunted, the soldier looked her in the eye and said, "Hey nurse, how about going out with me when I get outta here?" "The words of a badly wounded man, as he looked at you giving him plasma, were thanks enough for us all.”

Truly, George Reeves was worthy of much, much more than top supporting billing. There should have been a ray of sunshine in his movie career horizon. Who is to say what would have been the outcome if director Mark Sandrich would have lived to fulfill his promise of making George a movie star. After all, leading actress Colette Colbert thought highly of him and wanted to pair him in further leading roles with her. HAIL TO GEORGE REEVES in this stellar performance!

November 2007

---

They Were Afraid They'd Lose Their Jobs

By Susan Schnitzer

Has anyone ever wondered "why" no one picked up that Clark Kent was actually the one and only Superman? There were certainly enough clues and innuendos being thrown back and forth on TAOS. To coin a phrase of Noel Neil "They were afraid they'd lose their jobs" not only pertained to the staff of the Planet but also to various characters on the series. Perhaps no one wanted to wait on line at the unemployment office of the 1950's since there were no "on line" services yet on a home computer. Super Sis Gail came up with the idea for this article, while our famous Mr. X supplied us with the clue ridden episodes.

Season 2 contained the majority of clues as well as combining the dramatic noir of season 1 coupled with the comic wit and charm of future episodes.  The first episode was FIVE MINUTES TO DOOM starring Dabbs Greer (of the movie The Green Miles and other TAOS episodes such as Superman on Earth and The Superman Silver Mine, and the reverend on TV's Little House on the Prairie) as condemned death row prisoner Joe Winters. Joe is a foreman on a construction job where he physically struggles with a supervisor over inferior steel products used on a job. In the struggle, the supervisor is shot to death and Joe is blamed and sentenced to death. Did Lois ever wonder how trusting Clark was able to take Joe's pulse aka a lie detecting test which is something only machines and Superman could detect?  Joe was too emotionally distraught to pick up on this. When a henchman hitching a ride with Lois and Clark accidentally on purpose leaves his lunch box (with a bomb filling) in Lois' car, the supposedly "timid" Clark risks his life, and limbs, by jumping out of the car with the bomb saving Lois and the car.  Lois comments that Clark was mighty brave to which Clark answers "You mean just like Superman... Sometimes I think you under estimate me." I wonder IF the dark trench coat (maybe from the George Reeves collection) wasn't in the car and Clark would have emerged with half of his suit intact and half of Superman's outfit showing, would she have managed to CATCH ON?  By the way, did anyone else notice that the clock in death row had the name HAMILTON on it? Perhaps it was an inside joke of John Hamilton or a side job that he had in-between acting gigs.

PANIC IN THE SKY, according to the commentary track comments of Jack Larson and Noel Neill, is a favorite episode of comic Jerry Seinfeld. Noel brought this episode along on her college discussion trips. When Clark is in bed, suffering from amnesia after a confrontation with the deadly asteroid, he is surrounded by the Planet's staff. Jack commented that Jimmy was a bit dense and befuddled when he was looking at Clark laying there NOT wearing his glasses. There was no excuse why the learned and powerful editor of the DAILY PLANET couldn't fathom that the handsome hunk laying on the bed was the one and only powerful Superman. Perhaps a good detective (well, Candy wasn't in this one) could have figured out if George Reeves was wearing his own PJ's as it looked quite similar to the one that he wore in the late '50s clip "Roving Reporter" at the home of George Reeves. Clark was missing right after Superman's collision with the asteroid.  Then he shows up at home quite tired and out of it. When he collapses in the shower, of course without his glasses, Jimmy notices that "he must weigh a ton" (of course Super muscle weighs more than regular muscle). Jimmy also notes that Clark doesn't have a scratch on him after his mishap because "he must be the luckiest man alive." Back at the office, with the possibly that being at work will jar his memory, Mr. White asks Clark to contact Superman. Clark's answer is "Do you know what he looks like? Well, apparently "no" because everyone is staring right at his handsome super face. Jimmy still doesn't have a hint about what's happening when Clark asks him if Superman's powers come from his suit, doesn't see the bump underneath the chair cushion from the costume and is not in the least bit miffed why Clark abruptly rushes him out the door. The ending is classic and timely with the verbal exchange of Lois and Clark. Clark comments "I know who Superman is now." Lois answers ""Oh, who?" With perfect deadpan timing, Clark comes back with "Just knock me on the head sometime." Of course Lois would maim herself if she hit Clark on the head and guess what, she still wouldn't get it!

