Night Gallery (TV Series) Room with a View/The Little Black Bag/The Nature of the Enemy (1970) User Reviews

I Got a Candy Apple/I Got a Chocolate Bar/I Got a Rock

[chrstphrtully · 6/10 · 27 November 2018]

Like the paraphrased reference to Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin, this episode brings two very good entries, and a dud.

"Room With a View" (7 stars out of 10)

While the vast majority of Night Gallery's shorter segments tended to be unfunny flops, Room With a View is a happy exception, one that would be just as at home on Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Night Gallery. Much of the credit for this must go to Dresner's clever script construction, and Wiseman's performance. Dresner's intriguing use of obtuse insinuation, with the edge smoothed down by Wiseman's alternatingly grumpy and faux-nebbishy performance, makes his manipulation of Keaton's character fun to watch. Indeed, half of the fun of this episode is trying to guess which string Wiseman is going to pull next.

"The Little Black Bag" (9 stars out of 10)

Kornbluth's story of near redemption quashed by greed has been adapted several times before, but never quite as effectively as in this segment. Rather than using the greedy wife/daughter as a counterpoint for the down-and-out doctor, in his two derelicts, Serling effectively offset the man with the ability to see his potential redemption against the one who is so far gone as not to care about it. The performances of Meredith and Wills are essential here: you can almost see the life and confidence flood back into Meredith's body and face as he uses the futuristic black bag to recover his lost art, whereas Wills' body language evolves from shambling drunk to a threatening, almost bear-like presence as the story progresses.

Serling's script easily fits this story into his more familiar Twilight Zone style, and this enhances the power and tragedy of the story. Szwarc's direction is also extremely effective, particularly in the scenes where Meredith reassumes his role as a doctor, and where Wills decides to step in.

Segments like The Little Black Bag understandably give the impression that the series as a whole could have been a triumph on the order of The Twilight Zone.

"The Nature of the Enemy" (2 stars out of 10)

The first clunker of the series, this episode strongly suggests that Serling either lost interest in the story half way through, or was trying to play it for comedy (never his strong suit). The story is only mildly interesting for the first two thirds, leaving the viewer to hope there is a knockout ending to pull it over the finish line. Unfortunately, the "twist" is so unfathomably stupid that the natural viewer reaction is less of a laugh or a "wow", than an "oh, come on!" While Campanella manages to retain his dignity throughout the episode, one has to assume he was watching the equivalent of a green screen so as not to show his disdain for the stupid ending.

Forget the Third Segment

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 22 July 2018]

Divided in three segments hosted by Rod Serling, "Night Gallery" presents two great stories and ends with a terrible segment. "Room with a View" tells a Machieavellian story of manipulation and revenge, with Diane Keaton in the beginning of career performing a nurse easily manipulated by her patient. "The Little Black Bag" tells a tragic story of greed with Burgess Meredith in the lead role. "The Nature of the Enemy" is a totally forgettable short story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Galeria do Terror - Quarto com Vista / A Pequena Valise Preta / A Natureza do Inimigo" ("Gallery of Terror - Room with a View / The Little Black Bag / The Nature of the Enemy ")

Jealousy, Time, & Space Travel

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 11 November 2014]

'Room With A View' - Joseph Wiseman plays an old bedridden invalid who uses his young nurse(played by Diane Keaton) in a cunning plan to get rid of his faithless wife using jealousy as a motive. Slight but effective story.

'The Little Black Bag' - Burgess Meredith & Chill Wills play two bums who find a medical bag from the future, and efforts to use it for good by healing local people end in betrayal, murder, and tragedy. Clever story with a most ironic ending.

'The Nature Of The Enemy' - Astronauts on the moon meet with mysterious deaths. Thin segment with a ludicrous twist ending. First two segments make up for it though.

