Night Gallery (8 Nov. 1969)
"Night Gallery" Night Gallery (original title)

In the pilot of the television series _"Night Gallery" (1970)_ , Rod Serling introduces three separate paintings, each with its own story of uncanny vengeance against evil to tell. The ... See full summary »

Directors:

Boris Sagal, Barry Shear,

Writer:

Rod Serling

Stars:

Joan Crawford, Ossie Davis, Richard Kiley

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Joan Crawford	...	Miss Menlo
Ossie Davis	...	Osmund Portifoy
Richard Kiley	...	Strobe
Roddy McDowall	...	Jeremy Evans
Barry Sullivan	...	Dr. Frank Heatherton
Tom Bosley	...	Sidney Resnick
George Macready	...	Hendricks
Sam Jaffe	...	Bleum
Norma Crane	...	Gretchen
Barry Atwater	...	Carson
George Murdock	...	1st Agent
Tom Basham	...	Gibbons
Byron Morrow	...	Packer
Garry Goodrow	...	Louis
Shannon Farnon	...	1st Nurse

Storyline

In the pilot of the television series _"Night Gallery" (1970)_ , Rod Serling introduces three separate paintings, each with its own story of uncanny vengeance against evil to tell. The first, "The Cemetery", involves a black sheep nephew (Roddy McDowall) who murders his rich uncle to inherit his fortune - both much to the detriment of the uncle's butler (Ossie Davis) - only to find that vengeance extends beyond the grave. In the second story, "Eyes", a rich, heartless woman ('Joan Crawford' ) who has been blind from birth blackmails an aspiring surgeon and a man who desperately needs money to give her a pair of eyes which will allow her to see for the first time - even though for only half a day's time - only to have the plan backfire on her in ways she never imagined. In the third story, "The Escape Route", a Nazi war criminal (Richard Kiley) is hiding from the authorities in South America, where he is confronted with his past demons and a curious Holocaust survivor (Sam Jaffe) and ...

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Plot Keywords:

painting | nazi | museum | war criminal | butler | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 November 1969 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bette Davis was the original choice to play Claudia Menlo (the role played by Joan Crawford), but she declined.

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Goofs

In the opening segment, the proximity and arrangement of the trees and headstones of the family graveyard varies wildly between shots and points of view; particularly the direction in which the prominent "Hendricks" monument faces and where the small tree outside the window is.

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Connections

Followed by Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1969)

User Reviews

Crawford's Final Substantial Role

This was Joan Crawford's second to last film (actually a TV movie) that was the pilot to the famous show created by Rod Sterling. There are three segments all which evolve around a painting and have very good morals. The first two are the best. Crawford's segment (the second) directed by Steven Spielberg (his directorial debut) is about a vicious, blind Park Avenue millionaire who undergoes an eye transplant just so she could see for a few hours, but everything does not go the way she plans. "Night Gallery" is a masterpiece, and I highly recommend it to anyone, especially Crawford fans or Twilight Zone fans.