Movies - TV
The Twilight Zone Record Robert Redford Holds To This Day
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
At the 2014 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Robert Redford screened his “Nothing in the Dark” episode of “The Twilight Zone” and revealed it was the most-viewed episode.
Redford said, “I had no idea it was going to have the ongoing impact [...] They gave me a little certificate saying that show was the most often viewed ‘Twilight Zone.’”
In the episode, Wanda (Gladys Cooper) has become a recluse fearing that a sojourn to the outside world will bring her face-to-face with a living embodiment of death.
Wanda once saw a man touch a woman with his finger, killing the woman instantly, leading Wanda to realize Death is a person. She surmises it’s best to stay away from all people.
When a handsome young Harold Beldon (Robert Redford) knocks on Wanda’s door, her idyll is smashed. Harold was shot in the line of duty and needs immediate medical care.
Wanda refuses to let Harold in, knowing he may be Death and that Death is sneaky. However, Wanda finally lets him in, he touches her, and she doesn’t die, so she thinks it’s okay.
Wanda and Harold discuss her views on death, life of fear, and her philosophy that living cloistered is better than dying in the open air. However, Harold may be Death after all.