THE CLOWN WHO CRIED takes place at the circus where Lois and Clark ask Rollo the clown if he would do his act for a children's fund telethon that the Planet is sponsoring. When Clark's x-ray vision reveals that Jimmy is in trouble in a nearby tent, Clark tries to get away from Lois. The only trick that works is for him to take his glasses off in front of Lois, to dust them, and purposely step on them and ask Lois to go back to the office to bring back his second pair. Of course, in those early years, Clark's glasses were only frames but no one took notice.  He also had a spare pair tucked away in his jacket. Once at the telethon, Clark cleverly takes a meal break, when it is time for Superman to make an appearance, In a bit borrowed from season one's HUMAN BOMB, Clark trades places with the guard who has a similar hair, body and profile type as our ace reporter so that his visage can be seen in the foggy next door window. Supposedly what we see is the guard munching away, but I wonder if it wasn't actually George doing that bit. Well, once again, Clark is much too clever for anyone around and the guard didn't think that it was wrong for Clark to use his hat. After all, the guard would officially be out of uniform.

THE GOLDEN VULTURE is a 1950's pirate salvage ship adventure. Off-balanced Captain McBain's disgruntled stewart Scurvey (perhaps he didn't take his Vitamin C) sends out a help note in a bottle out to sea that is retrieved by a beaching Jimmy. Back at the office, the only person who can read the sea water smudged note is Clark (even with his non glass eye glasses). None of the ship mates are ship shape enough to catch on to Clark's super feats. Clark snaps the chains that are binding Scurvy because "they must be rusty, I guess...perhaps there are more rusty chains around." Clark poses his steel-like finger in fence Sanders back alarming Sanders to think that there actually is a gun back there.  Most likely due to George Reeves' boxing days, Clark is agile when he waivers and ducks with lightning reflexes away from hostile crew members. He just wants to get away "Stupor man, where are you?" in order to save the day. Clark has no glasses on when he is blind folded to walk the plank. No one gets the visual connection especially when Superman emerges mini seconds after Clark submerges Superman is in no rush to save Clark from the perils of the deep much to the chagrin of Lois and Jimmy.  Just when Lois may catch on to the Clark-Superman connection, he grabs her hand and she gets a dunking. "It just couldn't be, it just couldn't be" unglues that part of the puzzle.

In season 4, there is THE JOLLY ROGER which is a campy tale of descendants of a pirate family still living on a deserted island that is targeted for destruction by the navy. On the island is TAOS alumnus Leonard Mudie (Drums of Death, The Magic Necklace and Ghost of Scotland) and the serial Perry White—Pierre Watkins as the admiral. Clark takes off his glasses and is about to ”reveal all" (as Superman that is) in order to save the islanders from the bombing but reconsiders when he comes up with another plan. No one takes note of this. Also, did anyone ever notice that when Clark is challenged on his proximity to his Super pal, he smugly readjusts his glass frames?

In the last season, there was one last effort for Clark to fool everyone in THE BIG FORGET but this time he was able to get away with it thanks to Professor Pepperwinkles' anti-memory vapor spray which wipes out anything that happens within the past 15 minutes. Here's a hint, Clark tells the Professor not to try the spray on him as he may be immune to the spray but that comment doesn't register with the memory challenged inventor. When con Mugsy Maple (veteran TV bad guy Herb Vigran) gets a hold of the spray and ties everyone up in order to poison pellet them to death, Clark reveals the inevitable that he is also the Man of Steel. Only Lois sits there without a reaction and without shock as if she really knew it after ONLY 6 seasons of playing the guessing game. Perry White is astounded while Jimmy is enjoying helping Super Clark bash down the door. So both Jimmy and the Professor saved the day and Clark's identity. Gee, I wonder if Mr. White remembered to give his staff that $10 raise that he promised them or did the spray wipe that memory out, too?

**The photos were done by our Gail M—give credit where credit is due! SAS

October 2007

---

A View of

FOREVER FEMALE

By Susan Schnitzer

It’s no ones guess that I’m attracted to the limelight of theater whether it be New York’s Broadway, London’s West End or Regional and Community Theater in New Jersey.  As a child living in the Bronx, mom and I would venture to the “city” of Manhattan on a Saturday for a “girl’s day out” to go to Radio City Music Hall and see the very made up (but beautiful) dancing and singing Rockettes kick their way on stage. Mom would explain to me that the average height of the Rockettes was about 5’7” but their hat feathers and dance shoes were adjusted accordingly so that they would all appear to be the same height. Mesmerized, we sat up front for this part of the show. But when the motion picture came on, we had to rush past the crowds and sit as far back as possible in the auditorium because the movie screen was larger then Yankee Stadium, or so we thought.

