Re: What Did You Watch? 2024-04-02 (Tuesday)

The Twilight Zone S5E27 'Sounds and Silences' - DVR
A man (John McGiver) who enjoys loud noises is driven crazy when trivial sounds become deafening to him.  (Comcast)
Roswell Flemington enjoys loud noises, is an annoyance to others and is suitably punished.  (IMDb)
Trivia:
Shortly after the airing, a writer came up with a lawsuit claiming his script and title were used. It was settled with him receiving $3500 but litigation prevented it from being included in syndication for a time.
The first "sound effect" record played by John McGiver is actually a 78RPM disc on the Deltone label called "You Won't Believe Your Eyes" sung by Ina Massine. Ina Massine isn't a real singer; it was Kathryn Grayson's character name in the 1951 film "Grounds for Marriage." This Rodgers and Hart song (real title, "Wait Till You See Him") was recorded for the movie but not used. This record must have been a leftover prop.
Quotes:
[opening narration]
Narrator: This is Roswell G. Flemington, two hundred and twenty pounds of gristle, lung tissue and sound decibels. He is, as you have perceived, a noisy man; one of a breed who substitutes volume for substance, sound for significance, and shouting to cover up the readily apparent phenomenon that he is nothing more than an overweight and aging perennial Sea Scout whose noise-making is in inverse ratio to his competence and to his character. But soon our would-be admiral of the fleet will embark on another voyage. This one is an uncharted and twisting stream that heads for a distant port called - The Twilight Zone.
[closing narration]
Narrator: When last heard from, Mr. Roswell G. Flemington was in a sanitarium pleading with the medical staff to make some noise. They, of course, believed the case to be a rather tragic aberration; a man's mind becoming unhinged. And for this, they'll give him pills, therapy, and rest. Little do they realize that all Mr. Flemington is suffering from is a case of poetic justice. Tonight's tale of sounds and silences - from The Twilight Zone.
The Twilight Zone S5E28 'Caesar and Me' - DVR
A down-at-the heels ventriloquist is the victim of both his gangster-like dummy and a strangely evil little girl.  (Comcast)
When Irish ventriloquist Jonathan West cannot find any work, his dummy Caesar suggests that he turn to burglary.  (IMDb)
Trivia
This is the only episode of the series written by a woman. Adele T. Strassfield was the secretary of William Froug, the producer of the second half of the final season of The Twilight Zone (1959). According to Froug, they worked out "Caesar and Me" together.
The ventriloquist's dummy is a reuse of the one created for The Dummy (1962). It was modeled on George Murdock, one of that episode's guest stars.
Quotes:
[opening narration]
Narrator: Jonathan West, ventriloquist, a master of voice manipulation. A man, late of Ireland, with a talent for putting words into other peoples' mouths. In this case, the other person is a dummy, aptly named Caesar, a small splinter with large ideas, a wooden tyrant with a mind and a voice of his own, who is about to talk Jonathan West - into The Twilight Zone.
[closing narration]
Narrator: A little girl and a wooden doll. A lethal dummy in the shape of a man. But everybody knows dummies can't talk - unless, of course, they learn their vocabulary in The Twilight Zone.
What Did You Watch?
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I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky dirty old man.