The Twilight Zone (TV Series) Person or Persons Unknown (1962) User Reviews

Great TZ Suspenser

[MichaelMartinDeSapio · 9/10 · 25 November 2015]

A quintessential episode of lost identity, "Person or Persons Unknown" has similarities to a number of other TZ entries, including "A World of Difference" and "A Passage for Trumpet." But the episode is compelling on its own terms, with one of the most devastating twist endings in all of TZ. What would you do if you woke up one morning to discover that your spouse, co-workers and acquaintances didn't recognize you? That's exactly what happens to 35-year-old banker David Andrew Gurney, superbly played by Richard Long. Instead of passively acquiescing to this new state of affairs, Gurney fights back with vehemence, determined to assert his identity in the face of every obstacle. The ending will leave your mind turned over on itself as you ponder what exactly happened; was this reality, a dream, or a dream within a dream?

Despite a premature death in his mid-forties, Richard Long had a substantial acting career, starting in his late teens with movies like Orson Welles' THE STRANGER (1946). By 1962, Long was still a young and handsome actor and his performance absolutely carries this tale. A bold self-assertiveness bordering on arrogance adds fire and excitement to the episode; although Long is flamboyant at times, he never seems over-the-top thanks to a notable measure of personal elegance. The other portrayal worthy of mention is that of Frank Silvera, compassionate and reasonable as the doctor. The remaining performances aren't as strong - but then weak supporting performances were not uncommon on TZ, and they don't seriously mar the episode.

We might ask ourselves: why were stories about loss of identity so common during the 1950s and early '60s? Undoubtedly they grew out of the contemporary concern that modern civilization was hostile to the individual, that the growth of bureaucracy and totalitarianism was stifling the common man. Gurney fights to affirm what he knows to be true against all odds, and we root for this lone individual as he tries to restore order and sanity to his world. Yet the fact that Gurney is apparently alcoholic adds another layer to the story, and causes us to wonder about his moral character and the health of his marriage: is he perhaps a philanderer, used to waking up in the bed of women other than his wife? Is the entire episode nothing but a nightmare resulting from an alcoholic bender, from which he will eventually wake up?

All this adds texture and depth to "Person or Persons Unknown," an excellent and archetypal episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

Person Or Persons Unknown

[Scarecrow-88 · 9/10 · 29 August 2011]

It positively sucks to be David Gurney. The man wakes up in his own bed with a wife who doesn't know him! He is bewildered at her frightened face and demeanor as if he were an intruder of her home. He thinks it a charade, angered that his possessions, like a razor and clothes, are missing, further enraged when he goes to work at the bank, notices his Vice President desk is occupied by another man, and that none of the employees recognize him. Gurney goes to pull out his driver's license to show the police, realizing that there isn't any identification whatsoever! To say he is in a dilemma is an understatement. How does David prove to everyone around him he is who he says he is? I think anyone would consider this kind of scenario to be an absolute nightmare. If even your own mother doesn't know who you are—can it get much worse? Richard Long is utterly convincing as a man thrust into an unimaginable situation as he tries with all his power to convince others that he is David Gurney, with no success. He knows exact details (such as the scene where David enters a bar he frequents on Fridays, the bartender a friend who doesn't recognize him, knowing details about the man's life that not just anyone knows) about people, yet everyone looks at him like he's nuts. The ending is the icing on the cake as we are led to believe that maybe David has escaped his nightmare only to encounter another regarding his wife. It is ultimately about identity, being raped of it by the Twilight Zone. John Brahm's direction and Charles Beaumont's script really twist the poor character of David inside and out, and we are participants in this victim's turmoil. This is a fine example of what the classic Twilight Zone show was all about.

What tomorrow brings

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 5 December 2013]

If Richard Long is questioning his own sanity he's got good reason in this Twilight Zone episode. Another frightening and paranoid thought that Rod Serling tempts you with in this story. What if you just woke up one day like any other day and went to work, but your wife, your co-workers, absolutely no one knows who you are? There's even another guy seated at your desk in the bank where you work.

Long goes through a nightmare of a day and gets through it. But wait till you see what tomorrow brings for him.

Serling taps into our deepest fears with this one and comes up with a fine story for The Twilight Zone.

Identity Crisis

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 30 September 2020]

This is another one of my favorite episodes of the show, this is a rather interesting one almost a bit of a Philp K Dick like tale. The concept is terrifying when you think about it, just to one day wake up and realize you whole life is just gone in an instant. We're in the same boat as the protagonist as we're trying to figure out what the heck is going on while David is trying to prove in vein, he is who he says he is.