Mouse on the moon

[stones78 · 19 March 2012]

I'm not terribly surprised by the negative reviews regarding this short episode that Night Gallery is known for, but I thought there were some redeeming qualities, mainly some decent performances by actors Joseph Campanella, Albert Popwell(Dirty Harry), and Jason Wingreen(All in the Family)wasn't that bad either playing a wooden reporter. The first half contained some decent suspense, as a major problem occurs in space and no one knows what the culprit is; there's some interesting communication revolving around missing astronauts between a very wooden and bad acting Steve(astronaut), who's in space, and Simms(Campanella), who's in the control room. The suspicious media have gathered, and both Popwell and Wingreen get some acting credit time, as tension mounts regarding the missing crew; there is a cool scene with both the media and Simms watching as another member screams in space before the video fades, and we still don't know what's happening up there, and we get to see an object which looks like a giant mousetrap on the moon. A few moments later, a member of the ground crew yells into his monitor, as he obviously sees something; unfortunately, the culprit ends up being a giant mouse who's eating the astronauts. I'm all for the unexpected but this a bit of a letdown after the suspense, and if any reviewer on here says they were happy with the conclusion, they're lying though their teeth. If you must watch this short episode, then do so for Campanella's decent performance and a young Popwell before you see him in the Dirty Harry films.

A great Sterling story in between two decent time wasters.

[b_kite · 7/10 · 28 March 2018]

The second episode of Night Gallery consists of three sedgments.

The first "Room with a View" has an invalid husband Jacob Bauman (Joseph Wiseman) who decides to plot revenge against his much younger cheating wife Lila (Angel Thompkins) with the unwitting aid of his young nurse (a very young Diane Keaton) and her chauffeur boyfriend. Wiseman is great as the invalid husband, and its nice to see the beautiful Angel Thompkins from "The Teacher" as well. Its mostly remembered however for a very young and hardly unrecognizable Diane Keaton in one of her earlier roles. Its very dialogue driven, and also rather predictable, but, its short running maybe at just a little over 11 minutes.

The second "The Little Black Bag" features screen legends Burgess Meredith and Chill Wills as two homeless men who come across a medical bag from the future, 2098 to be exact. Wills wants to pawn it for eight bucks, but, Meredith being a former doctor who lost his license wants to use it for the good of mankind after finding out that it has the ability to cure fevers, rheumatoid arthritis, and even cancer itself. As usual the story turns to tragedy as Wills greed takes over. This one was written by Sterling and both Meredith, a Sterling favorite, and Wills who was mostly known for playing in westerns at the time really shine here. Wills also gives some of the best facial expressions I've maybe ever seen on film. The twist is also very satisfying and a bit sad considering what both these men had in there possession and the good that could have come from it.

The third and final story "The Nature of the Enemy" has mission control scientists watching helplessly as members of a lunar expedition are mysteriously attacked by an unknown enemy. This one is the shortest clocking in at only 9 minutes, and was also penned by Sterling. From what I've seen on the internet it gets a lot of heat from fans of the series for its silly final. It actually does a pretty nice job of building up some nice suspense, but, once they show us what the structure is the lost astronauts built, it just gives the whole thing away and becomes rather ludicrous and silly. The final scene is also rather silly by today's standards. However even tho the whole thing seems to be played serious. I've always wondered if Sterling really meant for it to be that way, or if he wrote it tongue-in-cheek.

Overall, we get a great Sterling story in between what are two decent time wasters, watch it for "The Little Black Bag".

What the Future Might Give Us By Accident

[theowinthrop · 6/10 · 13 January 2007]

This was one of the better stories on NIGHT GALLERY. Burgess Meredith is a trained physician whose career went on the rocks. He has become an alcoholic and a derelict. He has a bottle of booze and is drinking the rotgut when he stumbles on another derelict played by Chill Wills (who keeps repeating his name "Heppelwhite" as though it is his last shred of dignity). Wills and Meredith fight over the bottle, and it breaks. Shortly after, near some garbage cans, Meredith finds a black bag. He opens it and discovers it is a futuristic medical device (with an instruction book) that has to be two or three centuries in advance of current medical and surgical knowledge.

Shortly after we see some future figure talking to his bosses over a type of combination phone and radio. He reports that one of the men on his spaceship, during a visit to 20th Century Earth, lost his medical bag, and that they are worried if it falls into the wrong hands what might happen.

