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It’s kinda a tragedy in the same light as say, Romeo and Juliet: she may not have learned her lesson in “letting go of the past”, but one can’t help but smile at the fact that she did get what she wanted, “living her past glory days” (symbolized by all her guests being her former costars in their past movie roles).
It was bittersweet, in that Barbara finally gets to relive her golden years, but she's stuck in the past of her own making, unlikely never to return to her actual reality. 😔
Exactly! She did get what she wanted, but in a rather literal way. (Reliving her past glory by, from the look of things, trapping herself in her old movies.)
@@trinaq a few have died in the twilight zone been actually watching through the original series for the first time all the way through seen a few growing up but missed a lot the one I watched the obselte man the last one I seen so far so is what popped in my head first was about a man in the future where they have to prove they are useful (was supposed to be the pilot I think see the first episode of this series) and at the end he does die but has a really good twist great episode Tldr: some people die in twilight zone
Both him and Gene Roddenberry have left long lasting impacts on things like this. their influences i think will both stretch through things long after we lose recognition of their names.
Is it though? It feel like people let her go crazy and she start living in her delusional world. Also, she is stuck in a film forever. It is a tragic for her love ones like her agent, maid, friends and families.
@@birdyflamephoenix8187 He costar even basically acknowledges it as happy for her. Even if it's not happy for everyone. But remember. Most of the people your listing had already drifted away or been shut out of her life (only her maid and her agent see her anywhere close to regularly) and she wanted nothing more than to live in those films forever. So where you see her as stuck she would not.
I took it as their way say she committed suicide, wanting the roles she wanted, unable to adapt to the changing industry and the scream of the chambermaid, with the ending of her happy in her own film, which could be a metaphor as saying she chose to live out her time in a dream then conform to reality if you will.
Yeah, I feel like the maid's scream only fits if she saw something different and way more horrifying than what was shown to us. Your idea fits very well and maybe the maid found a dead body. For a more Twilight Zone type thing, maybe she saw exactly the moment when the actress transitioned into the film. Otherwise the scream seems too intense to have been about the same thing as what the friend sees at the end.
@@Ilieo-iliei I think her seeing her transition into film is exactly what the maid saw. That shocking moment where the twilight zone took it's subtly supernatural twist that is often so vague and unclear.
Basically the woman never really moved on or prosper her work so she stayed in one place she was truly happy and felt successful while everyone else move on without her
Well it is sad in a way cause she gave up her future and the real world to live in a make believe world. This makes me think on how many shows, usually fantasy or sci-fi action, that do this only for the hero to deny the fantasy for the real world
It's only a happy ending for Barbara. Everyone else might've told her that she could move on with her life, but she was never going to accept that. It's like how someone with a terminal illness might seriously consider euthanasia rather than try a potential cure because they can't be convinced of the cure's potential to work.
Notice how Barbara's former costar seems to be much older than she is, as if he was 40 when she was 25. I wonder if that was an intentional dig at how older men can still get leading roles, but older women can't.
Or how many 40+ year old actors always have onscreen wives and girlfriends half their age! I remember when it was praised that in, "San Andreas", The Rock, was paired with Carla Gugino as his wife who was much closer to his real age, when often he'd have been paired with a 20 something actress. Or shlubby guys with a hot wife in a sitcom (Roseanne being one of the few exceptions to the trope)!
pretty sure her costar retired from acting so wasn't getting roles but I prefer to see it as, we see how she sees herself which is still fairly young compared to how old she actually looks
@@MegaMagicdog Even a lot of men don't keep up their acting careers into their 40's. There are a few but most of them do it when they are young and move on to other things before 40. There's often somebody younger coming for their jobs as well.
This was a good episode, as i get older the themes portrayed about aging and the want of those bygone times rings true and to seclude yourself so you don't get reminded that the outside world also is aging is a creepy thought, at least for me.
One of my favorite episodes. What makes it unnerving is when he calls out for her at the end...shes not looking at the camera directly. She's looking at the room he's in, knowing he's there watching. I love she doesn't look straight forward into the camera and say goodbye to Danny as it could have made it more personal.
Can we blame a lady for choosing an idyllic fiction over reality? I sure can't. Have we not all been indulging in worlds bound by the screen to escape these days?
I remember that people were like Barbara Jean during the 1930s. They were trying to escape the harshness of the Depression. Now it's watching our favorite movies to escape the harshness of Covid-19.
To temporarily escape. Sure. To never return. That's a hard no. As idyllic as it may be. It is not real. Batman in Perchance to Dream realized that. Kirk and Picard in Star Trek Generations realized that. Dumbledore said that to Harry in Philosopher's Stone and it was also the message from Ready Player One. The reality is real after all.
I've watched all the twilight zone originals a dozen time. This is one of the good ones in my opinion. No matter how many times I watch it, the ending gives me such an eerie feeling. Having me wonder what happens to her existence once the film runs out. And the simple fact I crave my young days as most would and can totally relate to what she's feeling. But is her existence now just on a film reel, forever playing the same thing in an eternal loop. Can one really find peace and happiness in that?
Great to include Tamara! Is it a happy ending? It's a woman who felt that she no longer mattered in this world and went to another where she did. She may be reliving the same scene over and over but it's one where she is truly happy!
Considering the comparison between this movie and Sunset Boulevard, they're more alike than Walter initially implied. Their ending is fundamentally the same, they both become permanently trapped in their own movie and their past glory, Norma in a psychological way and Barbara in a literal way. Really the biggest difference between the two is that Barbara at least has her agent who is part of the real world, and vainly tries to pull her into it, who wants to help her get better. Whereas Norma 's Max is an enabler who's in large part responsible for her descent into madness by keeping her sheltered in her large glass palace because, while he has a foot in reality, he still suffers the same delusions as her; they're a vicious cycle that never ends, not even when Joe arrives into their lives.
