The Lonely (Season 1 Episode 7)
Directed by Jack Smight
Written by Rod Serling
Cinematography by George T. Clemens
Music by Bernard Herrmann
CAST: Jack Warden (James A. Corry), John Dehner (Captain Allenby), Jean March (Alicia), Ted Knight (Adams), James Turley (Carstairs).
The Lonely is an episode that stays with you long after you view it. Jack Warden stars as a prisoner confined to an asteroid. It begins with a wide shot of his prison, the surface of the asteroid and the tin hut and the old car that he tells you about in the narrative that begins as he starts writing in his journal. There is a supply ship “…due or over due…” coming and he hopes it’s Captain Allenby (John Dehner), “…he brings me things.”
When they arrive, one of the crewman taunts Corry with the fact that the courts aren’t reviewing cases of homicide so he should forget about ever being paroled. Captain Allenby tries to placate him, telling him that he has brought him something that will help combat the loneliness. He also asks Corry not to open the crate that it’s in until he and his crew have departed.
This time Captain Allenby has brought him a robot named Alicia ( Jean March) that is impossible to distinguish from a human. Although he rejects her violently at first, he quickly comes to love her as he sees her reactions to his cruelty. In time, he sees her as an extension of himself as she comes to care about the same things that he does. He loses the simple truth that she is in fact, only a robot.
When the Captain’s ship returns earlier than the scheduled three months with the good news of his pardon, Corry is beside himself with joy until a realization of the reality of the situation comes over him. He wants to disagree with what his friend Captain Allenby is telling him, but…
A simple tale that is tautly written and directed with excellent performances. It is among the best of the first season Twilight Zones.
Time Enough at Last (Season 1 Episode 8)
Directed by John Brahm
Written by Rod Serling based on a story by Lynn Venable
Cinematography by George T. Clemens
Music by Leith Stevens
CAST: Burgess Meredith (Henry Bemis), Vaughn Taylor (Mr. Carsville), Jacqueline deWit (Helen Bemis), Lela Bliss (Mrs. Chester).
Henry Bemis is a book lover, or at least he loves to read more than anything else in his life. He doesn’t get much time to between his harpy of a wife and his manager at the bank where he is a clerk. One day, Henry is so desperate for some reading time that he goes down into the bank’s vault just to get some time alone and undisturbed so he can read in peace. He is interrupted not by his boss, but by a jarring explosion.
When he exits the vault, he finds that everything has been destroyed by a hydrogen bomb. At first, he has the normal reaction as it dawns on him that he is totally alone in the world, but before panic allows him to pull the trigger, he has the realization that he now has all the time to read that he could desire! That is until fate intervenes in the most unexpectedly mundane way possible.
Time Enough at Last is a tour de force for Burgess Meredith that he embraces as he transforms himself into one Henry Bemis. It is his performance that makes us believe in the man’s travail as he searches for those moments when he will be allowed the only thing that matters to him in his miserable world, reading. It is no wonder that he went on to appear in three more episodes.
He is supported by Vaughn Taylor as (Psycho) Mr. Carsville his boss, and Jacqueline deWit (Tea and Sympathy) as his shrewish wife. Serling’s script is as concise as an O’Henry short story, and contains an equally powerful denouement. The photography and sets are dreamlike and the direction earned John Brahm a 1960 Director’s Guild award.
This episode is not only a fan favorite, but certainly one of the most memorable as well.
Facts, Rumors & Hearsay
The Lonely
The first of many episodes to be filmed on location in Death Valley. Unprepared for the terrible conditions they would face, the crew suffered dehydration and heat exhaustion. The director of photography, George T. Clemens actually collapsed and fell from a camera crane during filming.
Ted Knight makes an uncredited appearance as Captain Allenby’s taunting crew member Adams.
Time Enough at Last
Of the 92 episodes of The Twilight Zone written by Rod Serling, this was his personal favorite.
This was Burgess Meredith’s first of four starring roles in the series.