Meanwhile Meredith and Wills return to their slum tenement, and they hear that a neighbor has suffered a bad fall and may be paralyzed. Meredith, knowing the current standard of surgery, realizes that the person will be paralyzed if treated at a typical hospital. He checks the instruction book, and sees how to use the device inside the bag to take care of such compound spinal fractures. He goes into the apartment of the injured man, and soon the man is up and about totally cured. Meredith's face brightens. Soon he is taking care of the physical problems of everyone in the building and on the street. He feels wonderful - he's regained his confidence. And he realizes that if he presents the device and booklet at a conference of the medical profession, he might go down in history as a great healer.

What he does not realize is that Wills is growing increasingly angry and jealous at Meredith's great luck. So when Meredith is not looking, Wills sneaks up behind him and kills him. Now Wills can get the credit of the wonderful discovery.

A number of weeks pass, and Wills (now cleaned up and dressed respectably) is holding a press conference in front of the American Mediacal Association. He is talking about the cures the device has produced, and that it will revolutionize the medical profession. Of course, while there have been rumors of "great cures" they were done by Meredith, and Wills barely knows anything about the medical sciences. Then one of the doctor says to Wills, "How do we know if this odd device is even safe to use?" Wills says, "You know if a sharp blade like the one on this device is driven into the carotid artery it will result in instant, unstoppable death! I will demonstrate before you my complete confident in safety of the device by showing what happens when I try to drive it in!" In the meantime we momentarily zoom ahead two or three centuries to our space traveler, again talking to his bosses. He tells them that they have given up trying to find the device and black bag, but that it does not matter - the device's warranty period is up, and now it will simply revert to being a regular sharp cutting knife.

We are shown the auditorium where the demonstration/press conference was going on. Grim faced men are leaving it's doors, and the man who asked the question to Wills turns to another person and says, "If he had to commit suicide, why did he have to do it in front of everyone?"

Chill Wills at his Best

[P_Cornelius · 9/10 · 15 May 2009]

I know that Chill Wills usually played lovable old sorts in Westerns. But his role in this segment is something I've remembered for a long time. Wills could be a first rate villain. Yes, Burgess Meredith's Fall was correct! That look in Hepplewhite's eye! It expressed porcine greed, ignorance, and the threat of violence all at once. Quite a performance, I think.

The segment itself was a good one, too. Question: couldn't the little black bag cure alcoholism? I guess it did, sort of, with Fall. But the doctor would have been wise to apply the cure, if he had it, as quickly as possible to Hepplewhite.

There is one moment that was annoying but also necessary. And it is something that appears to recur in these Night Gallery segments. It's Serling's constant need to sermonize. For that's what we got, one more time, with Dr. Fall. I don't know what was more frustrating, losing the black bag and all its miracles or not being to stop Fall from preaching about the bag's benefit for humanity, all while rubbing Hepplewhite's greedy face in the mud, and, therefore, all but begging for Hepplewhite to strike out at him. But as I say, it was necessary. At least it was for me. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to see Wills' performance discussed above. All done without moving a muscle or speaking a word.

"It really doesn't exist yet, but here it is!"

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 13 May 2017]

As decent as the pilot and the first regular season episodes were, it seemed like the story quality fell off a cliff with this three part entry of 'Night Gallery'. The first one, 'Room With a View', had an ending you could see being set up right from the start. Making it somewhat entertaining was the presence of the ditsy Diane Keaton personality from some of her later Woody Allen flicks. The payoff was entirely expected, and with two shots heard off screen, I'd say she did away with both her fiancé and the boss's wife.

'The Little Black Bag' segment held some promise, but I have to tell you, Chill Wills' bizarre posture standing behind Burgess Meredith made me really uncomfortable; it looked like he might have been stroking out. I can't imagine why he would have been directed in that manner, it looked just really weird. I've seen Wills in a good share of Western villain roles, but this time out he was either scary or imbecilic, depending on the viewer's disposition.