Sorry but I have to disagree on the idea that the endings are fundamentally the same. You basically left out a big part of Sunset Boulevard's ending to make your point. Norma kills Joe after shooting him three times. The police then come to arrest her. This is what cause's her to become delusional at the end. Unable to deal with the murder that she committed, Norma hallucinates in order to escape the consequences of the murder. So the reasons why they become trapped in their own movies and past glories are completely different. Norma basically kills Joe after he pops her bubble of a comeback and being loved by her fans. From the beginning of the movie Norma is clearly unstable and suicidal. On the other hand, Barbara isn't unstable she's just bitter about no longer being popular as she once was. Barbara simply wants to relive her past glories while Barbara still believes that she is as famous as she was back in the day. Barbara murders Joe when that bubble pops and descends into madness as a result. Considering the context, the two endings are very different. This should be more evident when you consider the reaction towards the two endings. I mean no one wonders if Sunset Boulevard is a happy ending like The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine. Obviously, a woman having a mental breakdown isn't a happy ending. On the other hand, the fact that The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine shows a woman being able to relive her past glory literally could be considered ending on a happy note. Whether that ending really is happy is left open to interpretation. Anyways, the point is that the two endings aren't the same as they deal with essentially different themes.
I used to enjoy watching the twilight zone as a kid with my dad. I remember the episode that first really blew my mind then was the one with a group of people in costumes stuck in a hole and not knowing why. Little me loved that twist at the end 👌
This episode shows the dangers of nostalgia, it’s like a picture plant a plant that uses a sweat smell to lure insects into the pod part of the plant and digest it. The smell of nostalgia can be great but it also can blind you to the bad times we like to forget or suppress. Times that may have been great for us as kids were not great for others and many of us were sheltered as kids. Nostalgia can be fun but we need to remember to make the times we have now great not just for ourselves but others as well, and work smart to make the future better.
It's interesting how many TZ episodes that deal with nostalgia for one's past--Walking Distance, The Trouble With Templeton, The Incredible World Of Horace Ford (an underrated gem IMO), Of Late I Think Of Cliffordville--convey the message "nostalgia's fine in small doses but it's a mistake to live in the past; our memories of our past are rose-tinted and not necessarily realistic; it's better to live your best life in the present instead of pining over an idealized past." This is one of the only ones that have someone successfully escaping into the past--although it's the idealized, never-changing reality of a movie. (Well, there is Young Man's Fancy, but that's sort of presented as a flaw in the main character, that he would rather live forever as a child pampered by his mother than embark on a new life with his wife. And A Stop At Willoughby ends with the main character escaping into an idealized past, but it's not HIS past--and it's strongly hinted to be his own personal afterlife.)
I actually know someone who's trying to live in the past. My younger brother. He's miserable, and he wants the world to stay as it was in the late 1990s, or even go back decades before he was born, with gender roles reverting to men being in charge of women (he had to search the whole world to find a girlfriend... in Peru), and he also replays his old video games instead of trying new ones. He's not only stuck in nostalgia, but literally wants it to be policy. It's pathetic, and it's not helping him.
@@jenniferschillig3768 I'd hope so, but he's been like this for a decade, and now that he's finally found a girlfriend, I don't think he sees anything wrong with his thinking. He's still convinced he's right. The rest of the family walks on eggshells around him wherever they interact with him.
I just adore this episode from the first scene to the last. I've never seen Sunset Boulevard, but if it's similar to 16mm shrine I'm sure I would like it. Ida Lupino is wonderful as Barbara (in fact I think she still looks stunning as an actor in her 40s) anything Martin Balsam appears in is great, the series 4 episode The new exhibit is no exception. I've never wondered before if the ending was sad or happy. Always thought it was a very happy ending for Barbara, and where she ended up was in the Twilight Zone
It was a great episode (with as happy an ending as it could get with that situation and with that character, in my opinion), and this review was very in tone, thank you!
This is my favorite Twilight Tober Zone because I love the part Tamara plays while wishing her well through the hard times we're all going through. I also remember seeing a Law and Order SVU episode a few times that has a similar subplot with Carol Burnett and Matthew Lillard
I really do find the ending to be quite interesting. In that one person's wish could been seen as weird or unreasonable to another. Yet, even the you can still find some understanding in the idea of the wish itself :) .
It is actually a rather grim ending. Someone who cannot accept the reality their in, so they join a fake one where they experience false happiness. People need to move on from the past and accept the things that are reality. Even if the reality isn't to their liking. Those who cannot move on stay in the past and miss out on so many possibilities for happiness.
Is it fake, though? It's confusing exactly what happened to her, and the nature of how it works. I mean I get the show's point, but really, what actually happened to her? It might not be fake to her.
There is another Twilight Zone episode with a similar ending and feel. It involves an actor believing he is the character in a movie that is currently being filmed. He as well as the viewers slowly find out about his messed up life including money and divorce troubles. It ends with him returning to the movie world and everyone looking for him in the real world.
Thanks! These have been a nice change. :'Cameo" from Ms. Chambers brought a smile. Ms. Lupino also did some directing, extremely rare back then. Balsam was a helluva character actor, you knew the scene would always be good.
6:04 the ending honestly is almost like how when we are kids we can't not wait to become adults however when we do become adults we start to wish for the opposite and want to become kids again out of the hardships of adulthood and the fear of one day dying. This is where most people start to prefer to live more in the past instead of the future because everything in the past was more simpler. However if by choosing to live in the past we start to close off from the possibilities of the unknown future and when we do close off those unknown possibilities we stop growing as humans. The ending of this episode serves as a perfect example of that.
