Rod Serling's TWILIGHT ZONE - Individual Base Card from the series issued by Rittenhouse in 1999

Vera June Miles (née Ralston, born August 23, 1929) is a retired American actress who worked closely with Alfred Hitchcock, most notably as Lila Crane in the classic 1960 film Psycho, reprising the role in the 1983 sequel Psycho II. Other films in which she appeared include Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955), The Searchers (1956), Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956), A Touch of Larceny (1959), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Follow Me, Boys! (1966), Sergeant Ryker (1968) and Molly and Lawless John (1972).

Early life

Vera June Ralston was born in Boise City, Oklahoma, to Thomas and Bernice (née Wyrick) Ralston. She had three elder siblings.

She grew up first in Pratt, Kansas, and later lived in Wichita, where she worked nights as a Western Union operator-typist and graduated from Wichita North High School in 1947. She was crowned Miss Kansas in 1948 and was the third runner-up in the Miss America contest. When she appeared as a contestant on the April 4, 1951, edition of the Groucho Marx quiz show You Bet Your Life described as "a beauty contest winner", Marx asked her about some of the titles she held. She replied, "I was first Miss Chamber of Commerce and then Miss Wichita and then Miss Kansas and Miss Texas Grapefruit and recently I've been chosen Miss New Maid Margarine and I had the honor to represent Kansas in the Miss America pageant."

Career

Miles moved to Los Angeles in 1950 and landed small roles in television and film, including a minor role as a chorus girl in Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), a musical starring Janet Leigh, with whom Miles co-starred nine years later in the classic Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho. She used her first husband's name, Miles, because an active film actress already went by the name Vera Ralston. Miles eventually was put under contract at various studios. She once recalled, "I was dropped by the best studios in town."

Miles' first credited film appearance was in The Rose Bowl Story (1952), a romantic comedy in which she played a Tournament of Roses queen.

While under contract to Warner Bros., Miles was cast alongside her future husband Gordon Scott in the 1955 film Tarzan's Hidden Jungle as Tarzan's love interest. The following year, she was cast by director John Ford as Jeffrey Hunter's love interest in the John Wayne Western The Searchers (1956), and appeared in the movies Wichita, directed by Jacques Tourneur and 23 Paces to Baker Street with Van Johnson. Also in 1956, Miles starred as Rose Balestero, the fragile wife of Manny Balestero, a musician falsely accused of a crime played by Henry Fonda, in the film The Wrong Man. The movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is one of only a few Hitchcock films based on real-life events.

Signing a five-year personal contract with Hitchcock in 1957, Miles was widely publicized as the director's potential successor to Grace Kelly. Two years prior, Hitchcock had directed Miles in the role of Ralph Meeker's emotionally troubled new bride in "Revenge", the pilot episode of his television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Vertigo (1958), a project Hitchcock designed as a showcase for his new star, was met with production delays. Miles' subsequent pregnancy would cost her the lead role, which eventually went to Kim Novak, with whom Hitchcock clashed. Vertigo (which also starred James Stewart) was not a financial or critical success at the time, with Hitchcock claiming that Novak was miscast. Despite Hitchcock's disappointment regarding Vertigo, he continued to work with Miles, eventually casting her in what is arguably the role for which she is most remembered, that of Lila Crane in Psycho. In it she portrayed the determined sister of the doomed motel guest Marion Crane (killed in the famous shower scene), who teams up with Marion's boyfriend and a private investigator to find her. Miles later appeared in two episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (in 1962 and 1965).

In 1962, Miles reunited with director John Ford for the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Starring alongside her former co-star from The Searchers, John Wayne, she is pursued by both Wayne and James Stewart, two very different men competing for her hand in marriage.

In addition to her film appearances, Miles was featured in many popular television shows throughout her career, including Wagon Train, Laramie, The Twilight Zone and the western series Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds. She also co-starred in the first episode of ABC's The Fugitive (titled "Fear in a Desert City"), as well as guest-starring in episodes of The Outer Limits, Burke's Law, The Eleventh Hour, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Ironside.

In 1965, Miles had a supporting role in three episodes of the CBS series My Three Sons. The same year, she co-starred with lead actors Robert Culp and Bill Cosby in the pilot episode of the TV series I Spy entitled "Affair in T'Sien Cha" (although the pilot was not actually broadcast until midway through the series’ first season).

Other notable films in which Miles appeared included the Walt Disney film Follow Me, Boys! (1966) with Fred MacMurray, and Hellfighters (1968), reuniting again with John Wayne. Miles had also filmed scenes with Wayne for the movie The Green Berets (also 1968), playing Wayne's character's wife. However, with Warner Bros. wanting more action in the film, her scenes were cut.

