MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SCREENING SERIES, THE:
MONSTER IN THE BOX: HORROR ON TELEVISION, PACKAGE
5: DARK FABLES
Summary
The horror genre has been a shadowy feature of the
television landscape since the earliest days of the
medium. Functioning both as escapist fantasy and dark
mirror of our shared anxieties and taboos, horror enjoys
a perennial relevance and unique malleability that
encompass a myriad of styles and attitudes, from the
frothy creepiness of "The Munsters" to the sophisticated
deconstructions of adolescence found on "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer." This series examines horror on
television over five decades of programming, celebrating
the diversity and vitality of the genre.
Dark Fables revisits the tradition of scary stories told
round the campfire that hinge on shocking twist endings
in which a shivery irony occurs or a poetic justice is
served. On television, the anthology format has
preserved this satisfyingly primal narrative tradition,
reinforcing the surprisingly conservative moral
underpinnings of most horror tales: character
determines fate, virtue is rewarded, and the wicked are
usually punished. Usually.
"Rod SerlingÕs Night Gallery: 'The Caterpillar'"
Macy (Laurence Harvey) despises his current assignment
on a colonial tobacco plantation in Borneo, where the
constant rain, loneliness, and ripe beauty of his
elderly bossÕs young wife drive him to thoughts of
murder. An unsavory local introduces the wretched man
to a quaint example of indigenous fauna called an earwig
-- a tiny worm that enters the ear and eats through the
brain, leaving no trace of foul play. ThereÕs just one
catchÉ. (1972; 35 minutes)
"Way Out: 'William and Mary'"
Roald DahlÕs malicious wit and diabolically constructed
short stories made him a favorite of such mavens of
malfeasance as Alfred Hitchcock. This premiere of
Dahl's own short-lived series, "Way Out," concerns an
imperious dying philosophy professor and his thoroughly
cowed wife. A fantastic medical innovation seems the
answer to the relentlessly cerebral manÕs prayers --
until the limitations of pure intellect become
agonizingly apparent. Includes commercials. (1961; 30
minutes)
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 'Man From the South'"
Roald Dahl strikes again in this cruelly effective
exercise in mounting suspense. Footloose gambler Steve
McQueen accepts a curious wager from the incomparably
sinister Peter Lorre: If McQueen can make his cigarette
lighter produce a flame on ten consecutive strikings, he
will win LorreÕs chic convertible. If he fails, Lorre
will cut off his little finger. From this simplest of
premises, the tension builds almost unbearably until the
final shocking twist. (1960; 30 minutes)
"The Twilight Zone: 'The Hitch-Hiker'"
A woman driving alone is haunted by the vision of a grim
hitchhiker who somehow appears everywhere she goes.
This subtly creepy ghost story anticipates the startling
plot surprises of "The Sixth Sense" and was adapted from
a radio play written by Lucille Fletcher, author of the
suspense classic "Sorry, Wrong Number." FletcherÕs
husband, legendary film composer Bernard Herrmann,
contributed the uncredited score. Includes commercials.
(1960; 30 minutes)
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: November 30, 1999
- RUNNING TIME: 1:58:59
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:61304
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Dermaptera; Drama; Drama, fantasy/science fiction; Hitchhiking
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- For "Rod Serling's Night Gallery":
- Jack Laird … Producer
- Anthony Redman … Production (Misc.), Production Associate
- Herbert Wright … Production (Misc.), Production Associate
- Eddie Sauter … Composer, Score by
- Gil Melle … Theme Music by
- Rod Serling … Host
- For "The Caterpillar":
- Szwarc, Jean (See also: Szwarc, Jeannot) … Director
- Rod Serling … Writer, Teleplay by
- Oscar Cook … Writer , Based on a short story "Boomerang" by
- Laurence Harvey … Cast, Macy
- Joanna Pettet … Cast, Rhona Warwick
- John Williams … Cast, the Doctor
- Tom Helmore … Cast, Warwick
- Don Knight … Cast, Tommy
- For "Way Out: William and Mary":
- David Susskind … Executive Producer
- Jacqueline Babbin … Producer
- Marc Daniels … Director
- Roald Dahl … Writer, Based on the play by
- Robert Cobert … Music by
- Roald Dahl … Host
- Henry Jones … Cast, William Pearl
- Fritz Weaver … Cast, Dr. Martin Landy
- Mildred Dunnock … Cast, Mary Pearl
- Barnard Hughes … Cast, Dr. Forster
- For "Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Man from the South":
- Joan Harrison … Producer
- Norman Lloyd … Director
- William Fay … Writer
- Roald Dahl … Writer, Based on a Story by
- Charles Francois Gounod … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical theme based on "Funeral March of a Marionette" composed by
- Alfred Hitchcock … Host
- Peter Lorre … Cast, the Gambler
- Steve McQueen … Cast, the Young Man
- Neile Adams … Cast, the Young Man's Wife
- Tyler McVey … Cast, Bronson
- Katherine Squire … Cast, the Gambler's Wife
- Marc Cavell … Cast
- Phil Gordon … Cast
- For "The Twilight Zone: The Hitch-Hiker":
- Rod Serling … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer, Teleplay by
- Buck Houghton … Producer
- Alvin Ganzer … Director
- Lucille Fletcher … Writer, Based on the radio play by
- Rod Serling … Host
- Inger Stevens … Cast, Nan Adams
- Leonard Strong … Cast, the Hitchhiker
- Adam Williams … Cast, the Sailor
- Lew Gallow … Cast, the Mechanic
- Russ Bender … Cast, the Counterman
- George Mitchell … Cast, the Gas Station Man
- Bernard Herrmann