Stephen King has a short story called, "Sorry, Right Number", which was made into an episode of Tales from the Darkside. There are some similarities between "Night Call" and "Sorry, Right Number". Keep up the great work, Walter!
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@@jlev1028 At least that one is self imposed misery by 2 stubborn fools that i think it is supposed to be a cautionary tale about toxic co-dependancy (although told wrong)
Poor Elva, you really feel for her anguish and guilt over her dead fiance, and even in the end, she's literally haunted by him saying that he won't contact her again. Gladys Cooper does a wonderful job of conveying her heartbreak, and wishing that she had a happier ending.
"I always do what you say" I love the ending. It's tragic and you feel sad for the old lady but there are also consequences on not listening to your partner and wanting always to be right. It's a reflection to real life couples I know who, one party thinks they are right, ends up being alone because they would rather stick to their pride instead of listening and understanding. The episode is a great reminder to us that we aren't always right
Precisely! I felt that Elva and Brian's relationship was doomed from the start! Had they treated each other as equal instead of one being domineering, then they would've had a happy life together!
I suddenly remember some dialogue from an old episode of American Dad: Hayley: "Roger? You're alive! Wait, are you really dead and I'm talking to you on one of those Twilight Zone phones with horrifically ironic consequences?" Roger: "Oh right, it's past noon, so you're already high. Put me on with the fish."
Now I've suddenly remembered a pub-debate we occasionally had - " Francine or Lois?". Used to slightly annoy/irritate the wimminfolk present. PURE FUN!
That fact at 2:00 has blown my mind. The 80's episode 'Profile In Silver' has an inside joke about Night Call being postponed because of the JFK assassination and includes it in the story? Incredible.
Me too, poor Elva was tortured throughout most of the episode, and the message that women shouldn't drive, or be in charge of anything, really hasn't held up well.
@@trinaq I don't think the message was women should'nt drive was the message. Elva evrlen states the accident wss caused due to her loss of control of the car.
I just felt sorry for Elva because not only did she lose Brian in a car accident on which she caused but lost him again and forever when he told her he will never bother her again! I feel this episode shows us that no one should try to be the boss of their relationship because it would lead to heartbreak.
If I heard moaning on the other end of the phone, I would have assumed it was either an obscene phone call or the person was in agony! Either way, that would freak me out!
You know hearing about this particular episode, I have to give props for the change. Hear me out, I am pretty sure a lot of people hold a similar fear of pushing their loved ones away... So while the situation is sad, it's hugs on that same guilt. I think that's brilliant. It sells the tragedy of the situation all the more.
I loved Gladys Cooper as an actress. One of the reasons I watched The Rogues TV series was because she was in it. Here, the episode works pretty well. It might have worked better had they kept the original ending, but even in the 5th season of EVERYBODY gets just deserts -- including good guys -- it just was too terrifying to have a zombie to come back to life to confront an aged woman. So, I never had any problem with the ending. The changes in the script cause all fault to fall on Elva. It may not be fair, but she instilled the curse herself. Now, she has to live with it. The episode is definitely a highlight of the last season, and I liked it.
I always really liked this episode. To me, it’s a spiritual successor to Long Distance Call, as both episodes have the same premise of someone calling from beyond the grave
Yes. I would’ve definitely enjoyed this episode more if they had left it more vague on whether or not she actually WAS hearing the voice of a ghost or if it was all in her head. The psychological angle they were clearly going for would’ve paid off much more, in my opinion.
This one always creeped me out as kid. For some reason I remembered it ending at the cemetery because that was spooky having the telephone wires going to the grave. I feel sorry for the ghost. Even in the afterlife, he got henpecked.
This episode being tied to one of the most exciting as well as important dates in America history is probably one of the most coolest twilight zone episodes especially when it comes to behind the scenes trivia. Plus that eighties episode of the twilight zone reminds me of a Stephen king book and miniseries 11/22/63 in which something similar happens. As for the episode it’s creepy.
This episode terrified me as a kid and gave me nightmares. Now I find it heartbreaking and bitter sweet because I would give anything to have a passed relative call me from heaven!!!
