Judgment Night

Judgment Night (JN) uses The Twilight Zone's version of a plot device incorporated to great effect in the Bill Murray hit movie Groundhog Day----i.e. It tells a story that is repeated endlessly in order to explain the reason for the narrative. The tale is shrouded in mist, mystery and a feeling of unknown peril. And the eternal suffering that one is doomed to experience as the price for committing a great sin certainly draws from elements of the old Flying Dutchman legend. It is a very well cast episode featuring a great lead performance from veteran character actor Nehemiah Persoff (who will be 102 on Aug. 14, 2022). And JN also benefits from the effective moody direction of German-born John Brahm, who demonstrated here why he became celebrated several years earlier when helming the suspenseful atmospheric film classics The Lodger and Hangover Square.

Part of the success realized by JN came from its overall design. This was due to the fact that JN employed several sets from The Wreck of the Mary Deare-----a major movie production that starred Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston just recently completed at MGM. JN also benefitted from its use of authentic newsreel footage of a German U-boat crew in combat action. It should also be noted that Brahm went on to direct a total of twelve TZ episodes------the series record for such efforts.

One fact may be of minor interest when you view JN. It involved the only known occasion when censorship was imposed upon the production of a TZ episode. In Rod Serling's original script, the U-boat's first officer (Patrick MacNee) ordered a cup of tea to be sent to him on the sub's bridge. General Foods (the sponsor), whose Sanka coffee commercials appeared during the show, objected to this reference to a competitive beverage. Serling ultimately accomodated the sponsor by changing the script reference from "a cup of tea" to "a tray!"

JN may not be up to the lofty standard attained by several other First Season episodes. However, it is a top notch entertainment experience and will certainly hold your interest.

No, I don't always need action. But for me, this one's taking scenes are so boring. Even the final "reveal" scene.

The action scene is very well done for this era TV, as is all the acting.

Nehemiah Persoff does a great job throughout, with several different emotions. And his literal jaw drop when he realizes who the captain of the other ship is, is extremely effective.

I've lately watched three vintage 1940's Hollywood movies directed by this "Twilight Zone" episode's director John Brahm and very good they all were, each of them were tense, atmospheric thrillers which made him a good fit for this tense, doom and gloom mini-drama.

Set in 1942, a German officer turns up on a British boat which has become detached from its convoy on the cold, dark, foggy sea. He sits down and begins to engage with the boat's crew and passengers but has trouble recollecting who he is and how he got there. He also has a sense of impending dread which gradually dawns on him as the journey progresses but is confused further when amongst his personal effects he discovers a German Navy captain's cap bearing his name inside which only adds to his disquiet.

Finally he realises too late that the ship is fated to be torpedoed by an enemy U-Boat and is shocked into full remembrance only at the climactic moment when he looks across at the submarine to see the "Fire!" command given by its commander, without any kind of humane warning given to the target boat to stop or abandon ship. Only then do we learn his own decisive part in the tragedy and the resultant impact on him from that moment on.

I really enjoyed the direction of this episode. You can see the dripping condensation on deck from the night mist, there's a chilling moment as the German officer tries to rouse the boat's passengers only for him to confront them below deck grouped like a still photograph,, facing him like a silent, accusatory jury and then the seeming doppelgänger conclusion are all telling touches inserted by a capable helmsman as Brahm.

Future Avenger John Steed Patrick MacNee is noticeable in the cast of one of the more darkly entertaining entries in this constantly imaginative series.

This is an archetypal plot. The idea that those who commit horrible acts are punished by being made to live through them for eternity. This has the often used Twilight Zone character who finds himself in a place he can't explain. He knows he has a connection, but he can't figure it out. He is treated with kindness and is, himself, in many ways, kind. But as a commander for the Third Reich he is everything evil. I can think of at least two other episodes (there may be more) where a character finds himself switching locations, the hunter becomes the hunted. This episode is rather bleak and slow moving. The Nazi self is assured and pompous. However, he is made to see what he has done over and over, and the question of God delivered by James Franciscus is what it's all about. Serling placed numerous characters in their own personal hell. This is another. It is well acted and intense, but it doesn't have quite the spark that some others did.

In 1942, Carl Lanser (Nehemiah Persoff) is a lonely passenger without recollections that is traveling in the cargo ship "S.S. Queen of Glasgow" from London to New York. Lanser meets the captain and the other passengers and soon he recalls that he is the captain of a U-Boat that will attack the ship in a few moments.

"Judgment Night" is an engaging episode of The Twilight Zone" with the story of a man doomed to relive a tragic night for the eternity. The plot is based on the myth of King Sisyphus, punished for trickery and forced to roll a huge boulder up a steep hill; but before he reaches the top, the rock would always roll back down. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Além da Imaginação: Judgment Night" ("Beyond Imagination - Judgment Night")