The After Hours,
Season 1, Episode 34, 1960
Marsha White (Anne Francis) is browsing a department store looking for a gift for her mother. She ends up in an elevator alone with a man (John Cornwell) who directs her to the 9th floor that is abandoned except for a strange saleswoman (Elizabeth Allen) and a single item---the gold thimble Marsha was hoping to purchase. When the saleswoman makes some strange statements, Marsha ends up speaking to the store's manager. The problem is, as the man explains, there is no 9th floor . . .
So big kudos to whoever nominated this episode, because I think it is really, really excellent. I have seen this episode multiple times before, but I never fail to find it eerie and thrilling and exceptionally well made and paced.
I love that from the first moment, Marsha is a bit off and agitated. It's not exactly an in media res beginning as with
And When the Sky Was Opened, but from the jump we can tell that something is not right. The first half of this episode just builds in lots of wonderful examples of things that are sort of scary, but not "big moment" scary. Things like ending up in the elevator alone with the elevator man, or the saleswoman knowing her name. Marsha's confusion and her reactions are completely understandable, leading to a brilliant shock right at the episode's halfway point.
This is also an episode that brilliantly layers in details that make you think you know what's happening. A floor in a store that has only the one item that you need? Well, that feels very "be careful what you wish for," doesn't it? Oh, the mannequins seems to be speaking? Is this a horror story about mannequins coming to life?
And maybe I'm just a sucker for a happy(ish) ending, but I love it when something that seems to obviously menacing turns out to be not that at all. If there's one thing that
Twilight Zone directors seems to really understand, it's the eerie power of an overhead or from-behind shot of starkly lit people standing still. With the use of literal mannequins, this dynamic is only heightened. The scene where all of the mannequins are whispering to Marsha is really spooky. And yet then we learn that they are actually a supportive little community. The strange saleswoman gives Marsha a much-needed hug. The man who seemed so menacing just moments before kindly asks Marsha if she enjoyed her "vacation".
I also have to note that this time around I really noticed just how great the lead performance from Anne Francis is. As the episode progresses, watch her hands and arms. Look at how she's arranged as she sleeps on the couch. Whenever there is a down moment, her hands and arms seem to find their way into a mannequin fashion pose.
A really excellent episode.