"Little Girl Lost", Poll and discussion thread

After a little girl's mysterious disappearance, her cries can still be heard in her bedroom and all over the house. With Charles Aidman.
Originally aired March 16, 1962.

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this is a really good episode but it has been played to death.
interesting concept. the over acting by the would be mother is a tad annoying but aidman made up for it.

"6" It's okay I guess. Reminded me of Poltergeist the movie the first time I saw it. Don't go into the light.

Leen

gave it an 8. Just a good, solid, classic ep. that never gets old w/ me. Great sci fi concept and everything. Also gotta love the reference on the Simpsons w/ Professor Frink playing the physicist who draws the chalk lines on the wall and all. I think that was from one of the Treehouse of Horror, Halloween episodes a few years back...

"Treehouse of Horror VI" from 1995. The segment is entitled "Homer Cubed" (actually with the exponent 3, but Forumer changed it to a question mark).

One of these years I'm going to have to get all those Simpsons seasons on dvd. Just classic, classic stuff....

This one is okay, never really grabbed me. But I did like the other dimension. It was surreal and disorienting, like being lost in a maze.

Anyone else notice that the parents share the bed in this episode? Probably the only time it happened on the show where the couple in question weren't tanked to the gills.

Yes!! In fact, I was hoping someday to post an analysis of this very subject. Right now all that sticks in my mind are the twin beds of Erich and Annabelle in "Living Doll."

Ew I guess so.

Yes Dan, we need to do bed research. Like...

Twin beds- The Popes from You Drive
One bed-Person or Persons Unknown

well, notice how the eps when couples do share a bed were ones when something wasn't right, as in Person or Person's Unknown, when the wife says the man in her bed is not even supposd to be there, and plus notice he is fully clothed, as is the couple in Stopover.... but i think eps when u don't see a couple actually in bed they usually have one, like oh say The Parallel, i think its just the one bed though u never see them laying in it. i know Serling must have hated this, i mean it was ludicrous, the whole seperate bed thing, its amazing they let the word pregnant get on the air in Ninety Years without Slumbering.

and back to the whole bed thing, llike i said in Persons it was as though he wasi n the wrong bed and in Stopover they were both in the wrong bad as they weren't even at home, so this is most likely the reasons both eps were allowed to show couples in the same bed, but alas as i said, fully clothed, so apparently nothing went on the previous nite, no s-e-x. shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lol.

Time for a new topic thread. See http://twilightzonewor.9.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=493 for more on this interesting topic, and please continue the discussion there if you wish.

This episode is barely a 7 for me, I think. Main strength for me: The fourth dimension scene (though Charles Aidman is very good, and Bernard Herrmann's score is excellent as usual--in fact, Herrmann's music helps make the 4D scene as good as it is for me). Main weakness: Rhoda Williams as the voice of Tina. Why??

Maybe June Foray was unavailable.

What's particularly annoying is how, after Tina is pulled back into her bedroom and is carried out by her mother, we hear Tracy Stratford until she's out of sight, and then her voice suddenly changes to that of Rhoda Williams.

Now I'm wondering whether Mack was dubbed as well.

A bit of trivia I picked up from allmovie.com:

"So vital to the proceedings was the musical score by Bernard Herrmann that, for the first and only time in Twilight Zone history, Herrmann was billed above the name of the director."

That's quite true, at least the last part. I've never seen a verifiable reason given for it, although this looks like a decent theory. My guess has always been that it was part of the payment package for his efforts. I'm thinking along the lines of crediting Mel Blanc for Warner Brothers voices at a time when cartoon voices were normally anonymous. It was cheaper to acknowledge Blanc on screen than to give him a raise.

More specifically, this is the only episode with the composer in the credits after the first commercial. The only other extra prominence given to a composer is for Jeff Alexander in "The Trouble with Templeton." He appears after director Buzz Kulik, writer E. Jack Neuman, producer Buck Houghton, and Rod (so far the usual practice), but then Alexander precedes the cast.

Decent but I have it near the top of my all-overrated list. Would've been better as an Outer Limits episode IMO. I still give it a 7

Mm, I gave it a 4. It's an interesting premise and I do dig Charles Aidman. The mother is annoying and the little girl's voice (well, not hers but for all intents and purposes it was supposed to be hers) makes me want to put my fist through the TV. That's the whole reason I can't watch this episode anymore. "Daddy where are you? Where are you Daddy? Daaaady?" UGH. Now if only Albert Salmi had played the Dad and spoke in that ultra-annoying Cliffordville voice, this episode would truly be the most terrifying thing I would ever have laid ears on.

Or what if it had been "Little Boy Lost," with Albert Salmi doing the little boy in his Cliffordville voice? Now we're really talking about another dimension.

this is a wonderful episode i love it

it would of been better if it had some sort of twist in the end and a lot of people dont like the mom character , me personally i love the mom she looked beutiful and liked the way she talked do yall thats weird

Mmm, the mom's voice grated on me a bit. I like that she was a little hysterical, though, or at least I used to--it always heightened the feeling of suspense for me. Now I think I'm tired of it, though.

