MovieChat Forums > The Twilight Zone (1959) Discussion > Twilight Zone - French Connection

Twilight Zone - French Connection

posted 8 years ago by mickeyone (49)
14 replies | jump to latest

How many ways was there a French connection to The Twilight Zone?

Marius Constant who did the iconic theme music was from France.
Discovered there was another French composer for the series named René Garriguenc.
The episode "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was actually a French film.
There was that goofy guy at the end of "A Most Unusual Camera" (found out his name is Marcel Hillaire and was actually German)

La quatrième Dimension - Bande annonce : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJxW9MviNPc
la quatrième dimension . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibUCeXWXMY

[–] AngularTurnip (3338) 8 years ago

Franchot Tone was Archie Taylor in "The Silence."

[–] doug65oh (205) 8 years ago

Names can sometimes be misleading. Franchot Tone was a native New Yorker. There's no mention of a "French connection" anywhere in the family that I see. Shirt-tail Irish, yes, but French no.

[–] AngularTurnip (3338) 8 years ago

According to Wikipedia he's of French Canadian ancestry.

[–] doug65oh (205) 8 years ago

Okay – here’s the deal: The French-Canadian claim you ran across via Wikipedia may or may not be true. (Wikipedia is like that at times, the big red flag being “citation needed” which is the case here.)

However, you may not mind tossing the alleged (and here presumed) Quebecois connection in favor of a bona fide French connection – which I actually did find in records on ancestry.com.

The real French connection in Franchot Tone’s case comes down through his mother, a descendant of one Paschal Franchot, born somewhere on French soil ca 1774, and as of the 1850 census domiciled in Morris County, Otsego, New York.

Paschal Franchot the immigrant passed away in 1855, aged 80 or 81 years.

[–] AngularTurnip (3338) 8 years ago

Interesting. I never knew that about Mr. Tone's ancestry.

"Five Characters" has the feel of Jean Paul Sartre's play "No Exit."

[–] kr-1959 (110) 8 years ago

Marcel Hillaire also had a small role in The New Exhibit.

[–] telegonus (741) 8 years ago

The first season The Last Flight is set in France.

[–] AngularTurnip (3338) 8 years ago

"Night Call" was directed by French filmmaker Jacques Tourneur.

[–] telegonus (741) 8 years ago

I'll raise your Jacques Tourneur with three from Paris-born director Robert Florey: Perchance To Dream, The Fever and The Long Morrow.

Add The Whole Truth, the used car lot episode with Jack Carson, and a great favorite of mine (and apparently of no one else) for two references to the Battle Of the Marne.

[–] AngularTurnip (3338) 8 years ago

I can't beat that but I will say "Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge," while not made by the folks at "The Twilight Zone," did appear as an episode of "TZ" and was directed by Robert Enrico.

[–] telegonus (741) 8 years ago

I'll do my best from memory:

The French sounding name of Steve Cochran's character, Fred Renard, in What You Need. It's worth a mention that the elderly street vendor's name in the episode, Mr. Pedott, sounds like it could be French, or derived from a French name. Come to think of it, there's a pattern here: the actor who played Pedott, Ernest Truex, also has a French sounding name...

Also, the final season entry, The Masks, takes in New Orleans, during Mardi Gras, no less. Frenchness abounds in that city, especially in the,--ahem!--FRENCH Quarter!

[–] mickeyone (49) 8 years ago

In "The New Exhibit", one of the wax figures is of a frenchman named Henri Désiré Landru. Also, Martin Senescu (Martin Balsam) states that these wax figures were created by someone named 'Henri Guillemant', which also sounds french to me. But I am unable to confirm if this was a real historical person the way Landru was.

In "Nightmare as a Child", little Markie sings "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". I just found out that the tune for this little children's lullaby was appropriated from a popular children's song in 18th century France: "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman"

[–] AngularTurnip (3338) 8 years ago

What about Charles Beaumont? That's a French sounding name if I ever heard one.

[–] telegonus (741) 8 years ago

Two male actors, first and final seasons, had French roots: William Reynolds' (The Purple Testament) middle name was de Clerq; while fifth season's Michael Forest's (Black Leather Jackets) real name was Michael Charlebois, and he was certifiably Franco-American. There's definitely a French Connection in his episode, which also features Shelley (The Donna Reed Show) Fabares in a major role. That's two Frenchies in one episode. Can you think of another? I can't.

As to Charles Beaumont, I'm guessing he was an Anglo Beaumont, which is to say a WASP with ancestry going back to maybe as far back as William the Conqueror. This is certainly French after a fashion, albeit a VERY old fashion, but then so is anyone of British ancestry with a name like Quincy, Olivier, Devereaux, Harcourt, du Maurier, Montague and so many others. But then, as to stretching I think it's fair to sat this entire thread is a stretch, or a series of stretches.