Man, this is one of my favorite episodes! I clicked this as soon as I saw the thumbnail. This is my first Twilight-Tober Zone and it was so well made. I loved the ending; great editing! I love the line, "showing that when someone lives in the past for too long, they won't have a future."
NICE! I love that you're leaning into a slight re-interpretation of the story to highlight how you understand it. I'm sure filming is really restricted right now, but the effort is appreciated.
I have around 5 all time favorite episodes. Masks is one. But two are in the first season alone. Few, overall are nothing special. Just love the writing & especially the scting. Note: *none appeared in the Twilight Zone movie.*
For me its A stop at Willoughby. Its a great scene with a great twist and is so relatable for anyone stuck in a dead end job looking for an escape. But my favourite episode overall is eye of the beholder in season 2, an amazing nerative with pig people, whats not to love?
This was one of the first Twilight Zone episodes I watched, I’ve always saw the ending as a happy one, because it’s what the protagonist wanted. In the logic (or lack thereof) of the twilight zone, this is a happy ending. The twilight zone does have this recurring theme of a desire of escapism and depending on the writer that is either seen as fruitless, delusional, or in this case, justified after a time of suffering
I love the Twilight Zone, but I don't think I've ever watched a single episode. I do, however, have every episode of the Radio Drama series on my phone.
I like the play on and homage to the scenes and themes for this episode. Spooky edits with Tamara being caught in the past and appearing in the television lol well done.
There are many episodes of the show that can be told in a much longer theatrical manner. This one is at the top. Love the ending. Does it make sense? No. Do we know how? No. Is it perfect and perfectly atmospheric? Yes.
This is one of my favorite episodes and every time I watch it, it makes me think of actors who were huge in the golden age of cinema who have passed on before seeing the films of today. Would their reactions be the same as Barbara's comparing the films of the fifties to those of the thirties? Also I completely understand Barbara wishing she was in another world so to speak, obviously films are just human made productions of time and passion, but whenever I rewatch films I love, I wish I could wish hard enough to somehow live inside them.
Great episode, with a great performance by the lead. Loved the ending as well, they didn't cop out and have the final scene be her in a sanitarium, went all the way.
The irony of this is if you look at nowadays, the nostalgia of older movies are so strong, Hollywood is actually pulling these people from the past to show them again, desperate to bring audiences back. Sigourney Weaver is a prime example, bringing her back from her rolls in Ghost Busters, Alien, Halloween, and Terminator. Because of which, these old actors and actresses are just as strong as getting rolls as they have in the past.
It is kind of a fun word, but yeah, it's not "forgotten", it's been retired. Like "Actress", there's really no good reason to differentiate, so the term has been dropped.
It's both: a "happy ending" because she finally gets her "Fantasy" (which is to return to the past where she's glorified), but it's largely bittersweet for the guy that never really gained the love of the woman he adored, but he does seem happy that, at least, SHE is now happy.
"To wishes... and the ones that come true." That's one of my favorite lines from the series. Ida Lupino IS a screen legend, an actress just as capable of directing behind the camera as she was performing in front of it, being a trendsetter for future actress-turned-directors to follow. And Martin Balsam had appeared in "The Time Element" shortly before THE TWILIGHT ZONE got greenlit.
I was a lot more enthusiastic about this episode prior to seeing Sunset Boulevard but after I did and it entered my all-time top 10 I realized this to be the pale imitation that it is. But still, a TZ rendition of Sunset Boulevard is far from the worst way to kill time. Washed out celebrities always have some of the most fascinating psyches to probe and this episode gets the job done.
This is a great episode not for the great story of acting but because it is a very relatable episode. Everyone has nostalgia to their past and the older or harder life gets the more we have it. So this aging actress trying to relive her better years and being stubborn to change, we understand that more then other episodes.
While quiet uneasing, the ending is a tragic but happy one for the actress. She felt time had passed her by and was unable to deal with the fact see was a relic of her own prime. To have her prime and happiness back, while creepy, is a little heart-warming. As time catches us all don't we eventualy become her metaphoricly as time passes us by.
I'd say the ending is bittersweet, which is still uncommon in The Twilight Zone when things finally go sideways. It's obvious that Barbera is unable to move on, but now she doesn't have to.
It was a brutal episode for me. I'm still young, but this sort of thing happens around me quite a bit. People that are even 40 are ignored for many jobs cuz.. they are 40? As if 40 is old lol. They look just as good and strong as 30. I really dont get it. I also dont get China and how they are also obsessed with young actors. They refuse to see american movies with actors older than 40. Should i name like a million famous actors that are even older? Tom Cruise,Brad Pit,Leonardo D, Arnold S... Actors i love and they hate cuz they are old? Its just weird to me. Wanting to just watch young people is weird and unrealistic too. Real life is a mix of all, there is no magical place where people are 25 forever without moms and grandparents.
As someone who has multiple phobias, including cleithrophobia, A.K.A the fear of being trapped, that ending scared the sh*t out of me. However, if she WANTED that to happen, I can't judge her for that, but that was definitely not an ending I'd want for myself 😨😨😨
I love Old Hollywood so this was one of my favorite episodes. I love that Ida Lupino not only gave a great performance but was able to prove herself as a director too. It showed Rod recognized talent when he saw it. Fun Fact: A TZ actor being involved in the production of another TZ episode would not be replicated until 2002 Lou Diamond Phillips who starred in the 2002 episode, "The Pool Guy" and directed "Into the Light."