In 1968, after the stage show, we saw the movie THE ODD COUPLE but the auditorium was much too crowded and we couldn’t move back. Imagine the neck ache and eye strain we suffered when we had to look up the nostrils of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau for 2 hours! Before the show, we would eat lunch at the Automat (my favorite meal was the vegetable plate with pumpkin pie dessert) and then a trip to Carol Ann’s Dress Shop (a purchase was a whopping $9.99). If we had already seen the Radio City Show, there was always a $4.00 matinee Broadway show. It didn’t make a difference whether the play was a musical, comedy, tragedy, memorable or not --- we saw it all!  So when I plugged in my loaner, thanks to Green Ink Girl, VHS copy of FOREVER FEMALE (1953) my front row seat was my Magic Motion Bed and I was still mesmerized.  

Up came the opening scene of Broadway in grainy, but beautiful, black and white. Ginger Rogers (Beatrice Rogers) was a 40+ year old actress starring as a 29 year old (she’s 29 like I’m 29!!!) in a play produced by her ex-husband Harry Phillips (Paul Douglas). After the performance, Bea sups at New York’s Sardis’ restaurant. She is escorted by her boyfriend of “this season” – George Courtland IV (George Reeves) who is very conservative sporting a crew cut and Clark Kent eyewear. In fact, George is referred to as the “crew cut.” Harry introduces George to Bea’s agent as “what’s his name.”  Bea corrects him. When other people join the group seconds later, no one can recall George’s name. George’s retort “It’s a perfectly simple name” is followed by Harry’s “For a perfectly simple fellow.” An argument boils up between the men at the table as to how “well (or not)” Bea’s performance went that night. Ex-husband Harry tells Bea “If I was still your husband, I’d ask him to step outside,” …. “But now it’s up to Mr. Courtland.” George solemnly says, “Now you remember my name!”

This priceless moment was the highlight of the entire movie. George’s highly arrogant rich snooty mannerisms and dry wit was reminiscent of Jim Backus’ “Gilligan’s Island” portrayal of Thurston Howell in the 1960’s (George and Jim were the best of friends in these pre-Gilligan days, so perhaps Jim “borrowed” Howell’s character from George). This is the last time that we see George “what’s his name,” but he is mentioned several times later on in the film.

The rest of the film centers on Bea coming to terms with accepting herself as an “older” actress. Patricia Crowley (who is known as Sally Carver as well as numerous other stage names) comes in to assume the daughter part and Bea assuming the mother part. William Holden is the young playwright (Stanley “who ever”) who becomes Bea’s next “boy toy” but winds up with Sally (and her multi Sybil personalities) and Bea winds up with her ex-husband (I lost my score card along the way).

What I found MOST amusing about this film is the 1950’s perception of a woman of 50+ as frumpy, dumpy and lumpy (the evil triplets). When Bea is playing the “young” daughter character, “mature” women audition for the mother part (this was in the pre CURVES health club days). My family photo albums reveal that middle aged women looked, in the year of yester, more like senior women of today. Now when I look at photos of our Super Women of this Board, as well as my own gal pals, I realize how girlish we all are.  We must have all tapped into the fortress of youth.

September 2007

---

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE

THE ULTIMATE BACKSTAGE WORKOUT

By Susan Schnitzer 

There’s an abundance of work and preparation that goes into putting together a Broadway style show. What the audience does not see is the world behind the curtains—the world of the backstage crew. Without these unsung (and unseen) heroes and heroines there would be no show.

MILLIE was my return, after an absence of eight years, to the backstage world of theater. It was also a reunion of working with performers whom I had encountered both on stage and in the orchestra pit. To my delight, it was a reunion of working with Terry, who was my dresser last year in THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL. What a fun and crazy-paced time we had!!! I had 3 costume changes in less than 5 minutes (with outfits, wigs and caps that fit like Bozo the clown’s formal wear), but nimble-fingered Terry was able to swiftly, safely and modestly get me on stage in a breeze. With the intense summer heat of outdoor theater, this was quite a challenge. This year, Terry and I were teamed together, again, but in the capacity of crew members (i.e. shakers and movers of props and sets). MILLIE takes place circa 1922 NYC with sets almost as large as the Big Apple itself (and I had the black and blue marks to prove it). Assistant Stage Manager Justin is going to college this fall with a major in Stage Management so being a part of this outdoor theater experience was a big thrill for him (even if he didn’t admit to it!). Stage Manager Kim was overjoyed to have us on hand (and especially on foot) and even remembered our names as we ran from stage left to stage right and back tapping  along to the syncopated beats of the music and dance numbers.  

All backstage crew are required to wear black as not to be seen by the audience. As I found out, wearing scandals was NOT a good idea but it did give me a free pedicure! Terry and I were provided with print outs of the acts and scenes where we scribbled down activity notes—in the semi darkness! On stage right, before the show, we had to preset the unfolded (and never washed) laundry towels for the show stealing characters Bon and Chin. Stage left had the most ac