Miles continued to appear in numerous TV films and TV series during the 1970s, including the pilot for the TV series Cannon (broadcast in March 1971) as the wife of a deceased war comrade of private investigator Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad. She guest-starred in a further two episodes of the series in different roles during its run. In 1973, she appeared alongside Peter Falk in "Lovely But Lethal", an episode of NBC's Columbo, playing a cosmetics queen who commits murder. She also made guest appearances in episodes of Hawaii Five-O, The Streets of San Francisco, and Fantasy Island among others.

In 1983, more than 20 years after Psycho, Miles reprised the role of Lila Crane in Psycho II, joining Anthony Perkins in the sequel. Miles and Perkins were the only stars of the original film to appear in this second installment. Miles continued to appear in a number of TV and film productions during the 1980s, with appearances in the movies The Initiation (1984) and Into the Night (1985), and guest-starring in episodes of the TV series The Love Boat (1982 and 1984) and Hotel (1984 and 1987). She also appeared alongside Angela Lansbury in the TV series Murder, She Wrote, guest-starring in three episodes broadcast in 1985, 1990, and 1991. The 1991 episode, entitled "Thursday's Child", was her final television role. Miles acted just once more, appearing alongside James Belushi in the film Separate Lives (1995), before retiring from the industry.

Personal life

Miles has been married four times. Her first husband was Bob Miles. They were married from 1948 to 1954, and had two daughters, Debra and Kelley. Her second husband was Gordon Scott, her co-star in Tarzan's Hidden Jungle. They were married from 1956 to 1960 and had one son, Michael. Her third husband was actor Keith Larsen (né Keith Larsen Burt). They were married from 1960 to 1971 and had one son, Erik.

By sheer coincidence three of Miles' ex-husbands died within a short timespan of each other. Her third husband, Keith Larsen, died on December 13, 2006; first husband, stuntman and small-part actor Bob Miles died on April 12, 2007; and second husband, actor and bodybuilder Gordon Scott, died 18 days later on April 30, 2007. Miles was married to her fourth husband, director Robert Jones, from 1973 until their divorce in 1975.

Miles is a Republican and she was supportive of Dwight Eisenhower's re-election campaign during the 1956 presidential election. Miles is a Mormon who is both a member of the Hollywood California Stake and had been a frequent visitor to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Miles lives in Palm Desert, California, and does not grant interviews or make public appearances, although she is well known for corresponding with her fanbase. One of her grandsons, actor Jordan Essoe, met with actress Jessica Biel in 2012 in preparation for Biel's portrayal of Miles in the film Hitchcock.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	When Willie Comes Marching Home	Laughing Sergeant's date	Uncredited
1951	Two Tickets to Broadway	Showgirl	Uncredited
1952	For Men Only	Kathy Hughes
	The Rose Bowl Story	Denny Burke
1953	The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms	Trailer Commentator	Uncredited
	The Charge at Feather River	Jennie McKeever
	So Big	Schoolgirl	Uncredited
1954	Pride of the Blue Grass	Linda	Alternative title: Prince of the Blue Grass
1955	Tarzan's Hidden Jungle	Jill Hardy
	Wichita	Laurie McCoy
1956	The Searchers	Laurie Jorgensen
	23 Paces to Baker Street	Jean Lennox
	Autumn Leaves	Virginia Hanson
	The Wrong Man	Rose Balestrero
1957	Beau James	Betty Compton
1959	Web of Evidence	Lena Anderson	Alternative title: Beyond This Place
	The FBI Story	Lucy Ann Hardesty
	A Touch of Larceny	Virginia Killain
1960	Five Branded Women	Daniza
	Psycho	Lila Crane
1961	The Lawbreakers	Angela Walsh
	Back Street	Liz Saxon
1962	The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance	Hallie Stoddard
1964	A Tiger Walks	Dorothy Williams
1965	Those Calloways	Lydia "Liddy" Calloway
1966	One of Our Spies Is Missing	Madame Raine De Sala
	Follow Me, Boys!	Vida Downey
1967	The Spirit Is Willing	Kate Powell
	Gentle Giant	Ellen Wedloe
1968	Sergeant Ryker	Ann Ryker
	Kona Coast	Melissa Hyde
	The Green Berets	Mrs. Lee Kirby	Scenes deleted
	Mission Batangas	Joan Barnes
	Hellfighters	Madelyn Buckman
1969	It Takes All Kinds	Laura Ring
1970	The Wild Country	Kate Tanner
1972	Molly and Lawless John	Molly Parker
1973	One Little Indian	Doris McIver
1974	The Castaway Cowboy	Henrietta MacAvoy
1977	Run for the Roses	Clarissa Stewart	Alternative title: The Thoroughbreds
1982	Brainwaves	Marian Koonan
1983	Psycho II	Lila Loomis
1984	The Initiation	Frances Fairchild
1985	Into the Night	Joan Caper
1995	Separate Lives	Dr. Ruth Goldin

