Comments on: “Unlock This Door With the Key of Imagination”–Back to The Twilight Zone http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/ MovieMorlocks.com is the official blog for Turner Classic Movies (TCM). No topic is too obscure or niche to be excluded from our film discussions. And we welcome your comments on our blogs and bloggers. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:28:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: mr. sardonicus http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10429 Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:16:29 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10429 suzi.. you did it again……!!!!what a retrospect on the greatest icon series ever produced… my faves< not mentioned are "death ship " & the four of us are dying w/ ross martin he"ns my favorite… back in the early 80:s i went to the screen actors home in l.A. to meet Estelle winwood.. only to find out she had passed away at age 103… love her w/ kevin mc carthy.. & magic sword , darby ogill … et al… this series & one step beyond & Way out .. they were all great
& inspired my creativity to this day !!! these actors live one… always will inspire me!!1 as your articles always will.. GOD Bless!!!! give us more… always …. SARdONICUS…

]]> By: WalterSobchak http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10391 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:30:43 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10391 Nice article, thank you. Couple of my favorites (apologies, I don’t have season info): Art Carney as the Santa who finds a magic bag of presents; Monsters on Maple Street; o/c the Shatner episodes! So many good ones…and so typical that the network didn’t realize what an excellent show it was. Serling was too smart for them…

]]> By: myidolspencer http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10256 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:20:47 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10256 Oops, need an editing button here too! I recall how much Serling smoked-(& starting in the days before filters) Because Larry King used to have a late night radio alk show & often spoke of him-(he loves to name drop!)& he was still smoking, prior to his first heart attack & recalled at dinner: Mr. Serling would literally smoke his, as opposed to eating.
Believe he went at only age 50 in 1975.

]]> By: myidolspencer http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10255 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:14:55 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10255 Again to Suzie, 4 star details! I’ve also been a fan of the original “Zone’ since I was a kid watching the repeats. Rod Serling-(said to be a smoker of approx & packs per day!) is in my book the *Orson Welles of television & a “Genius” a word thrown around far too much in entertanment. Most vote for the almost legendary Agnes Moorehead episode. As you know some of the worlds finest actors did this series, which shows how much respect it apparently was given. & of course with most things they tried to give it a makeover, but failed!
I reviewed the 1983 theatrical version & thought it was pretty-good (**1/2-out of 4) With J. Lithgow delivering a towering performance in the classic William Shatner episode. That was helmed by George (“Road Warrior”) Miller. Though of all people *Spielberg failed with his part. “Kick the Can” It’s all subjective of course & Joe Dante of (“Gremlins”) did another. But most famous due to what occurred during filming is John Landis’ with the late Vic Morrow & the 2 kids that were killed via the same helicopter. He was acquitted for it, but in my own opinion-(for what it’s worth) Landis was responsible for the kids, but not Morrow. It’s opening was pretty cool I thought-(I’m an Albert Brooks fan to begin with) With him & Dan Aykroyd,etc
Overall (**1/2)
But again not in the same league as what Serling could do.

]]> By: Al Lowe http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10220 Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:49:51 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10220 My favorite episode was “To Serve Man.” The production values are primitive, to say the least, but the main idea was brilliant.
Some aliens invade our world, and, instead of being hostile, they use their giant intellects to solve all of our problems. Meanwhile, some specialists in breaking codes study a book written by the aliens and try to decipher the alien language.
Alien ships come to take people to their planet. One of the code breakers finally knows what the book says but she is too late to stop her male friend from boarding the alien ship.
She realizes that the book’s title is “To Serve Man.”
And – It is a cookbook!

I wish the movies had made more multi episode films. The trend started in England with Quartet and inspired American imitations such as O’Henry’s Full House.
Imagine Serling writing the classic Twilight Zone episodes for the big screen, with people like Marilyn Monroe, Spencer Tracy, John Wayne and Frank Sinatra acting in them.

It is no surprise to me that Desi Arnaz is the hero in your story. During an interview veteran director Phil Karlson once said Desi Arnaz was the brains of the Desilu operation. Everyone thought it was Lucy but it was really Desi.

