tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post7950081251094484067..comments2024-03-18T10:52:16.353-05:00Comments on The Twilight Zone Vortex: "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine"JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14808904189056290207noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-54234659549161098942020-04-06T17:01:36.465-05:002020-04-06T17:01:36.465-05:00Response to Jordan Prejean's comment of 12 Nov...Response to Jordan Prejean's comment of 12 November 2019: How I wish that you and I could spend an afternoon over coffee, talking about film and television! (And theater, which is my medium.) Even when I don't agree with you, you have such a concise, elegant way of expressing yourself that I'm always left wanting more. <br /><br />You clearly share my EXTREME affection for "Sunset Boulevard", so I'd like to make a few comments about it. Just as "Hamlet" is, wrongly, thought of as a play about a terminally indecisive man, so "Sunset Boulevard" is thought of as a story about a decaying, deluded diva of yesteryear. Norma Desmond is, in fact, such a dynamo (that face! that voice!) when she's talking to Joe that one is left wondering why in the world her career didn't continue into the sound era. (As I just mentioned, it certainly wasn't due to any vocal insufficiency). The answer is contained in the grand, bravura, over-the-top way in which she expresses herself. Actors and actresses HAD to make large-scale gestures in silent films, to do the work of the absent dialogue -- and many, sadly, couldn't scale themselves down after 1927, and let their spoken words do their proper work. (On the other hand, several biggies could -- Charlie Chaplin, Janet Gaynor, Lillian Gish, and Greta Garbo, to whom Norma even refers when she's screening the movie for Joe). Norma's tragedy is that she identified so much with her on-screen persona that she lived it 24-7, and couldn't get off the carousel. (This has been known to actually happen to actors. Raymond Massey, who scored a HUGE success playing Abraham Lincoln, became so relentlessly Lincolnesque in his day-to-day life that his friend Oscar Levant eventually quipped: "Ray's at the point where he won't be happy until someone assassinates him.") As between Norma and Joe, it's Joe who's the pathetic figure. Norma may be a has-been NOW, but she accomplished a tremendous amount in her day. (How many women get maharajahs to travel halfway around the world to beg them for one of their stockings?) Joe is a "never-was" (and clearly would have remained so even without his ingestion of lead). Among other things, it's HIS version of the "Salome" script that DeMille rejects. Why on earth didn't he write a GOOD version of "Salome", and switch it with Norma's version -- especially since Hollywood actually MADE a version of "Salome" three years later, with Rita Hayworth? Any writer worthy of the name who knew that Cecil B. DeMille would be reading his work would milk the opportunity for all it was worth.<br /><br />Well, that's enough of me (for now). Keep up the good work.Thomas DiMaggiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15528586971282008329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-50679731856774872252019-12-13T09:26:15.833-06:002019-12-13T09:26:15.833-06:00Yeah, comedy rarely worked on TZ, although some of...Yeah, comedy rarely worked on TZ, although some of these episodes have grown on me over the years. I enjoy "Once Upon a Time" and "The Bard" but I won't defend these episodes in terms of quality. I've never understood why the series insisted on producing comedic episodes well into the fifth season. Very few of them work and the ones that do are usually less broadly comedic, such as "The Chaser" or "A Penny for Your Thoughts," or darkly comedic episodes such as "A Nice Place to Visit" or "A Most Unusual Camera." JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14808904189056290207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-22360836226312089752019-12-12T11:19:48.579-06:002019-12-12T11:19:48.579-06:00Yes, I never put two and two together with the han...Yes, I never put two and two together with the handkerchief before reading your comment yesterday. One episode which was my least favs of all the TZ compilations is " Once upon a time". I think it was you or another contributor that mentioned that whenever, Rod Serling made an attempt at comedy, it usually fell flat. "Once upon a Time" was IMHO, a parody of the "Key Stone Cops" and yes, I get it, Busty Keaton reprized his character of the 20's in slapstick comedy, but to me, detracted from the TZ gems it was known for..<br /> Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08314582582238025846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-29993826130577180152019-12-11T18:30:20.772-06:002019-12-11T18:30:20.772-06:00Thanks so much for reading! I, too, with exception...Thanks so much for reading! I, too, with exceptions, really enjoy these episodes dealing with a longing for the past. I'm nostalgic by nature, I suppose. Very interesting connection with "Back There." Serling's writing is littered with these sort of interesting connections but this is one I hadn't considered before. JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14808904189056290207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-33994702148104777742019-12-11T12:27:26.962-06:002019-12-11T12:27:26.962-06:00Great insights Jordan as usual. I always enjoy rea...Great insights Jordan as usual. I always enjoy reading background info on the writers, directors, and producers on the TZ. I also agree with some of the posters that Sixteen Millimeter Shrine is an under-rated episode. It is ironic that the handkerchief that is thrown through the screen on Sixteen is almost symbolic of what Peter Corrigan discovered after he returned to the Potomac Club. I agree, however: with your grade of "C" compared to other episodes dealing with antagonists longing for the past such as "Walking Distance (the best one!), No time like the Past, and Willoughby. I share the same longing for the past like the aforementioned episodes but would only like to go there for 1 day then return just for the experience such as the mid-to-late 1960's! Thanks Jordan! