PATTERNS

Face Off: Van Heflin and Everett Sloane

PATTERNS (1956). Director: Fielder Cook. Screenplay by Rod Serling. Colorized. 

Recruited by Walter Ramsey (Everett Sloane of The Big Knife), the head of the Ramsey Corporation, Fred Staples (Van Heflin) moves with his wife (Beatrice Straight) to New York for an important position. Fred will be working with veteran Bill Briggs (Ed Begley of Odds Against Tomorrow) but doesn't know that Ramsey intends for Fred to be Briggs' replacement. Ramsey is doing his best to get Briggs to quit, yelling at him and humiliating him, but Briggs is determined to stick it out. Ramsey gives all the credit for a joint report to Fred even though many of the ideas were Briggs', leading to a tense boardroom confrontation that may lead to tragedy. Will Fred stay working for Ramsey, a man he admits he hates ...

In the boardroom

With an excellent script by Rod Serling and a superb cast -- Elizabeth Wilson also gets high marks for her portrayal of secretary Marge, whose heart is breaking for Briggs -- Patterns emerges as a compelling and intelligent drama that hasn't lost any of its power. Heflin gives another strong performance as a man who has principles and doesn't wish to compromise them, and is perfectly willing to take on the more ruthless Sloane on a day by day basis. Although one could accuse Sloane of occasional over-acting, he also makes Ramsey much more than just a one-dimensional villain, as much of what he says is logical and impassioned and there are signs that he is not without a conscience. The picture is well-cast down to the smallest role, well-directed and paced. This film was undoubtedly influential on many other films and TV shows about corporate intrigue.

Verdict: The human factor vs. logistics. Good show! ***1/2. 

THE YELLOW CANARY

Patty Boone and Barbara Eden

THE YELLOW CANARY (1963). Director: Buzz Kulik. Screenplay by Rod Serling.

Now here's a strange one. Pat Boone plays a popular singer and neglectful husband, Andy Paxton, who has difficult relationships with his wife, Lissa (Barbara Eden), and associates, Hub (Steve Forrest), his bodyguard, and "Bake" (Steve Harris) his pal and right-hand man. Things get even more complicated when Paxton's baby boy is kidnapped right out of their mansion. While at first it may make sense that the terrified couple are scared that police intervention could kill their child, when days go by it seems utterly absurd for them not to let the authorities handle things. Believability goes completely out the window when the Paxtons set off to rescue the child themselves from dangerous people who have nothing to lose. The picture has unusual casting with Boone going against his pleasant milk-fed image just as Eden [Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea] is contrary to her usual perky demeanor. They offer generally good performances although  at times the script may make too many demands on them. Steve Forrest [Mommie Dearest] is the cast stand-out as Hub, and there is also good work from Harris as the jealous, heavy-drinking buddy and Jeff Corey as a bartender. Jack Klugman [I Could Go On Singing] is pretty awful as the cop assigned to the kidnapping, a performance which isn't helped by the fact that he is often given ridiculous things to say to the parents. Boone does several numbers and has a nice voice. but the poor quality of the film probably jettisoned his chances of establishing himself as a serious dramatic actor after the previous year's appearance in The Main Attraction. Rod Serling's screenplay is one of his least memorable concoctions. Steve Harris was primarily a television actor.

Verdict: This canary just doesn't sing. **.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE: SIZE IS RELATIVE

"Stopover in a Quiet Town"

"The Fear" with Mark Richman

Agnes Moorehead in "The Invaders"

"The Little People"

The classic "To Serve Man"

THE TWILIGHT ZONE: Size is Relative.

During its several years on the air, The Twilight Zone broadcast several stories that had to do with the size of human beings or other things. Some were memorable, and others were not.

The Invaders. Season 2, episode 15. Written by Richard Matheson and directed by Douglas Heyes. Agnes Moorehead plays a farm woman who comes across a tiny spaceship filled with equally small astronauts. At the end we learn that this ship is actually a "U.S. Air Force Space Probe" that the old lady has smashed. This is mostly a silly burlesque. C+

The Fear. Season 5, episode 35. Written by Rod Serling and directed by Ted Post. Police officer Mark Richman and resident Hazel Court encounter what appears to be a humongous space man in an isolated area. This has some suspense, even if it could be dismissed as silly "comic book" stuff. B-/C+.

The Little People. Season 3, episode 28. Written by Rod Serling and directed by William Claxton. Two astronauts come across microscopic people on a planet and one of them plays God, until he realizes to his horror that he's not the only one who's out of proportion. This is a bit hokey, like an old comic, but it boasts fine performances by Claude Akins and particularly Joe Maross. B-.

Stopover in a Quiet Town. Season 5, episode 30. Written by Earl Hamner Jr. and directed by Ron Winston. A couple who partied a bit too much wake up in a strange house and find themselves in a deserted town, then board a train that goes absolutely nowhere. A little girl's giggling voice can be heard everywhere. Although the episode is treated a bit lightly at the end (often the case with Serling's black comedy narration), it's actually quite horrifying, with this couple, whatever their flaws (including drunk driving), suffering a supremely and grotesquely horrifying fate. Possibly the influence for the show Land of the Giants. Barry Nelson and Nancy Malone give excellent performances. A.

