The Twilight Zone (TV Series) The Midnight Sun (1961) User Reviews

The single scariest episode

[Qanqor · 9/10 · 1 July 2009]

This is the single scariest episode of the entire series. But it's not a jump-out-and-yell-boo! kind of scary, it's a thoughtful, prey-on-your-mind kind of scary. But it can definitely haunt you long after you've finished watching it.

I would not rate it as the best episode. In some sense, I wouldn't even rate it as a *favorite* episode-- it's not one of the ones that I enjoy watching over and over again. But it is devastatingly effective at what it does, and for that certainly deserves a very high rating.

As a side-note, it does have one very minor bit of absurd stupidity, too small a matter to damage the episode but still puzzlingly dumb: when the gentleman character arrives, fairly late in the episode, ask yourself this question: Why on *earth* is that man wearing a *jacket*?

"The Midnight Sun" is solid entry in series

[chuck-reilly · 8/10 · 10 December 2008]

1961's "The Midnight Sun" isn't one of Zone creator/writer Rod Serling's best efforts, but it's still a solid entry in the series and features a surprising and ironic climax. It's an apocalyptic tale about the end of the world as the Earth has spun out of its normal rotation and is heading towards the sun. Lois Nettleton, one of television's most versatile and prolific actresses in her day, plays a young artist named Norma who resides in a dingy New York City apartment. As the temperature begins to soar to new levels, she slowly melts away in body and soul. Accompanying her in this misery is a similarly distressed next door neighbor Mrs. Bronson (Betty Garde). Together they await the inevitable until they're startled by a frantic intruder (Tim Reese). He's not an evil guy, just incredibly hot and mighty thirsty. He soon apologizes for his horrendous behavior and bolts out the door in search of some water. Despite the oncoming doom, Norma is still able to figuratively refresh herself by painting snowy ridges, cool running streams and frigid landscapes. The audience finds out at the end of this story that life truly imitates art in more ways than one.

"The Midnight Sun" is directed by veteran Anton Leader and he handles his chores with skill and restraint here. Lois Nettleton recently passed away earlier this year (2008) and was a very well-known face on network television for decades besides appearing on Broadway and in several feature films. This was her only performance in the "Twilight Zone" and it is a memorable one. Her talent and grace on the screen and stage will be missed.

Sweating out the inevitable

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 6 April 2018]

Spunky artist Norma (superbly played by Lois Nettleton) and her nervous landlady Mrs. Bronson (a fine performance by Betty Garde) try their best to cope with an ever-worsening heat wave that was caused by the earth leaving its natural orbit and heading closer than before to the sun.

Director Anton Lender not only vividly captures the fierce unwavering intensity of the harsh and relentlessly oppressive heat, but also adroitly crafts a strong atmosphere of doom and dread. Both female leads do sterling work in their roles while Tom Reese elicits sympathy as a desperate intruder who has lost both his wife and newborn child. Rod Serling's tough script pulls zero punches with the grim premise and concludes things on a hauntingly bleak note. Van Cleave's moody score and the sharp black and white cinematography by George T. Clemens further enhance the superior quality of this harrowing episode.

'Who's left to panic?'

[darrenpearce111 · 10/10 · 13 November 2013]

The words above are spoken by a radio announcer being taken off the air. The announcer has gone off script to say that all is chaotic and hopeless in the killing heat. Images of objects melting in the heat reflect the fragility of our own existence. Sweating and suffering in her slip,artist Norma and her land lady see human life evaporating before their eyes. 'The Midnight Sun' is a compelling short human drama. The DVD commentary by the actress who played Norma(Lois Nettleton) is worth hearing when you've watched it. She talked about acting in this free flowing episode as natural and as 'being'. It certainly does have a different quality to some other TZ that are made up of characters just speaking lines to punch home a moral or a twist. There is a hint to the outcome somewhere in the dialogue but I am not going to tell you where. However ,those of you who choose to watch this again (as all right-thinking people should with good TZ episodes) will notice what I mean.

Superior entry. Lois Nettleton was an excellent actress of film and TV. A must watch.

The Heat

[AaronCapenBanner · 10/10 · 28 October 2014]

Lois Nettleton plays a young woman named Norma who is living a global nightmare as an accident has knocked the Earth out of its orbit, on a collision course with the sun, dooming the world. Betty Garde plays her neighbor Mrs. Bronson, and they are the only two people left in their apartment building, as the city has been evacuated by the population, clogging the highways in a desperate but futile bid to find sanctuary in a cooler climate. The heat only builds as it seems poor Norma is doomed, but all isn't as it seems... Memorable episode with a fine performance by Nettleton and a most effective sweaty atmosphere that builds to a most surprising twist ending, one of the best.

Most gripping and powerful episode...

[dwieselq · 10/10 · 17 September 2012]

Trying to pick a favorite Twilight Zone episode is a challenge…why this one? For starters, the subject matter: the extinction of life and how it could theoretically happen. Similar to the approach of AMC's "The Walking Dead", it puts the viewer in the middle of the horror of an unthinkable extinction event, and showcases the humanity and psyche of the survivors.

But what tips the scales to an already great premise is pretty much everything else --the pace, the mood, the music, the realism of sweltering heat, and most of all, the amazing acting. And the ending is the icing on the cake. Chilling (pun intended).

Keep an icy cold drink next to you while watching this episode!

[mark.waltz · 10/10 · 29 August 2019]

But something tells me after watching it, you'll want a cup of hot tea or cocoa. It's another episode with a twist, and a brilliant one, with great performances by Lois Nettleton and Betty Garde. The lyrics of the Irving Berlin song "Heat Wave" will echo in your mind as the two women try to face the increasing temperatures due to the fact that the Earth, off course from its axis, is getting closer to the sun every day. A painting of a cool waterfall comforts Garde briefly, but with some fascinating visual twists, things change as the two women continuously become a neurotic mess over the pending doom day face from the increasing heat.

Interestingly made before the phrase global warming was invented, this episode is fraught with tension, and the two actresses display increasing worry and fear. Threats of looting and the lack of supplies are other concerns, so it is obvious that this is a world doomed beyond repair. but like most of the classic Twilight Zone episodes, this has a sudden twist and it is a cool one! Garde, the original Aunt Eller on Broadway in "Oklahoma!", has a bit of a fake looking fainting spell, but that's pretty much the only flaw. This episode has been one of my favorites since I was a kid, and the impact hasn't changed over the years.

It's Hot in Here!

[jptreeman · 10/10 · 4 February 2020]

You can feel the heat just watching this. And Lois Nettleton, sweaty, barefoot and in a slip, is very memorable.

Hot in the city tonight.

[BA_Harrison · 8/10 · 28 March 2022]

Mrs. Bronson (Betty Garde) and her artist neighbour Norma (Lois Nettleton) struggle to survive against ever-rising temperatures after the Earth's orbit changes, sending the planet nearer and nearer to the sun.

The basic plot for The Midnight Sun is remarkably similar to the British sci-fi movie The Day The Earth Caught Fire, but the ironic ending to this Twilight Zone episode makes it unique and especially memorable. When it is revealed that the events that we have witnessed have only occurred in the mind of Norma as she fights a fever, it appears as though the threat of imminent destruction for the Earth is over - but this is The Twilight Zone, and writer Rod Serling has a cruel twist in store: the planet is actually heading away from the sun, meaning that in a matter of weeks, it will become totally frozen.

The Midnight Sun benefits from impressive performances from the two women and a palpable sense of impending doom, director Anton Leader making the oppressive, ever-rising heat seem all too real. The final moments of Norma's fever dream are particularly impressive as the extreme temperature causes a thermometer to explode and the young woman's paintings to melt; one can imagine how Norma's skin would start to blister and burn shortly after. No wonder she is relieved when she wakes from her dream to find it refreshingly cool...

What if the sun turned on the Earth?

[The_Void · 7/10 · 25 April 2006]

The Midnight Sun isn't one of the best episodes of The Twilight Zone for me, but even lesser entries in Rod Serling's excellent Sci-Fi mystery series show great invention and imagination, and this is no exception to that rule. The plot follows the nightmarish idea of the Earth gravitating so far towards the sun that the water is evaporating and the climate has risen heavily. Typically, we focus on just one house, in which two women are the inhabitants. The attention to detail in this story is great, and director Anton Leader does a great job of ensuring that the situation is always present. Things such as the fact that the characters find themselves caked in sweat ensure this. This episode carries with it a real nightmarish feel, which is well placed in a tale that sees the world's life blood taken away. The Midnight Sun isn't as surreal or trippy as some of the other episodes in the series, and on the whole it actually feels quite down to Earth; but the image of the sun burning in the sky is certainly indelible, and the way that the characters break down increases the potency of the world that they have found themselves in. The fact that each entry in The Twilight Zone is just twenty five minutes long and yet manages to set out a story that has more substance than a lot of feature length films is stunning, and I've got to say that I've been impressed with every episode that I've seen.

Cancel the Sun-Tan Lotion

[dougdoepke · 16 August 2006]

I sweat just watching this half-hour about Earth slipping out of orbit and edging ever closer to the sun. Whew! Of course with evidence of global warming piling up-- whatever the cause-- there's something disturbingly topical about the premise. Because of obvious budget constraints, the producers have to be creative with the effects of the heat surge, which they accomplish with the nightmarish paintings and dripping sweat. Bringing in the desperate Tom Reese also adds human drama, showing how quickly civilization can lose its veneer under extreme conditions. Certainly no glamor girls in this episode, while the rather comely Lois Nettleton should get a salute for allowing herself to be so thoroughly deglamorized. The surprise ending amounts to a neat twist without copping out on what's gone before. All in all, it's a good little episode that gets us to think about how precariously balanced are even the cosmic life-supports, like earth's orbit.

Top Ten Best Twilight Zone Episodes

[sscohn · 10/10 · 15 May 2007]

I just watched this episode of "The Midnight Sun" again. I can only say that I would rate this episode in the top ten best "Twilight Zone" episodes of all time. There is even an irony -- or a presage or a foreboding twilight zone effect -- for our time today with the advent of global warming! Sure, the causes are different, but no prophesy is perfect, right? Anyway, this episode is in the company of the other top ten best "Twilight Zone" episodes, which include, in my opinion, "The Howling Man", "To Serve Man", "Five Characters In Search Of An Exit", "Twenty Two", "The Invaders", "Probe 7, Over And Out", "A Nice Place To Visit", "Mirror Image" and "Shadow Play". The common thread in all these episodes is the irony and profundity that Rod Serling was best at.

The heat goes on

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 1 October 2010]

***SPOILERS*** With the earth suddenly changing its orbit instead of circling around the sun, its heading straight towards it, that time is running out for the people on the planet as it starts cooking at temperatures of 120 degrees and higher.

One of the few person still left in New York City artist Norma, Lois Nettleton, is trying her best to stay alive with the little water left in her fridge. There's also Norma's landlady Mrs.Bronson, Betty Garde, who's terrified at what facing her and what's left of the earth's population when the suns rays completely roasts the planet and everyone and everything on it. We also get to see the crazed intruder Tom Reese, who in trying to stay alive break into Norma's apartment and guzzles down, as well as pours it on his heat stroked skull, whatever water she and Mrs. Bronson have left.

The intruder isn't really that bad of a guy he just lost is wife and one hour old baby to the heat wave and is only doing what he has to do to stay alive at the expense of Norma & Mrs. Brosnon. It's after finishing off whatever water Norma had left he runs out in the hot broiling streets crazed from the heat never to be seen or heard of again. It's very pourable that the heat finally got him.

***SPOILER ALERT***Just as the heat starts to get unbearable with Mrs.Bronson collapsing and dying from it that Norma suddenly wakes up from her nightmare! And what she finds is that the nightmare isn't really over! It just changed directions!

eh?

[azcdk · 2/10 · 11 December 2021]

The ep started dramatically showing a small tenement house with only a few occupants. A couple with their child leaves and the last 2 neighbors are talking. The older woman mentions that the city will turn the water on for hour a day and that they would announce when. This is important to the story because of the intense heat and usage of water. However, if everyone in the city could only use the water once a day, what do you think they would do? Obviously they would run the water for the full hour, filling containers and bathing etc. In my estimation they would actually use more water for 1 hour a day than they would for 24 hours as a city...because of the panic and fear they were feeling...lolz. The twist at the end was cute though.

Best acted episode?

[kellielulu · 9/10 · 30 November 2022]

Count me in as one that doesn't count this as the best episode or a favorite . I don't think it's one of the stories I love to watch over and over. That said it's possibly the best acted episode of the series. The direction is superb the cinematography amazing for the small sets and time it was filmed. I could imagine an apartment like that in New York. The main character Norma played exquisitely by Lois Nettleton spends much of her time painting . I have always thought it would be helpful to have an ability like that to give one focus and even use as a distraction. She and her landlady Mrs Bronson become increasingly dependent on one another. Norma even paints something pleasing for Mrs .Bronson after painting only the hot sun with the city as the backdrop.

The twist is a whopper the first time you see it . How the weather affects the characters how they look, feel , act and react is so realistic you can feel what they are going through it's not hard to imagine. The sweaty makeup and just the general way the actors carry themselves as the heat grows more intense and practically suffocating.

The actors effectively sell the story.

Hot Enough For You?

[rmax304823 · 8/10 · 1 January 2012]

This is one of the better episodes, tragic as it is. Of course it's not about the earth's orbit circling closer to the sun. (See "The Day The Earth Caught Fire" for a feature-length example of that scenario.) It's about the inevitability of death, which we all face, and about how we spend our last hours.

Lois Nettleton is the only boarder left in the apartment house, the others having left for places like Toronto, despite the choked highways. Nettleton is left alone with her landlady, dripping with sweat, Nettleton running around in only her slip, a nice artistic touch. The landlady, older and with a plain face, is actually pretty good. The role is sympathetic and the actress does a decent job. I believe she may have been Wanda Scutnik in "Call Northside 777" but I'm too lazy to look it up.

Nobody is "bad" in this story. There is a break-in by an ugly guy who swills down some water and shakes the rest over his coarse locks, but he turns out to be an ordinary man stricken with grief over the deaths of his wife and baby.

Mrs. Bronson, the landlady, mentions a waterfall near Ithaca, New York, in which she used to bathe as a child. It's a real site. It's Taughannock Falls, and Nettleton's painting of it is reasonably accurate. It's a pleasant place to visit. I lived in Ithaca for several years, and it's not surprising that the script, by Rod Serling, should mention it since he was raised in Binghamtom, not far away.

The story has a surprise ending which I won't reveal.

The Greatest Episode Ever

[andycycle · 10/10 · 27 August 2014]

First saw when I was a child. So I understood just some of it, but it still left a lasting impression there was something that effects the subconscious, it is a real work of art. When I saw it later as an adult, and understood it all, it held up and there was that one thrilling moment with the thermometer! I also loved the one hour episode about the people experimenting with telepathy(better than it sounds, very haunting) Can never get enough of the Pig People and also the one where every one is forced to have plastic surgery to conform to the worlds idea beauty. Then of course, How to Serve Man. I think one of the scariest ones is with Billy Mummy controlling the town adults

"It was daylight all the time"

[nickenchuggets · 9/10 · 19 October 2021]

It's an established fact that the creepiest tv show episodes or films are based somewhat in reality. If the terrifying thing being depicted on screen is actually capable of occurring, it makes the audience feel that much more uncomfortable. This is probably why Midnight Sun is so creepy. Being one of my personal favorite TZ entries, the episode gets the viewer's attention right from the beginning by telling them that even though it is bright as day outside, it's actually midnight. This is happening because unfortunately, the earth's orbit changed ever so slightly and it is now getting pulled closer and closer to the sun. As a result, nighttime no longer exists, and it's quite literally hell on earth. With each day, the temperature rises slightly. Norma (Lois Nettleton) lives in an apartment in New York and knows that her death is inevitable. More and more people have been fleeing the city in search of a place with water, now a rare commodity. Mrs. Bronson, an old woman living with Norma, shares her dread and frustration. They know the hardest fact to accept is how leaving the city doesn't change anything because it's the entire planet that is gravitating toward the sun, not just New York City. Everyone on earth is doomed. After viewing a painting that depicts a waterfall, Mrs. Bronson loses her mind and then dies. The relentless heat continues to rise, and Norma screams out in agony. Then, it's revealed that the entire episode was nothing more than a dream, but there's a catch. It's freezing cold and snowing outside, and even though Norma is alive, she's awoken to another nightmare. The earth is actually spinning away from the sun, not towards it. This truly disturbing episode is one of Twilight Zone's most unsettling installments because it seems like a real possibility. The human race doesn't have to power to influence which direction the earth takes on its orbit through space, so if a random error occurs one day, nothing can be done. Not only this, but it's well known by now that the earth's climate is and always was changing, which will eventually result in rising sea levels as most of the ice on earth is melted by the sun's rays. Nobody can do anything about this and that's the real sad part. The most disturbing part of this episode is the ending. Norma wakes up from her nightmare of a doomed world but is instead living in another. A question people should ask themselves while watching is whether it's worse to burn or freeze to death. There's also numerous visual effects throughout Midnight Sun that help give the feeling of a brutally hot day, even though days in this episode are now constant. A thermometer breaks after the temperature reading exceeds what it can show, and the painting that ends up killing Mrs. Bronson starts to melt. To summarize, Midnight Sun is another example of something that is creepy because it can happen, and people can't control what the universe decides to do.

A major Twilight Zone twist ending

[safenoe · 10/10 · 29 September 2016]

What an impressive episode this was, and Lois Nettleton (who later starred in the TV series In the Heat of the Night, quite ironically if you ask me) was in top form.

The final line by Mrs Bronson (Betty Garde) was chilling, again ironic given the sun theme. I think Lois and Betty should have been nominated for Emmys for their superb and exemplary roles in a fine episode.

I would have liked another scene to this, how the doctor ends up traveling to warmer climates to live as long as possible. What happened to everyone else, like politicians, celebrities, sports stars, fashion models, media moguls? What would climate change skeptics proclaim?

It's Not Just the Heat!

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 24 November 2008]

I am remembering this the first time I saw it. It is one of those episodes that don't have quite the impact the second time around. I really like this episode because of the irony. As with "Time Enough at Last," I often use this episode for my middle school students to explain irony. I have a problem sometimes with characters stuck in a situation where there is no hope. It takes the fun out of it when you can't combat your oppressor. It's also interesting to me that there isn't more mass hysteria. People are traveling away from the heat zones but will succumb to the intense temperatures in a short time. It's interesting to think that there would be the relative calm. The power plants are still working and people are living their lives out. I think there are a lot of details that would need to be presented in the world portrayed. Still the ending is so memorable after all these years.

Midnight Sun, won't you come, and burn away the pain ...

[Coventry · 7/10 · 22 July 2020]

"Midnight Sun" isn't listed among my favorite TZ-episodes, not even close, and yet it raises another petrifying and thought-provoking "what if..." question. It just proves how brilliant Rod Serling's show was; - when even the lesser favorite installments still manage to leave such a big impression and impact on you. In this disheartening tale, planet earth is doomed, and there isn't anyone who can do something about it. Earth fell out of orbit and now approaches the sun at a dazzling speed, so that every day the heat becomes more and more unbearable. It unlikely, of course, but it could happen... right? When you do think about it, you get scared. Nobody wants to die like this. The sequence with the exploding thermometer and melting painting is genuinely nightmarish.

WATCH THIS ON A HOT SUMMER DAY!

[tcchelsey · 10/10 · 29 November 2022]

True! How many of us kids back in the day watched this episode during a long hot summer... Scary stuff, and today with talk about climate change, it's a certifiable Rod Serling classic. Truthfully, Rod wrote in later years that a lot of ideas came to him from everyday situations. So there's a good chance, one uncomfortable summer day for him may have been the starting point. Interesting.

I agree with the last reviewer, credit also goes to director Anton Leader, who directed everything from cop shows to sitcoms, and with style. He works his magic with Lois Nettleton, in this case playing a young woman seemingly trapped in her apartment building and the horrific situation outside -- the earth reportedly moving closer to the sun! Not quite climate change, but pretty darn close enough.

One genuine claustrophobic tale, which was Serling's specialty, and with great support from veteran actress Betty Garde, playing Lois' faithful neighbor. For all us movie buffs, Betty is best remembered for playing a killer in the classic womens prison film, CAGED. A great supporting actress who should have won an Oscar. Look for comedian Ned Glass as a repairman.

Lois Nettleton should have gotten an Emmy. She is memorable.

You ain't seen nothing yet until the dark comedy ending. You have to chuckle. Rod Serling, like Hitchcock, always had the last laugh. Required TZ viewing for all ages with air conditioning. SEASON 3 EPISODE 10 remastered/CBS.

"Forecast for tomorrow...hot!"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 17 May 2010]

Uh-oh, keep this one away from the global warming crowd. Although about fourteen years after this episode came out, Newsweek Magazine did a cover story about the coming Ice Age. I feel pretty safe in saying that Rod Serling wasn't persuaded by any political agenda in coming up with this story. It was good old sci-fi/fantasy/horror taking over here, with a scientific explanation tied to a shift in the Earth's elliptical orbit. As we eventually come to learn, you could take that argument in either direction. Serling sets up the viewer with deft sleight of hand, then turns the tables with a spin in the other direction. You notice how he threw a gasoline shortage into the mix too? I'm curious to know how he would have written his story today amid global catastrophes like Icelandic volcanoes. You know what else I'm curious about? How did Norma get so much paint on the BACK of her smock?

8-4-22, Kerr CO TX, It's Happening

[janemarym · 4 August 2022]

I was 8 years old when I saw this TZ episode. I will never forget it! Lately I think about it all the time. I look out my window at the searing heat, the glaring sun, the surreal light-just like "The Midnight Sun." Months with almost no rain, day after day of 104 degrees. Everything is dead, vegetation, wildlife. Guadalupe River has 0 flow, no water for animals. Fearful our well will go dry. At 5 pm, total silence, eerie-no breeze, no birds. Not caused by a scientific catastrophe but by us.

Weak.

[bombersflyup · 1/10 · 28 September 2019]

The Midnight Sun is nothingness, going nowhere. A man does wrong, then says he had gone crazy and wants forgiveness and then it all turns out to be the woman's dream. Make a bloody decision and stop backtracking everything.