Jess-Belle

In the Blue Ridge hills blonde Ellwyn (Laura Devon) is going to marry hunky Bill Ben Turner (James Best). However another girl named Jess Belle (Anne Francis) wants him. She goes to the local witch named Granny Hart (Jeanette Nolan) and gets a potion that makes Billy fall for her and reject Ellwyn...but at a horrible price.

Haunting and eerie "Twilight Zone" episode. It's one of the hour long episodes and works beautifully. There's some beautiful black and white cinematography here that helps the mood of the story and all the acting is great--especially Nolan who is having lots of fun playing a witch. There's even a song that goes along chronicling the events of the story. Most of the "Twilight Zone" episodes are pretty boring and predictable...but this one sure isn't! Also I don't scare easy but this one really creeped me out! Recommended.

One of the best Twilight Zone Episodes ever, and several special effects that were especially frightening at the time, considering how difficult it was to produce this episode. Not to miss. Anne Francis, James Best, Laura Devon, Virginia Gregg, and Jennifer Nolan rattled everything they could out of Earl Hamner's script. Nolan's Granny Hart may have held some aspects of her earlier Lady Macbeth portrayal.

James Best was quite the ladies man in The Twilight Zone: in The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank he courted the drop-dead gorgeous Sherry Jackson, and in Jess-Belle he gets to canoodle with stunning blond Laura Devon AND the delightful Anne Francis.

Best plays (hill)Billy Ben Turner, who proposes to Ellwyn Glover (Devon) at a barn dance, much to the dismay of Turner's former lover Jess-Belle (Francis). Unable to accept that Billy Ben loves another woman, Jess-Belle visits local witch Granny Hart and purchases a love potion, paying for the magical elixir with her soul, which causes her to turn into a leopard at midnight. Jess-Belle wins Billy Ben's affection, but is unable to marry him for fear of him finding out what she has become.

Jess-Belle is an atypical episode of The Twilight Zone, a gentle supernatural folk-story lacking the show's by-now expected twist ending. It's the kind of tale one can imagine being told around a campfire in the deep South, and passed on from generation to generation. It's a haunting slice of Southern gothic romance that is entertaining enough, but it feels like it sits on the very fringes of The Zone rather than in the heart of it.

I was 12 when I saw this when it was first on TV and it scared me out of the living room. I first became aware of James Best in Dukes Of Hazard. He did a great job with that part but I certainly hope that does not cause people to not see the other excellent work that he did before and after that. Similar to the image that Elvis Presley has to a lot of people as the image just before he died and that was not the real Elvis either. I was saddened to hear last year that Mr. Best departed this life and may he rest in peace after a life well lived. This was one of this best performances just like all of his appearances in The Twilight Zone.

This was one very well written and acted program, Jezz-Belle, and I really liked how it ended. As a Christian, I appreciate the mention of the faith that many people have and how important it is in their lives.

Rod Serling made TV history with The Twilight Zone and later Night Gallery. Everything he wrote was first class and we lost him too soon at age 50. I only have one thing to say that bothers me. It appears that when he presented stories that were set in rural America that were understood to be contemporary, we were led to believe that the people still lived in houses with wooden cooking stoves and kerosene lamps. I don't know if he thought that is what people watching TV expected or if those around him really thought people outside of the the cities really lived that way in the 60's. This not meant to be disrespectful of Mr. Serling and the Hollywood of that time but it appears that some of them needed to get out into "flyover country" and get a good look at it.

I also wish for Mr. Serling to rest in peace and that his work will always be enjoyed and appreciated.

I remember seeing this as a 10 year old kid, and I saw it recently on a New Years marathon on a cable channel.

Although it has been 50 years since I first saw it, I think it's rather unusual, if not a bit fascinating to watch.

JEANETTE NOLAN stole the show with her portrayal of Granny Hart (the Witch). She was rather scary when I saw her as a kid, and she still is now!!

Give it a look if it comes around....

9/10.