Product Details

• Actors: Rod Serling, Robert McCord, Jay Overholts, Vaughn Taylor, James Turley
• Writers: Rod Serling
• Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: April 3, 2001
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305669392
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,133 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Twilight Zone: Vol. 14" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Volume 14 of The Twilight Zone on DVD is a wall-to-wall tribute to series creator Rod Serling. All four TV episodes represented here are original ideas scripted by Serling himself, with his strengths--and some of his weaknesses--on display. "One for the Angels" was the second episode broadcast in the series and demonstrates Serling's sentimental streak: an aging street peddler (former vaudevillian Ed Wynn) is confronted by Death (Murray Hamilton, bearing a curious resemblance to Serling), but strikes a clever deal to forestall his demise. Ah, but there's always a catch... "The Man in the Bottle" is a variation on the old genie-in-a-magic-lamp number, except that this time the elegant genie comes out of an ordinary wine bottle. Luther Adler plays a bitter antique store owner who learns his lesson in four short wishes. Not much of an episode, really, but the punch line to the third wish is one of those startling twists that stuck in the collective imagination of Zone fans everywhere. The eerie "Arrival" indulges Serling's fondness for aviation stories, as a DC-3 pulls into a hangar with not a soul aboard--not even the pilot. Like many of Serling's tales, it follows the theme of regret, which also hangs heavy in "In Praise of Pip," the opening episode of the series' fifth and final broadcast year, 1963. A two-bit bookie (Jack Klugman) reflects on his wasted life when he learns that his son is near death on a Vietnam battlefield. Although the episode is derivative of Serling's previous efforts on the same topic, this one does provide a glimpse of two actors who appeared frequently on the Zone, Klugman and kid actor Billy Mumy. Klugman's anguished aside about Vietnam ("There isn't even supposed to be a war going on there, and my kid is dying") may well be American popular culture's first, hesitant questioning of a war that would soon bloom into a national nightmare. --Robert Horton

Product Description

Episodes: "One for the Angels" (Ep. 2, October 9, 1959) - A salesman (Ed Wynn) cleverly eludes Death. But if he lives, a little girl must die in his place. Only the salesman's greatest pitch can save her! "The Man in the Bottle" (Ep. 38, October 7, 1960) - A discontented curio shop owner thinks he's finally found happiness when a genie he discovers in an old bottle grants him four wishes. But be careful what you wish for. "The Arrival" (Ep. 67, September 22, 1961) - A plane lands safely, but all its passengers, pilot and crew are missing! When a veteran FAA investigator is called upon to solve the mystery, his own past provides the answer. "In Praise of Pip" (Ep. 121, September 27, 1963) - An alcoholic bookie (Jack Klugman) regrets that he wasn't a better father to his son, Pip (Bill Mumy), critically wounded in South Vietnam. A visit to an amusement park gives them both a second chance.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Wonderful Episodes that Demonstrate Serling's Talent, October 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Twilight Zone: Vol. 14 (DVD)

Any one of these episodes could serve to demonstrate the craft as well as the concern for humanity that always permeated Rod Serling's writing. "In Praise of Pip" is a particulary powerful script and is given a deeply moving performance by Jack Klugman. This and "One for the Angels" are my all-time favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone. The latter has a very touching story and a beautifully-written script. Its protagonist, Lew Bookman (Ed Wynn) is an aging, unsuccessful sidewalk salesman whose gentle yet fun-loving nature makes him popular with the neighborhood children, and in particular with Maggie, a little girl whose life he eventually saves by sacrificing himself to "Mr. Death." I love how Wynn (a former vaudeville comedian -- you may also remember him as the laughing Uncle Albert in MARY POPPINS and as the voice of the Mad Hatter in Disney's ALICE IN WONDERLAND -- and a surprisingly effective dramatic actor) interacts with Maggie; he is like her uncle or grandfather. Some have pointed out that, because Wynn was not a "fast talker," he is unconvincing in his "final sales pitch," in which he distracts Mr. Death and saves Maggie's life. I don't entirely agree with this view. The whole point of the story is that Bookman is NOT a great salesman but is loved by the children, and that this is what matters in the end. So it seems fitting that his delivery of the pitch does not sound smooth and practiced, but desperate, as though he is frantically improvising because he knows he must save Maggie. In other words, Bookman is too soft-spoken to have ever been a good salesman, but for the sake of a child he loves he can muster the energy for an effective pitch. I find Wynn's characterization entirely believable throughout the episode. Watch all four of the epidoes on this DVD. But especially watch "In Praise of Pip" and "One for the Angels" for their stories, their scripts, and their star performances by two remarkable actors, Jack Klugman and Ed Wynn.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars For a Regular DVD Twilight Zone Afternoon., July 14, 2000

By 

CinemaNET - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Twilight Zone: Vol. 14 (DVD)

This DVD features four chapters of the Twilight Zone Series. None of them is really a classic, and all of them are taken from different seasons. Despite that, they really represent the basic concepts that made this TV Show an international and timeless phenomena. In "One for the Angels" (Season 1) meet Death itself about to take a young girl's life, but facing a persuasive door to door salesman. "The Man in the Bottle" (Season 2) is certainly about a genie, but an evil one. "The Arrival" bends the boundaries between reality and imagination for the astonished characters trying to figure out the misterious appearance of a commercial airplane completely empty. "In Praise of Pip" (Season 5) stars Jack Klugman ("Quincy") as a desperate father anguished by the probable death of his son (portrayed first by Billy Mummy -"Lost in Space"- and later by Bob Diamond). All four episodes were written by series creator Rod Serling.

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Dooper !!!, April 1, 2006

By 

Scott D. Martin "Dobbinhouse" (York, Pa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Twilight Zone: Vol. 14 (DVD)

An absolute must for fans of the Twilight Zone. These are the greatst stories ever told. A must have!!