To Serve Man. Season 3, episode 24. Written by Rod Serling (from a story by Damon Knight) and directed by Richard L. Bare. This episode qualifies if for no other reason than the alien who visits earth is 9 feet tall and weighs 350 lbs. This alien claims that he wants to help mankind and even gives scientists a book entitled "To Serve Man." Unfortunately one scientist has the book translated too late to save all of the people who are traveling to the giant's planet for supposed edification. Another supremely horrifying episode whose tension is almost dissipated by Serling's jokey narration. Lloyd Bochner, Susan Cummings, and Richard Kiel give good performances. I've always thought a great movie sequel could be made showing the earth people in the ship, slowly realizing what's about to happen to them, and fighting back. Probably one of the most fondly-remembered episodes of the series. A-.

ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY Season 3

Mickey Rooney as a mob boss with a problem

NIGHT GALLERY Season 3.1972.

The best thing one can say about the third and final season of Rod Serling's Night Gallery is that each episode was now only half an hour long and there weren't that many of them. Rod Serling returned as host, of course, and, unfortunately, along with him came producer and sometime writer Jack Laird, who had absolutely no feel for the dark fantasy genre and whose contributions to the series, generally those awful black-outs, were abysmal.

First, let's take a look at one of the show's many lesser episodes, "Spectre in Tap Shoes" [although Laird did not write the script, he wrote the story for the episode and generated the "idea"]. Sandra Dee plays a woman whose sister, who was a tap dancer, commits suicide. She is haunted by visions and the sound of tapping and is visited by Dane Clark, who wants to buy her house. I doubt that I am giving anything away to reveal that it turns out that Clark is behind the ghostly sounds and visions, and that at the end it is still suggested that something supernatural has nonetheless happened. Sheesh -- the old business of someone creating a ghost to get someone out of their house probably pre-dates Nancy Drew's The Hidden Staircase and by 1972 had become the hoariest of cliches. And there were other, equally unoriginal plot lines, most of which had flat endings that made the viewer groan in quite the wrong way.

There were a couple of passable moments in the third season and two reasonably memorable episodes. Largely because of the acting, "Die Now, Pay Later" is notable, as Will Geer and Slim Pickens enact a story of an undertaker who's offering a sale on coffins and the like, and a sheriff who notes that there have been many more deaths since the sale began ... The bizarre thing about this episode is that it was never aired and can only be seen on the DVD. "Other Way Out" features Ross Martin and Burl Ives in a suspense story of a murderer confronting a blackmailer way out in the desert and the trap he finds himself in; fairly standard stuff, perhaps, but better than most of the episodes, and again, well-acted. Although "Rare Objects" is not that memorable, it does boast a fine performance from Mickey Rooney as a mob boss who desperately wants to find a way out of his predicament, when the various attempts on his life become more numerous and deadly. "You Can Come Up Now," about a dizzy scientist who experiments on his own wife (starring Ozzie and Harriet!) is ironic, a little bit sad, but, again, very predictable. Other notable guest stars this season include Vincent Price, Joanna Pettet [who appeared frequently on the show and was always very good], Geraldine Page, and Agnes Moorehead in an un-aired black-out about witches.

Verdict: Distinctly third-rate horror-fantasy anthology. **.

NIGHT GALLERY Season 2 [POST # 2000!]

Laurence Harvey has a painful problem with an earwig

NIGHT GALLERY Season 2 (1971). Hosted by Rod Serling.

"I have read thousands -- tens of thousands -- of books, and never have I read about a spider the size of a dog -- not even in Kafka."

This second full season of Night Gallery continued the format of presenting at least two or more segments per episode, with Rod Serling introducing most segments using paintings mounted in a "night" gallery. Out of nearly fifty segments [in twenty-two episodes] only seven are memorable, with many not only on a "C" level but even descending to "D" or "F." In other words, most of the stories are pretty bad. Earlier episodes include quick gags or black humor black-outs, most of which are mercilessly unfunny. Among the more notable stories are: "The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes," in which a small child is exploited for his psychic ability; "The Devil is Not Mocked" in which Count Dracula (an excellent Francis Lederer) takes on the Nazis; an adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's "Cool Air," in which the addition of a romantic element doesn't hurt at all [Lovecraft's "Pickman"s Model," which also adds romantic-love aspects, doesn't work as well]; and the genuinely original "Sins of the Fathers" with Richard Thomas as a starving young man who must "eat" the sins [represented by food surrounding a corpse] of Barbara Steele's late husband. Arguably the two best episodes are "The Dark Boy" [from August Derleth], a poignant mood piece in which the ghost of a dead boy unites his lonely father with an equally lonely school teacher (Elizabeth Hartman) and "The Caterpillar," in which Laurence Harvey gets a fatal surprise when he tries to kill off a rival by employing an insect, the earwig, that enters through the ear and eats its way through the brain; probably the only really classic episode of the season, and the one most people remember [with excellent performances as well]. Some of the less memorable episodes have their entertaining moments, such as slatternly Zsa Zsa Gabor running from a dinosaur that wants to eat her in the amusing "Painted Mirror." Unfortunately, far too many episodes are flat, poorly conceived and developed, and have little real entertainment value. Among the more memorable guest stars are Vincent Price, Gale Sondergaard, Joanna Pettet, Virginia Mayo, and Louise Sorel. Producer Jack Laird also wrote and directed several episodes, but the generally mediocre quality of the show can't be laid only at his feet, as Serling himself contributed many execrable episodes.