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	Fireside Theatre		Episode: "The Seven Graces"
1953–1958	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Sarah Larkin / Julie	4 episodes
1954	Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson	Lois Wheeler	Episode: "This Day Is Yours"
	Lux Video Theatre	Herself - Intermission Guest	2 episodes
	Hallmark Hall of Fame		Episode: "The Immortal Oath"
	Four Star Playhouse	Julie Tolin / Maggie	2 episodes
	Medic	Jane Agnes Caldwell	Episode: "The Wild Intruder"
1954–1955	The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse	Daughter / Nancy	3 episodes
	Ford Television Theatre	Angela / Nancy Carr	2 episodes
1954–1957	Lux Video Theatre	Jenny / Christine Carroll Kimberly / Audrey O'Connor / Maureen O'Reilly	4 episodes
1954–1958	Climax!	Janet Reese / Jan Michaels / Sally Jordan	4 episodes
1954–1960	General Electric Theater	Debra Stone / Nora Douglas / Mrs. Eaton / Terry	5 episodes
1955	City Detective	Carol Martin	Episode: "Goodbye Old Paint"
	Science Fiction Theatre	Dr. Jan Corey	Episode: "No Food for Thought"
	The Millionaire	Merle Roberts	Episode: "The Merle Roberts Story"
	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Elsa Spann	Episode: "Revenge"
	Screen Directors Playhouse	Ruth Dahlberg	Episode: "Rookie of the Year"
	The 20th Century Fox Hour	Virginia	Episode: "Man on the Ledge"
1956	Strange Stories	Susan Harris	Episode: "Such a Nice Little Girl"
1957	Playhouse 90	Carolyn Cook	Episode: "Panic Button"
1958	Studio 57	The Little Girl's Mother	Episode: "Emergency Call"
	Colgate Theatre	Judy Gregory	Episode: "Mr. Tutt"
1959	Riverboat	Jeanette Mowbray	Episode: "About Roger Mowbray"
	Rawhide	Helen Walsh	Episode: "Incident at the Buffalo Smokehouse"
1959–1965	Wagon Train	Anne Reed / Janice Stuart / Sister Rita	3 episodes
1960	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Jenny Breckenridge	Episode: "Miss Jenny"
	The Twilight Zone	Millicent Barnes	Episode: "Mirror Image"
	Startime	Jean Medwick	Episode: "Incident at a Corner"
	Laramie	Anne Andrews	Episode: "Three Rode West"
1961	The Asphalt Jungle	Angela Walsh	Episode: "The Lady and the Lawyer"
	Frontier Circus	Maureen McBride	Episode: "Lippizan"
	Checkmate	Zoe Kamens	Episode: "The Crimson Pool"
1962	The Detectives	Lucy	2 episodes
	Sam Benedict	Midge Maddon	Episode: "Maddon's Folly"
	Route 66	Ellen Barnes	Episode: "Where Is Chick Lorimer, Where Has She Gone?"
	The Dick Powell Show	Stella Calman	Episode: "Crazy Sunday"
1962–1963	The Eleventh Hour	Kate Sommers / Ann Costigan	2 episodes
1962–1965	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Nicky Revere / Daphne	2 episodes
1963	The Fugitive	Monica Welles	Episode: "Fear in a Desert City"
	Arrest and Trial	Jean Forbes	Episode: "Isn't It a Lovely View"
	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Ann Ryker	2 episodes
	The Fugitive	Monica Welles	Television film
1963–1970	The Virginian	Amelia Ballard / Maggie Menken / Miss Wallace	3 episodes
	Insight	Lucy / Mme Bernice / Sister Lucy Anne / Marion / Maria	5 episodes
1964	The Unknown	Kassia Paine	Television film
	The Outer Limits	Kasha Paine	Episode: "The Forms of Things Unknown"
	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Beth	Episode: "The Sojourner"
	Burke's Law	Claudia Sutton	Episode: "Who Killed the Horne of Plenty?"
	The Hanged Man	Lois Seeger	Television film
1965	Slattery's People	Lucy Hampton	Episode: "Question: How Long Is the Shadow of a Man?"
	Mr. Novak	Sister Gervaise	Episode: "There's a Penguin in My Garden"
	My Three Sons	Ernestine Coulter	3 episodes
	I Spy	Rachel	Episode: "Affair in T'Sien Cha"
1966	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Madame Raine De Sala	2 episodes
	ABC Stage 67	Adele	Episode: "The People Trap"
1966–1971	Bonanza	Mrs. April Christopher / Sarah Lowell	2 episodes
