DVD : The Twilight Zone: Vol. 14
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9786305669395
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 6305669392
Label: Image Entertainment
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Image Entertainment
Release Date: April 03, 2001
Running Time: 100 minutes
Sales Rank: 59556
Studio: Image Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: October 02, 1959
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Episodes: "One for the Angels" (Ep. 2, October 9, 1959) - A salesman (Ed Wynn) cleverly eludes Death. But if he lives, a little girl must die in his place. Only the salesman's greatest pitch can save her! "The Man in the Bottle" (Ep. 38, October 7, 1960) - A discontented curio shop owner thinks he's finally found happiness when a genie he discovers in an old bottle grants him four wishes. But be careful what you wish for. "The Arrival" (Ep. 67, September 22, 1961) - A plane lands safely, but all its passengers, pilot and crew are missing! When a veteran FAA investigator is called upon to solve the mystery, his own past provides the answer. "In Praise of Pip" (Ep. 121, September 27, 1963) - An alcoholic bookie (Jack Klugman) regrets that he wasn't a better father to his son, Pip (Bill Mumy), critically wounded in South Vietnam. A visit to an amusement park gives them both a second chance.
Amazon.com:
Volume 14 of The Twilight Zone on DVD is a wall-to-wall tribute to series creator Rod Serling. All four TV episodes represented here are original ideas scripted by Serling himself, with his strengths--and some of his weaknesses--on display. "One for the Angels" was the second episode broadcast in the series and demonstrates Serling's sentimental streak: an aging street peddler (former vaudevillian Ed Wynn) is confronted by Death (Murray Hamilton, bearing a curious resemblance to Serling), but strikes a clever deal to forestall his demise. Ah, but there's always a catch... "The Man in the Bottle" is a variation on the old genie-in-a-magic-lamp number, except that this time the elegant genie comes out of an ordinary wine bottle. Luther Adler plays a bitter antique store owner who learns his lesson in four short wishes. Not much of an episode, really, but the punch line to the third wish is one of those startling twists that stuck in the collective imagination of Zone fans everywhere. The eerie "Arrival" indulges Serling's fondness for aviation stories, as a DC-3 pulls into a hangar with not a soul aboard--not even the pilot. Like many of Serling's tales, it follows the theme of regret, which also hangs heavy in "In Praise of Pip," the opening episode of the series' fifth and final broadcast year, 1963. A two-bit bookie (Jack Klugman) reflects on his wasted life when he learns that his son is near death on a Vietnam battlefield. Although the episode is derivative of Serling's previous efforts on the same topic, this one does provide a glimpse of two actors who appeared frequently on the Zone, Klugman and kid actor Billy Mumy. Klugman's anguished aside about Vietnam ("There isn't even supposed to be a war going on there, and my kid is dying") may well be American popular culture's first, hesitant questioning of a war that would soon bloom into a national nightmare. --Robert Horton
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
An absolute must for fans of the Twilight Zone. These are the greatst stories ever told. A must have!!
Rating:  -
The theme of this quartet of mostly lackluster episodes is "The Mind's Endless Dimensions". The first, "One For the Angels" is about a salesman (Ed Wynn) who outwits Death but too late realizes that a little girl will have to die in his place. The problem is that the performance by Wynn lacks any credibility in portraying the greatest pitch of all time. It would have put me to sleep, not made me eager to buy.
"The Man in the Bottle" is about a couple who own a curio shop who buy a piece of junk bottle from a woman desperate for money.
Unfortunately for them there's a genie inside whose wishes in the old cliched manner always end up having negative consequences. For example, when the husband wishes to have great power and rulership of a country he is turned into Adolf Hitler.
"The Arrival" concerns a plane landing at an airport and manuevering into docking position very normally. The problem is that when the luggage crew opens up the door there's noone on the plane, no pilots, crew, or passengers. So a veteran FAA investigator is called in to solve the mystery. It was a good premise but the resolution is oh so boring.
The best and only good episode on this DVD is "In Praise of Pip". It opens in a Vietnam War field hospital operating room where a young man named Pip has been severely wounded and is doubtful of surviving the night. Flash to the States where his father, played commandingly by Jack Klugman, is a man who collects debts for the ... Read More
Rating: -
"One for the Angels" and "In Praise of Pip" alone justify buying this DVD. The former is a charming folktale about an unremarkable street peddlar and the pitch of a lifetime which he makes to "Mr. Death". Enjoy an endearing, "Wynnsical" performance from everybody's favorite "uncle", Ed Wynn! "In Praise of Pip" stars Jack Klugman as a dissolute, boozed bookie who regrets not being a better father to his son, who is dying in Vietnam. Jack Klugman's performance is simply astounding, with a shattering climax! Horror, fear, shame, confusion, self-loathing, regret, despair, pain, fleeting joy - they all register on Klugman's remarkable face. Jack Klugman had to have been one of the greatest character actors of all time. I have only seen a few episodes of this classic TV series, but my appetite has definitely been whetted for more. All TWILIGHT ZONE fans must buy this release!
Rating: -
Any one of these episodes could serve to demonstrate the craft as well as the concern for humanity that always permeated Rod Serling's writing. "In Praise of Pip" is a particulary powerful script and is given a deeply moving performance by Jack Klugman. This and "One for the Angels" are my all-time favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone. The latter has a very touching story and a beautifully-written script. Its protagonist, Lew Bookman (Ed Wynn) is an aging, unsuccessful sidewalk salesman whose gentle yet fun-loving nature makes him popular with the neighborhood children, and in particular with Maggie, a little girl whose life he eventually saves by sacrificing himself to "Mr. Death." I love how Wynn (a former vaudeville comedian -- you may also remember him as the laughing Uncle Albert in MARY POPPINS and as the voice of the Mad Hatter in Disney's ALICE IN WONDERLAND -- and a surprisingly effective dramatic actor) interacts with Maggie; he is like her uncle or grandfather. Some have pointed out that, because Wynn was not a "fast talker," he is unconvincing in his "final sales pitch," in which he distracts Mr. Death and saves Maggie's life. I don't entirely agree with this view. The whole point of the story is that Bookman is NOT a great salesman but is loved by the children, and that this is what matters in the end. So it seems fitting that his delivery of the pitch does not sound smooth and practiced, but desperate, as though he is frantically improvising because he ... Read More
Rating: -
I won't waste space by describing the synopsis and content of the DVD and focus on the episodes itself. One for the Angels: 4 stars. The Man in the Bottle: 2 stars The arrival: 4 stars In Praise of Pip: 4 stars
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