I just feel bad for Tam and other actors in her field who can't do what they love in these times! Amateur theatre, professionals, TH-cam actors and co-stars, all of them have been put in this horrible limbo. Hopefully we can get back what we love doing soon. Not being able to do what you love sucks so Godspeed Channel Awesome team.
I've been a fan of Ida Lupino ever since the first time I saw her with Humphrey Bogart in "High Sierra"! When I learned she was also the same person who directed a Gilligan's Island episode I looked for any info I could find about her career! Like Bogart, Ms. Lupino started her own movie studio with her then husband; some of their films used to be on TH-cam, give them a view!
As a theatre major and aspiring actor myself and someone who has trouble coming to terms with time and aging and the future I do believe this to be a happy ending for Barbara as I would consider it a happy ending if I were in her shoes. However, I think it’s only a happy ending from the point where the episode ends. If the episode had continued or had a sequel episode I feel like we would get a very different story where we see exactly what Barbara’s wish entails of how her living in the literal past isn’t all it seems to be. Especially because while I believe she had feelings for her former costar. I feel she also had feelings (and possibly stronger than even she realized) for Danny and without him in her past she’d be miserable and wish for him and maybe start doing the same thing she did in this episode but in reverse, where she starts hyper focusing on her “future past” and the life she left behind to get her wish. In short though, as the episode stands currently I do believe this to be a happy ending for Barbara.
a really cool episode that sheds light on many things that go untalked about especially that ending I think it is obvious to most who watch it that it is a sad ending even though she is happy cause her happiness comes from delusion and it serves as a great cautionary tale on perspective and how no matter how insightful you are your perspective is limited and you need others perspective to help to fill in those blanks if you refuse to do so you could end up seeing life in a flawed way that ends up impacting you negatively even if in your mind it is good that to me is what makes this so spooky because it is like having self induced Alzheimer's
What do you think of the ending for this episode? Happy? Sad? Both?
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Both!
It’s kinda a tragedy in the same light as say, Romeo and Juliet: she may not have learned her lesson in “letting go of the past”, but one can’t help but smile at the fact that she did get what she wanted, “living her past glory days” (symbolized by all her guests being her former costars in their past movie roles).
It was bittersweet, in that Barbara finally gets to relive her golden years, but she's stuck in the past of her own making, unlikely never to return to her actual reality. 😔
Bittersweet
It’s more of a bitter sweet. For bitter they lost her, for the sweet, she got her wish
"Bittersweet" is what I would call that ending
Precisely, that's the concise word that I would use to describe it, but at least nobody dies in "The Twilight Zone." 😉
Exactly! She did get what she wanted, but in a rather literal way. (Reliving her past glory by, from the look of things, trapping herself in her old movies.)
Neutral is another term.
@@trinaq a few have died in the twilight zone been actually watching through the original series for the first time all the way through seen a few growing up but missed a lot the one I watched the obselte man the last one I seen so far so is what popped in my head first was about a man in the future where they have to prove they are useful (was supposed to be the pilot I think see the first episode of this series) and at the end he does die but has a really good twist great episode
Tldr: some people die in twilight zone
I was really sad for her because she’s just in a deluded state of granger and mustn’t have had to many things worth holding onto in her present.
I'm so happy that Rod Serling continues to be so influential. I was so sad when he died back when I was a kid, but he hasn't ever really left.
His legacy grows more and more with the passing of time 🙂. Truly a genius ahead of his time.
@@robertswartzer3257 Yes, thank you for your nice comment.
Both him and Gene Roddenberry have left long lasting impacts on things like this. their influences i think will both stretch through things long after we lose recognition of their names.
Cigarettes are a killer
Also a shame that he only lived to be fifty, but smoking three to four packs of cigarettes a day it's not surprising
Is it a happy ending?
For the actress, yes it is. She's now in her ideal world, her version of heaven. She's happy.
I just watched this episide today. It was a surprisingly happy ending. But not for the people in the episode who loved her
Is it though? It feel like people let her go crazy and she start living in her delusional world. Also, she is stuck in a film forever. It is a tragic for her love ones like her agent, maid, friends and families.
@@birdyflamephoenix8187 He costar even basically acknowledges it as happy for her. Even if it's not happy for everyone. But remember. Most of the people your listing had already drifted away or been shut out of her life (only her maid and her agent see her anywhere close to regularly) and she wanted nothing more than to live in those films forever. So where you see her as stuck she would not.
Quandry1 but it kinda sad
It seems like a happy ending for her, but being stuck in a film for eternity may turn out to be like hell.
I took it as their way say she committed suicide, wanting the roles she wanted, unable to adapt to the changing industry and the scream of the chambermaid, with the ending of her happy in her own film, which could be a metaphor as saying she chose to live out her time in a dream then conform to reality if you will.
You seem right but god damn don’t make me cry
It's like a creepier version of A Stop at Willoughby.
Yeah, I feel like the maid's scream only fits if she saw something different and way more horrifying than what was shown to us. Your idea fits very well and maybe the maid found a dead body. For a more Twilight Zone type thing, maybe she saw exactly the moment when the actress transitioned into the film. Otherwise the scream seems too intense to have been about the same thing as what the friend sees at the end.
@@Ilieo-iliei yea that a very interesting point to wonder what the maid saw to make her scream
@@Ilieo-iliei I think her seeing her transition into film is exactly what the maid saw. That shocking moment where the twilight zone took it's subtly supernatural twist that is often so vague and unclear.
I wasn't aware of the episode, and the twist was quite unsettling. Not entirely sure what to think. Great entry.