1967	Run for Your Life	Rachel Pike	Episode: "The Inhuman Predicament"
	Off to See the Wizard	Gypsy Queen	Episode: "Gypsy Colt"
	Judd, for the Defense	Lydia Gray	Episode: "Everyone Loved Harlan But His Wife"
1968	Journey to the Unknown	June Wiley	Episode: "Matakitas Is Coming"
1968–1970	The Name of the Game	Hilary Vanderman / Tracy Cannon / Marisa Cummings	3 episodes
1968–1971	Ironside	Gloria Campbell / Barbara Richards / Barbara Jones	3 episodes
1969	Journey to the Unknown	June Wiley	Television film ("Matakitas Is Coming" segment)
	The F.B.I.	Kate Burke	Episode: "The Swindler"
	Mannix	Jean McBride	Episode: "Return to Summer Grove"
1970	Gunsmoke	Dr. Sam McTavish	Episode: "Sam McTavish, M.D."
	Dan August	Carla	Episode: "When the Shouting Dies"
1970–1973	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Janet Devaney / Helen Wagner	2 episodes
1970–1974	Medical Center	Nora Crayton / Eva / Dr. Gloria Howell	4 episodes
1971	Hawaii Five-O	Flora Whiting	Episode: "Dear Enemy"
	In Search of America	Jenny Olson	Television film
	Cannon	Diana Langston	Television film
	Alias Smith and Jones	Belle Jordan	Episode: "The Posse That Wouldn't Quit"
	A Howling in the Woods	Rose Staines	Television film
1971–1973	Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law	Nancy Hodges / Joan Baldwin	2 episodes
1972	Jigsaw	Lilah Beth Cummings	Television film
	A Great American Tragedy	Gloria Wilkes	Television film
1972–1975	Cannon	Vivian Cabe / Dr. Adams	2 episodes
1973	Baffled!	Andrea Glenn	Television film
	Columbo	Viveca Scott	Episode: "Lovely But Lethal"
	Runaway!	Ellen Staffo	Television film
1974	Live Again, Die Again	Marcia Carmichael	Television film
	The Underground Man	Eleanor Strom	Television film
	The Strange and Deadly Occurrence	Christine Rhodes	Television film
1975	The Wonderful World of Disney	Kate Tannen	Episode: "Wild Country: Part 2"
	The Streets of San Francisco	Catherine Wyatt	Episode: "Men Will Die"
1976	Ellery Queen	Celeste Wakefield	Episode: "The Adventure of the Two-Faced Woman"
	Movin' On	Sheila Powers	Episode: "Sing It Again, Sonny"
	McNaughton's Daughter	Grace Coventry	Episode: "McNaughton's Daughter"
	Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys	Mrs. Horton	Television film
	State Fair	Melissa Bryant	Television film
	Smash-Up on Interstate 5	Erica	Television film
1977	Fire!	Martha Wagner	Television film
	Barnaby Jones	Diane Magnus	Episode: "The Reincarnation"
1978	How the West Was Won	Beth	2 episodes
	Fantasy Island	Martha Tate	Episode: "Superstar/Salem"
	The Runaways		Episode: "Lies We Live With"
	And I Alone Survived	Irene Elder	Television film
1980	Buck Rogers in the 25th Century	Tora	Episode: "Flight of the War Witch"
	Roughnecks	Ida McBride	Television film
1981	Our Family Business	Patricia	Television film
	Magnum, P.I.	Joan Gibson	Episode: "Mad Buck Gibson"
1982	Mazes and Monsters	Cat Wheeling	Television film
1982–1984	The Love Boat	Eve Springer / Arlene Kemper / Bess Hensinger	3 episodes
1983	Little House on the Prairie	Ruthy Leland	Episode: "The Last Summer"
	Trapper John, M.D.	Liz Waleska	Episode: "Blue Genes"
	Travis McGee	Julie Lawless	Television film
1984	Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues	Kate Keller	Television film
	Matt Houston	Mary Haywood	Episode: "The High Fashion Murders"
1984–1987	Hotel	Ruth / Grace Harlan / Millie Broom / Teresa Clayborne	4 episodes
1985	Finder of Lost Loves	Joanna Shaw	Episode: "Deadly Silence"
	International Airport	Elaine Corley	Television film
	Crazy Like a Fox	Georgina	Episode: "Requiem for a Fox"
1985–1991	Murder, She Wrote	Nancy Landon / Charmaine Calloway Thompson / Elizabeth Gates	3 episodes
1988	Simon & Simon	Catherine Van Alder-Vicente	Episode: "The Richer They Are the Harder They Fall"
1989	The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro	Sophie Kubacki	Television film

