MovieChat Forums > The Twilight Zone (1959) Discussion > The Twilight Zone Oscars- VOTE NOW!

The Twilight Zone Oscars- VOTE NOW!

posted 7 years ago by jasonmovieguy (182)
17 replies | jump to latest

Originally posted by me on MoviePilot: https://moviepilot.com/posts/1239602

As a huge fan of the series, I give you my nominees for this legendary show. Feel free to pick winners, add commentary or write up your own list. My official commentary and additional categories can be found on the link provided.

BEST PICTURE
The After Hours
Eye of the Beholder
Five Characters in Search of an Exit
It's a Good Life
The Masks
The Midnight Sun
Monsters are Due on Maple Street
Shadow Play
Time Enough at Last
To Serve Man

BEST ACTOR
Martin Balsam, The New Exhibit
James Daly, A Stop at Willoughby
Jack Klugman, In Praise of Pip
Burgess Meredith, Time Enough at Last
Donald Pleasence, The Changing of the Guard
William Shatner, Nick of Time
Dennis Weaver, Shadow Play

BEST ACTRESS
Joan Blondell, What's in the Box
Gladys Cooper, Night Call
Anne Francis, The After Hours
Maggie McNamara, Ring-a-Ding Girl
Agnes Moorehead, The Invaders
Barbara Nichols, Twenty Two
Inger Stevens, The Hitch-Hiker

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Edward Andrews, Third from the Sun
Sebastian Cabot, A Nice Place to Visit
Robin Hughes, The Howling Man
Sandy Kenyon, The Shelter
Ross Martin, Death Ship
Murray Matheson, Five Characters in Search of an Exit
Jack Weston, Monsters are Due on Maple Street

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jacqueline deWit, Time Enough at Last
Betty Garde, The Midnight Sun
Pert Kelton, Miniature
Muriel Landers, A Piano in the House
Suzanne Lloyd, Perchance to Dream
Jeanette Nolan, Jess-Belle
Pippa Scott, The Trouble with Templeton

BEST DIRECTOR
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Robert Enrico
Eye of the Beholder, Douglas Heyes
It's a Good Life, James Sheldon
The Masks, Ida Lupino
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Richard Donner
Time Enough at Last, John Brahm
The Obsolete Man, Elliot Silverstein

BEST WRITING
Eye of the Beholder, Rod Serling
The Hunt, Earl Hamner, Jr.
Rip Van Winkle Caper, Rod Serling
Shadow Play, Charles Beaumont
Time Enough at Last, Lynn Venable & Rod Serling
To Serve Man, Damon Knight & Rod Serling
Walking Distance, Rod Serling

BEST TWIST
A Nice Place to Visit
A Stop at Willoughby
Eye of the Beholder
Five Characters in Search of an Exit
The Invaders
The Midnight Sun
The Silence
Time Enough at Last
To Serve Man
Where Is Everybody?

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Eye of the Beholder
I Am the Night, Color Me Black
The Obsolete Man
Perchance to Dream
Third from the Sun

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
A Nice Place to Visit
The Howling Man
Judgment Night
Number 12 Looks Just Like You
Time Enough at Last
Where Is Everybody?

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Back There, Jerry Goldsmith
Eye of the Beholder, Bernard Herrmann
The Lonely, Bernard Herrmann
The Invaders, Jerry Goldsmith
A Stop at Willoughby, Nathan Scott
Walking Distance, Bernard Herrmann

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain
Back There
The Chaser
I Dream of Genie
Miniature
The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine

BEST LIGHTING EFFECTS
Eye of the Beholder
Five Characters in Search of an Exit
The Invaders
The Purple Testament
Third from the Sun
The Trade-Ins
The Trouble with Templeton

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Deaths-Head Revisited
Eye of the Beholder
The Howling Man
The Long Morrow
The Masks
The New Exhibit

BEST FILM EDITING
The After Hours
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
A Stop at Willoughby
The Parallel
Shadow Play
Time Enough at Last
What You Need

[–] AngularTurnip (3337) 7 years ago

What about Best Director?

Anyway, here are my pics:

Best Picture: The After Hours
Best Actor: Jack Klugman, In Praise of Pip
Best Actress: Anne Francis, The After Hours
Best Supporting Actor: Murray Matheson, Five Characters in Search of an Exit
Best Supporting Actress: Suzanne Lloyd, Perchance To Dream

[–] jasonmovieguy (182) 7 years ago

Hey great picks! Sorry- for some reason this board will only allow for so much text until it's cut off. Ditto for lack of HTML bold and italics; I was trying to make the presentation a little more rich. If you go to the link, all my nominees are there. I LOVE the After Hours too! It's beyond creepy, and also richly done.

[–] AngularTurnip (3337) 7 years ago

And it also leaves a lot to the imagination --like how a non-existent floor is even accessible -- that really underscores the nightmare logic of it all.

[–] jasonmovieguy (182) 7 years ago

Oh absolutely. I have been catching up on Twilight Zone episodes again on Netflix, and also own the DVD collection. Ever since IMDB took the boards away, I was so glad to find MovieChat had a way to rebirth the conversation. I see you contribute a lot on the series, that's great.

I made these list of nominees a few years ago, so wanted to reupload them!

