I have most of the TZ dvds and plan on getting them all. This one marks the 30th I've bought and I have to say it's the best so far. All four episodes are strong and good, and there's something for everyone. For the fun-lovers, there's "Rance McGrew" - a light-hearted TZ episode that's really funny in certain parts. For the child in all of us, there's "The Big Tall Wish", which tells us to never stop believing in the magic. For the more serious-minded traditional TZ lovers, there's two excellent episodes in "Piano in the House" and "Night Call" - both excellent in every way! While most TZ dvds suffer from a slow episode or two thrown in with a few strong ones, this dvd has nothing but goodies on here. A great one to start your collection with!
Four tales on the ways of magic in "The Twilight Zone"
Magic makes its presence known in the four episodes from "The Twilight Zone" collected in Volume 26 of this DVD series. Ivan Dixon has a nice role as Bolie Jackson in "The Big Tall Wish," written by Rod Serling. Just about washed up as a prizefighter, Jackson wins his fight because little Henry (Steven Perry), used magic to help. But Jackson refuses to believe in the magic. In "Showdown with Rance McGrew," written by Serling and based on an idea by Frederic Louis Fox, temperamental television cowboy star McGrew (Larry Blyden) suddenly finds himself in the real Old West where the real Jesse James (Arch Johnson) has a complaint about the way he and his fellow outlaws are portrayed on television. "A Piano in the House," written by Earl Hamner, Jr., stars Barry Morse as Fitzgerald Fortune, a cynical theater critic who uses a magical piano player to get his party guests to reveal hidden truths about themselves. Fortune is an unpleasant man who meets a deservedly unpleasant fate. Gladys Cooper makes a return visit to the Zone as Miss Elva Keene in "Night Call," written by Richard Matheson and based on his short story "Long Distance Call." Miss Elva, who is crippled, keeps getting strange phone calls with a man's voice saying, "Where are you? I want to talk to you." She is already scared, but when she learns the phone calls are coming from a fallen wire lying atop the grave of her long-dead fiance Brian, who was killed in the car crash that crippled her. This episode is another minor masterpiece from Matheson. This is an above-average volume in the series, which just happens to have three of my favorite "non-classic" episodes of the Zone.
"Night Call" Makes it All Worthwhile!
"Night Call" is one of the top 2 or 3 creepiest Twilight Zone episodes ever!! Superbly written script with excellent plot development (it gets more than the allowable number of "stars")! A great acting performance, and gradually mounting tension throughout! The other episodes are much less effective although "Piano in the House" is actually a very good script-- Unfortunately, superficial character development diminishes some admirable acting performances--It gets "2 1/2 stars" but the remaining two episodes are below average (by Twilight Zone standards). By today's standards, they are above average!
Trying to avoid an unhappy ending is the unifying quest of the main characters in the quartet of episodes found on Volume 25 of "The Twilight Zone" DVD series. "Execution," written by Rod Serling and based on an unpublished story by George Clayton Johnson, features Albert Salmi as Joe Caswell, about to be hanged for shooting a man in the back. Just before the noose tightens, Caswell disappears and then reappears in the laboratory of Professor Manion (Russell Johnson), picked at random by the scientist's time machine. Of course, escaping your fate is not that easy in the Zone. One of my all-time favorite character actors, Arthur Hunnicut, plays hillbilly Hyder Simpson in "The Hunt," a gem written by Earl Hamner, Jr. When his hound dog Rip dives into the water after a raccoon, Hyder... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Twilight Zone - Albert Salmi DVD Release Date: Released the 16 May 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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"He's Alive" Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider, Blue Velvet) turns in a very powerful and charismatic performance as an American neo-Nazi, Peter Vollmer, bent on doing what he has to do in order to get his message of hatemongering across to the public. But there are some weaknesses in his past that need exorcising, it seems, when a shadowy Shickelgrüber begins to instruct the fledgling fascist in the ways of oratory, politics, and self-destruction. This is one of the one-hour episodes from the fourth season, but it never lags as some of the others do. Directed ably by Stuart Rosenberg, who went on to direct Cool Hand Luke, and featuring film director Paul Mazursky as one of the Nazis.
A classic episode from Richard Matheson stands out on Volume 28 of the DVD series of "The Twilight Zone." Used car salesman Harvey Hunnicut (Jack Carson), buys a haunted Model A that forces him to tell "The Whole Truth," written by Rod Serling. Of course, this means Harvey is never going to sell another car unless he comes up with some way of unloading this unique auto. This is one of the Zone episodes that was videotaped. Richard Matheson's classic episode "Mute" is one of the even rarer first-rate hour-long episodes, based on one of his short stories. Ann Jillian plays Ilse Nielsen, a 12-year-old girl who is raised in a telepathic community. When her parents are killed in a fire, Ilse is placed with a foster family who are appalled to find that she was never taught to speak, read or... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Ida Lupino - Alvin Ganzer - Richard Donner - Allen Reisner - John Rich DVD Release Date: Released the 11 July 2000 Usually ships within 10 to 13 days
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Volume 21 of The Twilight Zone DVD collection is a real keeper, beginning with "Mirror Image," a classic first-season episode starring Vera Miles as a woman whose sense of reality is shattered when she encounters her exact double in a bus station. Her fear of being "replaced" reaches a fever pitch, despite the efforts of a fellow passenger (Martin Milner) to calm her frenzied nerves. As the woman is taken away for psychiatric examination, her terror turns out to be entirely justified--emphasizing paranoia as one of Rod Serling's favored themes. The second-season entry "Dust" is pale by comparison--a lethargic tale of magic in the Old West that redeems a man about to be hanged for drunkenly running over a little girl with his wagon. He's saved from the noose by a bit of "magic... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Twilight Zone - Vera Miles - Ed Wynn DVD Release Date: Released the 14 March 2000 Usually ships within 4 to 5 days
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Places are strange all over might best describe the common element for this trio of episodes on Volume 24 of "The Twilight Zone" DVD series. "People Are Alike All Over," written by Rod Serling and based on the short story "Brothers Beyond the Void" by Paul Fairman, has an American space ship crashing on Mars. Warren Marcusson (Paul Comi), who believes people are alike all over, is killed, while Sam Conrad (Roddy McDowell), who does not share his comrade's optimism, is left to face the Martians. However, when the Martians appear they are human and use their telepathic ability to build Sam a house that looks like the one he had on Earth, he thinks that maybe everything will be all right. In "Valley of the Shadow," an hour-long episode written by Charles Beaumont, has Philip Redfield (Ed... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Twilight Zone - Roddy Mcdowall DVD Release Date: Released the 16 May 2000 Usually ships within 24 hours
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