"Mirror Image" is episode 21 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on February 26, 1960 on CBS.

Opening narration

“

Millicent Barnes, age twenty-five, young woman waiting for a bus on a rainy November night. Not a very imaginative type is Miss Barnes: not given to undue anxiety, or fears, or for that matter even the most temporal flights of fantasy. Like most young career women, she has a generic classification as a, quote, girl with a head on her shoulders, end of quote. All of which is mentioned now because, in just a moment, the head on Miss Barnes' shoulders will be put to a test. Circumstances will assault her sense of reality and a chain of nightmares will put her sanity on a block. Millicent Barnes, who, in one minute, will wonder if she's going mad.

”

Plot

Millicent Barnes waits in a bus depot in Marathon, New York, for a bus to Cortland, en route to a new job. Looking at a wall clock she notices the bus is late. She asks the ticket agent when the bus will arrive, and he gruffly complains that this is her third time asking. Millicent denies this. While speaking with him, she notices a bag just like hers on the floor behind the desk. She mentions this and the agent responds that it is her bag. She does not believe this until she notices her bag is not beside the bench anymore. She washes her hands in the restroom and the cleaning lady there insists this is her second time there. Again, Millicent denies this. Upon leaving the restroom, she glances in the mirror and sees, in addition to her reflection, an exact copy of herself sitting on the bench outside.

She then meets a young man from Binghamton named Paul Grinstead, who is waiting for the same bus. Paul encourages Millicent to tell him what obviously is bothering her, so she explains about encountering her double. Attempting to calm her, Paul says it is either a joke or a misunderstanding caused by a look-alike. When the bus arrives and the two of them prepare to board, Millicent happens to look up at the windows and sees the copy of herself, already seated on the bus. In shock, she runs back into the depot and faints.

Millicent lies unconscious on a bench inside the depot while Paul and the cleaning lady attend to her. Paul decides to wait for the 7:00 a.m. bus. While they wait, Millicent, now coming to, insists the strange events are caused by an evil double from a parallel world - a nearby, yet distant alternative plane of existence that comes into convergence with this world as a result of powerful forces, or unnatural, unknown events. When these events occur, the impostors enter this realm. Millicent's doppelgänger can survive in this world only by eliminating and replacing her. Paul says the explanation is "a little metaphysical" for him, and believes that Millicent's sanity is beginning to unravel. Paul tells Millicent he will call a friend in Tully who has a car and may be able to drive them to Syracuse. Instead, he calls the police.

After Millicent is taken away by two policemen, Paul begins to settle himself. After drinking from a water fountain, Paul notices that his valise is missing. Looking up towards the doors, Paul notices another man running out the door of the bus depot. Pursuing this individual down the street, Paul discovers that he is chasing his own copy, whose face shows excited delight. His copy disappears as Paul calls out "Where are you?" while looking around in confusion and shock.

Closing narration

“

Obscure and metaphysical explanation to cover a phenomenon. Reasons dredged out of the shadows to explain away that which cannot be explained. Call it 'parallel planes' or just 'insanity'. Whatever it is, you'll find it in the Twilight Zone.

”

Cast

• Vera Miles as Millicent Barnes

• Martin Milner as Paul Grinstead

• Joe Hamilton as Ticket agent

• Naomi Stevens as Washroom attendant

Episode notes

In a short film pitching the Twilight Zone series to a Dutch television station, creator Rod Serling claimed to have gotten the idea for "Mirror Image" following an encounter at an airport. Serling noticed a man at the other side of the terminal who wore the same clothes and carried the same suitcase as himself; Serling considered what would happen if the man turned around and was revealed to be a duplicate of himself. However, the man turned out to be younger and "more attractive".

This is one of several episodes from season one with its opening title sequence plastered over with the opening for season two. This was done during the Summer of 1961 as to help the season one shows fit in with the new look the show had taken during the following season.

This episode inspired Jordan Peele's 2019 film Us.

This episode is notable in that it has the most references to towns and cities in Upstate New York (five) of any episode of the original Twilight Zone series.

"Long Live Walter Jameson" is episode 24 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration

“

You're looking at Act One, Scene One, of a nightmare, one not restricted to witching hours of dark, rainswept nights. Professor Walter Jameson, popular beyond words, who talks of the past as if it were the present, who conjures up the dead as if they were alive...In the view of this man, Professor Samuel Kittridge, Walter Jameson has access to knowledge that couldn't come out of a volume of history, but rather from a book on black magic, which is to say that this nightmare begins at noon.

”

Plot

Walter Jameson, a college professor, is engaged to a young doctoral student named Susanna Kittridge. Susanna's father, Sam Kittridge, another professor at Jameson's college, becomes suspicious of Jameson because he does not appear to have aged in the twelve years they have known each other and seems to have unrealistically detailed knowledge of some pieces of history that do not appear in texts. Jameson at one point reads from an original Civil War diary in his possession. Later, Kittridge recognizes Jameson in a Mathew Brady Civil War photograph. After he presents these pieces of evidence, Jameson ultimately reveals his real life history. Agelessness (but no immunity to injury) was imparted to him by an alchemist more than 2,000 years ago. Jameson does not know what was done to him, only that the alchemist was gone when he recovered, and he then stopped aging. Soon, he had to become a constant refugee. He tells Kittridge that he learned a terrible lesson from living for so long and longs for death. He keeps a revolver in his desk drawer, but does not have the courage to use it.

