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Release Date: 1995-02-17
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| The UncannyBoth episodes on this video deal in the realm of the uncanny: for example, when an inanimate object seems to move, talk, have life. "The Dummy," made in 1962, is one of the all-time classic episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. It is about an alcoholic ventriloquist named Jerry Etherson who believes that his dummy, "Willie," is alive and smarter and more talented than he is. Threatened with the possible loss of his job at a nightclub because of his instability (though he only drinks to forget Willie), Jerry tries to substitute another, "normal" dummy in Willie's place, with disastrous results. In the end, Jerry is completely subjugated by Willie. Cliff Robertson's portrayal of Jerry is intense and disturbing, and the episode is beautifully photographed, with a lonely nocturnal atmosphere reminiscent of another great TWILIGHT ZONE episode by Rod Serling, the 1960 "A Passage for Trumpet" starring Jack Klugman.
"The Lateness of the Hour," about a wealthy family that employs robot servants, is by no means as strong an episode as "The Dummy." Inger Stevens, who was so memorable in the classic "The Hitch-hiker," is equally fine here; the problems are the unconvincing plot and the fact that the episode was videotaped rather than filmed. Actually, several episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE were produced in this manner. Some of these ("The Night of the Meek," "Static," "Long-Distance Call") had excellent scripts which made the mediocre picture quality irrelevant; "The Lateness of the Hour" has not.
Scary, twisty gems from Rod Serling."The Dummy" is about a ventriloquist who honestly believes that his dummy is alive (though he drinks a lot) and soon gets taken over in way reminiscent of DEAD OF NIGHT (1945). "The Lateness of the Hour" is a bizarre yet original tale of robots as an elderly gentlemen's personal assistants. The first episode is chilling, the second is strange, both are memorable (especially "The Lateness of the Hour," though, since it has the surrealistic visual style also found in "Long Distance Call").
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