In Praise of Pip really got to me too- Klugman's performance is so heartbreaking. But it's also a very surreal and haunting storyline, that adds to the juiciness. In fact- all your picks for the acting winners are wonderful because they all bare a similar theme to atmosphere; dark, gloomy, mysterious.

[–] AngularTurnip (3337) 7 years ago

I like the subtlety of "In Praise of Pip" too. It doesn't spell things out, which wasn't always the case with a Serling-scripted episode. It leaves it up to the viewer to decide if a supernatural element was even present, a decision I really appreciate. I'm not often a fan of the sappier episodes but this one has enough grit and hopelessness to appeal to my cynical outlook. And Klugman gives a performance for the ages. I think I like his work in "A Game of Pool" and "Death Ship" more (that might just be because I think I prefer those episodes to "Pip a bit more) but all his performances in "TZ" are uniformly excellent anyway so I certainly don't begrudge your choice here.

[–] kr-1959 (110) 7 years ago

Great idea!

BEST PICTURE:
"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" - no contest for me. I think it is the essence of everything a TZ episode should be.

BEST ACTOR:
Burgess Meredith. I don't like the episode as much as some do, but his performance is undeniably great.

BEST ACTRESS:
Gladys Cooper. It'll always be Gladys for me.

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Sebastian Cabot. He played an angel and a devil to perfection.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Jeanette Nolan. I just love Jeanette Nolan.

BEST DIRECTOR:
Robert Enrico. Truly a beautifully filmed episode.

[–] AngularTurnip (3337) 7 years ago

As much as I agree with you that Robert Enrico did amazing work does "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge" really qualify as a "Twilight Zone"? It was made by different people after all.

[–] kr-1959 (110) 7 years ago

I considered that, in which case I would have chosen "Eye of the Beholer", but it did air as a Twilight Zone episode, so I counted it.

[–] AngularTurnip (3337) 7 years ago

For Best Director I'd probably go with Robert Stevens who directed the hell out of "Walking Distance" and "Where is Everybody?"

[–] kr-1959 (110) 7 years ago

Ah, good choice with "Walking Distance". There's just too many to choose!

[–] JR-TV (102) 7 years ago

Best Picture: The Hitch-Hiker (Write-in)
Best Actor: Martin Balsam, The New Exhibit
Best Actress: Inger Stevens, The Hitch-Hiker (Write-in)
Best Supporting Actor: Sebastian Cabot, A Nice Place to Visit
Best Supporting Actress: Jeanette Nolan, Jess-Belle
Best Director: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Richard Donner

I can't believe you didn't mention "The Hitch-Hiker"! My favorite episode! Some of the best acting, writing and directing of the whole series.

[–] Xcalat3 (3748) 7 years ago

BEST PICTURE
The Midnight Sun

BEST ACTOR
Burgess Meredith, Time Enough at Last

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Francis, The After Hours

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sebastian Cabot, A Nice Place to Visit

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Betty Garde, The Midnight Sun

BEST DIRECTOR
Eye of the Beholder, Douglas Heyes

BEST WRITING
Walking Distance, Rod Serling

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Obsolete Man

BEST ART DIRECTION - SET DECORATION
Where Is Everybody?

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine

BEST FILM EDITING
A Stop at Willoughby

BEST USE OF MUSIC
The Midnight Sun

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
A Stop at Willoughby, Nathan Scott

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

BEST SOUND
The Howling Man

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Eye of the Beholder

LIGHTING EFFECTS
Five Characters in Search of an Exit

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE
Monsters are Due on Maple Street

OUTSTANDING TWIST
A Nice Place to Visit

[–] AngularTurnip (3337) 7 years ago

All excellent choices.

[–] jasonmovieguy (182) 7 years ago

Just added Donald Pleasence in The Changing of the Guard in Best Actor. I just realized that was a BIG omission on my part! The problem with MovieChat.org is they limit the word count for how much you can post, so the rest of my nominees are on the link. I'd rather they be available right here. I also am adding The Hunt in the Best Screenplay nominees; what a gem that was! A few other technical categories need altering too. With such rich stories, and revisiting them now on my collection, I grant myself the right to add some contenders- as I'm the sole member of my Academy committee :-)

[–] AngularTurnip (3337) 7 years ago

Donald Pleasance does magnificent work in "The Changing of the Guard." He fully deserves a spot amongst your other Best Actor nominees.

"The Hunt" might just be much-maligned Earl Hamner Junior's most divisive work. People here seem to love it. Others -- like "The Twilight Zone Vortex" -- tear it a new one. It's grown on me -- Arthur Hunnicutt was born to play this role (and it positively shocked me when I discovered he was only in his early fifties when he played Hyder Simpson) -- though Hamner's scripts for "A Piano In The House" and "Stopover in a Quiet Town" I think are just as worthy for inclusion amongst your Best Screenplay nominees.

[–] jasonmovieguy (182) 7 years ago

List has been updated! Acting categories were expanded (adding one additional nominee apiece. I think VERY worthy, too!) And some wiggle room in Best Director and Writing too. Again, for full list of nominees and commentary, you can go to the link :-)

I plan on doing a video homage to The Twilight Zone with these episodes getting the same Oscar-type treatment, with actual highlighted scenes per nominee. Look for that some time late in the year.

[–] AngularTurnip (3337) 7 years ago

What a script "The Lonely" has!