Realizing that if Jameson marries his daughter, she will grow old, and Jameson will eventually abandon her in order to keep his secret, Kittridge refuses permission for Jameson to marry his daughter. Jameson defies him and proposes to Susanna, and they plan to immediately elope.

Jameson is accosted by Laurette Bowen (Estelle Winwood), one of his wives, whom he abandoned when she grew old and frail. She claims that she cannot allow Jameson to destroy another woman's life. She discovers Jameson's pistol lying on his desk and shoots him. Shortly after Bowen leaves, Kittridge enters Jameson's study and finds him bleeding, but seemingly at peace. Jameson rapidly ages and collapses on the floor. Susanna enters the house. Kittridge tries to stop her from seeing the aged Jameson, saying only that he is gone. He is unable to keep her out of the room, but inside she discovers only an empty suit of clothes with a white substance near the collar and sleeves. When Susanna asks what is on the floor, the professor replies, "Dust, only dust."

Closing narration

“

Last stop on a long journey, as yet another human being returns to the vast nothingness that is the beginning and into the dust that is always the end.

”

Production notes

The scenes of Walter Jameson's aging was performed by using an old movie-making trick. Age lines were drawn on actor Kevin McCarthy's face in red make-up. During the beginning of the scene, red lighting was used, bathing the scene in red and hiding the age lines. As the scene progressed, the red lights were turned down and green lights were brought up. Under the green lights, the red age lines were prominent. The lighting changes were unseen by the audience because it was filmed in black-and-white. The ultimate result is the appearance of a complete make-up change with no cuts to the scene.

Regarding the Civil War references, the date of the diary entry of September 11, 1864 is said to be on a Tuesday, but in reality it was on a Sunday. The fire referred to in the diary entry was actually set by the retreating Confederates, on Gen. John Bell Hood's order, to destroy munitions and thereby prevent them from falling into Federal hands. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman's fire would not take place until November as his army began Sherman’s March to the Sea.

This episode was remade as Queen of the Nile with some variations: a centuries old femme fatale seduces men so she can sacrifice their lifeforce to remain young forever. The footage of the victim aging was the same aging trick as used on Walter Jameson; in fact the footage of the remains of Jameson was reused in this later episode.

DVD release

For the DVD release Kevin McCarthy returned to record an audio commentary for the episode, revealing that he never met Rod Serling and that, aside from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, his appearance in this episode generated the most fan mail he ever received.

The Twilight Zone is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, suspense, horror, and psychological thriller, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist, and usually with a moral. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to common science fiction and fantasy tropes. The original series, shot entirely in black and white, ran on CBS for five seasons from 1959 to 1964.

The Twilight Zone followed in the tradition of earlier television shows such as Tales of Tomorrow (1951–53) and Science Fiction Theatre (1955–57); radio programs such as The Weird Circle (1943–45), Dimension X (1950–51) and X Minus One (1955–58); and the radio work of one of Serling's inspirations, Norman Corwin. The success of the series led to a feature film (1983), a TV film (1994), a radio series (2002–12), literature including a comic book, novels and a magazine and a theme park attraction and various other spin-offs that spanned five decades, including three revival television series. The first revival (1985–89) ran on CBS and in syndication in the 1980s, while the second revival ran on UPN (2002–2003). In December 2017, CBS All Access officially ordered the third Twilight Zone revival to series, helmed by Jordan Peele. The series premiered on April 1, 2019.

TV Guide ranked the original TV series #5 in their 2013 list of the 60 greatest shows of all time and #4 in their list of the 60 greatest dramas.

As a boy, Rod Serling was a fan of pulp fiction stories. As an adult, he sought topics with themes such as racism, government, war, society, and human nature in general. Serling decided to combine these two interests as a way to broach these subjects on television at a time when such issues were not commonly addressed.

Throughout the 1950s, Serling established himself as one of the most popular names in television. He was as famous for writing televised drama as he was for criticizing the medium's limitations. His most vocal complaints concerned censorship, which was frequently practiced by sponsors and networks. "I was not permitted to have my senators discuss any current or pressing problem," he said of his 1957 Studio One production "The Arena", intended to be an involving look into contemporary politics. "To talk of tariff was to align oneself with the Republicans; to talk of labor was to suggest control by the Democrats. To say a single thing germane to the current political scene was absolutely prohibited."

