by Sam Juliano
And now September. The summer seemed to drag on indeterminably but we have reached the end of August and now are moving closer to the fall season. Our hometown school system will be opening on September 8th but it will be virtual until further notice. Teachers will attend to instruct students (who will stay home) on computers. We are moving closer to the fourth quarter of what is probably the worst year of all out lives. This past week J.D. Lafrance posted a terrific review of the classic Chinatown.
My Night Gallery countdown continues on Facebook:
Top 27 Rod Serling’s ‘Night Gallery’ segments (presented in reverse numerical order)
Segment Number 21 “The Devil is Not Mocked” (Season 2) 11:15
The most benevolent vampire in television history is undoubtedly Barnabus Collins, but the Count of a Balkan Castle during the Second World War, who performs his “patriotism” in a unique evil vs. evil scenario must surely rate a close second, the principal players of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” notwithstanding. The short Season 2 segment “The Devil is Not Mocked” is basically a flashback told by the elderly blood-sucking protagonist to his admiring grandson who in turn is proud that his family played a vital role in defeating the Third Reich. The black-humored spoofy segment, written and directed by Gene Kearney is aimed at enlisting viewers to the best side of vampirism, a surefire alternate to military might. Though the segment received strong reviews and is still considered to be a classic by many, a minority have inexplicably faulted it for not developing characters, though it only ran fifteen minutes. That criticism has always induced me to guffaw.
After overrunning Poland and Czechoslovakia General Van Grunn leads his troops to a Balkan Castle, intended to occupy it by blitzkrieg force. But before they move in they are greeted by a dapper gentleman who identifies himself as a “count.” The irascible general rudely rebuffs this congenial greeting by announcing that he knows the castle is the home of the “secret resistance” and that he will burn out all the spies within. Before he can act on his threat he beholds a dinner table prepared for he and his men. The general of course suspects poisoning and when that is disproved he is unnerved by the incessant howling of wolves. He watches his amiable host eyeing his watch as the hour approaches midnight and begins to realize his brigade is in danger. After his second-in-command Kranz bursts in the dining room and falls to the floor -the victim of a bloody savaging- Van Grunn pulls out his Lugar and begins firing out the window as the massacre of his men happening in the front yard.
The count is amused and tells him that unless the bullets were silver they are completely useless. This revelation of course confirms his true identity though nothing in “The Devil is Not Mocked” was ever difficult to figure out almost from the very start. By then the blood-shot eyes of the Count portend the General’s doom, by not before the triumphant Count comes clean with bared fangs: “You must forgive my servants and our primitive Transylvanian customs. If it’s any consolation, General, this “is” the headquarters of the secret resistance, and I am its proud commander, Count Dracula.” The avenged vampire then moves in to his victim’s neck. The narrative then returns to the living room of the patriarch and his grandson where the count reiterates his impressive actions against the Third Right and the arrogant and murderous general he dispatched along with his entire company.
Superlative pacing, the segment beautifully mixes horror and laughter and is the very best Night Gallery episode on the vampire theme, though there are only are a handful containing the theme in part or in whole. Resplendently shot by Leonard J. Smith, and nicely scored by Paul Glass, the episodes belongs to Kearney and to the two leads, Helmut Dantine and Francis Lederer. As the repugnant general Dantine is the very incarnation of evil, a Third Reich stereotype who trust not a soul and whose methods are always of the most extreme variety. Francis Lederer, of “The Return of Dracula” fame inhabits the Count with marked charisma and physical agility. It could be persuasively argued that “The Devil is Not Mocked” is the show’s best short segment.
Top 27 Rod Serling’s ‘Night Gallery’ segments (presented in reverse numerical order)
Segment Number 20 “A Death in the Family” (Season 2) 22:23
Black comedy is at war with pathos in one of Rod Serling’s favored themes, death and the afterlife in “A Death in the Family” adapted by Night Gallery’s creator from a short story by Miriam Allen DeFord. With camera wizard Lionel Lindon negotiating the images for Jennot Szwarc, and renowned thespian E.G. Marshall deftly playing an oddball eccentric the segment went in with a stacked deck but as appraisers will often assert so as not to presume anything “the proof is in the pudding.” Undertaker Jared Soames is visited by two men who carry in a corpse to his funeral home. They inform him that the state will pay for the lowest level funeral since the deceased (Simon Cottner) left behind no living relative. Without divulging his intentions Soames assures them he will do Cottner justice.