As for 'The Nature of the Enemy', the less said the better. Simply ludicrous. When I saw the giant space rat, it was one of the biggest 'huh?' moments in TV history, and that's saying a lot coming from the guy who brought you both 'The Twilight Zone' and 'Night Gallery'. What was Rod Serling thinking when he signed off on this one?

Three nifty stories

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 24 August 2018]

"Room with a View" - Cranky invalid Jacob Bauman (a nicely grouchy portrayal by Joseph Wiseman) uses his sweet nurse Frances Nevins (a delightful and adorable Diane Keaton) as a means of getting revenge on his adulterous wife Lila (a perfectly frosty turn by the gorgeous Angel Tompkins). While this segment has a predictable outcome, it nevertheless remains enjoyable thanks to the vivacious presence of Keaton right before she became a big star.

"The Little Black Bag" - Two down and out winos stumble across a medical bag from the future with all sorts of advanced items in it that can cure everything from cancer to arthritis. Burgess Meredith and Chill Wills are both terrific in their juicy parts, with Meredith tackling his role of a disgraced drunken former doctor given a last chance at redemption with his trademark delicious relish while Wills nails the greedy and selfish nature of his decidedly unappealing character. The ironic ending packs a strong punch, too.

"The Nature of the Enemy" - The staff at NASA mission control try to figure out what caused astronauts on the moon to vanish. Joseph Campanella does solid work as a NASA head honcho while Jason Wingreen and James Sikking lend sound support as a couple of pesky reporters. Moreover, the deadpan shaggy dog joke premise concludes on a hilariously ridiculous note.

Mostly worth watching for the middle segment.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 20 December 2019]

"Room with a View". A sickly middle-aged man (Joseph Wiseman) with a smoking hot young wife (Angel Tompkins) makes a point of getting to know his young nurse (Diane Keaton) a little better. The reason for this is soon made clear, as this is quite a short segment. Unfortunately, it leads to an underwhelming resolution that comes as no great surprise. This is made watchable by the acting (Keaton is cute and adorable, in one of her earliest roles), but is no great shakes. Directed by Jerrold Freedman ("Kansas City Bomber", "Borderline").

"The Little Black Bag". The lengthiest portion of the episode, this is scripted by Rod Serling himself from a story by C.M. Kornbluth. It's wonderfully acted by old pros Burgess Meredith and Chill Wills, as bums who discover a medical bag from the future that has accidentally been sent back to 1971. Meredith, a former doctor, is ecstatic at what this could mean for medicine, but Wills merely wants to make a bundle. This is wrapped up in a very effective and fun way, recalling Serlings' legendary 'Twilight Zone' series in the way that its revelation is so potent. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc ("Jaws 2", "Santa Claus: The Movie").

Finally, "The Nature of the Enemy". Another very short segment starring Joseph Campanella as a man at Mission Control overseeing a rescue mission on the moon. It's great at stressing the mystery element for a while, until it resolves itself with such a funny bit of business that it makes one think that Serling (who also scripted here) was basically just having a bit of goofy fun. Directed by TV veteran Allen Reisner.

Familiar faces in supporting roles and bits include George Furth, Arthur Malet, James Sikking, Albert Popwell, and Jason Wingreen.

Seven out of 10.

Night Gallery: Episode 3

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 17 July 2010]

