Little Girl Lost

Episode aired Mar 16, 1962
TV-PGTV-PG
25min

8.1/10

S3.E26

Awakened in the middle of the night by the cries of his daughter, a father enters the girl's room to find that she has vanished - even though he can still hear her crying out for help.Awakened in the middle of the night by the cries of his daughter, a father enters the girl's room to find that she has vanished - even though he can still hear her crying out for help.Awakened in the middle of the night by the cries of his daughter, a father enters the girl's room to find that she has vanished - even though he can still hear her crying out for help.Awakened in the middle of the night by the cries of his daughter, a father enters the girl's room to find that she has vanished - even though he can still hear her crying out for help.Awakened in the middle of the night by the cries of his daughter, a father enters the girl's room to find that she has vanished - even though he can still hear her crying out for help.

Director
- Paul Stewart(directed by)
Writers
- Richard Matheson
- Rod Serling(creator)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Tracy Stratford in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Robert Sampson in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Sarah Marshall and Robert Sampson in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Charles Aidman and Sarah Marshall in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Robert Sampson and Tracy Stratford in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Sarah Marshall

Ruth Milleras Ruth Miller

Robert Sampson

Chris Milleras Chris Miller

Charles Aidman

Billas Bill

Rod Serling

Narratoras Narrator
(uncredited)
…

Tracy Stratford

Tina Milleras Tina Miller
(uncredited)

Rhoda Williams

Tina Milleras Tina Miller
(voice)
(uncredited)

Director
- Paul Stewart(directed by)
Writers
- Richard Matheson
- Rod Serling(creator)
All cast & crew

See production, box office, & company info

When he hears his young daughter Tina calling out in the night, Chris Miller go to her room but finds she isn't there. At first he thinks she fallen off the bed or slid herself under it but despite hearing her call out she's nowhere to be seen. He gets help from a friend, Bill, who concludes that Tina has slid through a portal into another dimension. They find the portal opening but Tina is lost inside and Chris goes in after her. —garykmcd

portal missing child alternate dimension physicist crying 5 more

Trivia
According to an interview in the book The Twilight Zone Companion, writer Richard Matheson based this story on a real-life occurrence involving his own daughter. Said Matheson, "she cried out one night and I went to where she was and couldn't find her anywhere. I couldn't find her on the bed, I couldn't find her on the ground. She had fallen off and rolled all the way under the bed against the wall. At first, even when I felt under the bed, I couldn't reach her. It was bizarre, and that's where I got the idea."

Goofs
As the camera pans up on Rod Serling for the opening narration, he can be seen glancing to his left for a second to receive his cue to start talking.

Quotes
[closing narration]
Narrator: The other half - where? The fourth dimension? The fifth? Perhaps. They never found the answer. Despite a battery of research physicists equipped with every device known to man, electronic and otherwise, no result was ever achieved, except perhaps, a little more respect for, and uncertainty about, the mechanisms - of The Twilight Zone.

Connections
Featured in Cinemassacre's Monster Madness: Poltergeist (2009)

Soundtracks
Twilight Zone Theme
(theme song)
Composed by Marius Constant
(seasons 2-5)

Top review

One of the top ten of the series, with only one small flaw.

This is the most memorable episode of my childhood years of watching Twilight Zone, and which also seems to have a part in inspiring the film poltergeist. It was likely more frightening because we kids had to go to bed right after the episode! Upon a recent viewing, the episode held up very well, and many things were distinctly apparent that were missed by the youthful viewer I once was. Set design was impeccable, the kind of house that would eventually become retro-chic and is so superbly done that it was hard to keep concentration upon the plot.

Regardless, the story is a 30 minute exposition that seems to go by in half the time, and leaves the viewer wishing it were longer. Yes, it seems to be the inspiration for Poltergeist, the expanded and more complete version we all wanted to see. Alas, the chalking of the wall showing the opening into the other dimension is particularly strange, as we see the neighbor scientist mark the borders in a rectangle, then oddly place unnecessary curves on the outside of the rectangle that have nothing to do with delineating the border, only to give him something to do while chatting an explanation. This was odd to me as a child and is still so.

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