Throughout the episode you constantly asking questions in your mind, did David (if that's his real name) when he drove back home from the wild party did he inadvertently drive right into a portal that took him into an alternate world or is he in some sort of virtual reality program and the settings just suddenly changed and whoever is running it forgot to erase or reconstruct his memories.

I do like that there is a bit of philosophical territory on our perception and what truly makes and determines one's identity. We see David interacting with this psychologist who sounds like he's been taking a lot of his own meds, as he gives David a talk down about people that are insane whom think their one person or another. But this conjecture is incorrect as the doctor is talking about self-deluded people that want to believe a famous figure in the present and history but also schizophrenia for some other cases.

David has neither of these illusions as he's a person that knows who he despite the little proof he has; it really show that no one can tell you who you really are nor can any hard proof as both aren't reliable and can be deceptive, only we can determine and decide who we are.

The ending will give you a chill as it let's just say it's one of those that makes you just like David, more lost than before.

Rating: 4 stars

What happens when you aren't you anymore

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 12 June 2018]

David Gurney (a fine and credible performance by Richard Long) wakes up one seemingly ordinary day only to discover much to his chagrin that no one else knows who he is.

Director John Brahm relates the absorbing premise at a brisk pace and ably crafts a tense and uneasy unsettling atmosphere. Charles Beaumont's crafty script addresses the frightening concept of suddenly losing one's identity in a chilling and provocative manner as well as provides a suitably startling surprise twist ending. Long makes for a sympathetic protagonist; he receives sturdy support from Frank Silvera as wannabe helpful psychiatrist Dr. Koslenko, Shirley Ballard as his shrewish wife, and Edmund Glover as perplexed bartender Sam Baker. An excellent episode.

They Keep Shuffling the Deck

[dougdoepke · 3 June 2006]

Identity transference was a common theme of the series, open to many interesting variations. This is one of them. Richard Long wakes up with hangover and personal identity intact, but nobody including his wife recognizes him, even though he recognizes them. Maybe the world has shifted, but he hasn't, or maybe it's the other way around. Anyway, the warp is driving him crazy as he tries to establish a connection somewhere, anywhere. Long gives a nicely shaded, energetic performance that makes the situation almost believable. However, the episode is played as a straight suspenser, without the creepy or eerie moments that would make it memorable. In passing-- Long's character would be wise to go with the flow. After all, what guy would not like waking up next to the lovely Miss Van Zandt!

The Reverse Amnesia Episode

[mlbroberts · 10/10 · 10 November 2020]

David Gurney (Richard Long) awakes in his bed with his wife asleep beside him (a double bed in the 60s!) but he is fully clothed and hung over. The worst part is, his wife doesn't know who he is, and neither do the people he works with or anyone else. Everyone except our protagonist seems to have amnesia. The psychiatrist says he has had a loss of orientation. He disagrees and frantically goes searching for the one little detail that whoever is playing a trick on him has forgotten to cover. He thinks he finds it.

Long, quite convincing as a man who is sure of who he is but no one believes him. A twist ending I didn't see coming with Long's wide and frightened eyes.

A note: something I noticed in watching a Netflix run of it. When Gurney leaves his house, after fighting with his wife who says she doesn't know him, he looks up from his car and sees her looking down at him from a window. He says, "Nut!" but by reading his lips it looks like he says another word before "Nut!" that they have muted out - an appropriate word under the circumstances, but not in 1960s TV and even today, only on cable. In fact, it appears this was almost the first use of that word on TV.

Be Careful How Much You Drink!

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 4 December 2008]

This is another guy put into an untenable position. He wakes up and his wife and all his usual acquaintances don't have a clue who he is. He does what most people would do. He thinks everyone else is crazy. He goes from place to place, eventually being taken in by a guard who he has known for four years. Eventually, of course, he's put in a psyche ward and is being analyzed by a doctor there. Serling does a good job using Richard Long as the suffering man who doesn't know which way to turn. He finally makes his way home and we think there is a conclusion to his pain. This one has a great ending, so wait for it. Longs frustrations and facial expressions work very well. He was pretty much all over the place during the fifties and sixties, including that Western with Barbra Stanwyck.

Lesson in Existentialism.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 20 February 2013]

"Who am I?" The question is supposed to have plagued many of us in advanced cultures, but does it really? Does even a wino in a doorway wake up wondering who he is? No, he knows exactly who he is, although he wishes he weren't More likely it's a question reserved for those who, having achieved most of what is believed to be success, find themselves still unfulfilled. Yes, it's true. I now own a comfortable house with a swimming pool and an SUV with a 20 millimeter cannon on top. But what do I do NOW, Ma? There is also a special sort of wilderness area set aside for the French intellectuals who claim everyone asks himself this question, when they're not asking each other what "truth" is.