In this episode of Night Gallery, ROOM WITH A VIEW, features a bedridden rich man who finds a way to use his cute nurse's(a glowing and young Diane Keaton) jealously to his advantage as it pertains to his scheming adulterous wife and her(and Keaton's)chauffeur lover. In THE LITTLE BLACK BAG, an alcoholic former physician(Burgess Meredith), now a pathetic wino on the street, shuffles through garbage and finds a futuristic medical bag which might bring him salvation. Helping a Puerto Rican kid sick with infection, a dying man(in excruciating pain), an old patient plagued with arthritis, Meredith finds his calling back to the medical profession..unfortunately, Meredith isn't prepared for his hobo "partner" Chill Wills' having other plans. The third tale, THE NATURE OF THE ENEMY(laughably bad)has a second manned mission to the moon hoping to discover what happened to the first crew sent there, discovering a giant platform(trap) designed for "the enemy." In the Rod Serling penned, THE LITTLE BLACK BAG, Burgess once again shines with a twinkle in his eye at the idea of using the medical bag(sent back accidentally in time)to advance his profession for the good of mankind, besought by greedy Wills, mouth agape at the monetary possibilities he could attain. But, the first tale(which probably should've been second after THE LITTLE BLACK BAG)is over before you know it, with the rather typical "wife is sleeping with her wealthy husband's hunky employee" ending in the usual manner expected(husband finds a means to get revenge through the manipulation of his jolly inexperienced nurse who admits that her one flaw is her jealous streak, for which he exploits effectively). I think ROOM WITH A VIEW is notable as an early appearance for Diane Keaton, who just adorable. The third tale(more or less occupying space, pure time filler)ends with a giant creature on the moon, which will likely cause giggles. I think it's already visible that Night Gallery is a far cry from The Twilight Zone in quality storytelling, but every once in a while a tale emerges worthy of praise.

Forget the Third Segment

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 21 July 2018]

Divided in three segments hosted by Rod Serling, "Night Gallery" presents two great stories and ends with a terrible segment. "Room with a View" tells a Machieavellian story of manipulation and revenge, with Diane Keaton in the beginning of career performing a nurse easily manipulated by her patient. "The Little Black Bag" tells a tragic story of greed with Burgess Meredith in the lead role. "The Nature of the Enemy" is a totally forgettable short story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Galeria do Terror - Quarto com Vista / A Pequena Valise Preta / A Natureza do Inimigo" ("Galley of Terror - Room with a View / The Little Black Bag / The Nature of the Enemy ")

Two good ones and one terrible one

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 25 February 2023]

"Room With a View" is an interesting short about how a bed-ridden old man (Joseph Wiseman) manipulates the lives of others. It's short and has the wonderful Diane Keaton in a small role as a nurse. Next is "The Little Black Bag". It's about two hobos (Burgess Meredith, Chill Wills) who find a medical black bag from the future. Meredith wants it to cure people--Wills wants it to make money. It has a very satisfying conclusion. "The Nature of the Enemy" starts off well about two teams sent to the moon to set up camp. They both end up disappearing and (in an unintentionally funny scene) we find out what the enemy is. Hard to believe that Rod Serling wrote it. The only good thing about it is that it's short.

The series takes a sharp turn for the worse.

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 19 March 2011]

For the pilot for this series, Rod Serling wrote all the episodes--and they were all very good. But, starting with the very first regular show, the producers started using other writers--an insane decision considering Serling many wonderful TV and movie credits. The first time they tried this, the episode still turned out to be exceptional (episode 1.1). Can this same pattern be repeated in 1.2 where Serling once again contributed none of the writing? "Room With a View" stars Joseph Wiseman ("Dr. No") and a very young Diane Keaton. Wiseman plays an invalid and Keaton his nurse. Wiseman is upset about his young wife's infidelity and uses Keaton to teach her a lesson. Frankly, this one wasn't very good--little in the way of irony or horror. I'd give this one a 3--simply because it's nice to see Keaton and Wiseman together.

"The Little Black Bag" is a sci-fi comedy episode. Apparently a bag with futuristic medical devices is accidentally lost in the past (1971). What can the consequences be? This stars Burgess Meredith and Chill Wills as winos who happen upon this lost item. If the term 'winos' offends you, substitute the more politically correct term 'job and sobriety-impaired'! Any way, Meredith is an old drunk who used to be a doctor. And, with the help of this black bag of goodies, he's a magical healer. Tune in yourself to see where it goes, but it's a pretty ordinary little piece that earns a 5.

"The Nature of the Enemy" is a short segment starring Joseph Campanella. It has to do with a lost space mission but who cares?! The less said about this abominable short, the better. I'd give it a 0--it's THAT bad! Overall, we have a 3, 5 and 0--showing a sharp decrease in quality from the pilot and first episode.

