Twilight Zone noir episodes

[Nighthawk]

I'd like to compile a list of The Twilight Zone episodes that are heavily influenced by noir sensibilities. I know that elsewhere in the area of the boards, Adam gave us these:

"The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine" with Ida Lupino, "The Hitchhiker" with Inger Stevens, "Four of Us Are Dying," and "Steel" with Lee Marvin. I'm sure there are more, but those are the first ones that occur to me.

Does anyone know of any other episodes that seem noirish?

[Juke Joint Jonny]

The Silence with Franchot Tone

[JohnChard]

For off kilter camera work seek out the supreme The Howling Man.

[Steve-O]

I've seen every Twilight Zone. I would even go as far as to say I was first a TZ fan then a noir fan. In the early 80s Channel 38 in Boston would air them every night. I made a point of seeing them all!

There are dozens of noir actors in them; as well as cinematographers and directors associated with noir involved.

Harry J. Wild was the cinematographer for Third From the Sun. Joseph LaShelle lensed the first episode Where Is Everybody? Director John Brahm (The Locket, Brasher Doubloon and many more) directed Time Enough to Last.

As far as episodes that are noirish, the first that jumps out at me is Perchance to Dream (starring Richard Conte and directed by Richard Florey.. .two other noir names)

[Adam Lounsbery]

I, too, was a TZ fan before becoming a noir fan.

I think I always liked black and white cinema (I couldn't get enough of the Universal monsters "creature features" on Saturday-afternoon TV when I was a kid), but I think I was in it more for the stories than for the stylistic elements.

I'm not sure if TZ softened me up for noir, but it very well might have, since I started watching it when I was 12 or 13 and didn't see Out of the Past or Double Indemnity until a few years later.

I didn't know that Harry J. Wild was the cinematographer for "Third From the Sun." That was the first TZ episode I ever saw, and it blew my mind.

[Nighthawk]

I, like many of you, was a TZ fan before I became a noir fan. The inventive black and white cinematography featured in many TZ episodes was always a big draw for me and probably influenced my eventual interest in noir.

So for those other TZ fans, here's a treat--not long ago, someone found some film footage at the University of Kansas in the trash, about to be thrown out for good, and rescued it, sending it over to the Spencer Research Library. The person who uploaded it to the internet painstakingly synched the surviving audio and video footage together. It's an interview, previously thought lost, conducted by James Gunn with Rod Serling in 1970, just a few years before his death. It's a fascinating conversation--totally different from the types of interviews with artists you see today (the chain smoking by Serling being just one of the aspects that sets it apart). It's well worth a watch.

Here's part 1:

And part 2:

[David Bushman]

"Mirror Image," directed by the great John Brahm and penned by Serling himself, is noir-drenched.

[noirton mcgraw]

i too was a BIG twilight zone fan as a kid, i started around 12, saw them all. was always a little scared when the opening music came on. i also was a BIG universal monsters fan, saw every one of those also(we had creature feature here in new jersey also on wnew5 ny, also on sat nights, never missed it).... i guess i started watching noir around 13,14 years old, one of my first was nightmare alley, key largo, kiss tomorrow goodbye, angels with dirty faces, high sierra, they made me a criminal,out of the fog, on the water front, the harder they fall ... wor9 ny million dollar movie.... but anyway, i agree with the mentioned tz noirs, i'll add 'the four of us are dying ' 'dead mans shoes' and 'an unusual camera'

[Adam Lounsbery]

I think I mentioned "The Four of Us Are Dying" in the other thread. Isn't that a great one? It has such a ridiculous premise ... a man who can manipulate his rubbery face to look like anyone ... but it ends up being such a tragic, affecting tale.

[noirton mcgraw]

sorry, i didn't see that you mentioned it... yes, 'the four of us are dying' is one of my favorites and is ridiculous, but a lot of them were ridiculous, but, that was the genious of serling, some were so ridiculous and weird that they were interesting and had a noirish feel to them( except the one with carol burnett) most of them were great for me(also some one step beyond's )

[noirton mcgraw]

here's a few more of my favorites that have a noirish feel to them :' what you need '(with a noir favorite of mine -steve cochran) ..'the fever'(with another noir character everette sloane)... 'the big tall wish'....'the prime mover' (dane clark)... 'a game of pool'....'the dummy'(cliff robertson)... 'in praise of pip'.... 'Caesar and Me'.....

[noirguru]

The TZ episode that has a noirish feel and also is my favorite, Walking Distance (1959) starring Gig Young!

[noirton mcgraw]

i agree noirguru, i forgot about that one, it's one of my favorites also

[cigar joe]

I would say the first that springs to mind is "Dead Man's Shoes".

[Steve-O]

any noir/TZ fan can appreciate that one! http://www.samgambino.com/index.html