tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post9143123887965236346..comments2024-03-20T15:28:13.030-05:00Comments on The Twilight Zone Vortex: "The Dummy" JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14808904189056290207noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-71990181837144640912022-01-10T20:09:25.638-06:002022-01-10T20:09:25.638-06:00Fantasy Island was good!Fantasy Island was good!Jetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11724490893691260147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-29202956500616811162020-02-16T05:41:26.918-06:002020-02-16T05:41:26.918-06:00Frank Sutton doesn't have anywhere near as muc...Frank Sutton doesn't have anywhere near as much screen time as Cliff Robertson, but he REALLY showed that he had serious chops as an actor -- much more than one might have guessed from his stint on "Gomer Pyle". It's amazing how much acting talent got entombed over the decades on second-rate TV. Shirley Booth (an Oscar-winner) deserved far better than years of "Hazel" (and yes, I know the money was great). My own revelation was Ricardo Montalban. I saw him on stage as Don Juan in a touring company of George Bernard Shaw's "Don Juan in Hell", and he damned near blew the audience out of the theater. WHAT was such a great actor doing on that mildewed corn "Fantasy Island"? Thank God "The Twilight Zone", which was first-rate television, gave excellent showcases to such great performers as Anne Francis, Brian Aherne, Jack Klugman -- and, of course, Cliff Robertson in this episode and "A Hundred Yards Over The Rim".Thomas DiMaggiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15528586971282008329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-11199591418651226092017-11-08T15:41:36.310-06:002017-11-08T15:41:36.310-06:00Perhaps I am guilty of too literal a viewing of th...Perhaps I am guilty of too literal a viewing of the episode. Yours is a very interesting view and though I agree that one could view the episode via an entirely psychological perspective if they wished to do so, I don't believe this is what Serling intended. That is all I wished to convey by any assertion. Mine is an attempt to discover the most likely intention of the episode from the perspective of the creator rather than the viewer. As you can imagine, attempting to elucidate the myriad interpretations which could be brought to an episode by a viewer is an impossible task. <br /><br />The ending confirms the supernatural aspect for me. The idea that it's just a physical manifestation of what's inside Jerry's head is certainly an interesting theory but ultimately, for me, too far of a reach to be believed as something the filmmakers intended. And this is an important distinction to make. One can be reasonably certain that Serling, at least, intended the ending at face value, no pun intended. He deliberately went against the ambiguous ending of Dead of Night's segment where only a voice tells the viewer of the switch. Even so, viewers are welcome to bring any interpretation of the episode as they wish. That's one of great aspects of the series. Thank you for sharing this interpretation as it will be interesting to go back and watch the episode again with this in mind. And many viewers may in fact agree with or prefer this interpretation.JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14808904189056290207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-34259391463301818572017-11-08T15:01:43.702-06:002017-11-08T15:01:43.702-06:00I meant "Willie is alive." Sorry about t...I meant "Willie is alive." Sorry about that. Gregory Tysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12365649475310375871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-2057723502627565212017-11-08T14:55:18.516-06:002017-11-08T14:55:18.516-06:00At one point in "Dead of Night" Maxwell ...At one point in "Dead of Night" Maxwell Frere's rival Sylvester Kee observes Frere's dummy Hugo bite him. The bite draws blood, something Kee also witnesses. A similar scene occurs in "The Dummy" where showgirls see Etherson recoil from being bitten by his dummy Willie. The bite leaves a mark. However, this mark is only something Jerry, and no else, sees. In fact, unlike "Dead of Night," where Hugo's strange behavior is witnessed by someone other than his ventriloquist, there is never a point in "The Dummy" where anyone but Jerry sees his dummy Willie doing crazy things. Now, this being "The Twilight Zone," you're reading -- Jerry is alive -- is a likely one. But, I submit to you, that there's just as much evidence supporting the belief that Willie is in fact a figment of Jerry's imagination. Take for instance the episode's frequent use of POV shots and Dutch-angles -- which suggest we are viewing much of the episode through Jerry's unwell perspective. Furthermore, that final shot, where Jerry and Willie switched roles, could just as easily be a glimpse into what's transpiring inside Jerry's head -- as a wonderful "TZ" podcast called "The Fifth Dimension" suggested in their review a few years back -- as it could be a literal switch. The episode uses, I think, the unreliable narrator, to stellar effect; it keeps us off-balance, making us question everything that we see and hear. In conclusion, I enjoyed your review highly, but have to respectively disagree with your assertion that Serling left "no doubt that the dummy was alive." I agree with you that this episode is amazing -- and one of the major reasons why is it leaves itself open to interpretation. Gregory Tysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12365649475310375871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-33160340596568171422017-11-08T12:41:08.324-06:002017-11-08T12:41:08.324-06:00Thanks, Jack. Truly an unforgettable episode and a...Thanks, Jack. Truly an unforgettable episode and a great performance from Cliff Robertson. I wanted to give an as complete as possible reading/viewing list of dummy stories which preceded "The Dummy" for those that are interested in such things. I'm sure I missed a few selections, particularly from the horror comics of the 1950s. JPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14808904189056290207noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-80355701308242437912017-11-08T11:21:51.744-06:002017-11-08T11:21:51.744-06:00Who could forget this episode? You did an excellen...Who could forget this episode? You did an excellent job of research on dummy stories and I really enjoyed this article.Jack Seabrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216640325305820140noreply@blogger.com