David Gurney wakes up and finds that his wife doesn't recognize him. In a near panic, he rushes off to work at the bank, where no one recognizes him either. He winds up in a psychiatric facility under the care of the sympathetic Frank Silvera. At a particularly dramatic moment, he wakes up back in his own bed, to find that it was all an alcohol-induced nightmare. Finally, his wife recognizes him. The problem is that this woman isn't his wife! "A nightmare turned inside out," as Serling's narration puts it.

I can understand why the issue of self identity had some appeal for Rod Serling, who never seemed quite able to leave the values of his childhood behind, even after he found himself in the dog-eat-dog world of television writing. I doubt that it applies to many of us, who will just find this an entertaining and somewhat knotty mystery with a twist at the end.

You have to like Frank Silvera as the psychiatrist, though. What an actor. He's been everything from an African-American to a Mexican. Born in Jamaica of mixed parentage, he went to law school at Boston University before dropping out to go into acting. He's been uniformly fine and always exudes a kind of likableness. Some might remember him best as the Mexican vaquero in "Hombre". Perhaps his best performance was as the Police Inspector, Porfiri or whatever he was called, in "Crime and Punishment USA", a little-seen low-budget number starring George Hamilton.

Don't you know me ?

[rcaliendo-424-345328 · 8/10 · 25 May 2020]

A solid one with excellent acting by Richard Long; I'm finding it hard to believe that he was only in two Zone episodes as he seems like one of those ubiquitous TZ actors, like J. Klugman or B. Meredith, who appeared more often.

This one checks most, if not all the boxes for Zone entertainment. The only reason I won't rate it higher is because the theme is a little too familiar and almost typical of the show.

"I don't care what you say, I know who I am".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 6 June 2010]

Funny how identity theft meant something entirely different a half century ago. In this episode, banker David Gurney (Richard Long) wakes up to a hangover and a nightmare when nobody in his whole world recognizes him, including his wife. It's the kind of premise that's synonymous with The Twilight Zone, the type of story where your mind races ahead to come up with a conclusion before Serling lets you in on the twist. You'll probably have it nailed when Gurney wakes up the second time, and Wilma carefully keeps her face concealed until she finally walks out of the bathroom. With tables turned and the entire rest of the story relegated to a Bobby Ewing moment, it's left to the viewer's imagination how Gurney fares the second time around. A clever, and almost too typical ending, but that's why we love The Twilight Zone.

All's well that ends well.

[BA_Harrison · 8/10 · 3 April 2022]

Banker David Gurney (Richard Long) wakes up in the morning to find that he has no identity: no one knows who he is and he can provide no evidence of his existence -- it's a nightmarish scenario made all the more entertaining by a great central turn from Long, who is convincingly confused and disturbed by the unusual situation. It's a fun ride, but the good work looks set to be undone by a trite 'it was all a dream' resolution; this, however, is The Twilight Zone, and nothing is quite that simple.

Gurney's existential crisis is gripping stuff, the mystery surrounding his lack of identity deepening with every attempt to prove who he is. However, the bigger mysteries for me are a) how the hell did he manage to dive headfirst through a plate glass window without sustaining deep lacerations? And b) why does he look so dismayed when he discovers that his 'new' wife is a babe? Just go with it.

A nightmare turned inside out

[ron_tepper · 7/10 · 9 May 2007]

Probably the biggest twist of any episode (and that says a lot).Richard Long is having a nightmare.He knows who he is, he knows who everyone else is but no one seems to know him.He addresses them by name, discusses details of past relationships and conversations and everyone thinks he's insane.When he finally wakes up, well.......................Lets just say the ending puts an ironic smile on anyone watching this episode .The one image that has been embedded in my mind was that final shot. After telling his wife that he just had one hell of a nightmare of lost identity he looks up at her, eyes bulging, mouth wide open, but says nothing. What makes this scene work is that anyone who is watching knows why he is shocked despite no words being spoken at all right thru the end of the episode. SHOCKER majority of this episode was border line boring but oh baby what a payoff at the end. This episode personifies what the "Twilight Zone" is all about. I have not seen this episode in 25 years and I still remember the image on Long's face.Now THATS an accomplishment.

