Night Call
- Episode aired Feb 7, 1964
- TV-PG
- 25m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
Late-night telephone calls begin to haunt disabled elderly Elva Keene at her sequestered home in rural Maine.Late-night telephone calls begin to haunt disabled elderly Elva Keene at her sequestered home in rural Maine.Late-night telephone calls begin to haunt disabled elderly Elva Keene at her sequestered home in rural Maine.
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Did you know
- TriviaElva's phone number is KL-5-2368. The K and the L are both the number 5 on the phone dial. "555" is an exchange number commonly thought to be reserved by the phone companies for use by TV and movies in order to prevent prank phone calls to real people. In fact, only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are now specifically reserved for fictional use, and the other numbers have been released for actual assignment.
- GoofsThe loose wire laying on the gravestone is not a telephone wire. The wording "type TW 600V" can be seen printed on it. This is used for regular house current circuits of 110 or 220v.
- Quotes
[closing narration]
Narrator: According to the Bible, God created the heavens and the Earth. It is man's prerogative and woman's, to create their own particular and private hell. Case in point, Miss Elva Keene, who in every sense has made her own bed and now must lie in it sadder, but wiser by dint of a rather painful lesson in responsibility transmitted from - The Twilight Zone.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Creepiest Twilight Zone Moments (2018)
Featured review
Not A Party Line
Once upon a time, before cells and mobile phones there was something called a party line, which was a cost effective way for low income people to maintain telephone service without having to pay a lot. The solution was simple: share the expenses (and the monthly charge) with someone else. The only problem would be that one could not make or receive calls if the other person was on the line.
In this Twilight Zone episode, Night Call, the elderly, invalid Elva Keene, who lives alone, cared for only by a nurse, starts to receive phone calls from someone who sounds far away. It's a man's voice but she can't quite hear what he's saying. He tends to call her late at night, when she's alone, and these calls frighten her. As we learn a thing or two about Miss Keene's past we begin to understand her, as we come to realize that she has a bad conscience, and for good reason. These unsettling phone calls are bringing back memories, as she recalls experiences from her youth; and hers is not a party line.
This is one of the few entries in the Twilight Zones series that plays like a pure horror from start to finish. Not a violent or gruesome horror; more like a ghost story. Written and directed by masters, Richard Matheson and Jacques Tourneur, splendidly acted by Gladys Cooper in the lead role, it ends on a note of sheer terror. No axes come crashing through doors, there are no vampires, werewolves or monsters, just an image and no more. Those who keep their phones next to their beds might want to think twice about leaving them on after watching Night Call.
In this Twilight Zone episode, Night Call, the elderly, invalid Elva Keene, who lives alone, cared for only by a nurse, starts to receive phone calls from someone who sounds far away. It's a man's voice but she can't quite hear what he's saying. He tends to call her late at night, when she's alone, and these calls frighten her. As we learn a thing or two about Miss Keene's past we begin to understand her, as we come to realize that she has a bad conscience, and for good reason. These unsettling phone calls are bringing back memories, as she recalls experiences from her youth; and hers is not a party line.
This is one of the few entries in the Twilight Zones series that plays like a pure horror from start to finish. Not a violent or gruesome horror; more like a ghost story. Written and directed by masters, Richard Matheson and Jacques Tourneur, splendidly acted by Gladys Cooper in the lead role, it ends on a note of sheer terror. No axes come crashing through doors, there are no vampires, werewolves or monsters, just an image and no more. Those who keep their phones next to their beds might want to think twice about leaving them on after watching Night Call.
helpful•302
- telegonus
- Mar 4, 2011
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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