Rod Serling Movies

Assault on a Queen is a complex, exciting crime-caper film in which a gang of clever mercenaries try to rob the famous luxury liner, the Queen Mary. Mark Brittain (Frank Sinatra) is hired by wealthy Italian adventuress Rosa Lucchesi (Verna Lisi) and her German partner-in-crime, Eric Laufftiauer (Alf Kjellin) to refurbish a WWII German U-Boat and use it to hold the entire ship hostage while it is robbed. Scriptwriter Rod Serling does his best with an interesting, but rather implausible premise, and director Jack Donohue gets above-average performances from his cast of veteran character actors, including Richard Conte and Reginald Denny, but Frank Sinatra is not particularly believable as an action hero. The true star of the show is the terrific color photography of the magnificent ocean liner by William Daniels and a musical score by Duke Ellington. While Assault on a Queen fails to generate much suspense, fans of Frank Sinatra should enjoy this, although it fails to reach the level of fun and excitement of his excellent Ocean's 11. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

On the eve of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, dying millionaire Jason Foster (Robert Keith) summons his greedy relatives to his mansion. In a faint but firm voice, Foster informs his niece Emily (Virginia Gregg), nephew-in-law Wilfred (Milton Selzer), and Emily and Wilfred's despicable offspring Wilfred, Jr. (Alan Sues) and Paula (Brooke Hayward), that -- despite his hatred of them -- he intends to leave them his entire fortune. But there's a condition -- all four relatives must don grotesque masks which reflect their true natures -- and they are forbidden to remove those masks until the stroke of midnight. This memorable Twilight Zone episode was directed by Ida Lupino, who had starred in the first-season Twilight Zone entry "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine." Written by Rod Serling, "The Masks" originally aired on March 20, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hate hangs heavy in the air in the small midwestern town where accused murderer Jagger (Terry Becker) is sentenced to hang at sunrise. But there's a slight hitch in these plans -- though it is already mid-afternoon, the sun has failed to rise. Written by Rod Serling, this heavy-handed Twilight Zone episode may be the first filmed TV drama to make reference to the recent Kennedy assassination. Michael Constantine, Ivan Dixon, and George Lindsey ("Goober" on The Andy Griffith Show) are among the participants in "I Am the Night - Color Me Black," which made its network debut on March 27, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ruthlessly efficient businessman Wallace V. Whipple (Richard Deacon) runs roughshod over the feelings of his employees when he elects to fully automate his factory. Installing computers and robots, Whipple drives longtime worker Dickerson (Ted de Corsia) to take desperate measures to protect his job. Without giving away the ending, it is worth noting that Robby the Robot, of Forbidden Planet fame, makes a cameo appearance. Written by Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, "The Brain Center at Whipple's" was originally telecast on May 15, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Investigating a strange series of occurences -- eerie noises, flashing lights, reports of giant monsters -- state trooper Robert Franklin (Mark Richman) is forced to take refuge in a mountain cabin occupied by vacationing fashion designer Charlotte Scott (Hazel Court). Though Charlotte has seen and heard the weird noises and images, Franklin remains skeptical, until he too is barraged by these seemingly extraterrestrial cannonades. Before long, both Franklin and Charlotte are fighting for their lives against a huge, apparently invulnerable space alien. . .but this being Twilight Zone, all is not quite what it seems. Written by Rod Serling, "The Fear" first aired May 29, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Dickens' classic tale A Christmas Carol is revisited yet again in this made-for-television holiday drama. Told with a different twist, in this version, a melancholy father spends his Christmas Day mourning the son he lost in World War II. His holiday grieving is interrupted by the visiting ghosts of Christmases past, present and future. Henry Mancini provides the score. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