The Little Black Bag

[paulbehrer22173 · 9 March 2009]

In this segment, adapted by Serling from the Cyril M. Kornbluth short story, Gillings (George Furth), a low-level employee at a time-travel laboratory in September 2098, reports that a high-tech medical bag was mistakenly given a tube number and routed into a time-travel circuit set for the year 1971, and that no one in the facility is able to retrieve the bag. Shortly thereafter, William Fall (Burgess Meredith), a Skid Row wino who once was a practicing doctor before he was brought before a medical review board and stripped of his license to practice medicine because of fee splitting and attempting to perform an appendectomy while intoxicated, all of 20 years ago, and fellow derelict Hepplewhite (Chill Wills, best known for providing the voice of Francis the Talking Mule in the 1950s and appearing in several John Wayne films in the 1960s), discover the medical bag in a back alley trash can. Initially, Fall and Hepplewhite take the bag to a pawn shop, intending to sell it for eight dollars, but while inside the building are met by a mother desperate for someone to save the life of her daughter. Fall and Hepplewhite arrive at the apartment, and Fall checks the diagnostic card describing the girl's condition, which is, of course, a rather nasty lymphatic infection. Fall uses a hypodermic syringe containing a medicinal compound tuned to cure the infection, and the girl recovers almost immediately. Fall and Hepplewhite have a look at the bag's patent date: July 2098, which amazes them both. Fall checks the diagnostic computer's data concerning a specific scalpel, and it says that the scalpel can cure cancer by bypassing major and minor blood vessels and muscles in order to remove the cancerous tissue. Fall then goes to the room of his friend Charlie Peterson, who has a malignant tumor on the left side of his neck, uses the scalpel to remove the tumor, and Charlie descends the stairs with Fall and Hepplewhite, completely restored to good health by his friend's efforts. Another of the residents of the flophouse in which Fall and Hepplewhite stay approaches Fall to ask for treatment of his arthritis, Fall checks the computer screen, and the data presented directs Fall to use a compound tuned specifically to cure rheumatoid arthritis. After that, Fall and Hepplewhite discuss how the bag should be put to use in the future. Fall wants to use the bag in a demonstration before an assembly of the top figures from the medical and scientific fields to exhibit the healing potential of the bag's contents, thus bypassing a century of medical and scientific trial and error, and in the process save countless lives. Hepplewhite wants to use the bag's healing properties for profit, with the proceeds divided between Fall and himself. When Fall refuses to do what Hepplewhite wants, Hepplewhite extracts a scalpel from the bag and, with a wide-mouthed facial expression of greed, advances on Fall with murderous intent. Roughly a month after the incident, Hepplewhite, having cleaned himself up and assumed the identity of his late acquaintance William Fall, holds center stage at a packed hospital lecture hall, asking the doctors and scientists in the audience what their appraisal of his odds for surviving a 3 centimeter deep incision in his neck by a scalpel would be. When one of them responds that Hepplewhite would die almost immediately from loss of blood as a result, Hepplewhite responds, "Then, gentlemen, watch this!" Back in September 2098, Gillings reports that an alert tone given by one of the bag's scalpels indicates that the scalpel was used to commit murder, and deactivates the bag at about the same instant that Hepplewhite makes the 3 centimeter incision in his neck, said deactivation reducing the scalpel being used in the demonstration to an ordinary scalpel incapable of doing any medical benefit whatsoever, resulting in Hepplewhite's fatal undoing by his own greed. As the doctors file out of the hospital lecture hall, one of them asks a colleague why Hepplewhite didn't have the decency of committing suicide at home instead of in public, and his colleague responds that he isn't so sure that what happened before them was suicide, adding that he'd never seen anyone look so surprised at what happened as Hepplewhite looked. The bag and its contents, now reduced to decayed uselessness, is immediately dispatched to the medical waste incinerator, and the markings describing what the incinerator was for provides a telling commentary of how greed can waste a gift. Spoiler alert: George Furth, who played Gillings in this segment, was responsible for scripting the Broadway play Company, which was a huge hit in 1970.