Verdict: At least the earwig sticks in your mind [literally]. **1/2.

SPECIAL NOTE: This is the 2000th post of Great Old Movies, still going strong!

ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY SEASON 1

A malevolent doll from the 5th episode

ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY Season 1. 1968.

After the telefilm proved a success, Rod Serling was given the go to turn Night Gallery into a weekly series, but apparently the network wasn't confident enough to order too many episodes, so the first season is pretty short [It was rotated with two other series on Wednesday night]. The series features macabre stories in the genres of horror, fantasy, suspense, and science fiction. Each of the six episodes features two or more stories. First, the good: "The Dead Man" is a Poe-esque tale about a young fellow whose body can instantly develop any illness or condition, including death. The trouble is that he has a yen for his doctor's wife...  Carl Betz, Jeff Corey and Lousie Sorel give very good performances in this. "Make Me Laugh" is an amusing black comedy about a mediocre stand up comic who only wants to make people laugh, to his ultimate regret; Godfrey Cambridge is excellent as the comic. "Clean Kills and Other Trophies" features an outstanding performance by Raymond Massey as a truly hateful, racist hunter who goads his more sensitive son (Barry Brown) into hunting deer with him. The wind-up is predictable but satisfying. "Paula's Voice," about a man haunted by his dead wife's shrill voice, is really just a quick gag of an idea, but Phyllis Diller proves surprisingly wonderful as the awful, nagging spouse.

Other segments are well-acted but merely mediocre or worse, stories about sinister dolls (with a fine John Williams performance), a Titanic survivor who is a flying Dutchman (an outstanding John Colicos), and a doctor's black bag from the future, among others [There are no black bags today let alone in the future!]. "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar," which boasts a fine performance by William Windom (and great support from Diane Baker, Burt Convy and John Randolph), is meant to be a poignant study of a man's mid-life crisis, but some of his actions make him unsympathetic and the whole thing just doesn't work. And what to make of "The Nature of the Enemy" in which a lunar expedition is attacked by -- get this! -- giant white mice. There's no point wondering how the mice can breath on the airless moon, as the story, while played straight, is another quick gag [the moon is made of green cheese, remember?] but it certainly is a tale that's not worth the time it takes to present it, as well as one of Serling's all-time most disappointing scripts.

This truncated season was followed by two more full seasons.

Verdict: Truly a mixed bag. **1/2.

NIGHT GALLERY (1969)

Joan Crawford in a dramatic moment

NIGHT GALLERY (1969 telefilm). Hosted and scripted by Rod Serling. Directors: Boris Sagal; Steven Spielberg; Barry Shear.

Rod Serling's follow-up to The Twilight Zone was a new fantasy-horror series in which Serling introduced each episode from a gallery of paintings, each painting tied in to one of the night's stories. This telefilm was the pilot for the show, and featured three tales of the bizarre. In the first, "The Cemetery," Roddy McDowall murders his decrepit wealthy uncle (George Macready), then freaks out as he sees the old man apparently breaking out of his grave in stages in a painting that hangs on the wall -- is the corpse coming after him with murder on its mind? The manservant, Portifoy (Ossie Davis), figures in an amusing climax. In the second story, "Eyes," filthy rich Miss Menlo (Joan Crawford), who has been blind since birth, pays a poor fool (Tom Bosley) to give her his eyes for money even as her doctor (Barry Sullivan) tells her she'll only have sight for about eleven hours. The story is deliciously ironic if quite improbable. [This was one of Steven Spielberg's earliest assignments; Crawford thought he was the coffee boy!] The third tale, "The Escape Route," is a highly satisfying tale in which a Nazi war criminal (Richard Kiley) in South America dreams of finding peace from "persecution" [!] in a pastoral painting hanging in the local museum, but winds up in a much more fitting scenario. Serling has scripted some fine dialogue for the stories, and gotten some top-flight actors to give their all for the all-important pilot. Roddy McDowall and Ossie Davis both deliver the goods in the first segment; Crawford and Sullivan are terrific in the second [with solid support from Bosley]; and Kiley, in an unusual turn for him, is splendid as the Nazi Strobe, with Norma Crane making quite a positive impression as the contemptuous prostitute, Gretchen. Serling is as adept a host as ever and the three directors are on top of things.

Verdict: Easy to see why this went to series. ***.