"The Time Element" (1958)

CBS purchased a teleplay in 1958 that writer Rod Serling hoped to produce as the pilot of a weekly anthology series. "The Time Element" marked Serling's first entry in the field of science fiction.

Plot

Several years after the end of World War II, a man named Peter Jenson (William Bendix) visits a psychoanalyst, Dr. Gillespie (Martin Balsam). Jenson tells him about a recurring dream in which he tries to warn people about the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor before it happens, but the warnings are disregarded. Jenson believes the events of the dream are real, and each night he travels back to 1941. Dr. Gillespie insists that time travel is impossible given the nature of temporal paradoxes. While on the couch, Jenson falls asleep once again but this time dreams that the Japanese planes shoot and kill him. In Dr. Gillespie's office, the couch Jenson was lying on is now empty. Dr. Gillespie goes to a bar where he finds Jenson's picture on the wall. The bartender tells him that Jenson had tended bar there, but he was killed during the Pearl Harbor attack.

Production

With the "Time Element" script, Serling drafted the fundamental elements that defined the subsequent series: a science-fiction/fantasy theme, opening and closing narration, and an ending with a twist. "The Time Element" was purchased immediately, but shelved indefinitely.

This is where things stood when Bert Granet, the new producer for Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, discovered "The Time Element" in CBS' vaults while searching for an original Serling script to add prestige to his show. "The Time Element" (introduced by Desi Arnaz) debuted on November 24, 1958, to an overwhelmingly delighted audience of television viewers and critics alike. "The humor and sincerity of Mr. Serling's dialogue made 'The Time Element' consistently entertaining," offered Jack Gould of The New York Times. Over 6,000 letters of praise flooded Granet's offices. Convinced that a series based on such stories could succeed, CBS again began talks with Serling about the possibilities of producing The Twilight Zone. "Where Is Everybody?" was accepted as the pilot episode and the project was officially announced to the public in early 1959. Other than reruns at the time "The Time Element" was not aired on television again until it was shown as part of a 1996 all-night sneak preview of the new cable channel TVLand. It is available in an Italian DVD boxed set titled Ai confini della realtà – I tesori perduti. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Blu-ray boxed set released on September 14, 2010, offers a remastered high-definition version of the original Desilu Playhouse production as a special feature.

Original series (1959–1964)

The series was produced by Cayuga Productions, Inc., a production company owned and named by Serling. It reflects his background in Central New York State and is named after Cayuga Lake, on which he owned a home, and where Cornell University and Ithaca College are located.

Aside from Serling, who wrote or adapted nearly two-thirds of the series' total episodes, writers for The Twilight Zone included leading authors such as Charles Beaumont, Ray Bradbury, Earl Hamner, Jr., George Clayton Johnson, Richard Matheson, Reginald Rose, and Jerry Sohl. Many episodes also featured new adaptations of classic stories by such writers as Ambrose Bierce, Jerome Bixby, Damon Knight, John Collier, and Lewis Padgett.

Twilight Zone's writers frequently used science fiction as a vehicle for social comment, as networks and sponsors who censored controversial material from live dramas were less concerned with seemingly innocuous fantasy and sci-fi stories. Frequent themes on The Twilight Zone included nuclear war, McCarthyism, and mass hysteria, subjects that were avoided on less serious primetime television. Episodes such as "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and "I Am the Night—Color Me Black" offered specific commentary on current events and social issues. Other stories, such as "The Masks", "I Dream of Genie", or "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" were allegories, parables, or fables that reflected the moral and philosophical choices of the characters.

Despite his esteem in the writing community, Serling found the series difficult to sell. Few critics felt that science fiction could transcend empty escapism and enter the realm of adult drama. In a September 22, 1959, interview with Serling, Mike Wallace asked a question illustrative of the times: "...[Y]ou're going to be, obviously, working so hard on The Twilight Zone that, in essence, for the time being and for the foreseeable future, you've given up on writing anything important for television, right?" While Serling's appearances on the show became one of its most distinctive features, with his clipped delivery still widely imitated today, he was reportedly nervous about it and had to be persuaded to appear on camera. Serling often steps into the middle of the action while the characters remain oblivious to him, but on one notable occasion, they are aware of his presence: In the episode "A World of His Own", a writer (Keenan Wynn) with the power to alter his reality objects to Serling's narration and promptly erases Serling from the show.

In season two, due to budgetary constraints, the network decided – against Serling's wishes – to cut costs by shooting some episodes on videotape rather than film. The requisite multicamera setup of the videotape format precluded location shooting, severely limiting the potential scope of the storylines, and the experiment was abandoned after just six episodes ("Twenty Two", "Static", "The Whole Truth", "The Lateness of the Hour", "The Night of the Meek", and "Long Distance Call").

