"Nothing in the Dark" is episode 81 of the American television
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
''
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...
'', originally airing on January 5, 1962.
This is one of two episodes that were filmed during season two but held over for broadcast until season three, the other being "
The Grave The Grave may refer to:
* ''The Grave'' (TV series), an Israeli science fiction TV show.
* "The Grave" (''The Twilight Zone''), a 1961 episode of ''The Twilight Zone''
* ''The Grave'' (1996 film), a thriller film
* ''The Grave'' (2020 film), a film ...
".
Opening narration
Plot
Wanda Dunn, a frail and elderly woman, huddles in a dark basement apartment in an abandoned tenement. She is awakened by an altercation outside, in which Harold Beldon, a young police officer, is shot and falls just outside her door. He cries out that he is dying and pleads for her help, but she is afraid that he is "Mr. Death" trying to trick her into letting him in. She has no phone to call a doctor, but he continues begging her to help him, so she relents. She is relieved when she touches him and doesn't die, which convinces her that he is not Death after all.
Inside she explains her reluctance to help him, describing how she saw Death in the form of a man take an old woman's life just by touching her, and that she has seen him many times since then with different faces. Consequently, she has not left her home in years, preferring to live unhappily than to not live at all.
There is a knock at the door and Harold persuades Wanda to answer it. The man forces the door open and she collapses from terror. When she regains consciousness, the man apologizes and explains he is a building contractor and is tasked to demolish the building in an hour. He tries to persuade her that his work is both necessary and good, since tearing down clears way for the new. He affirms that she has been given due notice, and if she will not leave he will call the police. She turns to Harold for help, but the contractor doesn't see him, and leaves to get the authorities.
It dawns on Wanda that Harold is Death. He explains with a friendly smile that he set up the ruse to gain her trust and convince her that he means her no harm. Wanda continues her protests, but he gently assures her she has nothing to fear and finally persuades her to give him her hand. Before she even realizes anything has changed, she finds herself standing beside her own dead body. Wanda and Harold walk arm in arm through the doorway, up the stairs, outside into the sunlight.
Closing narration
Cast
*
Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, (18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Beginning as a teenager in Edwardian musi ...
as Wanda Dunn
*
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
as
Harold Beldon
*
R. G. Armstrong
Robert Golden Armstrong Jr. (April 7, 1917 – July 27, 2012) was an American character actor and playwright. A veteran performer who appeared in dozens of Westerns during his 40-year career, he may be best remembered for his work with director ...
as Contractor
Reception
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
lists this episode at number seven in a ranking of all 156 episodes of ''The Twilight Zone''.
Ranker
Ranker is a digital media company located in Los Angeles. The site features polls on entertainment, brands, sports, food and culture. Ranker claims to be one of the largest databases of opinions with more than 1 billion votes gathered on over mil ...
lists it at number 44.
At the 2014
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California since 1986.
The festival boasts screenings of over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. SBIFF al ...
, Redford stated he has been told by the production company of the series that it is the most often viewed episode of ''The Twilight Zone''.
Sources
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media.
*Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing.
References
External links
*
''Nothing in the Dark'' reviewat ''The Twilight Zone Project''
{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
1962 American television episodes
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 3) episodes
Television episodes written by George Clayton Johnson
Television episodes about personifications of death
Television episodes about death