"The Twilight Zone" Nightmare as a Child (1960)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Alvin Ganzer

Writer:

Rod Serling (writer)

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

29 April 1960 (Season 1, Episode 29)

Genre:

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

Plot:

A schoolteacher keeps seeing a strange little girl in her apartment building. |

Plot Keywords:

Schoolteacher | Little Girl | Apartment | Younger Version Of Self | Narrator

Cast

Rod Serling	...	Narrator (voice)
Janice Rule	...	Helen Foley
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Peter Selden
Terry Burnham	...	Markie
Michael Fox	...	Doctor
Joseph V. Perry	...	Police Lieutenant (as Joe Perry)

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

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

Helen Foley was named after one of Rod Serling's favorite teachers.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When "Selden" falls down the stairs it is obvious that it's a stunt double.

Deep Seated Memories

This is a little more human episode. Are we dealing with the memories, repressed at childhood, or are we seeing the supernatural at work. Whether the young woman is actually experiencing this or thinking it doesn't matter. It is in her psyche and she must try to come to grips with it. The little girl's presence is certainly eerie, but this is about loneliness and fear and reclamation. The acting performances are quite good and the little girl is better than most. Serling loved to work the the ghosts of people's pasts, but usually it was some thing that they had done and they are now being punished for. This has a little of the lady caught in the bus station. Those observing would say she was on the brink of insanity. The difference comes in; the understanding. A good episode.