The Uncanny

Both episodes on this video deal in the realm of the uncanny: for example, when an inanimate object seems to move, talk, have life. "The Dummy," made in 1962, is one of the all-time classic episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. It is about an alcoholic ventriloquist named Jerry Etherson who believes that his dummy, "Willie," is alive and smarter and more talented than he is. Threatened with the possible loss of his job at a nightclub because of his instability (though he only drinks to forget Willie), Jerry tries to substitute another, "normal" dummy in Willie's place, with disastrous results. In the end, Jerry is completely subjugated by Willie. Cliff Robertson's portrayal of Jerry is intense and disturbing, and the episode is beautifully photographed, with a lonely nocturnal atmosphere reminiscent of another great TWILIGHT ZONE episode by Rod Serling, the 1960 "A Passage for Trumpet" starring Jack Klugman.
"The Lateness of the Hour," about a wealthy family that employs robot servants, is by no means as strong an episode as "The Dummy." Inger Stevens, who was so memorable in the classic "The Hitch-hiker," is equally fine here; the problems are the unconvincing plot and the fact that the episode was videotaped rather than filmed. Actually, several episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE were produced in this manner. Some of these ("The Night of the Meek," "Static," "Long-Distance Call") had excellent scripts which made the mediocre picture quality irrelevant; "The Lateness of the Hour" has not.

Cliff Robertson and Inger Stevens visit The Twilight Zone

Sometimes regular people find it hard to put up with things that should not be alive but are, which is pretty much the common denominator to the two episodes of "The Twilight Zone" submitted her for your approval. "The Dummy" features Cliff Robertson as ventriloquist Jerry Etherson, who is convinced his knotty-pine partner "Willie" is not only alive but pretty much evil incarnate. Rod Serling wrote this script, based on an unpublished story by Lee Polk, which features one of the most memorable and chilling final shots in the history of the Zone. The other episode on this tape is "The Lateness of the Hour," where we find Dr. Loren (John Hoyt) enjoying being served by his perfect robots. However, his daughter Jana (Inger Stevens), cannot stand this idyllic life. Unfortunately, the twist for this one is pretty predictable even though Serling does put a nice flip on the twist at the end. This was the first Zone episode to be taped rather than filmed, and Serling made the limitations of this format part of the story in terms of Jana's feelings of confinement. However, the taped episodes of the Zone just never looked right to me.