Night Call

Gladys Cooper might does not hold the record for appearances in episodes of "The Twilight Zone", though she comes close with three appearances (I think that would be Jack Klugman with four). "Night Call" represents her final appearance, though my favorite is still "Nothing in the Dark".

This episode consists of an old lady that is wheelchair-bound who is receiving creepy phone calls. It's not what is said as much as how the unknown person sounds--almost like someone who is half-dead. Again and again he calls and each time, Cooper becomes more scared--she just wants the calls to stop. Then, in a final act of desperation, she makes them stop...but is this what she REALLY wants? Much of what is good about this episode isn't the plot but how it is handled. The story idea is very simple but combining the cinematography, music, acting and direction, it all becomes amazingly tense and creepy.

I was 10 years-old when Twilight Zone ran it's first episode: "Where Is Everybody", and I was hooked!!! In it's time there was nothing like it on television. TZ remains the best show ever on network t.v. as far as I'm concerned. I was 15 in 1964 when "Night Call' aired, and it spooked the Hell out of me!! I watched it recently, late at night with the lights off and it still was scary to watch. The hair stands up on the back of my neck just thinking of this episode. If you like being frightened by your mind and not special effects, then this is the TZ episode for you!!! There will never be another writer like Sterling and his TZ pals or another show quite like the Twilight Zone. PS-This episode takes place in the state of Maine, New England, USA, and NOT in England across the pond.

Unlike most of the creepier Twilight Zone episodes, Night Call terrifies me as much now as it did when I was much younger. I still can't watch this one late at night without feeling a little uneasy at what might be lurking just beyond the blinds in the window. Night Call is brilliant on several levels. First, it's a masterpiece of storytelling by the legendary Richard Matheson, who's written some of the most unnerving short stories ever published. The characters, the situation, and the final explanation are all superbly realized--I've seen the ending twist repeated in a number of short films or generic "scary tales for children"-esquire compilations. Jacques Tourneur's direction is extraordinarily atmospheric, the visual equivalent of a lonely wind rustling through a dark forest. We as viewers feel every bit as alone and frightened as the woman when she picks up the phone and hears nothing but moans from the other end. Watching the episode is a bit like lying in bed in the middle of the night and thinking you heard a noise downstairs. Yet, in spite of all this, the ending manages a complete 180, from terrifying to tragic, that works extraordinarily well. Kudos to the writer and director for giving the Twilight Zone an ingenious entry for its final season.

...i would recommend "Consider Her Ways", an episode in season III of "Alfred Hitchcock Hour". I saw that episode maybe 20 years ago, but seeing Gladys in tonight's TZ episode reminded me of "Consider Her Ways". After 2 decades, I remember Gladys from a single Hitchcock Hour episode? yea, it is that good.

It was startling, frightening, and perverse.

and Gladys Cooper was amazing in that show, too, as in "Night Calls". She was very convincing.

im sorry, this is not a review as much as my trying to share a gem of classic television.

Gladys Cooper, the grand dame of The Twilight Zone, is quite brilliant in her third and final appearance. Jacques Tourner (Night Of The Demon, I Walked With A Zombie) brings his usual excellent atmospheric direction to the Zone. Probably the only TZ set in England (I realize 'Passage On The Lady Anne' begins at Southampton), it's by far and away one of the most creepy and chilling.

Besides Gladys Cooper, the so recurring theme of loneliness is probably the only other typical TZ factor. The story is good for a chilly ghost story but somewhat severe in nature for this normally more warm-hearted series.