Night Gallery (TV Series) The Miracle at Camafeo/The Ghost of Sorworth Place (1972) User Reviews

More Than We Wished For

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 13 June 2014]

"The Miracle of Camafeo" takes us to a mission where people come to be healed. Among those in attendance are a man, his wife, and an insurance investigator. The man has faked an accident and is pretending paralysis. He has received a quarter of a million dollars from a bus company and has a plan. He must continue to appear an invalid or forfeit the settlement, or, even worse, go to prison for fraud. His plan is to enter the mission and come back healed by God. Who is to prove this because there are records of these miraculous interventions. It seems like a perfectly good plan. But this is The Night Gallery.

"The Ghost of Sorworth Place" involves a man, traveling through the countryside, who stops in a small village after meeting a striking blond woman. There are all kinds of rumors about her, a widow, and her late husband. As the man deals more and more with her, she becomes stranger and stranger, finally admitting to killing the husband because she couldn't tolerate him any more. The traveler is so taken with her, even after seeing spirits moving through the house, that he is willing to confront these evils. Quite a good ghost story.

Miracles & Ghosts

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 12 November 2014]

'The Miracle At Camafeo' - Harry Guardino plays an insurance investigator out to get a con man who has gone to a small village in order to be cured by a faith healing, that way he can stop pretending to be injured, but gets more than he bargained for in a most ironic twist of poetic justice.

'The Ghost Of Sorworth Place' - Richard Kiley plays an American traveler hiking through Scotland who stumbles upon a mansion inhabited by a beautiful if cold woman(played by Jill Ireland) who uses him in a clever plan of revenge against her late husband, whose ghost she hopes to get rid of, but the plan turns out differently than either had hoped... Surprise ending, though how many men would have made the same choice?

Two worthy stories

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 9 October 2018]

"The Miracle at Camafeo" - Con artist Joe Melcor (smoothly played by Ray Danton) fakes paralysis so he can collect half a million dollars. Melcor decides to go to a legendary shrine in Mexico in order to be "healed," but things don't go exactly as planned. Director Ralph Senefsky presents a flavorsome south of the border atmosphere and relates the absorbing story at a steady pace. This segment further benefits from sharp acting by Harry Guardino as a shrewd insurance investigator and Julia Adams as Melcor's loyal, but guilt-ridden wife. Melcor receives a highly fitting and ironic harsh comeuppance at the end.

"The Ghost of Sorworth Place" - American tourist Ralph Burke (a sound and likeable performance by Richard Kiley) falls for Scottish widow Ann Loring (a bewitching portrayal by the lovely Jill Ireland) who claims her house is haunted by the ghost of her late husband. Nifty ghost story boasts an intriguing enigmatic mood, a rousing climax, and a cool twist at the very end.

The Miracle at Camafeo

[paulbehrer22173 · 16 March 2009]

In this segment, adapted from the C.B. Gilford short story by Serling, insurance investigator Charlie Rogan (Harry Guardino) trails insurance swindler Joe Melcor (Ray Danton) and Melcor's wife Gay (Julie Adams, Danton's wife) to the Mexican shrine city of Camafeo. Melcor, after faking paralysis to win a half-million dollar claim against the insurer of a city transit company, has come to Camafeo to get "healed" in order to get Rogan off his back, and Rogan tells the bartender that when Melcor swindled the company that Rogan worked for, it's stealing, but when Melcor is conning God, it's sacrilege. In their hotel room, when Gay tells Joe her concerns about the morality of the scheme, he warns her, "If you start acting like a fallen woman on the way to confession, then my first act as a whole man will be to play handball with you against the wall. And you'll be up at that shrine asking to have the blue marks removed. You dig?" The next day, Rogan comes across a blind boy and his mother, saying a quiet prayer asking God to restore the boy's sight. On his stretcher, Joe Melcor goads Rogan by saying that he's on the way to "pick up a little miracle", which disgusts Rogan. Gay tells Rogan that she's leaving Joe, but refuses to testify against him, adding that while she won't hurt Joe, she's not going to help him either. The blind boy has his sight restored, which amazes the crowd of worshipers at the shrine, and Melcor's "miracle" happens at the same time. He presents the priest with a tip, cracking, "Don't look so surprised, you'll give the place a bad name." He exits the shrine, shading his eyes from the sun, and utters a pained cry. Rogan and Gay turn to Melcor's direction, to witness him walking carefully down the steps of the shrine and moaning, "Help me, someone. Someone please help me" as he does so. He removes his sunglasses to reveal his eyes, now milky white and sightless-a judgment from a less merciful God. I enjoyed viewing this segment because I was intrigued by how the con man, Joe Melcor, ended up being punished by God simply by exchanging his fake paralysis for the real blindness that the boy was cured of.

"Maybe I'm looking for a miracle."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 4 June 2017]

In 'The Miracle at Camafeo', the perceptive viewer will probably guess how the story will end, although for a good part of it I thought that scam artist Joe Melcor (Ray Danton) would wind up flat on his back for real. That the young boy's blindness was 'transferred' to him was in it's way perhaps a more fitting resolution, a punishment that would prove to be even more severe for an otherwise healthy and fit person.

