The Night the World Ended

I agree, another Hitch tale of madness that could have doubled for the TWILIGHT ZONE, particularly for the sci fi element.

One horrific joke. Russell Collins (known for BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK), plays a lost soul who hangs out at a bar, bumming for booze. Wise guy newspaper reporter Harold J. Stone (Halloran) has a bogus front page printed up for kicks, the explosive headline declaring the world will END at exactly 11:45PM. Mars will collide with Earth!

Poor Johnny (Collins) gets the front row seat to the news bulletin, courtesy of big mouth Halloran. He tosses in the towl and decides to venture off and do some good deeds -- like breaking into a sports store and unloading all the goodies for the poor street kids. After all, everybody is gonna' die anyway, right? However, what happens when a guard is killed?

Worse yet... there isn't any other newspapers reporting on the end of the world!

A delicious tale of revenge, Hitchcock style, and as if we all didn't know Halloran was going to get his just desserts. One you have to stay to watch the gruesome endgame. A grande finale if there ever was.

Excellent direction by Justin Addiss, Russell Collins in one of his best roles.

One of sixteen classic stories written by Bernard C. Schoenfeld. Harold J. Stone, as always, an actors actor. Edith Barrett plays Felicia, known for film classics like SONG OF BERNADETTE and JANE EYRE.

SEASON 2 EPISODE 31 remastered Universal dvd box set. 16 hrs running time. All seven seasons are now on dvd in a single box set Released 2022.

At a local bar, some real jerks delight in tormenting an old rummy (Russell Collins). After doing several cruel tricks on him, they reveal the cruelest....they convince him with a fake newspaper that top scientists say the world will end that night. Oddly, he actually believes it and begins living life as if there's no tomorrow...and as far as he's concerned, there isn't! First, his belief in the end of the world scares a nice, timid lady half to death. Second, he takes a group of street kids on a shopping spree after hours because, after all, the world is coming to an end! And, it all ends in tragedy.

This episode ranks high on the unbelievability factor. Had the old man been severely brain injured or developmentally delayed, the story would have made more sense....but him believing the world is ending is awfully farfetched....awfully. And, to base the story on something so ridiculous really makes this one a tough one to love, though Collins does a nice job playing the lead in this one.

This is about sick people, a whole series of them. From the cruel jokester who has no respect for the feeling of even the most helpless to the poor man who is ultimately victimized by him. The man is a raging alcoholic who can't even carry on for a few minutes without a drink. He has been duped into thinking the world is going to end in about three hours. The circumstances are incredibly stupid and it seems almost impossible that one could be so incredibly dense. He makes poor use of "the last moments of his life." He is unable to even accept the kindness of a stranger without a drink. He terrifies the woman. He also breaks into a sporting goods store to help fulfill the dreams of a few poor street waifs. Unfortunately, by modern standards, he could be put in jail for endangering children. The jig is finally up and what happens is pretty predictable. The episode just stretches reality a bit too far.

I don't know what to think of this episode. Actually, I am not here on the AH PRESENTS mode, but on the TWILIGHT ZONE instead. It is not uninteresting, just weird, puzzling. There is a moral here, I guess, but I can't put my finger on it. Yes, it looks like a TZ series, I don't know why...After all, why not?

A group of guys are sitting in a bar(no, there's no joke there, they're not from different cultures or anything), drinking and joking. Suddenly, another one enters, his face white. He shows the others why: the early edition of the paper, with a headline warning that the world is coming to an end, tonight. What follows is a compelling psychological study of what happens to human behavior when we believe we'll die soon. Our lead is Johnny(Collins, with regrets and loneliness painted all over his face, without him looking pitiful to the point where we can't relate to him), as he tries to enjoy his last hours, and help others to do the same. This is paced well, at 25 minutes, keeping it moving along nicely throughout, no real slumps. The filming and foreshadowing are excellent, and with clear Hitchcockian inspiration. This is not so much "scary" as it is interesting and saddening - regular life, the less pretty side. There is good tension, built up well, and there are some great, sudden shocks. Acting is solid for all - heck, even the children are fairly natural(and notice the tall one, then look in the credits afterwards), even saying things like "gee whiz", "golly", and other things no one in real life has ever said in the history of the universe. Dialog is very natural. I recommend this to any fan of this type of thing. 8/10