In short order the narrative becomes complicated when a young fugitive named Doran breaks into the funeral home after he is shot during a botched robbery. Wielding a gun threateningly Doran cases the lace to see if others are around, but is aghast when he opens to door to a back room where Simon Cottner’s body is propped in a chair. Soames reassures the confused and physically weak intruder that he has broken into a funeral home so seeing corpses is really a given. Doran collapses but the much like Bishop Myriel in a Victor Hugo masterpiece, Soames take pity on his criminal trespasser, helping him to a sofa and urging him to rest. A bond is forged when they share stories of their similarly miserable childhood with Doran pointing to the irony of finding warmth in this house of the dead.
When Doran awakens he strays to the basement where he enters a room for the biggest shock of all. Cottner has now joined five other corpses, all embalmed and dressed for a party. Soames calmly introduces his “family” to Doran, but before he can address this horror a knock on a door is heard upstairs. Suspecting the police Soames urges Doran to be quiet though he is a panic after the macabre discovery. Shots are heard and the troopers enter arriving at the room of cadavers where Soames introduces his “family” including the now glassy eyed-diseased Doran before succumbing himself.
Lionel Lindon’s dark, brooding and atmospheric photography recalls the work of cameraman Nester Almendros in Francois Truffaut’s “The Green Room” (“La Chambre Verte”) based on a Henry James short story “The Altar of the Dead.” and rivals the very best lensing in all of the Night Gallery. John Lewis’ superlative story is also in the top rank of the show in that department. The composer brought this hybrid piece an added dimension via a mischievous blues atmosphere and spiritual-derived melodies in a decidedly macabre dress, with a special homage to gospel hymns. All in all it aurally heightens the segment’s themes. Then there is the great Marshall (unforgettable in “Twelve Angry Men” and other films) who in this role is as bizarre and disorienting as he is reassuring and magnanimous. His final monologue is surely one of the series’ most unforgettable codas. The wounded robber is played by Desi Arnez Jr., son of Lucille Ball and Desi Sr. Some of the show’s critics felt he was too “soft” for the role, but considering how he is reduced emotionally in the final minutes his personality is a good fit. Szwarc of course is NG’s greatest director and “A Death in the Family” ranks high among his most notable achievements.
Top 27 Rod Serling’s ‘Night Gallery’ segments (presented in reverse numerical order)
Segment Number 19 “The Phantom Farmhouse” (Season 2) 33:13
At a sedate pastoral location, a psychiatrist named Dr. Joel Winter is interrogated by a local sheriff, wanting answers for the savage murder of a patient named May who was enrolled at Delphinium House, a remote sanitarium on the outskirts of a wooden hamlet. Another patient, an introverted former junkie insists that a young blonde woman named Mildred Square lives a farmhouse easily reachable by a vigorous walk into the woods. The sheriff counters that no such farmhouse exists, but Winter secures a note found at the site of the murder and it leads him to a spacious farmhouse with a well and picket fence, just as Gideon framed it. A stunning blonde woman dressed in white emerges to greet him. Her name is Mildred, again corroborating Gideon’s story. Winter is enchanted almost immediately, though he notices that she has an index finger disproportionately large. Mildred’s rugged-looking two parents, neither reassuring and in fact disturbing eye down Winter who is taken with Mildred’s gentility and beauty.
When Winter returns to the hospital he notices a new pile of books on his desk, left by Gideon. The subject of them is lycanthropy, a study of werewolves. Winter takes special notice marked spots in the text which elaborate on the distinguishing characteristics on werewolves including larger index fingers, red nails and pointed ears. When midnight approaches the eyes purportedly turn sizzling red. Winter finds the entire business preposterous but the angered Gideon asks him about what May might have seen before she was mauled. Gideon comes to see himself as a provider for werewolves, a warlock. Sheep are found torn apart nightly. But then Winter’s assistant Betty is found dead again ripped apart like the sheep, at which point Gideon pleads with the psychiatrist to leave Delphinium House and put as much distance as he can from this dangerous place. Gideon feels that Winter is marked for death as he has seen the farmhouse and the occupants, Winter is too hopelessly smitten with Mildred and she visits her again. She balks at looking into his eyes and urges him to leave immediately, but to return before sunrise with a prayer-book which he must read over three nearby graves. She urges that he must not allow himself to be distracted while reading and to complete the task hastily.
When their gazes finally meet Mildred’s eyes are blood-rimmed red, warning sign that sends Winter racing through the woods. He is soon cognizant that two big black dogs began to lay assault on him until they are scattered after the arrival a third dog, a white one that viciously holds the other too at bay so Winter can escape. As instructed Winter returns the next morning to recite the prayer for the dead. The dogs are heard again but their howls now seem induced by pain. As he delivers the blessing of the Trinity Winters succumbs to fear and lapses into unconsciousness. He is awakened by Pierre, the groundskeeper. He whirls around to find that there is no longer a farmhouse, only what is left of the fire-ravaged foundation. His frantic call for Mildred goes unanswered.
