CTVA Profile - Writer - Rod Serling
Profile - Writer - Rod Serling
(1924-1975)
ROD SERLING: OTHER DIMENSIONS screens July 27 – Sept. 19, 2012 at the Billy
Wilder Theater in Westwood Village, presenting many
rarities and topnotch performances from John Cassavetes, Peter Sellers, Martin
Landau, Paul Newman and many others.
FREE admission on 8/26 and 9/8!
Full event details for the program are below my signature or here:
http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2012-07-27/rod-serling-other-dimensions
An event flyer can be found here:
http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/UCLARodSerling.pdf
Please feel free to contact me with any questions –– and thanks in advance for
helping us spread the word.
Best regards,
Sarah Pham <phamsarah321@ucla.edu>
Public Outreach Assistant, UCLA Film & Television Archive.
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UCLA Film & Television Archive presents
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ROD SERLING: OTHER DIMENSIONS
Friday, July 27 – Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Billy Wilder Theater, Westwood Village
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Friday, July 27, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
SADDLE THE WIND
1958
Brothers and cattlemen in the old West, stoic Robert Taylor and hotheaded,
younger John Cassavetes face off from opposite sides of an ideological chasm: is
the West a place of honor or of violence? Saloon singer Julie London witnesses
their struggle, knowing it must end sadly butwishing otherwise. The open prairie
forms a surprising but fitting crucible for screenwriter Rod Serling’s
distinctive brand of moral drama.
35mm, color, 84 min.
Preceded by:
Print courtesy of the Packard Humanities Institute of the Academy Film Archive.
Trailer for PATTERNS
1956
35mm, b/w, approx. 3 min.
TWILIGHT ZONE: “Mr. Denton on Doomsday”
(CBS, 10/16/59)
Twilight on the prairie. A showdown in a dusty western town takes an uncommon
turn when Fate (himself) plays a hand, lending help to a washed-up gunslinger.
But of course… there’s a twist.
16mm, b/w, 25 min.
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Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
A CAROL FOR ANOTHER CHRISTMAS
(ABC, 12/28/64)
Produced as one of a series of specials supporting the United Nations, writer
Rod Serling’s updating of “A Christmas Carol,” invoking nuclear Armageddon,
presents a flint-hearted, politically isolationist tycoon (Sterling Hayden)taken
on a Dickensian tour by three spirits who enlarge his worldview. A high point is
Peter Sellers (Hayden’s co-star in Dr. Strangelove) as a demigod presiding over
a Christmas seemingly from hell.
Beta SP, b/w, 84 min.
Preceded by:
Trailer for SEVEN DAYS IN MAY
1964
35mm, b/w, approx. 3 min.
Preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive.
INSIGHT: “The Hate Syndrome”
(Syndicated, 5/14/66)
In this rare episode of the long-running religious anthology series, writer Rod
Serling explores anti-Semitism via a dark morality tale about a violent
confrontation between an elderly Hebrew teacher and an unstable former pupil who
has become a neo-Nazi.
Digital video, color, 30 min.
------------
Friday, August 3, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
PATTERNS
1956
Newly hired to a corporate position, Fred Staples (Van Heflin) is horrified to
find he’s part of his boss’s plot to sideline and destroy an honorable but
ineffectual co-worker. Weighing decency and ambition, Fred tries to walk a
humane line, but learns some surprising lessons about being part of a machine.
Among the most gripping and incisive workplace dramas, the film putsscreenwriter
Rod Serling’s characteristically verbal dramaturgy on brilliant display.
16mm, b/w, 83 min.
Preceded by:
LOOK HERE
(NBC, 3/16/58)
In this special television interview, journalist Martin Agronsky captures Rod
Serling in the back yard of his luxurious Pacific Palisades home where he
candidly reflects on the limitations faced by a television writer and the
compromises of working in the Hollywood system.
Beta SP, b/w, 30 min.
------------
Sunday, August 5, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
PLAYHOUSE 90: “The Comedian”
(CBS, 2/14/57)
In this high-intensity, live television drama, Mickey Rooney stars as comic
Sammy Hogarth—beloved by audiences; a terror to his handlers and intimates.
Stopping at nothing to bolster his popularity, ruthless Sammy regularly savages
his brother and whipping-boy, Lester (Mel Tormé) in scathing onstage
monologues—until an emotional dam breaks. Writer Rod Serling crafts a gripping
portrait of the raw egoism so readily applauded in modern life.
Beta SP, b/w, 72 min.
Preceded by:
Trailer for ASSAULT ON A QUEEN
1966
35mm, color, approx. 3 min.
DANGER: “Knife in the Dark”
(CBS, 12/7/54)
In this effectively claustrophobic live television drama, a young Paul Newman
stars as a tormented convict that must decide if he should take a stand against
a violent inmate that murdered his best friend.
Beta SP, b/w, 30 min.
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Sunday, August 19, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
SEVEN DAYS IN MAY
1964
In this tense Cold War thriller, the President of the United States (Frederic
March) is targeted by a powerful Air Force general (Burt Lancaster) after
signing a controversial nuclear disarmament treaty with the Soviet Union. With a
covert military coup of imminent, only the suspicions of a lone colonel (Kirk
Douglas) stand in the way of the catastrophic overthrow of the U.S. government.
35mm, b/w, 120 min.
Preceded by:
Print courtesy of the Packard Humanities Institute Collection at the Academy
Film Archive.
Trailer for THE MAN
1972
35mm, b/w, approx. 3 min.
LET US CONTINUE
1964
The United States Information Agency commissioned this short, produced by Hearst
Metrotone, in the wake of the Kennedy assassination in order to introduce allies
to Lyndon B. Johnson’s positions on major issues. Controversy surrounded the
production when it was leaked that the agency requested the deletion of the
image of a rabbi in the film in order to avoid possible objections from Arab
countries.