It's what makes the series great. It is meant to stick and reverberate with you. A lot of themes were borrowed from the original Twilight Zone.
@@mikesilva3868 none of the later renditions hold up; Rod Serling knew how to deliver it; everyone else is just coasting on the name.
Basically the woman never really moved on or prosper her work so she stayed in one place she was truly happy and felt successful while everyone else move on without her
I remember seeing this with my brother and saying “This is a happy ending right?... But why am I so sad???”
Well it is sad in a way cause she gave up her future and the real world to live in a make believe world.
This makes me think on how many shows, usually fantasy or sci-fi action, that do this only for the hero to deny the fantasy for the real world
It's only a happy ending for Barbara. Everyone else might've told her that she could move on with her life, but she was never going to accept that. It's like how someone with a terminal illness might seriously consider euthanasia rather than try a potential cure because they can't be convinced of the cure's potential to work.
Notice how Barbara's former costar seems to be much older than she is, as if he was 40 when she was 25. I wonder if that was an intentional dig at how older men can still get leading roles, but older women can't.
Or how many 40+ year old actors always have onscreen wives and girlfriends half their age! I remember when it was praised that in, "San Andreas", The Rock, was paired with Carla Gugino as his wife who was much closer to his real age, when often he'd have been paired with a 20 something actress. Or shlubby guys with a hot wife in a sitcom (Roseanne being one of the few exceptions to the trope)!
Men age like wine....
pretty sure her costar retired from acting so wasn't getting roles
but I prefer to see it as, we see how she sees herself which is still fairly young compared to how old she actually looks
@@MegaMagicdog Even a lot of men don't keep up their acting careers into their 40's. There are a few but most of them do it when they are young and move on to other things before 40. There's often somebody younger coming for their jobs as well.
@@Shyradder I remember that Jerry, her former leading man, told her that he retired from acting and is currently owning a few grocery stores.
This was a good episode, as i get older the themes portrayed about aging and the want of those bygone times rings true and to seclude yourself so you don't get reminded that the outside world also is aging is a creepy thought, at least for me.
Possibly more relevant now than ever, with so much of our media dedicated to the re-analyzing, re-mixing, and re-making of old nostalgic properties.
One of my favorite episodes. What makes it unnerving is when he calls out for her at the end...shes not looking at the camera directly. She's looking at the room he's in, knowing he's there watching. I love she doesn't look straight forward into the camera and say goodbye to Danny as it could have made it more personal.
_"If Ida Lupino married Don Ho she'd be Ida Ho..."_
-Dinah Shore from Laugh-In
_"If Jerry Lewis married Dean Martin ...there'd be a lot talk."_
-Buddy Hackett, Laugh-In
Lana Turner: WAIT WHAT?! (She's from Idaho)
Can we blame a lady for choosing an idyllic fiction over reality? I sure can't. Have we not all been indulging in worlds bound by the screen to escape these days?
Oh damn
I remember that people were like Barbara Jean during the 1930s. They were trying to escape the harshness of the Depression. Now it's watching our favorite movies to escape the harshness of Covid-19.
I've had moments like today as well as a few in the past
To temporarily escape. Sure.
To never return. That's a hard no.
As idyllic as it may be. It is not real. Batman in Perchance to Dream realized that. Kirk and Picard in Star Trek Generations realized that. Dumbledore said that to Harry in Philosopher's Stone and it was also the message from Ready Player One. The reality is real after all.
They should of asked Bette Davis to do this .
I watched this during Quarantine and it hit me like a sack of bricks
It's kind of funny how many of these hit differently during quarantine; Time Enough at Last, The Lonely, etc.
I’m enjoying this series so much!
Tomorrow’s episode is the one that makes me cry like a baby. Yay!
Marge: It's an ending! That's enough!
Haha, I was actually watching that episode just yesterday, funnily enough! 📺🤣
I've watched all the twilight zone originals a dozen time. This is one of the good ones in my opinion. No matter how many times I watch it, the ending gives me such an eerie feeling. Having me wonder what happens to her existence once the film runs out. And the simple fact I crave my young days as most would and can totally relate to what she's feeling. But is her existence now just on a film reel, forever playing the same thing in an eternal loop. Can one really find peace and happiness in that?
It can be very hard to know what you’re going to do next once your prime is over. That’s something everyone needs to figure out
If you can figure out what to do with yourself next, your prime never really ends... metaphorically speaking lol
@@4megapete Agreed, the theme of aging with grace, wisdom, and humor is explored often in some of my favorite book and television series.
Great to include Tamara!
Is it a happy ending? It's a woman who felt that she no longer mattered in this world and went to another where she did. She may be reliving the same scene over and over but it's one where she is truly happy!
Considering the choices it was the best thing for her.
The message about not living in the past was very much needed for me today. Thanks.
Considering the comparison between this movie and Sunset Boulevard, they're more alike than Walter initially implied. Their ending is fundamentally the same, they both become permanently trapped in their own movie and their past glory, Norma in a psychological way and Barbara in a literal way. Really the biggest difference between the two is that Barbara at least has her agent who is part of the real world, and vainly tries to pull her into it, who wants to help her get better. Whereas Norma 's Max is an enabler who's in large part responsible for her descent into madness by keeping her sheltered in her large glass palace because, while he has a foot in reality, he still suffers the same delusions as her; they're a vicious cycle that never ends, not even when Joe arrives into their lives.
