It's a Good Life

IMDB ^ | 11/3/1961 | Ros Serling

[DallasBiff]

On an isolated family farm, a young boy with vast mental powers, but lacking emotional development, holds his terrified family in thrall to his every juvenile wish.

[waterhill]

Yeah that one was a trip.

[ealgeone]

Never could figure out why they couldn’t overwhelm him.

[Dr. Sivana]

Only rivaled by Patty McCormack in ‘The Bad Seed’.

YES!

I remember in a key scene later in the movie, when something major is happening, her demeanor remains COMLETELY controlled, but her piano lesson repeating a phrase from "Clair d'Lune" (sp?) gets faster and slightly frantic. (OK, she probably wasn't really playing it, but still.

INTENSE movie, and the stage style directing worked well in it.

[eyedigress]

Old man with his coon dog was my favorite.

[Dr. Sivana]

Steven Spielberg did an unfortunate remake of this episode for the “Twilight Zone Movie”. He couldn’t bring himself to allow a boy with unlimited power to be truly bad, so an out of town teacher is brought him to bring him under control with warmth and understanding. BLEAGH! That was the OPPOSITE of the original screenplay. I would like to make a follow up to the Spielberg version where the teacher makes a false move and winds up in the cornfield with the rest of them.

[Dr. Sivana]

My all time favorite episode was the nuclear disaster one with Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery.That was a great episode. It also showed the acting range of a beautiful lady. You would never confuse her (likely Soviet/East German) female soldier for either Samantha or Serena.

[Dr. Sivana]

A good actor can make you love his character in one show and want to hang his character from the nearest yardarm in the next.

Hugh Laurie (Bertie Wooster/Dr. House)
Patrick McGoohan (Danger Man/#6, Longshanks)

[waterhill]

Yeah, Bronson was cooler than cool and Montgomery was my first crush.

[Dr. Sivana]

She is a worthy first crush. If you haven't seen her as night club singer Rusty Heller in "The Untouchables", she is EXCELLENT in that one (Emmy nomination). Different fromher other roles, too. The series' TOP-RANKED episode. David White (Larry Tate) is ALSO in that episode.

[waterhill]

I still have to allude to Braniff Airline Stewardesseses to my 7 year old brain in appreciation of the female form. Miniskirts and gogo boots. But Elizabeth was my dream girl.

[enumerated]

That has always been my favorite.

[Nea Wood]

He used to have a music band, maybe still does. I saw them perform once and they were really good.

[Jamestown1630]

I saw it once and always remembered it.

It was so chilling I never wanted to see it again.

[Jamestown1630]

I love that one, too.

[Roccus]

As a youngster one Friday night, immediately after the show I proclaimed to my family that “Twilight Zone was the fastest half hour on TV!”

The old man got a chuckle out of that one. ☺

[Jamestown1630]

It was a great show. We don’t have anything like that ingenuity coming out of Hollywood, now.

We liked the Outer Limits when it came along; but it was no match for the TZ.