This was I think going to be one of my top five favorites of this season. It really had this great atmosphere. It was chilling from beginning to end. I honestly felt scared at time. And that ending all that ending oh, it hurt but perfect. This is definitely one of those TZ episodes worthy of being mentioned with the best
The bed-confined lady getting creepy phone calls, as well as the short story's "Sorry, Right Number" title definitely reminds me of the Lucille Fletcher radio play "Sorry, Wrong Number", and even the self-adapted script twisting the main character's motivation is reminiscent of the 1948 MOVIE version of "Sorry, Wrong Number". Also, watch "Sorry, Wrong Number". It's diabolically unhinged.
I once had a very strange call in the middle of the night. It was nearly 20 years ago, and I'd just recently gotten my first cell phone from my aunt. One night, while spending the night at my gramma's, it rang with the caller ID saying "Unidentified Number." I let it go to voice mail (because even back then I didn't answer calls from numbers I didn't recognize), and the resulting mail was a deep voice amidst light static saying, "you've always been my favourite." I have no clue as to what it was about and I never heard that voice again (or before for thar matter), but it was certainly a memorable moment.
If you'd recently gotten the phone number (assumption I'm making from it having been your first phone), it's possible the caller was trying to reach the person the number had previously belonged to--first year of my first phone involved a lot of text messages for someone I'd never heard of
This was my first episode of the Twilight Zone. I remember watching this and "The Shelter" in my 10th Grade English class and instantly fell in love with the series. I couldn't help but feel nostalgic when remembering the twist on my first time viewing. Completely out of left field at the time for me.
When I first watched this, I remember thinking how 'Night Call' was always one of those episodes which could work really well as a black box theater play. If you're a theater kid in high school & wanna show your acting chops, this is an easy one to perform.
The first episode of Doctor Who, An UnEarthly Child, also got pre-empted on that same day and it almost got cancelled because Doctor Who at the time didn't have a fan base to keep it on the air. The producer had to fight with the BBC to get it reaired a week later. So in an alternate Universe where JFK was never assassinated this and An Unearthly Child would have aired on the same day. Also this episode reminds me of an episode of another series I use to watch except there was a very different twist at the end where it turned out the old woman herself had been a ghost the entire time. She had died a few days before the events of the episode even started and was being haunted by her late husband who was simply trying to tell her she was dead. There are hints on rewatch that she was a ghost the entire time but you'd never notice there was anything strange about her if you watch the episode for the first time. It was an episode of So Weird which I highly recommend watching, one of the best Disney channel shows ever made.
Idea for next year: something similar to Twilight-tober zone where you give us the plot and bts of twilight zone episode, but next year, do it with GOOSEBUMPS and the R.L Stines The HAUNTING HOUR episodes!!
This episode is the perfect blend of spooky and heartbreaking, and most of it comes from the leading lady herself. Every time I see it, I still get goosebumps.
This was my very first Twilight Zone episode that I sat through to the end. My dad introduced me to this series with this one and I've been hooked ever since. What an unfortunate ending tho
I love this one. It's so creepy and atmospheric without overdoing it like Long Distance Call does. This and Walter Jameson are probably my favorites. AND Nothing in the Dark. Must like Gladys Cooper's episodes.
In her episodes, Gladys Cooper made a memorable impression of a woman filled with fear and regret as she comes face to face with death. The short story is creepier and ominous but this episode is more tragic and I think better for it.
When I was younger, I was watching a re-run of this on a gloomy winter afternoon. Right after the denouement, the phone rang- and I answered- no one on the other side to respond to me. I freaked out.
Even the freaking review was giving me goosebumps and making me do the scared stiff thing I do sometimes wher eI shrink down and refuse to move or breathe 😅
I remember in high school us reading a play about a very similar premise. A bedridden woman and creepy phone calls. Did some digging, it was most likely the radio play (Sorry, Wrong Number). I'm surprised that not even the Wikipedia page this episode doesn't draw the connection, especially since the original title of the short story this episode was based on is clearly a twist on the title of the original radio play which would have been well known at the time.
Either ending could have worked because we never actually see what the deceased man looks like. If this were remade today I imagine if they stuck to the original ending we would see what he looked like at the episode’s conclusion. Most likely a reanimated corpse who isn’t looking quite himself so to speak after being dead and buried for over thirty years.