Sorry but I have to disagree on the idea that the endings are fundamentally the same. You basically left out a big part of Sunset Boulevard's ending to make your point. Norma kills Joe after shooting him three times. The police then come to arrest her. This is what cause's her to become delusional at the end. Unable to deal with the murder that she committed, Norma hallucinates in order to escape the consequences of the murder. So the reasons why they become trapped in their own movies and past glories are completely different. Norma basically kills Joe after he pops her bubble of a comeback and being loved by her fans. From the beginning of the movie Norma is clearly unstable and suicidal. On the other hand, Barbara isn't unstable she's just bitter about no longer being popular as she once was. Barbara simply wants to relive her past glories while Barbara still believes that she is as famous as she was back in the day. Barbara murders Joe when that bubble pops and descends into madness as a result. Considering the context, the two endings are very different. This should be more evident when you consider the reaction towards the two endings. I mean no one wonders if Sunset Boulevard is a happy ending like The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine. Obviously, a woman having a mental breakdown isn't a happy ending. On the other hand, the fact that The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine shows a woman being able to relive her past glory literally could be considered ending on a happy note. Whether that ending really is happy is left open to interpretation. Anyways, the point is that the two endings aren't the same as they deal with essentially different themes.
First Bat-May and then Twilight-Tober zone? Oh Walter, you spoil us! You’re quickly becoming the best thing on Channel Awesome.
I used to enjoy watching the twilight zone as a kid with my dad. I remember the episode that first really blew my mind then was the one with a group of people in costumes stuck in a hole and not knowing why. Little me loved that twist at the end 👌
I’m enjoying these more than Bat-May, it gives me a new thing to watch to completion, I’ve seen a few episodes but I’ve not completed it. Many thanks!
Martin Balsam was also in Seven Days in May, a film whose screenplay was written by Rod Serling.
Your doing a great job with this series. I love your segments with you playing as Rod Serling. Absolutely great stuff.
This episode shows the dangers of nostalgia, it’s like a picture plant a plant that uses a sweat smell to lure insects into the pod part of the plant and digest it. The smell of nostalgia can be great but it also can blind you to the bad times we like to forget or suppress. Times that may have been great for us as kids were not great for others and many of us were sheltered as kids. Nostalgia can be fun but we need to remember to make the times we have now great not just for ourselves but others as well, and work smart to make the future better.
Never thought of comparing this episode with a film, thank you.
It's interesting how many TZ episodes that deal with nostalgia for one's past--Walking Distance, The Trouble With Templeton, The Incredible World Of Horace Ford (an underrated gem IMO), Of Late I Think Of Cliffordville--convey the message "nostalgia's fine in small doses but it's a mistake to live in the past; our memories of our past are rose-tinted and not necessarily realistic; it's better to live your best life in the present instead of pining over an idealized past." This is one of the only ones that have someone successfully escaping into the past--although it's the idealized, never-changing reality of a movie. (Well, there is Young Man's Fancy, but that's sort of presented as a flaw in the main character, that he would rather live forever as a child pampered by his mother than embark on a new life with his wife. And A Stop At Willoughby ends with the main character escaping into an idealized past, but it's not HIS past--and it's strongly hinted to be his own personal afterlife.)
I actually know someone who's trying to live in the past. My younger brother. He's miserable, and he wants the world to stay as it was in the late 1990s, or even go back decades before he was born, with gender roles reverting to men being in charge of women (he had to search the whole world to find a girlfriend... in Peru), and he also replays his old video games instead of trying new ones. He's not only stuck in nostalgia, but literally wants it to be policy. It's pathetic, and it's not helping him.
@@daytimesky That's a shame. I hope that for his sake, he can move past that way of thinking.
@@jenniferschillig3768 I'd hope so, but he's been like this for a decade, and now that he's finally found a girlfriend, I don't think he sees anything wrong with his thinking. He's still convinced he's right. The rest of the family walks on eggshells around him wherever they interact with him.
Ahhhh 😭
This episode has always made me cry....
I'd say the ending, for her at least, is happy. She got exactly what she wanted.
I just adore this episode from the first scene to the last. I've never seen Sunset Boulevard, but if it's similar to 16mm shrine I'm sure I would like it. Ida Lupino is wonderful as Barbara (in fact I think she still looks stunning as an actor in her 40s) anything Martin Balsam appears in is great, the series 4 episode The new exhibit is no exception. I've never wondered before if the ending was sad or happy. Always thought it was a very happy ending for Barbara, and where she ended up was in the Twilight Zone
The nostalgia is good when things goes wrong in the future.
So true
It was a great episode (with as happy an ending as it could get with that situation and with that character, in my opinion), and this review was very in tone, thank you!
This is my favorite Twilight Tober Zone because I love the part Tamara plays while wishing her well through the hard times we're all going through. I also remember seeing a Law and Order SVU episode a few times that has a similar subplot with Carol Burnett and Matthew Lillard
Why did this make me want to cry? I am crying right now....
Lol, he said "Tamara's never seen" :P
One of my favorite eps!
I really do find the ending to be quite interesting. In that one person's wish could been seen as weird or unreasonable to another. Yet, even the you can still find some understanding in the idea of the wish itself :) .
It is actually a rather grim ending. Someone who cannot accept the reality their in, so they join a fake one where they experience false happiness. People need to move on from the past and accept the things that are reality. Even if the reality isn't to their liking. Those who cannot move on stay in the past and miss out on so many possibilities for happiness.
Just like Twitter, TH-cam, Facebook, Instagram aka Social Network.
Just like of the one bad endings of Persona 5 Royal. The not accepting reality part.
Is it fake, though? It's confusing exactly what happened to her, and the nature of how it works. I mean I get the show's point, but really, what actually happened to her? It might not be fake to her.
There is another Twilight Zone episode with a similar ending and feel. It involves an actor believing he is the character in a movie that is currently being filmed. He as well as the viewers slowly find out about his messed up life including money and divorce troubles. It ends with him returning to the movie world and everyone looking for him in the real world.