David McCallum, who gave two unforgettable performances in the original Outer Limits, “The Sixth Finger” and “The Forms of Things Unknown” and was unforgettable as Ilya Kuryalin in “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” is superlative as the rational psychiatrist able to keeps his emotional side in check, but still being engulfed in the romantic fixation. As Milfred Linda Marsh is passionately interested in Winter but realizes if she consummates her feelings she assure his demise in a narrative dynamic that recalls the 1945 classic “King’s Row.” The enigmatic Gideon is nicely played by David Carradine in his part as procurer for victims of the werewolf. Lionel Linden’s arresting photography is wholly sublime and “The Phantom Farmhouse” shot almost exclusively outdoors is one of the best-shot and most atmospheric shows on Night Gallery. Director Jeannot Szwarc is in his element as romantic fantasy was the genre of his most famous directorial movie credit, “Somewhere in Time.” The melodramatic teleplay by Halstead Welles (based on a story by Seabury Quinn) is splendidly attuned to the material. Composer Oliver Nelson mixes standard acoustic instruments with electronics. A love theme of pastoral gentleness clashes with episodes of violence and moody fantasy in a musical score of wild extremes, reflecting the emotions of the main characters and the bizarre developments in the narrative. “The Phantom Farmhouse” one of television finest werewolf segments is a poetic, lyrical and menacing show, greatly enhanced by sterling craftsmanship.
Top 27 Rod Serling’s ‘Night Gallery’ segments (presented in reverse numerical order)
Segment Number 18 “Deliveries in the Rear” (Season 2) 28:19
Loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s short story, The Body Snatcher takes place in Edinburgh, circa 1831. At this time, cadavers necessary for advancing medical knowledge are in scant supply. Some unscrupulous doctors, like Dr. MacFarlane (Henry Daniell) rely on the talents of graverobbers to secure specimens. Gray, played by Boris Karloff in what may well be the greatest performance of his storied career is such a graverobber, and he uses his invaluable position to continue a long-standing tradition of tormenting his “old friend” MacFarlane. This Val Lewton classic is immediately evoked when Night Gallery’s Season 2 macabre “Deliveries in the Rear” is considered. Written by Rod Serling this disturbing drama is set in nineteenth-century New England where an instructor of surgery at the MacMillan School of Medicine, Dr. John Fletcher, much like his Scottish professional kin had come under fire for his questionable sources. Practical when it comes to the cause of saving lives Fletcher is not concerned about the moral and ethical problems with his liberal acceptance of corpses, feeling sacrifices must be made for the better good of mankind. In theory his position has value but is wholly invalidated by the murders that are committed to achieve medical breakthroughs. “Deliveries” boasts an excellent cast and searing wide-angled visuals by director Jeff Corey and photographer Gerald Perry Finnerman. The segment’s ghastly finale is without question the most unconscionably horrific in all of the Night Gallery, a romantic tragedy to rival Thriller’s last image in “The Incredible Doktor Markesan.”
After some derelicts have turned up missing the father of Fletcher’s finance Barbara, Mr. Bennett regales his would-be son-in-law with acute criticism for his lack of respect for human life. His daughter is also frustrated with Fletcher’s obsessive dedication to medicine, and his resulting indifference to her but her loyalty remains rock solid. After a local drunkard, Charlie Woods has disappeared Fletcher is confronted by Dr. Shockman, the University head. He informs Fletcher that the police will be questioning him soon. Fletcher lies to Schockman, telling him that they presently have no male cadavers, only he body of a woman. Working fast before the police arrive Fletcher contacts his his low-life body procurers and demands that they find him a female cadaver immediately. The pair are not keen to dig in extreme cold so they commence to hunt the streets for a live victim, a dastardly option that for them is so much easier to negotiate.
The body is smuggled into the rear entrance of the medical school in a timely manner for Fletcher’s planned lecture. A police detective arrives to privately inspect the body and is dismayed that it is indeed that of a woman. He still warns Fletcher that if he catches him accepting another delivery the next thing he will be holding won’t be a “scalpel” by a prison’s sledgehammer. Undaunted and confident Fletcher’s brief introduction to his students emphasizing that no dead body is of consequence if a life is saved. As soon as he pulls the sheet off the body he is horrified and screams, collapsing to the floor after seeing his beloved Barbara’s pale body. The ultimate sacrifice, one that leaves his life shattered has happened and the worst conceivable example of the unethical practice he remained loyal to has happened.
