Valley of the Shadow (17 Jan. 1963)
"The Twilight Zone" Valley of the Shadow (original title)

A reporter stumbles into a peaceful town where miracles seem to occur due to technology and the townsfolk won't let him leave.

Director:

Perry Lafferty

Writers:

Charles Beaumont, Rod Serling (creator)

Stars:

David Opatoshu, Ed Nelson, Natalie Trundy

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
David Opatoshu	...	Dorn
Ed Nelson	...	Philip Redfield
Natalie Trundy	...	Ellen Marshall
Jacques Aubuchon	...	Connolly
Dabbs Greer	...	Evans
James Doohan	...	Johnson
Morgan Brittany	...	Sissy Johnson (as Suzanne Cupito)
Henry Beckman	...	Man #1
Bart Burns	...	Man #2
King Calder	...	Man #3
Pat O'Hara	...	Man #4
Sandy Kenyon	...	Gas Station Attendant

Storyline

A reporter stumbles into a peaceful town where miracles seem to occur due to technology and the townsfolk won't let him leave.

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Plot Keywords:

technology | miracle | bible quote as title | reanimation | utopia | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1963 (USA)

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cayuga Productions, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

51 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sissy Johnson's dad is played by James Doohan, who also plays Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, the engineer of Star Trek's starship Enterprise. The technology displayed at Peaceful Valley has its equivalent in the Federation universe: the device that breaks atomic structure and puts it together again (transporters), the one that creates objects from "statements" about atomic structure (replicators) and the invisible walls (force fields).

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Goofs

When Philip Redfield first pulls into the gas station, he gets out and opens the radiator cap to check the water level. Opening the cap on a car that has just been driven causes hot water to rush out, but this didn't happen. Also the cap itself would have been burning hot.

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Quotes

[closing narration]
Narrator: You've seen them. Little towns, tucked away from the main roads. You've seen them, but have you thought about them? Have you wondered what the people do in such places, why they stay? Philip Redfield thinks about them now and he wonders, but only very late at night, when he's between wakefulness and sleep - in the Twilight Zone.

User Reviews

A dandy one hour episode--one of the best

A man (Ed Nelson) wanders into a small town. Everything seems normal until he sees that miracles can take place in this town--the dead can be brought to life and everyone lives in perfect harmony. The town's leader explains that although they have this wonderful technology as a result of a brilliant scientist from the town, they cannot divulge the secrets to the world, as humans would misuse and hurt each other with these great powers. Nelson disagrees, so it's up to Opatoshu to stop him at any price in order to save humanity.

This is one of the best of the one hour episodes from season four. Much of the reason it's so good is that it was very well written and exciting and I also liked it because it starred one of the better character actors from TV of his time, David Opatoshu. While his name is probably not known to 99.9% of the people out there, his face is rather familiar, having done some wonderful guest appearances on STAR TREK, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and many other series of the day.