@@paulsorchy1330 - There's several of those themes during the TZ run. Each with their own little twist.
Thanks! These have been a nice change. :'Cameo" from Ms. Chambers brought a smile. Ms. Lupino also did some directing, extremely rare back then. Balsam was a helluva character actor, you knew the scene would always be good.
Wow that smile at the end was genuinely creepy
Very reminiscent of "Number 12 looks just like you". Another very relevant episode today.
Especially how it shows that times have changed for Tamara while still holding to some of the same she was in the Wicker Man Review
6:04 the ending honestly is almost like how when we are kids we can't not wait to become adults however when we do become adults we start to wish for the opposite and want to become kids again out of the hardships of adulthood and the fear of one day dying. This is where most people start to prefer to live more in the past instead of the future because everything in the past was more simpler. However if by choosing to live in the past we start to close off from the possibilities of the unknown future and when we do close off those unknown possibilities we stop growing as humans. The ending of this episode serves as a perfect example of that.
There is actulllly an episode that describes this situation better called "Kick the can"
This is one of the Twilight Zone episodes I remember watching as a kid, I really liked it.
Tvtropes has the perfect name for this: "Esoteric Happy Ending"
Man, this is one of my favorite episodes! I clicked this as soon as I saw the thumbnail. This is my first Twilight-Tober Zone and it was so well made. I loved the ending; great editing! I love the line, "showing
that when someone lives in the past for too long, they won't have a future."
Rita from Doom Patrol? 😆 lol
NICE! I love that you're leaning into a slight re-interpretation of the story to highlight how you understand it. I'm sure filming is really restricted right now, but the effort is appreciated.
Wow this series so far has literally been the best that has ever come out of this channel. Even better than the Fury Road review.
Will we get to Walter's favorite twilight episode soon?
My favorite is "the monsters are due on maple street"
Agreed, I'm excited to see what Walter's favourite will be, and if it's in the first season or not! 😁💙
I have around 5 all time favorite episodes. Masks is one. But two are in the first season alone. Few, overall are nothing special. Just love the writing & especially the scting.
Note: *none appeared in the Twilight Zone movie.*
For me its A stop at Willoughby. Its a great scene with a great twist and is so relatable for anyone stuck in a dead end job looking for an escape. But my favourite episode overall is eye of the beholder in season 2, an amazing nerative with pig people, whats not to love?
My favorite is "The Midnight Sun"
This was one of the first Twilight Zone episodes I watched, I’ve always saw the ending as a happy one, because it’s what the protagonist wanted. In the logic (or lack thereof) of the twilight zone, this is a happy ending. The twilight zone does have this recurring theme of a desire of escapism and depending on the writer that is either seen as fruitless, delusional, or in this case, justified after a time of suffering
I love the Twilight Zone, but I don't think I've ever watched a single episode. I do, however, have every episode of the Radio Drama series on my phone.
I love this episode! It deals with our current situation and plays with it, via a an aging Hollywood star's wish. Good work, all!
I like the play on and homage to the scenes and themes for this episode. Spooky edits with Tamara being caught in the past and appearing in the television lol well done.
I remember watching this show is a child. The Twilight Zone and the Outer Limits were 2 of my favorite shows.
There are many episodes of the show that can be told in a much longer theatrical manner. This one is at the top. Love the ending. Does it make sense? No. Do we know how? No. Is it perfect and perfectly atmospheric? Yes.
This is one of my favorite episodes and every time I watch it, it makes me think of actors who were huge in the golden age of cinema who have passed on before seeing the films of today. Would their reactions be the same as Barbara's comparing the films of the fifties to those of the thirties?
Also I completely understand Barbara wishing she was in another world so to speak, obviously films are just human made productions of time and passion, but whenever I rewatch films I love, I wish I could wish hard enough to somehow live inside them.
I smile when I see a new one of these are out
Great episode, with a great performance by the lead. Loved the ending as well, they didn't cop out and have the final scene be her in a sanitarium, went all the way.
Love this series
Great
Oooh wow. So simple yet so unexpected at the same tune.Love it!
The irony of this is if you look at nowadays, the nostalgia of older movies are so strong, Hollywood is actually pulling these people from the past to show them again, desperate to bring audiences back. Sigourney Weaver is a prime example, bringing her back from her rolls in Ghost Busters, Alien, Halloween, and Terminator. Because of which, these old actors and actresses are just as strong as getting rolls as they have in the past.
I liked this review the moment I heard the word "comedienne." It's almost a forgotten word, and there's no reason for it to be.
I always thought it was pronounced the same as "comedian" with only the spelling being different, like "fiance" and "fiancee."
It is kind of a fun word, but yeah, it's not "forgotten", it's been retired. Like "Actress", there's really no good reason to differentiate, so the term has been dropped.
@@2wingo Or Francis and Frances.
Its good to see you on screen again Walter 🙂👍🏻 - and boy does Tamara pull off the crazy look 😁👍🏻
Remember watching this one!
Next time Walking Distance!
It's both: a "happy ending" because she finally gets her "Fantasy" (which is to return to the past where she's glorified), but it's largely bittersweet for the guy that never really gained the love of the woman he adored, but he does seem happy that, at least, SHE is now happy.
Please do more of those spooky intros and outtros. Please
Really enjoying this series!
"To wishes... and the ones that come true." That's one of my favorite lines from the series. Ida Lupino IS a screen legend, an actress just as capable of directing behind the camera as she was performing in front of it, being a trendsetter for future actress-turned-directors to follow. And Martin Balsam had appeared in "The Time Element" shortly before THE TWILIGHT ZONE got greenlit.