One of Night Gallery’s most realistic segments “Deliveries in the Rear” features Cornel Wilde as the detached “end justifies the means” proponent who pays the worse possible price for his humanist violations. Rosemary Forsyth is excellent as the alluring doomed lover and as Mr. Bennett, Lewton luminary Kent Smith (in yet another connection to the RKO titan of low-budget, suggestive and psychological horror) is again a commanding presence as a one not the least bit sympathetic for a future son-in-law who is committing moral sacrilege. The murderous grave diggers (Peter Whitney and Walter Burke) are properly cretinous and the cast in general are convincing for this period piece segment. Exceedingly well crafted, deeply disconcerting and nightmarish “Deliveries in the Rear” showcases humanity at its lowest wrung and is so difficult to revisit. Superb, but engage at your own risk.
Top 27 Rod Serling’s ‘Night Gallery’ segments (presented in reverse numerical order)
Segment Number 17 “The Dark Boy” (Season 2) 31:02
There is much in the beautiful and atmospheric “The Dark Boy” that evokes Henry James’s “The Turn of the Screw” and the episode is written with profound sensitivity by Halsted Welles from a short story by August Derleth. In the late 1800’s a new schoolteacher, Judith Timm arrives to assume her new position at a one-room schoolhouse in rural Montana. The widowed young woman is warned in a note that she should not come and is further mystified when two spinster sisters Abigail and Lettie Moore (the former whom is a member of the school board) change the subject when they are asked by Judith why the previous teacher vacated the job. After her first day she speaks again to the older women, and the number of students in her class is broached. Judith states there are seventeen under her jurisdiction, sixteen blonde boys and girls and one darker haired boy. Abby responds that there are only sixteen and looks at her sister with great concern. The sisters are not at all pleased when their new schoolmistress informs them she will be returned at night to do some work in the classroom. Lettie urges her not to go and quickly admonished by Abby when she blurts out “Miss Mason went at night. That’s what started it.”
Shortly after Judith arrives she notices the dark-haired boy peering at her through a window at the back of the classroom. She gestures for the silent fourth-grader to enter but he runs away. In short order she notices a resemblance between this boy and Tom Robb, the widowed father of another one of her students. An encore appearance the next night confirms her visual perception though her overtures to the boy are again rebuffed when he scurries off in the moonlight, but not before she notices a white scar on his forehead. Ms. Timm takes her case to Tom Robb, a man seemingly of a curt disposition. When she presses him on the boy she saw he stuns her by responding that “Joel” his older son died two years ago after falling off the schoolhouse ladder. The grief-stricken father finally breaks down and tells her that he too has seen the boy (his ghost) but in tune with her frustrations he too has witnessed this life-like apparition retreat whenever he got close. He laments that Joel “haunts him.” At this point Judith understands she has the best chance to reach the boy what with mutual affection building.
They devise a plan and both appear at the schoolhouse. By then a romance, coaxed by mutual loneliness has begun to blossom between the schoolteacher and Robb and they kiss. Joel shows up but this time he enters the classroom. She reads to him and shortly thereafter his father enters urging his deceased son to repeat the whistle of the whippoorwill which he affectionately called on to do when he was alive. Judith holds Mr. Robb’s hand and asks Joel he he will come home with them. They arrive at the hose, but no longer see Joel. Still they are heartened when he answers the whippoorwill’s song with a whistle. Joel’s grave is shown as a signal that he is now at peace in his resting place, seemingly after his Dad has found some happiness in his life again.
Again the talented John Astin wins some well-earned tears for his naturalistic depiction of a supernatural take almost believable in is heartfelt simplicity. He is immeasurably aided by Leonard J. South’s pastoral color photography and Eddie Sauter’s aching period-attuned harmonica and harpsichord to give a sense of time and place. As Judith Timm, Elizabeth Hartmann, who was unforgettable in her Oscar-nominated role in “A Patch of Blue” delivered an exquisite, humanist turn as the magnanimous, dedicated teacher and Michael Baseleon who transforms from bitterness and anger to real his real family loving self (think Christopher Plummer’s Captain Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music”) is physically rugged and would be right at home in an episode of “Little House on the Prairie” a series that this episode would be just as effective in as it is in “Night Gallery.” Michael Laird is deeply affecting as Joel, and both the famed Oscar winner Gale Sondergaard as Abigail and Hope Summers as Lettie Moore are irresistible as the guarded sisters who bring some measure of levity to these austere proceedings. Lyrical and deeply-moving “The Dark Boy” is a Night Gallery treasure.