"Twilight Zone" Shadow Play (1961)"The Twilight Zone" Shadow Play (original title)

Director:

John Brahm

Writers:

Charles Beaumont (writer)
Rod Serling (creator)

TV Series:

"Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

5 May 1961 (Season 2, Episode 26)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

When Adam Grant is found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced he lashes out telling everyone that he will not be murdered again...

Plot Keywords:

Recurring Nightmare | Nightmare | Prison | District Attorney | Pleading

Cast

Dennis Weaver	...	Adam Grant
Harry Townes	...	Henry Ritchie
Wright King	...	Paul Carson
William Edmonson	...	Jiggs
Anne Barton	...	Carol Ritchie
Bernie Hamilton	...	Coley
Tommy Nello	...	Phillips
Mack Williams	...	Father Beaman
Gene Roth	...	Judge
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Close	...	Guard (uncredited)
Howard Culver	...	Jury Foreman (uncredited)
Jack Hyde	...	Attorney (uncredited)
Rod Serling	...	Narrator / Himself - Host (uncredited)

Directed by
John Brahm

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Charles Beaumont		writer
Rod Serling		creator

Produced by
Buck Houghton	....	producer

Cinematography by
George T. Clemens		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jason H. Bernie		(as Jason Bernie)

Art Direction by
Philip Barber		(as Phil Barber)
George W. Davis

Set Decoration by
H. Web Arrowsmith
Henry Grace

Production Management
Ralph W. Nelson	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
E. Darrell Hallenbeck	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Bill Edmondson	....	sound
Franklin Milton	....	sound

Editorial Department
Scott Lawson	....	colorist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Cayuga Productions
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Distributors

• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1961) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Other Companies

• Stalmaster-Lister Co.  casting
• Kuppenheimer  Mr. Serling's wardrobe
• Pacific Title  titles and opticals

Also Known As:

"The Twilight Zone: Shadow Play (#2.26)" - USA (original title)

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:

The title refers to the ancient art of shadow play or shadow puppetry using opaque figures that cast shadows on clear curtain. Such entertainment is know in countries throughout the world and is presented in theaters and by traveling troupes.

Quotes:

[closing narration]
Narrator:We know that a dream can be real, but who ever thought that reality could be a dream? We exist, of course, but how, in what way? As we believe, as flesh-and-blood human beings, or are we simply parts of someone's feverish, complicated nightmare? Think about it, and then ask yourself, do you live here, in this country, in this world, or do you live, instead, - in The Twilight Zone?

Movie Connections:

Remade as "The Twilight Zone: Shadow Play/Grace Note (#1.23)" (1986)

Soundtrack:

Red River Valley

Philosophy 101 - Serling style.

There are times when I start thinking about strange possibilities and different experiences of existence, such as whether people with different eye colors see the world exactly the same way. Really, if blue eyed people experienced colors one way and brown eyed people experienced them another way, we would really have no way of knowing, because everything would look normal to everyone. That's a rather childish example, but when I start feeling existential I sometimes wonder if we are all part of someone's imagination or if we are some tiny part of an unimaginably bigger world. The religious implications here are pretty obvious, but Shadow Play has nothing to do with them.

The idea that we are all just figments of someone's (or something's?) imagination is not a new proposal, of course, but Serling has taken the premise and turned it into a pretty entertaining half hour story. Dreams and their meanings is an almost endlessly fascinating subject, and has been explored extensively in the annals of psychology, as well as in film, television, and literature. Wes Craven blurred the lines between reality and nightmare in his Nightmare on Elm Street films, and long before that, Serling explored the causes and effects of recurring nightmares more than once here on the outskirts of the Twilight Zone.

It doesn't seem that the show is really seeking any answers, but is instead just presenting a situation in which a man is having recurring nightmares in which he has been sentenced to death, and is basically trying to convince the people around him to help themselves by helping him.

It is a brilliantly ironclad dilemma he is in. Imagine being on death row and trying to convince the guards and police around you that if they go through with your execution, they will all disappear. "You're all in my imagination! If you execute me you'll cease to exist!" The feeling of helplessness that he must be suffering is unimaginable! Granted, I've had dreams where I sank like a rock to the bottom of the ocean or fell off a building or something, and I always wake up at the point of death, and while it's scary, it's also an enormous relief when I wake up and realize I'm safe in my bed. Still, the nightly anticipation of electrocution's gotta make it hard to get to sleep at night.

Although personally, rather than trying to convince the guards to cancel my execution, I would just stick my arm through the bars of my cell and say - "Come on, pinch me! See what happens!"