With Go Walter ! You are the REAL NOSTALGIC CRITIC !!
I was a lot more enthusiastic about this episode prior to seeing Sunset Boulevard but after I did and it entered my all-time top 10
I realized this to be the pale imitation that it is. But still, a TZ rendition of Sunset Boulevard is far from the worst way to kill time. Washed out celebrities always have some of the most fascinating psyches to probe and this episode gets the job done.
“It’s sure to be a trip that Tamara’s never seen...”
I see what you did there, and I’m proud of you.
~_~
Thanks for uploading on mt birthday!
Hope you have a Wonderful Birthday! 🎂🎉🎁
@@trinaq thank you!
Happiest Birthday to you 🎂🎉🎊🎁
@@amitverma4203 thanks!
Happy Birthday +Antonio Salieri
Similar premise has also been used in Doctor Who and an episode of Columbo.
Ive felt this way since i was a little kid who saw the 2000s happen
This is a great episode not for the great story of acting but because it is a very relatable episode. Everyone has nostalgia to their past and the older or harder life gets the more we have it. So this aging actress trying to relive her better years and being stubborn to change, we understand that more then other episodes.
Awesome that you covered this episode. IMO, it gets overlooked.
Bittersweet indeed.
While quiet uneasing, the ending is a tragic but happy one for the actress. She felt time had passed her by and was unable to deal with the fact see was a relic of her own prime. To have her prime and happiness back, while creepy, is a little heart-warming. As time catches us all don't we eventualy become her metaphoricly as time passes us by.
I'd say the ending is bittersweet, which is still uncommon in The Twilight Zone when things finally go sideways. It's obvious that Barbera is unable to move on, but now she doesn't have to.
It was a brutal episode for me. I'm still young, but this sort of thing happens around me quite a bit. People that are even 40 are ignored for many jobs cuz.. they are 40? As if 40 is old lol. They look just as good and strong as 30. I really dont get it.
I also dont get China and how they are also obsessed with young actors. They refuse to see american movies with actors older than 40. Should i name like a million famous actors that are even older? Tom Cruise,Brad Pit,Leonardo D, Arnold S... Actors i love and they hate cuz they are old? Its just weird to me.
Wanting to just watch young people is weird and unrealistic too. Real life is a mix of all, there is no magical place where people are 25 forever without moms and grandparents.
Imagine if they re-edited “The Wicker Man” review to include modern Tamara.
As someone who has multiple phobias, including cleithrophobia, A.K.A the fear of being trapped, that ending scared the sh*t out of me. However, if she WANTED that to happen, I can't judge her for that, but that was definitely not an ending I'd want for myself 😨😨😨
I just started watching the twilight zone too
It was a happy ending for her. She got what she wanted and she's happy.
Maybe Tamara wanted to go back to a time when Nostalgia Critic had hair?
Never got a chance to watch original run of twilight zone but i'm starting to see why they were so revered. This episode sounds really bitter sweet.
VERY happy ending! Would love to go there myself lol...
i'm so ready for the next one
I love Old Hollywood so this was one of my favorite episodes. I love that Ida Lupino not only gave a great performance but was able to prove herself as a director too. It showed Rod recognized talent when he saw it.
Fun Fact: A TZ actor being involved in the production of another TZ episode would not be replicated until 2002 Lou Diamond Phillips who starred in the 2002 episode, "The Pool Guy" and directed "Into the Light."
I just feel bad for Tam and other actors in her field who can't do what they love in these times! Amateur theatre, professionals, TH-cam actors and co-stars, all of them have been put in this horrible limbo. Hopefully we can get back what we love doing soon. Not being able to do what you love sucks so Godspeed Channel Awesome team.
Loving this series 👍👍
I say the ending, is grimishly happy
Ida Lupino was probably one of the only female directors of this show, later directing "The Masks" from a later season. 🎭😻
My fav TZ episode of all time! 💜
That mask episode freaked me out when I first saw it! I was 14 though haha
huh. almost as if Walter said this in the video
Pretty cool start of the Episode
I've been a fan of Ida Lupino ever since the first time I saw her with Humphrey Bogart in "High Sierra"! When I learned she was also the same person who directed a Gilligan's Island episode I looked for any info I could find about her career! Like Bogart, Ms. Lupino started her own movie studio with her then husband; some of their films used to be on TH-cam, give them a view!
As a theatre major and aspiring actor myself and someone who has trouble coming to terms with time and aging and the future I do believe this to be a happy ending for Barbara as I would consider it a happy ending if I were in her shoes. However, I think it’s only a happy ending from the point where the episode ends. If the episode had continued or had a sequel episode I feel like we would get a very different story where we see exactly what Barbara’s wish entails of how her living in the literal past isn’t all it seems to be. Especially because while I believe she had feelings for her former costar. I feel she also had feelings (and possibly stronger than even she realized) for Danny and without him in her past she’d be miserable and wish for him and maybe start doing the same thing she did in this episode but in reverse, where she starts hyper focusing on her “future past” and the life she left behind to get her wish. In short though, as the episode stands currently I do believe this to be a happy ending for Barbara.
a really cool episode that sheds light on many things that go untalked about especially that ending I think it is obvious to most who watch it that it is a sad ending even though she is happy cause her happiness comes from delusion and it serves as a great cautionary tale on perspective and how no matter how insightful you are your perspective is limited and you need others perspective to help to fill in those blanks if you refuse to do so you could end up seeing life in a flawed way that ends up impacting you negatively even if in your mind it is good that to me is what makes this so spooky because it is like having self induced Alzheimer's