'The Ghost of Soworth Place' is an interesting little tale with an intriguing set up thanks to Mrs. Ducker's (Mavis Neal Palmer) background story of Alistair Loring (John D. Schofield), the Seventh Duke of Soworth and the deceased man she still considers her employer. That Richard Kiley fell under the spell of Ann Loring is quite credible, as Jill Ireland was one of the great screen beauties of the Seventies, as she proves here. Next time Mr. Burke (Kiley), watch that first step, it can be a killer, even if it does lead to a tenure as the new Master of Soworth Place.

A decent pair of tales.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 15 April 2021]

'The Miracle at Camafeo'. Scripted by Rod Serling himself, based on a story by C. B. Gilford. Harry Guardino plays an insurance investigator who comes to the Mexican village of Camafeo. He's come here because he's been tracking down a con artist (Ray Danton) whom he hopes to expose as a fraudster. Danton has pretended to be crippled by a bus accident, and intends to be miraculously "cured" at the shrine in this village. Well, the outcome to this tale is never really in doubt, but it does work as a true case of poetic justice. It works largely because Guardino is so good, and is so well supported by the lovely Julie Adams (who plays Dantons' wife); she's not exactly happy about being party to his sleaziness. There is a wonderful subplot about a blind boy (Tomas Trujillo).

'The Ghost of Sorworth Place'. Scripted by Alvin Sapinsley, based on a story by Russell Kirk. An amiable Richard Kiley (who'd played a MUCH less sympathetic character in the original 'Night Gallery' TV movie) is a traveller who comes to a remote estate in Scotland. There, he meets attractive young widow Ann Loring (an enchanting Jill Ireland), who hopes to be rid of her husbands' ghost. He feels compelled to help her. Naturally, things don't work out quite the way that either of them anticipate. The cyclical quality to this story is the most interesting thing about it, although it's commendable that everybody involved goes for subtlety and restraint. There's no overwhelming amount of atmosphere, and no special effects to speak of. Both Kiley and Ireland give creditable performances, and they receive able support from Mavis Neal Palmer and Patrick O'Moore as area locals who attempt to warn Kiley about the situation into which he's entering.

Overall, this isn't a great episode, but is a solid one.

Both segments directed by Ralph Senensky, a TV veteran whose credits include 'Star Trek: The Original Series' and 'The F. B. I.'.

Seven out of 10.

Good episode!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 6 May 2023]

As always, I enjoy when Night Gallery only has two stories and room to stretch out to better tell them. But are these tales worthy of the longer time they've been given?

"The Miracle at Camafeo" was directed by Ralph Senensky and written by Rod Serling from a story by C. B. Gilford. The holy shrine of the Nuestra Senora de Camafeo is supposed to be able to cure any damage to the human body. That's why Joe (Ray Danton) and Gay (Julie Adams!) Melcor have come here. However, Charlie Rogan (Harry Guardino) thinks this is all part of a half-million-dollar insurance fraud.

Of course, he's right. And he's angry, because actually sick and infirm true believers come to this shrine every day, praying for intercession, and here comes Melcor, using it to be able to act like he can walk. Thing, as they often do in the Night Gallery, have a way of working out.

If this story is familiar, it was also used in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and was titled "Strange Miracle."

Senesky directed both stories tonight. "The Ghost of Sorworth Place" was written by Alvin Sapinsley and inspired by the story "Sorworth Place" by Russell Kirk. Ralph Burke (Richard Kiley) gets lost in the Scottish countryside and finds an old home in the middle of nowhere. Looking for lodging, he's turned away by the maid, Mrs. Ducker (Mavis Neal Palmer), but the house's owner, Ann Loring (Jill Ireland!) directs him to a local inn.

She invites him to tea, but not before he learns that she's a widow. Her philandering husband had a weakness for alcohol - and "the evil" - and Ralph wonders why she stayed in this small town. That's when this gets weird - and wild - as Ann tells him that she can't enjoy physical love after her abusive marriage, but needs a man who will protect her from her husband's ghost. And he's coming...tonight.

This is a tense episode with an ending that lives up to the build.

The director has a blog and man, it has some great insights into this episode, including an admission that he sees it in a better light today: "In December, 1971 at age 48 I thought THE GHOST OF SORWORTH PLACE was a failure. Now in March, 2020 at age 96 I'm not as sure."

This story was filmed back to back - with two days break - with the first story in this episode. And those steps that cause the end of this tale, well, they're the same steps from last episode's tumble for Mr. Peddington.

Wow! An episode that I have no complaints about. What a magical time!

Julie Adams is sexy and wonderful

[belanger75 · 10/10 · 20 August 2019]

In ' The Miracle at Camafeo' Harry Guardino plays an insurance investigator and if the truth could be told he sticks very closely to the script. Nothing wrong with that but Julie Adams plays the conman's wife and she is such a knockout in 70s clothes and hairstyle it is breathtaking( she looked great in the 50' s but she looks even better here). The plot was just removed from an Alfred Hitchcock Presents ep which had a similar but different outcome.