I don't see why it was such a surprise Jacques Tournier could direct so fast. He had his start working with Val Lewton's RKO B-horror movies (that were more than horror movies), such as Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, etc. The three rules to these movies were that they had to be 75 minutes, had to cost less than something like $100,000, and had to conform to the title RKO picked. Since going over schedule would also mean going over budget, Tournier would have been great at working within TV episodes restraints too.
That ending is kinda dumb. The twist is fine. It’s just the fact that the guy is like “well you told me to leave me alone so now I’m gonna leave you alone”
This was the first episode of Twilight Zone I ever saw, back in 2004 when I was starting college. I remember not liking it much, but it has a goofy but interesting twist.
This episode really is carried by the camera work and the main actress. I have a theory that the initial sounds she heard were because the connection wasn't fully there. The situation could've been explained earlier but the signal was distorted. It is a tragic form of miscommunication because the elderly lady's actions were valid with the information she knew. I know I wouldn't stay on the line if a man just moaned into the phone, heck no. Another theory is that because since the body is gone, maybe ghosts have a more difficult time remembering how to speak. Vocal cords are gone so got to try something else. I have seen videos of people remembering how to speak after accidents or comas and it is rough.
Honestly the change of the ending made for a better story. It completely changes the narrative and the relationship with the caller. Twilight Zone is always at its best when the twist completely changes the story.
I have to think the woman’s last name also drives home her loneliness and sadness; keening refers to mournful crying for the soon-to-be or recently dead.
I'm from Sweden and Elva is swedish for 11, so it sounds a bit weird for me every time her name is mentioned. Makes me imagine the spirit just dial 11 to get her phone to ring. (I know that he doesn't actually use a phone on his end since the haunting goes by the phoneline itself, but that the mental image I get when hearing it)
It’s kind of creepy to think that the only way for Bryan to have gotten that phone-line after he died, was for his corpse to have gotten-up out of the ground. I wonder if anyone saw and freaked-out about it.
I love this one. Yes it is simple but it should be. Many wish they could talk to their deceased love ones just one more time and she did but didn't know. She was afraid like most people would. I do think the "i always do what you say" line was a bit goofy. I understand it was meant to show her attitude to others hurting her but i think if they just showed they fixed the powerline it could have had a better effect. That she knows the last thing she said to him was to leave her alone and that was the last thing she said to him. I feel the last call ignored the point because he didn't leave her alone and gave that last message. I think her not getting to call him again and regretting her last message would have worked better
Would’ve been more effective if her husband didn’t respond at all on the last night, and she said, “He always did listen to me, and I told him to leave me alone!” while crying. It’s also not very nice to her in general, since she seems to have learned her lesson.
Wasn’t there a similar story that became an often retold OTR episode. Woman picks up her phone and hears someone plotting someone’s murder. She frantically alerts the operator who eventually tells her the call came from inside her own house.
Could you please do these as part of FanScription • What if Disney’s Cinderella didn’t make it to the ball (Disney’s Cinderella 1950movie) • What if Bambi's Mother survived (Disney’s Bambi) • What if Flik and Atta had children (A Bug's Life 2) • The Incredibles vs The Sinister Six (Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Sandman and Vulture) • What if DreamWorks’s Rise of the Guardians 2 happened? • What if Disney’s Tarzan and friends found an unground world with dinosaurs and a lost civilization of people who mistake Jane as a Goddess (Disney’s Tarzan 2) • What if Elsa was the main villain of Disney’s Frozen • Batman vs The Green Goblin • Spider-man vs The Joker • What if The Evil Queen (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937movie) had won? • What if Ridley Scott directed Alien 3
I love this episode for its spectacular use of psychological horror. How did he know her phone number ? What did she not ever change after the car collision ? She regretted her misactions thankfully but I still think her unhappy ending was to a certain degree warranted. How come he never explained who he was ? 25th Of October 2024 4:48 PM Central
Imagine you're in your 70s and you suddenly get a call (or text!) from your 17-year old self asking you "WHY did you (let myself) become such an asshole? DIRECTED BY QUENTIN T. (natch).
