The Dead Man/The Housekeeper

Having nearly finished the excellent Thriller I'm looking for the next anthology, and gave The Dead Man a try as it's an early one with favourable reviews.

Big mistake. The only platform on which it's currently available has allowed it to be butchered by the ceaseless adverts of a well known, somewhat kitsch, entertainment/theme park company. These appeared no fewer than FIFTEEN times in 37 minutes. A particularly cruel refinement of this torture was that sometimes the programme would resume, only to return to the advert after a few seconds.

I'm not opposed to advertising in principle. Indeed, I'd prefer the BBC to be funded by it in place of the collectivist/socialist system where everyone with a television has to pay £159 pa for it whether they watch the BBC or not. But do advertisers really imagine such absurd overkill will endear them even to those who may be attracted to their products?

I refuse to watch any further episodes similarly disfigured. Alfred Hitchcock often made wry remarks about adverts but I doubt his shows had it this bad. Without the ads I'd have probably scored it 6 or 7.

Divided in two segments hosted by Rod Serling, the first episode of "Night Gallery" presents two supernatural stories.

Dr. Miles Talmadge (Jeff Corey) is invited by his colleague and friend Dr. Max Redford (Carl Betz) to come to his isolated clinic to witness his recent research. Max shows his only patient John Michael Fearing (Michael Blodgett) that has psychosomatic illness and is capable to receive suggestions under hypnosis to change his body instantaneously from healthy to sickness and vice-versa. Fearing is in love with Dr. Redford´s younger wife Velia Redford (Louise Sorel) and this is the only reason for him to accept to be submitted to Dr. Redford´s experiments. When he decides to defeat death using Fearing, his signal does not bring his guinea pig back to life and Fearing dies. Velia becomes insane until the day Dr. Talmadge discovers his friend committed a mistake in his signal. What will happen next?

"The Dead Man" is a creepy tale. The tension increases and the conclusion is excellent. My vote is eight.

Cedric Acton (Larry Hagman) is unhappily married with the wealthy Carlotta Acton (Suzy Parker). He requests an ugly and lonely housekeeper and Miss Wattle (Jeanette Nolan) applies for the job. She is interviewed by Cedric and soon she leans his intentions. Will she accept his proposal?

'The Housekeeper" is a shorter and weaker episode with many flaws and confused conclusion without explanation for Cedric´s final words. Maybe the episode was edited to 20 minutes running time and become nonsense. My vote is six.

My global vote to this episode is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Morto / A Empregada" ("The Dead Man / The Housekeeper")

This is a good, if not great, official first episode to the Rod Serling series. He hosts, introducing each segment with his trademark delivery, but did not adapt these stories. They're certainly entertaining, with the second of the two having a little more "punch" with its final punchline.

'The Dead Man' (scripted and directed by Douglas Heyes, based on the tale by Fritz Leiber Jr.) stars Carl Betz as Max Redford, a doctor who's found a remarkable young patient in the studly John Michael Fearing (Michael Blodgett). Through the power of suggestion, Max can get John to simulate any disease. Tragedy arises when he tries to get John to simulate death, and John dies for good. Max's wife Velia (Louise Sorel), deeply in love with John, goes insane with grief, and his associate Dr. Talmadge (the great character actor and acting teacher Jeff Corey) realizes the mistake that was initially made. But what will the final result be, when Max tries to make things right?

'The Housekeeper') offers a nifty premise when Cedric Acton (Larry Hagman) tries to replace the cold personality of his wife Carlotta (Suzy Parker) with the much more appealing soul of kindly old housekeeper Miss Wattle (Jeanette Nolan). Miss Wattle is not happy with this idea, but Cedric is determined to see his plan come to fruition. Heyes also wrote this segment (under a pseudonym), which is directed by John Meredyth Lucas.

'The Dead Man' doesn't have a particularly imaginative conclusion, but it IS sad and creepy, with 'The Housekeeper' containing more blatantly comedic and silly touches. Cedric has a basement laboratory that would make Dr. Frankenstein proud, and as evidence of his experiments, we see a crowing pig and an oinking rooster.

Overall, the acting is excellent (horror fans will recognize Cathleen Cordell, who played the Colonels' wife in "The Return of the Living Dead", in 'The Housekeeper'), and the directors offer some good atmosphere, pacing, and humor.

Seven out of 10.

The first episode of the "Night Gallery" TV series. First is "The Dead Man" where a scientist can make a man either live or die by hypnosis. He also has a lovely young wife who falls for the young man he's experimenting on. Then he wills the young man to die...but can't bring him back to life. It all leads to a downright terrifying ending. Scary and well-done with great acting.

"The Housekeeper" isn't half as good. Larry Hagman stars as a man who experiments in black magic. He also has a wife who is beautiful but cold and cruel. He wants to transfer the soul of a kind and gentle old woman (Jeanette Nolan) into his wife's body. He does but the results are not what he hoped for. Boring and silly.

Watch it for the first story--skip the second.

If you like to revisit creepy TV memories of prime-time past, 'Night Gallery' can supply you with an occasional quick fix, with the refreshing absence of today's explicit gore---these two entries typify what was considered scary back in the poofy-haired, sideburned Seventies. Now, more than 40 years later, I found 'The Dead Man' to be the creepier of the two, complete with your standard crazed doctor, dark cemetery, and hysterical woman running around in a flowing nightgown. But in 'The Housekeeper' , the sole graces are the creepy/comic performances of Larry Hagman and Jeannette Nolan. The rest---especially if it's been edited for commercials-- is pure pastel-colored cheese, except for Hagman's final line of otherwise-silly dialogue. (Both of these compared badly to the excellent Twilight Zone episode 'The New Exhibit', with Martin Balsam, that aired directly afterward. Catch that if you can!)