"The Twilight Zone" Where Is Everybody? (1959)

Director:

Robert Stevens

Writer:

Rod Serling (writer)

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

2 October 1959 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

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

Plot:

A man finds himself in a town devoid of people and with no memory of who he is. |

Plot Keywords:

Movie Within Movie | Breaking Mirror | Classic Episode | Narration | Ghost Town

Cast

Earl Holliman	...	Mike Ferris
James Gregory	...	Air Force General
Paul Langton	...	Doctor
James McCallion	...	Reporter #1
John Conwell	...	Air Force Colonel
Jay Overholts	...	Reporter #2 (as Jay Overholt)
Carter Mullally Jr.	...	Air Force Captain (as Carter Mullaly)
Garry Walberg	...	Reporter #3 (as Gary Walberg)
Jim Johnson	...	Air Force Staff Sergeant

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

French title: La ville secrète.

Goofs:

Continuity: The clock in the booth with a broken face is shown in a distant shot, than in a close-up, where more cracks appear in it than before.

Quotes:

Narrator: [opening narration] The place is here, the time is now, and the journey into the shadows that we're about to watch could be our journey.

Movie Connections:

Features Battle Hymn (1957)

A good way to start.

This pilot episode for the now legendary series tells the story of Mike (Earl Holliman), who has no memories of his past life and happens upon a small town where there isn't a soul in sight. As night falls, Mike sees one indication after another that there should be people around - yet he still sees nobody. As night falls he becomes increasingly desperate and unstable.

Even almost 50 years after this episode first aired, the series holds up today. People who grew up watching it fondly remember it, and those new to checking it out (such as I, who recently purchased the box set of the entire series) discover its ability to tell interesting and offbeat stories with memorable revelations in half hour time slots.

Holliman does a solid job, for the most part the only person on screen, engagingly delivering his dialog and believably portraying a man increasingly on the edge. His isolation is emphasized at all times; the camera-work is quite good and Bernard Herrmanns' score appropriately eerie. I didn't see that sort of revelation coming, either, which was a good bonus.

It makes me quite excited to watch the series in its entirety and see some real imagination at work.

It's also quite a gas to be able to recognize the "Back to the Future" set, this episode having been filmed on the same exact spot.

7/10