One Good One Out of Three

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 2 June 2014]

I wish we could rate these separately. The first one, "Room With a View," has the lovely young Diane Keaton playing a perky nurse to a bedridden man who does his best to tease and embarrass her. She is engaged to the chauffeur who spends seemingly hours polishing a classic car, shirt removed. The old guy has a beautiful wife played by Angel Tompkins who is also enamored of the topless car jockey. The man knows that his wife is two timing him, and that leads to his game. We see this one coming from a long way.

"The Little Black Bag" stars Burgess Meredith, one of Serling's favorites. He and character actor (mostly in Westerns), Chill Wills, are a couple of winos who are together when Meredith finds a doctor's bag that has inadvertently been sent from the future. Wills wants to sell it to the pawn shop for eight bucks. Meredith, a doctor who has lost his license because of his drinking some twenty years earlier, checks out the bag and realizes that it contains incredibly advanced medical tools. He starts to cure people but never thinks about the money involved. Will wants a piece of the action, disappointed that the doctor isn't making any money on this. He is a mean spirited, short sighted alcoholic.

In "The Nature of the Enemy," a short piece by Serling, a pair of spaceships on the moon have lost their crews. One of those still alive reports back to Houston. The result of this mess is really disappointing. I guess, if you have 8 minutes to tell the story, it's a bit of a hit and run. I expected a bit more.

Murder with Jealousy/ Medical tools of the future/Mousetrap on the moon?

[AvionPrince16 · 7/10 · 31 October 2023]

Review man with a view:

So yeah its basically a story of mens and wives and their relationship: we understand that one man is tired of his wife and seem to search anyone else than her wife to have another relationship and we have that woman who will get married soon. But the talks of jealousy come and we will witness as the man on the bed the terrible scene: the woman get cheated by her future husband and its quite interesting because earlier she said that she was not really jealous but can be angry or something and we got that scene also where the man on bed will tell the wife to sneak in with his gun. And i think its like a organised murder even if they didnt agree before to kill but it was like the man anticipated the women's reaction and refer also at the talks of experience with a woman and the fact that he gives her a gun was a way for him to get rid of his wife. The only thing we dont really know is: who get shot? The wife of the man on the bed or the guy who washed his car? Its pretty implicit but maybe his wife if we go to the logical sense of the episode theme and the intention of the man on bed.

Review The little black bag

So we saw two mens who found a bag with some medical advanced solution because its a bag who come from the future and can cure any illness. But slowly the two partners will get a little bit tense and one of them will have money on his mind and will get really greedy and just killed his partner to take all the money and recognition of the medical work but the medical will not work because of the intervention of the man in the future and we will get an accident with that man and get killed. So yeah everything come back in order and nobody will profit the tools of the future and no money these people will benefit from this activity. And two friends sabotage their relationship for meaningless things. Quite sad to be honest.

Review of the nature of the ennemy:

So its a story of a lost communications with a team when they landed on what it seems the moon but we are kind of confused because we dont really know what happened and we are more confused with that mouse trap and we cant really understand when a Rat come. So where are they? I need to be honest; i didnt really understand that part and it was way too short. But its ok i guess. The end is pretty implicit and let us suggest? I dont really know.

Beware Of Trap

[sambase-38773 · 7/10 · 4 March 2023]

I'm going to start with the final segment because so many reviewers seemed to dislike it or even hate it. I thought it was hysterical. Not the lead up, of course, that was done with the utmost seriousness. But the final punchline left me laughing out loud. It was clearly meant to be a joke on the viewers and a parody of science fiction itself, which can be very silly and ludicrous at time. So I saw this one as a parody of science fiction and as such very effective and funny.

The 2nd segment, about the doctor's bag from the future, I thought was a mixed bag (no pun intended). It could have been a very serious episode, but they chose to play this for laughs. Which is okay, but it takes away some of the power of this very serious subject. I wasn't crazy about the ending either. Wonderful acting by Meredith as always.

The 1st segment was just okay. I'm not a big fan of stories about people who are dying in bed. I mean, who wants to be depressed? I want to be entertained not depressed. But it's okay.