While on maneuvers near the site of Custer's Last Stand, a modern-day Army tank crew encounters evidence that they have travelled back in time. This evidence is largely gleaned from the crew's knowledge of the events leading up to the Custer debacle. The climax is inevitable -- but fascinating nonethless. The cast of this Twilight Zone episode includes such series-TV stalwarts as Ron Foster, Randy Boone, Warren Oates, Robert Bray, and Greg Morris. Written by Rod Serling, "The 7th Is Made up of Phantoms" initially aired on December 6, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although CBS' decision to rescue Rod Serling's classic fantasy anthology The Twilight Zone from cancelation and bring the series back for a fourth season in January of 1963 enabled the property to be renewed in the fall of that year, everybody realized that expanding the half-hour series to a weekly sixty minutes was a mistake. Thus, Twilight Zone showed up for its fifth and final season in its familiar 30-minute format, much to the relief of its fans. Rod Serling of course is back for season five as both host/narrator and frequent scriptwriter; also making return appearances this season are such past Twilight Zone guest stars as Jack Klugman, Lee Marvin, Ed Wynn, Bill Mumy, Martin Landau, and William Shatner, the latter starring in what is regarded as the fifth season's best and most terrifying episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" (more popularly known as "The Thing on the Wing"). Not all of the series' episodes during its terminal season are on the same leval as "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet;" in fact, there are arguably more misses than hits in the series' final 36 installments. That said, one cannot deny the excellence of such fifth-season efforts as "The Last Night of a Jockey," a solo tour de force for star Mickey Rooney; "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You," featuring both Richard Long and Suzy Parker in multiple roles; "From Agnes-With Love," a comic episode in which Wally Cox is tormented by an amorous computer; and "The Masks," directed by former Twilight Zone leading lady Ida Lupino, wherein four greedy relatives get their just desserts from their disillusioned wealthy benefactors. Until very recently, four of Twilight Zone's fifth-season episodes were withheld from the series' syndication package. Both "A Short Drink From a Certain Founain" and "Sounds and Silences" were removed for legal reasons, while "The Encounter" was withdrawn because of its (unintended) overtones of racism. The fourth "missing" Twilight Zone episode was "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," which was not actually filmed for the series but instead was adapted from an award-winning French short subject directed by Robert Enrico. (Both the edited Zone version and the original uncut short subject are currently available on the public-domain market.) ~ All Movie Guide

Written by Rod Serling, this 60-minute Twilight Zone episode gets under way when a U.S. Navy destroyer begins picking up unusual sounds on its sonar. Investigating, a frogman finds the remains of a sunken submarine -- and hears the sound of clanking from within. This information has a profound effect on the destroyer's chief petty officer Bell (Mike Kellin), and Captain Beecham (Simon Oakland) wants to find out why. Future TV leading man Bill Bixby appears in a supporting role. "The Thirty-Fathom Grave" was first telecast January 10, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Disillusioned with the present, Paul Driscoll (Dana Andrews) builds a time machine and heads to the past, hoping to correct mankind's mistakes. Failing spectacularly in this endeavor, he elects to take up permanent residence in the small town of Homeville, Indiana, circa 1881, where he hopes to live out his life in quiet contentment. Alas, despite his herculean efforts not to alter the course of history, that is just what he ends up doing. As originally written by Rod Serling, this hour-long Twilight Zone episode opened with a lengthy philosophical discussion between Driscoll and his mentor Dr. Harvey. This was adjudged too dull for TV consumption, thus a new opening was dreamed up wherein Driscoll was shown trying to prevent the sinking of the Lusitania and the rise of Hitler's Nazi Party. Accordingly, the role of Dr. Harvey was diminished, obliging proposed costar Joseph Schildkraut to drop out of the episode. The final version of "No Time Like the Past" premiered March 7, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While on an orbital flight, American astronaut Robert Gaines (Steve Forrest) experiences a sudden blackout. When he awakens, he finds himself in a hospital room surrounded by his friends, loved ones and fellow officers, and he is told that his spacecraft somehow managed to land by itself. All well and good -- until Gaines begins to suspect that the world on which he landed was not the world he had originally left behind. Written by Rod Serling, the 60-minute Twilight Zone episode "The Parallel" first aired March 14, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thirty years after leaving Earth, a group of space colonists live a spartan existence on a desolate asteroid. All that keeps these castaways together is the charismatic leadership of Captain William Benteen (James Whitmore), an archetypal "benevolent despot." When a rescue ship arrives to transport the colonists back to Earth, everyone rejoices -- everyone but Benteen, who is unwilling to relinquish his self-anointed authority. Written by Rod Serling, "On Thursday We Leave for Home" was the last of the 60-minute Twilight Zone episodes, though not the last one to be telecast. The episode made its network debut on May 2, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After a brief flirtation with the 60-minute form, Twilight Zone wisely returned to its original half-hour format with the first episode of the series' fifth season, "In Praise of Pip." Upon learning that his beloved son Pip is dying in a field hospital in South Vietnam, two-bit bookie Max Philips (Jack Klugman) suddenly experiences an epiphany -- which earns him a bullet in the gut from a disgruntled gangster. The wounded Max stumbles into a deserted amusement park, where he is met by the younger version of his boy Pip. Expressing his undying love for his son, Max begs the Powers Above to spare the grown-up Pip's life, as the younger version begins fading into the void. Billy Mumy and Bobby Diamond share the role of the eponymous Pip. Written by Rod Serling, "In Praise of Pip" originally aired September 27, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide