"The Twilight Zone" Elegy (1960)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Douglas Heyes

Writer:

Charles Beaumont (writer)

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

19 February 1960 (Season 1, Episode 20)

Genre:

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

Plot:

Three astronauts touch down on an asteroid, where they discover a world of people that appear to be frozen in time. Confused, they theorize as to why everyone is motionless, until a man springs to life and explains. |

Plot Keywords:

Narrator | One Word Title | Planet | Narration | Spaceship Crash

Cast

Cecil Kellaway	...	Jeremy Wickwire
Jeff Morrow	...	Kurt Meyers
Don Dubbins	...	Peter Kirby
Kevin Hagen	...	Captain James Webber

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Trivia:

Douglas Heyes replaced the original short story's motionless car-race with a beauty pageant, displeasing story-writer Charles Beaumont - though, ironically, the pageant is considered the most memorable part of the episode.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Peter goes to the fishers, the pair shown on the bridge behind him are obviously photographs.

Quotes:

Meyers: [Wickwire has poisoned their drinks] But why? Why us?
Wickwire: Because you are here, and you are men. And while there are men, there can be no peace.

Another Asteroid

Rod Serling liked astronauts and asteroids. This is another one of those "Where am I?" episodes. In this one a group of men find themselves in an odd town, where there are plenty of people, but they are frozen in time. They don't respond. As the astronauts move through space, they find more and more "normal" looking folks not moving. Once again it's about confusion and despair. Eventually they meet what seems like a living man who treats them kindly and asks them questions like how they would like to be remembered. We can't help but think of the first episode "Where Is Everybody?" The strange man is more and less than he seems and we know that we are in for a strange conclusion. I have to say that there is a sameness in some of these first season episodes that show a little lack of imagination. Still, it's a really interesting premise.