Spielberg's first brush with terror, plus Joan Crawford going full unhinged? Pass the popcorn.
This anthology telefilm aired on NBC on November 8, 1969, and tells three strange tales: "The Cemetery," directed by Boris Sagal; "Eyes," directed by Steven Spielberg; and "The Escape Route," directed by Barry Shear. This film also served as a backdoor pilot for the TV series of the same name, which premiered on December 16, 1970.
Direction
Spielberg's 'Eyes' shows a 22-year-old already controlling tension
Acting
Crawford's final performance is gloriously unhinged
Production
Rod Serling's hosting segments are peak theatrical cheese
Director
Barry Shear
Joan Crawford
Miss Menlo
Ossie Davis
Osmond Portifoy
Richard Kiley
SS-Gruppenführer Helmut Arndt / Josef Strobe
Roddy McDowall
Jeremy Evans
Barry Sullivan
Dr. Frank Heatherton
Tom Bosley
Sidney Resnick
George Macready
Hendricks
Sam Jaffe
Bleum
Norma Crane
Gretchen
Barry Atwater
Mr. Carson
George Murdock
The First Israeli Agent
Tom Basham
Gibbons
Byron Morrow
George Packer
Garry Goodrow
Louis
Shannon Farnon
1st Nurse
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Steven Spielberg's professional directorial debut at age 22, after Universal executives were so impressed by his short film 'Amblin' that they handed him this segment.
Rod Serling created this as his follow-up to The Twilight Zone, but NBC's interference and budget constraints made it his disowned stepchild—he famously called it 'Night Gallery' but not 'his' Night Gallery.
US