The original series contains 156 episodes. The episodes in seasons one through three are 30 minutes long with commercials (24 or 25 minutes without commercials). Season four (1962–63) consists of one-hour episodes with commercials (51 minutes without commercials). Season five returned to the half-hour format.

First revival (1985–1989)

It was Serling's decision to sell his share of the series back to the network that eventually allowed for a Twilight Zone revival. As an in-house production, CBS stood to earn more money producing The Twilight Zone than it could by purchasing a new series produced by an outside company. Even so, the network was slow to consider a revival, turning down offers from the original production team of Rod Serling and Buck Houghton and later from American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola.

CBS gave the new Twilight Zone a greenlight in 1984 under the supervision of Carla Singer, then Vice President of Drama Development. While the show did not come close to matching the enduring popularity of the original, some episodes – particularly Alan Brennert's love story "Her Pilgrim Soul" and J. Neil Schulman's "Profile in Silver" – were critically acclaimed. In a tribute to the original series, the opening credits include a brief image of Rod Serling. Four episodes are remakes of those from the original series: "Night of the Meek", "Shadow Play", "The After Hours" and "A Game of Pool", while "Dead Woman's Shoes" is an adaptation of "Dead Man's Shoes". Unlike the original series and the second revival, this series does not include the opening monologue during the title sequence. As well, the narration is all strictly voice-over and the narrator never appears on-screen.

Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994)

In the early 1990s, Richard Matheson and Carol Serling produced an outline for a two-hour made-for-TV movie which would feature Matheson adaptations of three yet-unfilmed Rod Serling short stories. Outlines for such a production were rejected by CBS until early 1994, when Serling's widow discovered a complete shooting script ("Where the Dead Are") authored by her late husband, while rummaging through their garage. She showed the forgotten script to producers Michael O'Hara and Laurence Horowitz, who were significantly impressed by it. "I had a pile of scripts, which I usually procrastinate about reading. But I read this one right away and, after 30 pages, called my partner and said, "I love it," recalled O'Hara. "This is pure imagination, a period piece, literate – some might say wordy. If Rod Serling's name weren't on it, it wouldn't have a chance at getting made."

Eager to capitalize on Serling's celebrity status as a writer, CBS packaged "Where the Dead Are" with Matheson's adaptation of "The Theatre", debuting as a two-hour feature on the night of May 19, 1994, under the name Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics. The title represents a misnomer, as both stories were conceived long after Twilight Zone's cancellation. Written just months before Serling's death, "Where the Dead Are" starred Patrick Bergin as a 19th-century doctor who stumbles upon a mad scientist's medical experiments with immortality. "The Theatre" starred Amy Irving and Gary Cole as a couple who visits a cineplex where they discover the feature presentation depicts their own lives. James Earl Jones provided opening and closing narrations.

Critical response was mixed. Gannett News Service described it as "taut and stylish, a reminder of what can happen when fine actors are given great words." USA Today was less impressed, even suggesting that Carol Serling "should have left these two unproduced mediocrities in the garage where she found them." Ultimately, ratings proved insufficient to justify a proposed sequel featuring three scripts adapted by Matheson.

Second revival (2002–2003)

A second revival was developed by UPN in 2002, it was hosted by Forest Whitaker. It was broadcast in a one-hour format composed of two half-hour stories, it was canceled after one season. "It's Still a Good Life" is a sequel to "It's a Good Life", "The Monsters Are on Maple Street" is an adaptation of "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" and "Eye of the Beholder" is a remake of an episode from the original series, with Serling still credited as writer.

Third revival (2019–present)

In December 2012, it was reported that Bryan Singer was developing and executive producing a third revival television series for CBS Television Studios. A writer for the series was not chosen and the program was not pitched to any networks. CBS, which broadcast the original series and first revival, was reportedly interested. In February 2013, Singer told TG Daily that the project was still in development and that he hoped to direct the pilot and have A-list actors appear on the revival. The following month, he told IGN that a writer with whom he had previously worked was in negotiations to join the revival and that he felt "passionate" towards the original series and the planned revival.

In February 2016, it was reported that Ken Levine would write and direct the pilot episode of the revival series. It was also reported that the series would be interactive. In November 2017, it was reported that Jordan Peele was developing a reboot of the series for streaming service CBS All Access with Marco Ramirez serving as potential showrunner. In December 2017, CBS All Access ordered the third The Twilight Zone revival to series. It was announced that the series would be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Monkeypaw Productions and Genre Films. Jordan Peele, Marco Ramirez, and Simon Kinberg will serve as executive producers for the series and collaborate on the premiere episode. Win Rosenfeld and Audrey Chon will also serve as executive producers. Peele was revealed to be the new host and narrator in September 2018, and the new opening sequence was released. The series premiered on April 1, 2019.

The second episode of the series, "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet", is based on "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet".