The Twilight Zone (TV Series) Valley of the Shadow (1963) User Reviews

A dandy one hour episode--one of the best

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 9 September 2007]

A man (Ed Nelson) wanders into a small town. Everything seems normal until he sees that miracles can take place in this town--the dead can be brought to life and everyone lives in perfect harmony. The town's leader explains that although they have this wonderful technology as a result of a brilliant scientist from the town, they cannot divulge the secrets to the world, as humans would misuse and hurt each other with these great powers. Nelson disagrees, so it's up to Opatoshu to stop him at any price in order to save humanity.

This is one of the best of the one hour episodes from season four. Much of the reason it's so good is that it was very well written and exciting and I also liked it because it starred one of the better character actors from TV of his time, David Opatoshu. While his name is probably not known to 99.9% of the people out there, his face is rather familiar, having done some wonderful guest appearances on STAR TREK, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and many other series of the day.

'We have machines for so many things but I cant make this feeling stop'.

[darrenpearce111 · 8/10 · 28 November 2013]

The words above are spoken by Ellen (Natalie Trundy), who is telling Peaceful Valley's newest resident that she loves him. Redfield (Ed Nelson) is a reporter who stumbles upon a secluded paradise. Enormous scientific advances have been made for the benefit of this town only.You should feel deja vu when James Doohan sort of 'beams up' a dog.

I like this entry a lot because of the position of choice it puts Redfield in. The case for not sharing the technology with the wider world is put well by the town's mayor. Some very good questions are raised by this story. What would be the worth of a Redfield's novel in a perfect world? Can you live in denial of compassion for suffering humans when you have the answers? Can man ever be trusted with extreme power?

However, these questions are often overshadowed by the ambiguity of the ending. Some call it one way. Some call it another. I will give nothing away, except to say for me it is clear, and for that answer as Shakespeare wrote 'look to the lady'.

How'd I End Up Here

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 21 April 2014]

Once again we have the "stranger in a strange land" motif. Ed Nelson, a reporter, finds himself, along with his dog, in a small town where there are strange goings on. If it were not for the dog chasing a cat and a little girl taking out a device and making the dog disappear, he would have gone his merry way. Unfortunately, his reporter instincts and his own stubbornness cast him into danger. He finds himself trapped in the town with his fate being determined by some sort of town council. Initially, he starts investigating and then later fears for his life. The hotel has no room; there is no restaurant; people act strangely and inhospitably; and a series of events confuse things further. There are some pitfalls in the plot. If these people are so protective of their town and their secrets, why not create a little better facade. It is their overall demeanor that attracts, rather than repels, the outsiders. The ending is also rather surprising because if they had the power they used, why couldn't they have employed it all along. Nevertheless, it is very interesting and engaging.

Nicely done episode, and Scotty, too

[lshurr · 8/10 · 17 December 2007]

Well, not Scotty, but Jimmy Doohan does appear briefly in this well-done episode as the father of a little girl whose irresponsible use of the town's secret technology sets off the chain of events which entrap the reporter Phillip Redfield in the clutches of the isolated town of Peaceful Valley. The townies have technological gadgets which are the gift of an alien scientist who visited the town long ago and are being held in secret trust until humanity is ready for them because their unlimited potential for benefit is seen as overbalanced by their potential for harm and destruction.

Thus, the town fathers must figure out what to do about Redfield, who confronts them with the idea that they are as bad or worse than those they criticize as "not ready" by placing themselves above the rest of humanity, treating them as inferior masses who must suffer and die because they don't deserve better. He even calls one of them Adolf Hitler, perhaps an even more pressing insult in 1963 than today with the end of WWII less than twenty years past, in response what he regards as their heartless, elitist argumentation.

It appears, in retrospect, that the "technology" had to have directly influenced the technology of the Star Trek universe only a few years later, but I'll reveal no more than that here. As with a lot of television drama of that era, the acting is a bit wooden and some thematic elements are a little heavy handed and dated, but it's all consistent with the style of the time, it's not nearly as burdensome to the story as it could have been and, I think, the freshness of the story manages to hold up against all.

Credit must given for a surprise ending that works: 1) Redfield adds depth to his character by considering the consequences of his actions as he attempts to escape the town with the technology and 2) just when you think the town fathers are indeed as bad as, if not worse than, Adolf Hitler, they... act surprisingly. The script manages to finesse the ending very nicely. A similar ending today might fail as a hokey cop out, but it manages to appear fresh and imaginative in this old story.

"We've got an outsider, and he saw something".

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 20 June 2010]

It never occurred to me back in the day that some episodes of The Twilight Zone were an hour in length, I just never thought about it. Maybe it had something to do with being transported to another dimension of time while the show was on. They seemed to breeze by as quickly as the half hour shows did.

'Valley of the Shadow' once again offers us a tranquil, idyllic setting like a Homewood or a Willoughby. It's right there in the name of the town - Peaceful Valley. But Philip Redfield (Ed Nelson) comes to find out that just like in the Eagles' description of the Hotel California - 'you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave'.

The story poses an interesting dilemma for the viewer - faced with the same situation, would you agree to remain in a place with no crime, violence, greed or illness, in exchange for your freedom. Rod Serling explored the themes of personal freedom and liberty in a number of stories, often in ominous terms as in "The Obsolete Man". Here he poses the concept of choice as everything or nothing. Although it may be true, as posed by Dorn (David Opatoshu), that ham sandwiches and roadblocks are better than total destruction, the price paid in terms of relinquishing that power of choice to the state or any other self imposed arbiter is a violation of free will.

You wouldn't think that Serling's stories were so multi-layered with subtext and meaning. I don't know if that was the intent or not, but regardless, a lot of the episodes made you at least think about some of these things. On another level, I'm sure Serling was just having some fun with the audience, as he does in the opening narration for this one where he observes that the viewer is about to travel to the capital of the Twilight Zone. From the vantage point of almost a half century later, he certainly would have been right - $4.42 to fill up a bone dry tank of gas! That REALLY qualifies as a Twilight Zone episode.

Solid Twilight Zone

[henrys-88548 · 9/10 · 8 January 2020]

I enjoyed this. My only complaint is the female seemed to fall in love with the outsider too quickly. He literally never said a nice thing to her in the entire episode, so it made no sense. -1 star for that. But overall, great episode. If that happened to me, I would LOVE to live in a perfect small town setting without poverty, suffering, etc. Who wouldn't? Ed Nelson's character kept mentioning "freedom" but poverty and suffering is not freedom. We are all slaves to money. So I suppose it depends on a person's definition of paradise. Anyway, I found his character annoying. He was very preachy and judgemental, immediately condemning everyone in town, yet the first thing he did was create a weapon and murder, literally proving them correct. At least the town gave him a chance to prove otherwise. He blew it.

Puts Most Episodes in the Shadow

[midbrowcontrarian · 10/10 · 16 May 2021]

When The Twilight Zone was on UK TV circa 1990 I recorded them on video and then taped over the episodes I didn't think so good. I ended up with about a third of them, and since buying a computer last year I've seen another third, including this episode. I must have missed it back in the 90s as it's one of only a handful I'd unhesitatingly score 10. The others, since you ask, are Long Live Walter Jameson, No Time Like the Past, Walking Distance, and for the dialogue A Kind of a Stopwatch.

I always read the reviews before watching, fortunately with TZ there aren't too many. They work best when there is a good range of high, low, and middling scores - many views make a world as they say. But I am puzzled why anyone would continue watching a lengthy anthology which they clearly found unrewarding. It is said this episode doesn't have enough content for the run-time. Well, it has gadgets that can disassemble and reassemble matter at will. It has mystery, a hotel which is claimed to be full but there are never any guests about. It has a trio of sinister town elders who control everything. Last but not least some romance with a beautiful woman. In fact just about everything a good SF story could possibly have!

Peaceful Valley

[AaronCapenBanner · 6/10 · 3 November 2014]

Ed Nelson stars as newspaperman Philip Redfield who finds himself lost and car out of gas in a small secluded town in the middle of nowhere. After an incident involving his dog, he becomes suspicious of this place(called Peaceful Valley) and is determined to investigate, though the town leaders(led by David Opatoshu) try in vain to get him to drop it, and having learned their secret, Philip may have to stay there for good, though an attractive woman named Ellen Marshall(played by Natalie Trundy) may make his imprisonment tolerable. Interesting tale sets up more than it pays off, with a few loose ends and oddities, but remains an acceptable episode with an ambiguous ending(to some!)

Very satisfying

[klowey · 9/10 · 23 July 2020]

I really enjoyed watching this episode, especially the solid acting. But I kept wondering if I'd find the end too preachy or one-sided. Did not happen. Very satisfying.

You Can't Run Away From Yourself, Or From Peaceful Valley Either.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 23 May 2013]

Lost with his dog in the remote wastelands of New Mexico, as am I, Ed Nelson finds himself in a tiny town and is having his tank filled when he sees a little girl take out a small device, like a transistor radio, and make his dog disappear. The dog's disappearance in a twinkling leaves Nelson discomfited. He's even more frazzled when someone else with a device causes his dog to reappear.

Well, Nelson is a reporter and is now determined to get to the bottom of this. The hotel is open but the attractive receptionist tells him the rooms are all taken, even though every key is hanged from its proper hook. The only restaurant in town is closed, permanently it seems.

Nelson gets to the bottom of things alright. A hundred years ago a stranger appeared with all kinds of machines and notebooks that make things come and go, from ham sandwiches to people. Nobody gets sick. Nobody dies. They could probably call up a serving of escalope de veau chanticleer if they wanted to, and a good robust and assertive wine to go with it. They wouldn't be subject to a steady diet of tamales and Dos Eqis like some of us. Every once in a while the restaurants here will slip you a Habañero instead of an ordinary chili pepper and you'd better look out.

The town leaders, including David Opatoshu, explain all this to a puzzled and resentful Nelson. Why don't they release this magical tool to the world and cure sickness and hunger? Because the world would do the same thing as they did with E = MC2. They'd weaponize it. A secret experiment, with Nelson as the sole subject, proves them right and they sentence him to amnesia and send him on his merry way to Albuquerque.

In a way, you can't blame him for wanting to get out of town after he finds out about the device. It's a drab place and looks like a Hollywood back lot. There seem to be no more than half a dozen residents, and none of them are particularly friendly. On the other hand, there is that hotel receptionist, freckle-faced Natalie Trundy. She's friendly enough. Attractive too, and with a figure that's been assembled with considerable authority. I don't know whether she's worth a steady diet of tamales but in any case she turns out to be a traitor.

I rather liked Ed Nelson's performance. All the performances are of professional character but many of them look and sound like the experienced actors they are. I can't tell if Nelson is handsome or not. He apparently fits the usual template. But he brings a little something different to the delivery of his lines. And when he shifts his gaze, there's a lazy quality to the action, as if he's thinking while doing it. It's not easy to describe but if you watch it, you'll probably see what I'm getting at. I have no idea what his range as a performer is but in a role like this he's quite interesting.

VERY PEACEFUL?

[skarylarry-93400 · 8/10 · 15 April 2021]

If they don't want visitors, why is there a sign with mileage to Peaceful Valley?

The sleepy little town with a sinister secret...

[Coventry · 6/10 · 20 January 2022]

Ever since I'm a horror fanatic, I have a severe fondness for movies revolving around "the sleepy little town with a sinister secret". Notably the 80s decade brought forward a handful of great titles ("The Fog", "Dead & Buried", "Strange Invaders", ...) but - as to be expected - the premise already featured in Rod Serling's brilliant Sci-Fi/Fantasy series 20 years earlier.

Lost on his way to Albuquerque, journalist Philip Redfield and his dog end up in a remote little place called Peaceful Valley. The name of the place seems very suitable, at least for as long you do not accidentally stumble on the secluded community's best kept secret, and threaten to make it known to the rest of the world.

A little overlong, perhaps this story would have better fit in the 25-minute structure of seasons 1-3 and 5. The middle section of "Valley of the Shadow" drags a bit, and the finale is a bit soft, but otherwise an enjoyable and imaginative instalment. Strong performances as well, coming from Ed Nelson (looking a lot like Dick Thornberg from "Die Hard") and the naturally beautiful and curvaceous Natalie Trundy.

Best ep of Tzone ever

[azcdk · 5/10 · 3 January 2022]

This ep set the stage for every sci fi show that came after it, including Star Trek and many others. Not a surprise that James Doohan (Montgomery Scott from ST) was in it briefly. One of the originals, too bad modern shows and movies never give credit to the real winners.

Peaceful Valley

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 5 August 2023]

Peaceful Valley While returning home in Albuquerque through a secondary road, the reporter Philip Redfield gets lost and short of gas. He finds the small town of Peaceful Valley and stops in a gas station for fuel and in a restaurant for food. His dog Rollie pursues a cat and the girl who owns the cat points a strange device to the dog and it vanishes. However, her father brings Rollie back and Philip decides to leave the town. But he hits and invisible barrier and his car is completely damaged and Rollie is dead. Four locals arrive and bring him and Rollie alive back to the town to meet the Major Dorn and the two-men council. Dorn tells a secret to Philip and offers two choices to him: stay with them forever or die.

"Valley of the Shadow" is a great episode of "The Twilight Zone", with an excellent plot and acting. It is great to see James "Scotty" Doohan even in a small role, and the gorgeous Natalie Trundy in the role of the hotel and restaurant owner. The plot shows how mankind is not prepared for a deep knowledge when Philip choses a weapon among all the possibilities he had. The conclusion is also excellent. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Vale da Sombra" ("Valley of the Shadow")

Mankind cannot be trusted with powerful technology.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 8 April 2022]

Driving home to Albuquerque, reporter Philip Redfield (Ed Nelson) takes a back route and becomes lost, eventually chancing across the small town of Peaceful Valley as he is about to run out of gas. While the car is being refuelled at the local station, Philip's dog Rollie chases after a little girls's cat: the reporter goes after his pet, only to witness the girl aiming a gadget at the dog, causing it to disappear. This strange event leads to Philip discovering the town's century old secret - that they have advanced technology beyond our understanding which they have sworn to keep hidden from the outside world...

Unlike the previous episode, The 30 Fathom Grave, which was a originally a 25-minute tale that was padded out to twice the length, Valley of the Shadows was specifically written to suit season four's 50 minute runtime. Meaning that as far as pacing is concerned, there's rarely a dull moment. Unfortunately, after much intrigue and suspense, the tale falls apart at the end with a resolution that doesn't make much sense: if the folk of Peaceful Valley had the technology to reverse time, why didn't they save all the bother of trying to control and contain Philip and just do that in the first place?

Ignoring this obvious plot-hole, Valley of the Shadows is a well directed effort with strong performances, and a particularly likeable turn from Natalie Trundy as pretty hotel owner Ellen Marshall, whose promising acting career was disrupted by a serious car accident the following year. Not a classic episode, but one that show's potential for the longer format.

Neat but too preachy

[mm-39 · 6/10 · 18 July 2017]

Neat but too preach! Valley of the Shadow starts out strong. A dog chases a cat starts out a chain of events. The town is a machine which can change time and people. The reporter investigates and a interesting story unfolds. The town guards the secret. Great episode until the bottom quarter. The reporter character flips out, understand the wip out to a point, but goes way too nuts. The reporter shoots several towns people to show the Rod Serling narrative how evil modern society is. Did not mind it. Goodending of time being changed at the ending. Interesting, but over the top social message. 6 out of 10 stars.

Tiresome.

[bombersflyup · 2/10 · 26 November 2019]

Valley of the Shadow has an insipid premise, without nearly enough content for the run-time. It's repetitive and sleep inducing stuff. However the acting by Ed Nelson's solid, similar to Kirk Douglas without the antics. Natalie Trundy's alright also.