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: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305772509
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,902 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Twilight Zone: Vol. 20" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Volume 20 of The Twilight Zone DVD collection opens with "Elegy," a first-season episode in which three astronauts are forced to land on an Earthlike asteroid where all of the people seem frozen in time. The only exception is an elderly "caretaker" (Cecil Kellaway), who explains that the asteroid is actually a cemetery where the dead are posed in the posthumous fulfillment of their fondest wishes. This was the third episode written by the prolific TZ contributor Charles Beaumont, and it ends with the requisite twist.

"The Thirty-Fathom Grave" is from the fourth season, when episodes were expanded to one-hour length. The cast includes such TV stalwarts as Simon Oakland and Bill Bixby, but the standout is Mike Kellin, who plays Chief Bell, a crewman on a present-day Navy destroyer who's haunted by visions of crewmates who drowned in a World War II submarine 20 years earlier. When the destroyer investigates a mysterious noise heard from inside the derelict sub, Bell suffers a nervous breakdown, and it remains unclear whether the submarine specters were real or figments of Bell's survivor-guilt-ridden imagination. Although it suffers from slow pacing, the episode is redeemed by Kellin's intense performance.

"A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain" is a fifth-season entry starring Patrick O'Neal as the aging husband of a ruthless gold digger (Ruta Lee). He's hopelessly in love with this unbearable harridan (a dreadful lapse of dramatic logic), so he begs his scientist brother to be the first human to test a dangerous youth serum. The potion works too well, however, and the shrewish wife gets an unexpected comeuppance that's as deserved as it is dramatically unsatisfying. It's far from a classic episode, but TZ collectors take note: this is one of the few episodes to be withheld from syndication, so it's a relative rarity. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Episodes: "Elegy" (Ep. 20, February 19, 1960) - Three astronauts land on a remote asteroid where everyone is frozen in place in the midst of their activities. The only one who moves is the caretaker (Cecil Kellaway), who reveals that they are in an exclusive cemetery where the deceased's greatest wishes can come true. "The Thirty-Fathom Grave" (Ep. 104, January 10, 1963, 50 min.) - A mysterious clanging sound is heard within a submerged submarine--20 years after it was sunk by the Japanese during World War II. A sheared periscope? Or ghosts of the drowned crewmen? Chief Bell (Mike Kellin) reveals a guilty secret that has tormented him ever since that horrible event. "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain" (Ep. 131, December 13, 1963) - An aging man (Patrick O'Neal) desperate to keep up with his much younger wife (Ruta Lee), tries a highly experimental youth serum. To his wife's delight, he is restored to vigorous young manhood, but the worm soon turns when the serum continues its work...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great trip to another dimension!, April 12, 2002

By 

Brian Reaves (Anniston, AL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Twilight Zone: Vol. 20 (DVD)

This DVD has 3 great episodes on it. "30 Fathom Grave" would have been one of those classic episodes that people keep quoting (Like "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" or "Time Enough At Last"), but it was a 30 minute episode that was stretched to an hour. If they had edited this as a half-hour episode, it would have been perfect, but it suffers from too much padding. It's still a good story though. The other two stories are great ones too, though "Elegy" is just a little predictable. Well worth owning though.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More twisted tales from Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone", June 5, 2001

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Twilight Zone: Vol. 20 (DVD)

You will not find a common theme to the three episodes form "The Twilight Zone" on Volume 20 of the DVD collection. "Elegy," written by Charles Beaumont from his short story, finds three astronauts landing on an asteroid and discovering the place looks just like Earth, with buildings and people, except none of the people move. It is like being in a giant wax museum. Then they discover the one animate figure in the place, Jeremy Wickwire (Cecil Kellaway), the "caretaker," who explains the asteroid is a cemetery where people get to realize their greatest wish after they die. He then asks the astronauts what their greatest wish might be. A nice little tale, with Kellaway's performance making it work just fine. "The Thirty-Fathom Grave," an hour-long episode written by Rod Serling, a destroyer finds a sunken sub from which clanging sounds are coming. A diver investigates and hears tapping in response to his signals. Meanwhile, Chief Bell (Mike Kelin), is having a nervous breakdown and finally tells Captain Beecham (Simon Oakland), that he is the reason that sub was sunk during World War II. Bell insists he sees the ghosts of his dead crewmates and that they are beckoning him to join them. Like most episodes from that fourth season, this one would have been twice as good if it were half as long. "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain," written by Serling and based on an idea by Lou Holtz, finds millionaire Harmon Gordon (Patrick O'Neal) using an experimental youth serum invented by his brother (Walter Brooke) so that he can keep up with his gold-digger wife Flora (Ruta Lee). The serum works and Harmon starts getting younger, and younger, and younger. Even given the Twilight Zone, there is a nice twist to the end of this one. All in all, this volume is a slightly above average one in the series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the Twilight Zone is all about, February 21, 2001

By 

gobirds2 (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Twilight Zone: Vol. 20 (DVD)

People confronted by the unexplainable was a major theme of the "Twilight Zone." Those were episodes that we typically enjoyed and wished more of. However, be careful what you wish for. You may just get it. That's what makes this Volume so good. A SHORT DRINK FROM A CERTAIN FOUNTAIN written by Rod Serling concerns a man who wants to become young again. It features Patrick O'Neal and Ruta Lee and I will say no more! In ELEGY written by Charles Beaumont three astronauts land on a world similar to their own, however everyone is in a trance or are they? THE THIRTY-FATHOM GRAVE written by Rod Serling is an hour episode from the 4th Season. It is a spooky tale, yet told in a matter-of-fact style, about the crew of a Navy destroyer that hears strange tapping noises coming from a submarine that sank 20 years before. Mike Kellin as the haunted chief is excellent giving one of the best performances from the entire series in this underrated episode. This episode also features Simon Oakland, David Shiener, Bill Bixby, John Considine and Conlan Carter (Doc on "Combat"). One of the better DVDs. These episodes look pristine.