True, the ending isn't what you'd call a "twist" ending, but it packs some of the surprise and punch of a more typical twist ending.

Decent but still near the top of my overrated list. I still say this should have been an Outer Limits episode. I give it a 7

A solid 10. Love it, love it, love it.

And, as I've said before, I think Sarah Marshall is unfairly criticized. I think her behavior is exactly what a parent's might be in a situation like that. And for Zicree to criticize her for being "dissheveled" -- well, isn't that generally how people look after being in bed? Should she have said, "Wait a minute, honey, while I comb my hair and put on some lipstick. Then I'll help you look for our missing daughter." ???

As to the voiceover of Tina's voice, I agree that is a flaw. Since the actress playing her does actually say some lines, there is no reason to believe she couldn't have said all of hers, even if she was young enough to need some extra direction.

competely agree

and about the daughter i could hardly tell it was not much of a flaw to me

This episode doesn't get highest marks, despite Matheson's excellent scripting. The mom is too dense and hysterical, while the dad is somewhat obtuse; why would he call Bill at 2 a.m., asking him to come over to the house without even telling him why?

Agree Zicree was too hard on the mother. Sure, she wasn't much help but she added a level of urgent hysteria that helps to keep the viewers unsettled, as they are supposed to be.

You can see an older version of Sarah Marshall in the Cheers episode "Don't Paint Your Chickens," in which Rebecca tries to promote Norm's new painting business. She's the secretary who tries to keep Norm out of the office of the executive whom Rebecca wants to talk into giving her a promotion.

I'm not bothered by her hysteria in "Little Girl Lost" as much as by her accent, which I can't quite place.

**possible spoilers





decent episode.. the mother's voice never bothered me. she is hysterical because her daughter is gone, but to me her voice isn't annoying.

now tina's voice is another matter. that was annoying, yet maybe it was meant to be since we hear her from that other dimension. maybe that is why her voice was "distorted". when the father was in the other dimension, his voice was also different.

Nice theory, adam, but the problem is that her voice also sounds like that after she is carried out of the room. She goes from sounding like Tracy Stratford to sounding like Rhoda Williams again. Gee, maybe they thought nobody'd notice the difference?

Nice theory, adam, but the problem is that her voice also sounds like that after she is carried out of the room. She goes from sounding like Tracy Stratford to sounding like Rhoda Williams again. Gee, maybe they thought nobody'd notice the difference?

okay..maybe tina just sounds annoying from a distance

Sarah Marshall was born in London, the daughter of English actors Herbert Marshall and Edna Best. I don't know how long she lived in England, so she may have had some type of English accent she was trying to suppress in Little Girl Lost.

I watched this again last night. I gave it a low score originally. Maybe I was a little harsh. It was enjoyable but the over-acting and reacting of the mother made me want to take her outside and give her a slap. Wouldn't want to damage that pretty face though. Interesting how she looked so awake and well for someone woken out of slumber though.

A solid episode which I would now give a 7.

i didn't see this episode on tv

I didn't watch it on tv, on DVD. I'm living in the UK so I don't get to see the marathons.

Bernard Herrmann's score was the best thing about this episode for me. (Actually, I've been listening to his score for Taxi Driver ever since the episode ended tonight. Great stuff.)

My God, that little girl's voice was annoying.

By the way, I'm not sure if I've seen any other episodes with Serling on camera at the end. Were there others?

You must be talking about "The Fugitive," which was the episode that preceded "Little Girl Lost" this morning on Sci Fi. I'll answer here in the thread for "The Fugitive."

You must be talking about "The Fugitive," which was the episode that preceded "Little Girl Lost" this morning on Sci Fi. I'll answer here in the thread for "The Fugitive."

Hmm, please forget I said that

I have always liked this episode. Probably because Charles Aidman is in it. He was also in When The Sky Opened Up, of course. For one season, he replaced Ross Martin on The Wild, Wild West. Martin had a heart attack (but survived).

First off, Howling Man, belated welcome. Didn't realize we had (2) in this dimension ... I need to get out more.

I always liked the aspect that another dimension could just open up and someone could fall in. The quick mathematical computations by good old Bill, Charles Aidman, added to the tension. His absolute calm sold the theory of a 4th dimension. Sarah Marshall as a nervous hysterical wreck I thought was right on target. The Father, Robert Sampson, I too felt was dead on. Calm with a hint of desperation and motivated. Quantum scary for the 1960's.

9!

DrM

By the way, that's "And When The Sky Was Opened."

IMDb reports that Rhoda Williams died on March 8 of this year at the age of 68. She provided the uncredited voice of Tina heard all throughout the episode except for the first few seconds after she's pulled out of the fourth dimension, after which Tracy Stratford's own voice very noticeably changes to that of Williams when Tina is out of camera range.

Interesting miscellania: Stratford is also uncredited in this episode, although she does get billing in "Living Doll." In LGL she plays Tina, while in LD she has a doll named Tina. Both episodes have uncredited female voices, although June Foray in LD is far more justified to supply one.