]]> By: Carmen http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10216 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:06:52 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10216 I consider myself very lucky to grow-up during the 1960′s. It was a time of so many possibilities. Watching television with the whole family after having dinner together. The art and creativity of Rod Sterling is as exciting now as it was when I first saw, “When the Sky Opened” with Rod Taylor, “The After Hours” with Anne Francis, “Odyssey of Flight 33″ with John Anderson and a Christmas favorite, “The Night of the Meek” with Art Carney. Just think, only twenty-two minutes (22) without commericals; thrilling, thought-provoking and memorable. Thank you, Suzi for wonderful tribute!

]]> By: Jenni http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10215 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:39:21 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10215 Growing up in the 1970s-80s, my parents would buy TV Guide magazine, which I would eagerly read. I noticed episodes of an old show listed, The Twilight Zone, but no tv stations that beamed into our area of NW OH aired the show! Now that I’ve been all grown up for a while, I am tivoing these shows off of the SCI-FI cable channel and having a blast watching them. My kids even stick around and watch them with me. My faves so far: Midnight Sun with Lois Nettleton, Time at Last, with Burgess Meredith, Talky Tina, with Telly Savalas, the episode with William Shatner and the evil creature destroying the plane Shatner is flying in, an episode with the child actess from To Kill A Mockingbird, she and her brother find another world of refuge when they dive under the water of their swimming pool,the episode you mentioned, Suzy, with Donald Pleasance, the one about a lady awaiting her plastic surgery result, and her beauty is considered ugly by the doctors and nurses, Billy Mumy as an evil child that his parents(mom is played by Cloris Leachman) and neighbors try to not make angry. There are others, but these are my top picks. A great show, and I am glad that Mr. Serling created it. Good also that Desi Arnaz recognized a good program, too!

]]> By: idawson http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10213 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:30:36 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10213 This series is one of my all-time favorites. The messages that were delivered in the best of the episodes (mainly those scribed by Rod Serling) elicited many emotional responses from me. I cannot wait until New Years and the 4th of July marathons. I get to catch up on ones that I may have missed and to re-experience those that I absolutely love.

Among those I love:
The Howling Man
He’s Alive – Dennis Hopper as the Neo-Nazi
Midnight Sun
An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge – not originally produced by TZ folks but aired in the 5th season as a special presentation
A Most Unusual Camera
The Obsolete Man …

… and countless others. I really could spend some time listing all my favorites …

]]> By: debbe http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10212 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:41:20 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10212 that was great suzidoll. i had never seen a couple of the ones you mention- robert redford….! I hav eno idea what the names are, but the one where bill mumy is a little kid who no grown up crosses is pretty good. it seems every fourth of july when they run the marathon here i see things that i have never seen before. very good choice for a blog.

]]> By: Lisa Wright http://moviemorlocks.com/2009/10/05/unlock-this-door-with-the-key-of-imagination-back-to-the-twilight-zone/#comment-10209 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:50:27 +0000 http://moviemorlocks.com/?p=14861#comment-10209 I have always LOVED the Twilight Zone and even as a kid thought Rod Serling seemed so sophisticated and tough! I am right there with you about Walking Distance–it’s nicely nostalgic, well-acted, not at all saccharine. I think that by and large the writing was intelligent and because of the acting talent you spoke of, the pieces were so well done. I’d love to see many of these episoddes you mention that I have not seen. One favorite that I remember is Midnight Sun: a woman painter is the protagonist and she’s painting the sun, as the earth is supposedly moving too close to it….you hear stories on the radio, really begin to feel the oppressiveness of the heat and how it’s driving people mad, only to find that the painter was suffering from a fevered dream and the reality is that the earth is falling out of orbit AWAY from the sun and that everything will soon freeze. Ouch! I’d rather be hot than cold, so for me this was just a horrible nightmare! Thanks so much for a great piece, and I’ll be looking for the TZ episodes you mentioned!

]]>