Beaumont & Brahm on automatic pilot

[Coventry · 5/10 · 7 February 2021]

What's the most valuable possession a person has? You might be tempted to answer something typical like "health", "family" or "friends", but this tale makes quite clear that your most valuable possession is your identity. Without it, you literally are a nobody, with nowhere to go or no one to rely on. Sounds evident, but somehow the short story forces you to contemplate about it. Otherwise it's a fairly formulaic and almost habitual "Twilight Zone" episode, though. It almost feels as if writer Charles Beaumont and director John Brahm, withal two of the most frequent and talented contributors to the series, were becoming too accustomed to the style and narrative structure of "The Twilight Zone".

First Time Seeing This. I Hate That I Can Never See It Again.

[jamericanbeauty · 10/10 · 24 March 2022]

A hungover David Gurney (perfectly played by Richard Long) wakes up in his bed to his Wife who looks terrified at this stranger in her bed. Everyone in his town treats him like a stranger who never existed. It's A Wonderful Life. The reality is more terrifying: Hungover David Gurney falls asleep into a nightmare where everyone he knows professionally and loves personally don't recognize him as if he was never born. It sets off a crazy chain of events. David Gurney wakes up, relieved, from his nightmare to a Wife who knows and loves him but he doesn't know her. She's a stranger! I wish this was an hour episode. What's the nightmare? His nightmare or his reality? Mind-blowing twist that I didn't see coming. Charles Beaumont is a genius! A twist like that can only stun you once, so I can never see it again, like The Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects. Great, but a one-time viewing.

Intriguing Episode

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 27 July 2023]

When David Gurney wakes up with hangover, dressed and late for work, he does not find his shaver or his clothes. He awakes his wife Wilma and she does not recognize him and threatens to call the police. He drives to his bank and nobody recognizes him and he believes it is a practical joke from his co-workers and wife. The police officers arrest him and the psychiatrist Dr. Koslenko believe he is mentally disturbed, but David decides to seek out evidences to prove who he is.

"Person or Persons Unknown" is an intriguing episode of "The Twilight Zone". David Gurney's situation is harrowing, and he cannot prove who he says he is. It is funny when Dr. Koslenko presents the man that believe he is Winston Churchill to show his point in the mental institution. The conclusion is also very funny, when David Gurney wakes up on his bed and believes it was a nightmare. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Desconhecido" ("The Unknown")

More questions than answers

[kellielulu · 8/10 · 13 February 2023]

An interesting story with no real conclusions just more questions. A hung over David Gurney wakes up and no one knows him not his wife , co workers, friends or even his mother when he calls her. No one remembers him and on the job is dismissed as irrelevant until he pushes back. His wife Wilma gets the police in on it David doesn't even have his drivers license or credit cards to show and he's taken in for psychiatric evaluation. The psychiatrist is patient, understanding and tries to help David with reason and logic as well as a medical opinion. David thinks this is elaborate cover up which of course seems far fetched. He does make a valid point that a person has many things about him that no else knows about and tries to find proof . He finds a photo with his wife but showing it to others only he appears! At this point he waking up from what seems like a nightmare to a wife that knows him but he doesn't know her! Good twist but maybe it should have happened sooner and see how he reacts to others knowing him but he's now not knowing them. It's also a little problematic that David isn't particularly likable and while it's obviously frustrating for him it's hard to really feel as sympathetic as you might. I don't think characters always have to be likable to be interesting in the story but I think here it would have helped some. So we are left to consider which is true the life he remembers or the other life or is he still in the hospital and had had some kind of break down remembering things differently at different times.

What if when you woke up nobody remembered you?

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 12 June 2010]

Richard Long plays David Gurney--a guy who wakes up after drinking too much. Oddly, his wife does not recognize him--screaming when he wakes her! She even threatens to call the police, but he KNOWS this is crazy--she IS his wife and they are married.

Oddly, when Gurney arrives at work, he knows everyone by name--but none of them know him! When he insists to go to work at HIS desk, security is called and he's nearly shot and the security guard turns him over to the police--who are already looking for him, as his 'wife' has called the police to report that a strange man was in her home. And, when he looks in his wallet, his I. D. cards do NOT confirm he is Gurney. Eventually, he's taken to the mental hospital, as he's surely insane to believe that he is this Gurney character when all evidence says he is not.

This episode is like that old existential argument that our reality is NOT who we really are--that it all can change in the blink of an eye. This isn't an entirely new idea for a story, but is still quite interesting and compelling--like a nightmare come true. I enjoyed the show quite a bit and a similar idea was used with the great series "Nowhere Man"--a very short-lived but exciting series starring Bruce Greenwood. Unfortunately, however, "The Twilight Zone" already did a VERY similar show in the first season ("A World of Difference") and because of this there wasn't a lot of originality. Because of this, the show has to lose a point or two for a lack of originality.

