Rod Serling

  • Patterns (1956)

    Patterns (1956)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On TV, August 2020) I really wasn’t expecting, as I sat down to watch Patterns, to have such a shining illustration of how things have not changed in business between the mid-1950s and now. Redress the sets, change a few technical details with Internet mumbo-jumbo, and this tale of corporate office intrigue would fit right in 2020. Van Heflin stars as a young executive brought to headquarters after performing brilliantly in a satellite office. His mentor is a high-level executive whose hard-nosed attitudes run against his second-in-command’s desire to reconcile business with humanity. Torn between two influential superiors, the protagonist illustrates the constant tug-of-war between those two contrasting attitudes, with the prize being membership in the Manhattan business community. As I said – Timeless themes, bolstered by a no-nonsense execution by director Fielder Cook, working from a screenplay by the legendary Rod Serling. There’s some interesting examination and cross-examination of business ethics here, somewhat undermined by the eventual epiphany that the only people out of the rat race are the dead. Nonetheless, the script does have a compelling moment-by-moment rhythm to it, and it climaxes in a fantastic (if not entirely realistic) confrontation between the protagonist and his former mentor. We think that the world has changed, especially in offices, but the surprising timelessness of Patterns belies the claim.

  • Carol for another Christmas (1964)

    Carol for another Christmas (1964)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (On Cable TV, January 2020) Calling Carol for another Christmas preachy is not being insulting: it’s being descriptive, and—considering its intentions—even complimentary. It comes to us modern viewers through a fascinating process: Originally produced for television as a Christmastime special, it was the first of a series of TV movies produced by the United Nations to promote the organization’s ideals. As such, it reuses the premise of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol in order to teach its protagonist a lesson. But instead of having Scrooge learn about human kindness in his life, here we have a foreign affairs isolationist learning about the values of dialogue and diplomacy. The ghost of Christmas Past ferries the bodies of dead soldiers and reminds the protagonist to his past visit to Hiroshima. The Ghost of Christmas Present comments on the developed world’s ability to gorge itself while ignoring the hungry and the needy staring at them. Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Future takes us to a post-apocalyptic American town where a demented demagogue (played with relish by Peter Sellers) recites the lead character’s philosophy and remonstrates its idiocy ad absurdum. This last segment gets surprisingly dark (in keeping with the rest of the film, really), and the epilogue isn’t much of a comfort. The preachiness extends to characters spouting statistics and indulging in heated logical combat, as per a rather clever script from Rod Serling. With Joseph L. Mankiewicz at the helm, the film is far better-directed than you’d expect from a 1960s TV movie, further adding to its appeal. Reviews at the time of Carol for another Christmas’ broadcast were sharply divided, with even those who agreed with the message being annoyed at its didactic nature. Then the film disappeared from public view for nearly five decades, until TCM dredged it back up in 2012 for its Christmas special and infrequent broadcasts since then. From a modern perspective, the didactic insistence and preachiness have transmuted into something far more interesting—a time capsule from the cold war that still rings true today, bolstering its message to a degree that 1964 audiences couldn’t guess at. It’s also a fascinating repurposing of the Dickens classic for a purpose that can be re-watched any month of the year, and a collection in intriguing performances from some known actors. (Eva Marie Saint shows up as a WAVE in a short but effective role.) I found it particularly fascinating as part of a look at Peter Sellers’ work, especially with Britt Eckland in a small role. It’s also notable that the film is preachy without being sappy, a partial inversion of the usual takes on the Dickens classic. No matter how you size it, Carol for Another Christmas is a fascinating piece from the archives, and it’s worth a look once, even if it probably won’t make your list of Christmas classics.

  • Planet of the Apes (1968)

    Planet of the Apes (1968)

    ByChristian Sauvé Movie Review

    (Second viewing, On Cable TV, October 2017) The original Planet of the Apes is often used as a punchline these days (if it’s not a reference to the classic twist ending, then it’s about The Simpson’s “Doctor Zaius” musical, the increasingly bad sequels or generally anything to do with a “man in ape suits” standard for bad SF movies) and it does deserve a lot of cackling. Much of the plot mechanics are silly, the overall premise makes zero sense (not to mention anything about the sequels), the thematic messages are heavy-handed and Charlton Heston does chew heroic amounts of scenery in his performance. Still, watching the film today does have a few unexpected things going for it. It’s clearly a big-budget production for its time, something that can be seen in a rather lavish opening sequence. Heston’s character is also surprisingly cranky for a heroic protagonist, and the script does have a few odd zingers here and there. Still, even the most forgiving viewer has to acknowledge that the film has aged poorly. The goofy script (by Twilight Zone legend Rod Serling) is ham-fisted, the production values show their age and much of the film feels dull given how often it goes over familiar terrain. In fact, one thing I did not expect from watching the original film is how much better it makes the 2001 remake look—especially given how I did not particularly like the remake. And this is not even mentioning the far superior 2011–2017 reboot trilogy.