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08314582582238025846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-69985653707342006862019-11-12T10:24:16.398-06:002019-11-12T10:24:16.398-06:00I do regret giving episode ratings in the form of ...I do regret giving episode ratings in the form of letter grades because it is often a point of contention and doesn't seem to fully indicate that the grade is given relative to the series. In other words, we feel that this is an average episode compared to, say, "It's a Good Life" or "The After Hours," or any of the episodes we rate higher than this. If we gave this episode an A rating it would be like saying it was as good as "Nick of Time" or "A Game of Pool," which it clearly is not. An average TZ episode is still very good, however, just not comparable to the best of the series. <br /><br />In this case, I think it's a fair grade. I also think Lupino and Balsam are the best thing about the episode. It must be admitted, however, that the episode is highly derivative. It's Serling's version of Sunset Boulevard with a fantasy element, and like Sunset Boulevard, I think the changing film industry is a device used to explore the larger theme of wasting one's life living in the past, of losing the ability to see what is in front of you because you are always looking behind. Barbara Jean doesn't learn this lesson but instead escapes back into the past, a past which does not reflect reality but rather Barbara Jean's fantasies. Her redemption is artificial. It's akin to being redeemed by losing one's mind. In a way, it is the opposite of "Walking Distance," a thematically related episode in which a character learns the danger of yearning for the past while blinding themselves to the possibilities of the future. <br /><br />I don't know how distinctly American the view that a performer is over-the-hill beyond 40 is but I do think it has its parallels in reality. You can find dozens, perhaps hundreds, of examples of performers, female and male, who found steady work when young but struggled to remain relevant as they aged. I think the episode is less a commentary on gender than it is a commentary on the ruthless and fickle nature of the entertainment industry, something Serling was outspoken about. And, again, the clear model here is Sunset Boulevard, and Barbara Jean Trenton is virtually a stand-in for Norma Desmond, a faded film star driven mad by an obsession with "the good old days." The ending of "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine," like the ending of Sunset Boulevard, strikes one as disturbing but, unlike Sunset Boulevard, is oddly played for sentimentality, striking a tonal discord. I think a lot of the density of theme in "The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine" is inherited from its model but still remains effective. <br /><br />Thanks so much for reading and commenting. You've caused me to re-examine an episode I haven't thought about in a long while. And though we may disagree on some of the finer points of the episode I think we can agree that it remains, like almost all TZ episodes, a fascinating story which affects different viewers in different ways. <br /><br />-JP JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14808904189056290207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-24822596072127552352019-11-12T08:56:16.129-06:002019-11-12T08:56:16.129-06:00I would certainly have given this episode a higher...I would certainly have given this episode a higher grade than "C". Any show that lets you spend time with two people as gifted as Lupino and Balsam is a pleasure by definition. I also don't see Barbara's retreat into her fantasy world as a copout, but as a commentary on the ridiculous (and distinctively American) view that a woman is uninteresting and over-the-hill after 40. (Katharine Hepburn, who defied and defeated this attitude, as she did so many other silly conventions, went on giving Oscar-nominated performances until she was 74). And even those of us who don't share Barbara's animus towards (then) modern films do share her feeling of loss over the disappearance of glamour and elegance from movies. The chess game between Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway in "The Thomas Crown Affair" is a heavily viewed YouTube segment, precisely because it was one of the last examples of that kind of sophistication in American films.Thomas DiMaggiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15528586971282008329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-73557420625804970952018-08-01T01:32:20.930-05:002018-08-01T01:32:20.930-05:00Great episode
Foreshadow: Betty holding her neck...Great episode<br /> Foreshadow: Betty holding her neck next to screen...<br /> Betty depressed and an alcoholic.<br /> Later on the maid brought tea and screamed...<br />(BETTY KILLED HERSELF)<br /> and was immortalized on the silver screen forever, (like Marilyn Monroe!)<br /> Her manager symbolically trying to come to grips with her death.<br /> Deep episode.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01024868312535065012noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-77722607093360547462017-01-27T09:03:32.960-06:002017-01-27T09:03:32.960-06:00Thanks for reading, RedBelle. And I agree wholehea...Thanks for reading, RedBelle. And I agree wholeheartedly with your assertion on Rod Serling. The best of Serling's writing, and really the best of all the writing on the series, has the timeless quality of fable and the show endures because it hardly seems to age outside of the obvious cultural references and the limitations of the television medium at that time. This episode in particular displays what I think is one of Serling's strongest qualities as a writer, that of taking a story seed planted by another writer (in this case the episode's similarity to "Sunset Boulevard") and expanding upon it in a meaningful and idiosyncratic way. I've always felt this was an underrated gem of an episode that possesses a perfect blend of unsettling and haunting. JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14808904189056290207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-79796238191112676662017-01-27T08:08:18.094-06:002017-01-27T08:08:18.094-06:00Great commentary. From a fellow Twilight Zone fan....Great commentary. From a fellow Twilight Zone fan. Rod Serling was so ahead of his time and his work reflects more of the present time RedBellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06595037241597018351noreply@blogger.com