BetaSP , b/w, 26 min.
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Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
Preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive.
HALLMARK HALL OF FAME: “A Storm in Summer”
(NBC, 2/6/70)
Rod Serling’s teleplay for “Hallmark Hall of Fame” poignantly examines prejudice
through the eyes of an elderly Jewish delicatessen owner who reluctantly becomes
summer host to an underprivileged African-American youth from Harlem, leading to
a deep and lasting bond following a tragic turn in the boy’s life. Garnering
numerous awards, the teleplay marked Serling’s successful return to the incisive
character dramas that distinguished his early work in television.
Beta SP, color, 90 min.
Preserved by UCLA Film & Television Archive.
WE TWO (pilot)
(CBS, 1972)
Frustrated over a diminishing degree of control on the “Night Gallery”
television series, Rod Serling developed this pilot for CBS based on “A Storm In
Summer” (1972), with a deli owner taking temporary custody of a ghetto youth,
leading to complications when the boy is accused of assault. Serling reportedly
balked at network desires to impose a laugh track, and the unsold, unaired pilot
has only rarely beenseen.
Betacam SP, color, 30 min.
IN PERSON: director Carl Reiner (schedule permitting).
**FREE Admission!
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Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
THE TWILIGHT ZONE: “The Shelter”
(CBS, 9/29/61)
Bestneighbors become worst nightmares, when an imminent nuclear attack sends one
family scurrying to their private fallout shelter—as their erstwhile friends
howl for mercy, then for blood, outside the implacably sealed door.
16mm, b/w, 25 min.
THE NEW PEOPLE (pilot)
(ABC, 9/22/69)
In this precursor to “Lost,” a volatile group of American exchange students are
marooned when their plane crashes on a remote Pacific island. Outfitted with
abandoned buildings for a canceled atomic test, the unsettling locale becomes
home for the young survivors as they are forced to confront their prejudices and
form a new society.
16mm, color, 51 min.
NIGHT GALLERY: “Class of ‘99”
(NBC, 9/22/71)
In afuture society, a domineering professor (Vincent Price) serves as proctor
over a diverse group of college students for a final exam where bigotry is
encouraged and evaluated—with an unexpected twist.
Beta SP, color, 25 min.
Preceded by:
Trailer for PLANET OF THE APES
1968
Beta SP, color, approx. 3 min.
**FREE Admission!
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Sunday, September 9, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
PLANET OF THE APES
1968
Time-traveling astronaut Charlton Heston crashes on an unknown planet two
millennia in thefuture and finds himself in a world run by highly-advanced apes
who treat humans as beasts and slaves. Offering a bracing look in the mirror,
the iconic adventure film is vintage Rod Serling: transplanting social concerns
onto a fantastic future world.
35mm, color, 112 min.
Preceded by:
Print courtesy of the Packard Humanities Institute Collection at the Academy
Film Archive.
Trailer for THE YELLOW CANARY
1963
35mm, b/w, approx. 3 min.
SUSPENSE: “Nightmare at Ground Zero”
(CBS, 8/18/53)
In this eerily atmospheric live television drama directed by Robert Mulligan (To
Kill A Mockingbird), a henpecked artist hired by the U.S. Army to supply
mannequins for an atomic test plots a horrific solution to dispose of his
nagging wife.
Beta SP, b/w, 30 min.
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Friday, September 14, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
THE YELLOW CANARY
1963
Director Buzz Kulik and screenwriter Rod Serling collaborated on numerous
classic “Twilight Zone” episodes and the 1972 dramatic TV special “A Storm in
Summer.” Here, they create high drama around a profligate rock musician (Pat
Boone) on a mission to find his kidnapped son. Estranged from his wife (Barbara
Eden) and most of his friends, the self-centered philanderer must martial his
manhood to solve the crime, put his life in order and save his child.
35mm, b/w, 93 min.
ASSAULT ON A QUEEN
1966
In this Ocean’s Eleven-style caper (with a Duke Ellington score), Frank Sinatra
stars as a former submarine officer leadingsmall band of misfit adventurers.
When the gang’s attempt to locate lost treasure leads them to a sunken World War
II German U-Boat, they recover and refurbish the vessel with an eye to
highjacking the Queen Mary on the open sea.
35mm, color, 106 min.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
PLAYHOUSE 90: “Requiem for a Heavyweight”
(CBS, 10/11/56)
Writer Rod Serling’s virtuosity depicting men under pressure reached its zenith
with this live teleplay, later adapted as a feature film. The drama seethes with
pathos in its portrait of the indignity that befalls a small-time boxer, used up
and discarded by his exploitative handlers. The intense scenario offered
wrenching parts to its leading cast, and coaxed a heartbreaking turn from Jack
Palance as a man cruelly left with seemingly no future.
16mm, b/w, 90 min.
WESTINGHOUSE DESILU PLAYHOUSE: “TheMan in the Funny Suit”
(CBS, 4/15/60)
Comedian Ed Wynn, his son, actor, Keenan Wynn, and Rod Serling appear as
themselves in this backstage docudrama about the making of PLAYHOUSE 90:
“Requiem for a Heavyweight.” As rehearsals for the live “Requiem” falter,
production concerns mount when it appears that comedian Ed Wynn (best known as
“The Perfect Fool”) might be miscast in his first dramatic role.
16mm, b/w, 60 min.
Preceded by:
Print courtesy of the Packard Humanities Institute Collection at the Academy
Film Archive.
Trailer for REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT
1962
35mm, b/w, approx. 3 min.
**FREE Admission 8/26 and 9/8.
**Always FREE for UCLA students with valid I.D.
http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2012-07-27/rod-serling-other-dimensions