Do You Know Me?

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 29 October 2014]

Richard Long plays David Andrew Gurney, a married man who one morning wakes up to find that his wife has no idea who is. Confused and upset, David leaves and goes to his job, but no one there knows who he is either! Now desperate, David is taken into custody and examined by a psychiatrist who thinks he is suffering from some disorder. Convinced that he isn't, David escapes, but will come to find out that not everything is as he thinks either, but even that may not be enough to end this nightmare... Richard Long is fine in episode that treads(by now) familiar ground. Fine as it is, but only the twist at the end has any real sting.

Scary, but what WAS the dilemma at the end?

[dave4248185 · 7/10 · 2 January 2021]

Dave Gurney awakens to a world where no one, including his wife, knows who he is and he can't find any documented evidence of his existence. His literal nightmare ends when he wakes up and his wife knows him. Ironically he doesn't know her. Hinting that the same has happened to her and she'll need his help. Question, what's the dilemma? The "new" wife is a sweetie trapped in the body of a super model. Hs previous wife was rotten and ugly. Was this another test for the audience ( at least the men ) or just ironically bad casting?

typical

[HelloTexas11 · 5/10 · 22 November 2008]

'Person or Persons Unknown' could be considered the quintessential 'Twilight Zone', but then so could a lot of others. It's not that it's so great; it's not, but it sums up in one episode the Zone formula. Start with a puzzling premise, string it out for about twenty minutes, then have a little twist at the end. For all intents and purposes, one could get by with the first three minutes and the final two and know almost exactly what has happened, but then you wouldn't have a half-hour show, would you? Don't get me wrong- Rod Serling and company had this formula down and this episode, written by Charles Beaumont, is certainly entertaining in that unmistakable TZ fashion. David Gurney (played by Richard Long, though it could have been Gig Young or Leslie Nielsen or a hundred other familiar TV faces from back then) wakes up one morning to find nobody, not his wife or friends or co-workers, recognizes him. He knows all of them, but none of them know him. So then we're off... Gurney tells everyone to quit joking, everyone tells him they've never seen him before, etc etc. It takes him roughly twenty minutes (in screen time) to realize nobody is ever going to believe him. Imagine that. And THEN at the end, he's back in bed, waking up again just like he did at the beginning... only this time, he doesn't recognize the woman who claims to be his wife! This episode is very reminiscent of 'A World of Difference' from a couple of seasons earlier. In fact, they are practically identical except for the fillip at the end. But it says something about 'Twilight Zone' that 'Person or Persons Unknown' is still very enjoyable.

"Am I for real?"

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 3 September 2019]

Richard Long, of the "Ma & Pa Kettle" series and "The Big Valley" plays a man who wakes up one morning to discover that everybody whom he claims to know does not recognize him, and that includes his supposedly new wife, business associates and his bartender. It's a real nightmare as he undergoes psychiatric trauma trying to resolve what's up with him. It's intriguing but the conclusion is obvious, even though a twist at the end adds questions rather than answers them. Through the performance of Richard Long, his anxiety becomes truly real, and that is where the strength of the episode lies, not with the twists that come in out of nowhere. I wouldn't want to wake up in this nightmare in which Rod Serling deals with his own personal demons and reveals his own fears in nightmares that are a horror of a different kind.

Repetitive

[Calicodreamin · 6/10 · 16 June 2021]

While an interesting concept, this episode felt quite repetitive. The acting was decent and the final twist unexpected.

Precursor to Liam Neeson's 'Unknown'?

[richardcostantino · 7/10 · 28 October 2021]

This episode's plot is very similar to that of the Liam Neeson movie from 2011. I wonder if it was the inspiration.

Richard Long was very convincing in the lead role - showing acting chops I never thought he had.

I groaned at the 'it was only a dream' cliche' near the end, but they managed to salvage the situation with a decent twist ending - although what he ends up with is certainly doesn't warrant his horrified expression.

Guess what? No moral speeches, no politics. Pure TZ as it should have always been.

[fedor8 · 6 April 2022]

Similar twist to "Where Is Everybody", and very similar premise to "A World of Difference". Acting and dialog are realistic, and though the twist that his wife is different is obvious from her hidden face it's still a clever twist. A cop-out twist to some extent perhaps but it works.

There is no explanation given in the conclusion, but then again why should there be one? The entire episode is intriguing, and that in itself is enough. And anyway, a character being stuck in the Twilight Zone makes perfect sense, within the show's overall concept.