Ending kills it.

[f-ascaso · 1/10 · 8 May 2009]

This "space snippet" was kind of dumb. I guess it was supposed to be a shocker unexpected ending, but IMHO it was just a huge letdown. Joseph Campanella and the rest of the earthbound actors do a great job in this one; their performances are not done justice with such a silly ending though. How this ending could ever have made it through any kind of review by the producers is beyond me. The other comment on here is not correct, the tongue in cheek vignettes only came in during the second season, this thing was supposed to be taken seriously! The producers and writers could have been a little more creative with the ending to do the rest of the episode justice.

Stumble

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 9 December 2022]

Originally airing on December 23, 1970, Night Gallery expanded to three stories for this episode.

"Room with a View" was directed by Jerrold Freedman (A Cold Night's Death) and written by Hal Dresner (The Eiger Sanction) and it's all about a bedridden man named Jacob Bauman (Joseph Wiseman, Dr. No) who learns that his wife Lila (Angel Tompkins, Murphy's Law) is sleeping with someone else. His revenge scheme involves the young nurse (an unbelievably young Diane Keaton) who is there day and night with him.

"The Little Black Bag" is directed by Jeannot Szwarc (Jaws 2, making that two Jaws directors who worked on Night Gallery) and written by Rod Serling from a story by C. M. Kornbluth. It tells the tale of William Fall (Burgess Meredith) finding the medical bag of Gillings (George Furth), a doctor from the future. This same story was also adapted on the show Tales of Tomorrow with Charles S. Dubin directing.

"The Nature of the Enemy" is directed by Allen Reisner and written by Serling from a story by Cyril M. Kornbluth, a science fiction writer who died way too young. The director of NASA (Joseph Campanella) tries to keep control after life is found on the surface of the moon.

The second episode of this series - much like the first - doesn't live up to the promise of the pilot. Soon, though, this would get much better.

Murder, medicine and moon mice.

[BA_Harrison · 12 February 2023]

Rod Serling might have moved from sci-fi/fantasy to the macabre with Night Gallery, but two out of the three tales in this episode feel more like something out of The Twilight Zone.

The first story, Room With a View, sees a bedridden man manipulating his young nurse (Diane Keaton) into killing his unfaithful wife and her lover. It's over before it's begun, and doesn't leave much of an impression.

The second story is very 'zone', not just in general tone, but also because it stars Burgess Meredith, who previously made several trips to the fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. Here, he plays ex-physician turned wino Dr. William Fall, who stumbles upon a medical bag that has accidentally been sent back in time from the year 2096.

Instead of pawning the bag so that he can buy booze, as his newfound acquaintance Heppelwhite (Chill Wills) would like, Fall sets about using his discovery to cure the poor. Heppelwhite realises that the bag is worth a lot more than the eight bucks offered by the pawnbroker, so he kills Fall, takes the bag and organises a meeting with leading medical luminaries to demonstrate the futuristic equipment. In a neat twist, his actions prove fatal when the kit is deactivated by a technician in the future.

The third story is also rooted in science fiction rather than horror and feels like something Alan Moore might have written for 2000AD. Other reviewers don't seem to like the rather ridiculous nature of the story -- astronauts being attacked by giant moon mice -- but I love the silliness of the whole thing, including the notion of building a giant mousetrap to try and kill the oversized rodents.

Give me a break

[whisperhog · 8 May 2007]

Although I could sum this pathetic episode of Night gallery in two words, those two words being "horse manure," I am obligated to write a minimum of ten lines. This is a very sophomoric episode, not worthy of the standards of Rod Serling, but rather an inept attempt at some sort of ironic black comedy. The premise of giant rodents inhabiting the moon, a lifeless orb to be sure, is totally ridiculous, as is the construction of a giant mousetrap. I suppose we are to also assume that the moon is made of green cheese and that is how these absurd creatures survive. I can only assume that this episode was presented as a filler to supplant the other two episodes first aired on that date. All in all, a waste of film, actors and air time.