"Long Live Walter Jameson", Poll and discussion thread

An elderly professor learns that one of his colleagues (Kevin McCarthy), who is also his daughter's fiance, is immortal.
Originally aired March 18, 1960.

List of musical cues

This is the preferred thread for any and all of your "Long Live Walter Jameson" posts--facts, opinions, questions, speculations, and whatever else you can think of.* You can also give your opinion of the episode on a 1 to 10 scale, in the poll shown above.

Let the discussion begin!

*More specific instructions and suggestions about posting questions/comments related to this episode are located here.

this is one of my favourites. a real good one. it had a great story with a good ending to it.
the old guy was a clever slueth.

This one is okay. It never really appealed to me.

This is one of the ones I first saw as a kid. OMG it scared the bejeebers out of me that ending with old Walter on the floor! I slept with the light on for years after that. I had to force myself to watch it as an adult to get over it! This would be that packed a punch for me.

Leen

This is OK, kind of overrated for me. I like the acting, and the concept. Just was not that interesting for me.

7 zones

The acting here is a little stagey and artificial for me. Dody Heath is so stiff as Susanna Kittridge that she could have played Alicia in "The Lonely," or one of the robot servants in "The Lateness Of The Hour," without changing a thing about her performance.

Kevin McCarthy and Edgar Stehli are better, but their characters don't act the way people really act either, IMO; instead, they act the way actors sometimes portray them as acting.

Good script and special effects, but I can't really suspend my disbelief for this one. Maybe I'll learn to see it some other way someday.

Good episode. The idea is just so intriguing. I like the way Sam tries to come to terms with the enormity of what he has just learned. The use of Matthew Brady photos was a nice touch - lent an air of realism. Top quarter for me.

http://www.leapinbass.com/zone/picture_pag...01/tz024-04.jpg

I like it a lot. Very nice job all the way around. Haunting.

Agreed. Good point.

You gotta be kiddin me. This is one of the unscariest TZ's ever. The episode as a whole is excellent, thought provoking premise and concept. But nothing in the way of scary.

And how old were you when you saw it the first time Mister, hmmmm?

That can make or break one's opinions about a Zone. And anyway I'm entitled to my opinion.

Leen

I give this one a 9, Kevin McCarthy gives an excellent performance as Walter Jameson & the special effects at the end were superb.

My opinion of this one has improved. Dody Heath is still terrible for me--she and Robert Redford must have been going to the same acting school during the Twilight Zone years--but I can watch this now without letting her performance contaminate the rest of the episode. I have no problem suspending my disbelief during the scenes where she is not present.

Kevin McCarthy and (to an extent) Edgar Stehli do give somewhat mannered, artificial perfomances, but they're both impressive overall, really.

Still haven't rated this one.

I give this one an 8. It's one of those I can watch over and over and still be intrigued by...

This one gets ever eerier for me as Kevin McCarthy grows older and older and yet stays with us. Not to mention the fact that Estelle Winwood lived to be over 101.
Chilling!

http://www.tulsatvmemories.com/imag2001/mccarthy.jpg

Yes, and Kevin McCarthy still looks much younger than he actually is. Not quite as much as Walter Jameson did, but still impressive by the standards of real people!

Estelle Winwood was a pip. Here's her biography on imdb: http://imdb.com/name/nm0936115/bio. And here are some quotations from her from the same source:

When Estelle was asked, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, how she felt to have lived so long, she replied "How rude of you to remind me!"

[on reaching her centenary] "Who wants to be 100?"

[speaking at age 100] "I wouldn't mind being dead - it would be something new."

"I don't want to remember yesterday! It's all I can do to remember today!"

On appearing in the Mel Brooks classic "The Producers": "Oh, that dreadful picture. I can't bear to watch it, even on a small television. I must have needed the money - living in Hollywood weakens one's motives. It reminds me of the saying that nobody ever went broke underestimating the American public's taste."

(I wonder what she thought of "Long Live Walter Jameson"?)

Estelle's best friend, from the 1920s until her death in the 1960s, was Tallulah Bankhead. I'll bet those two gals dished the dirt together a little. (To remedy any possible misunderstandings of that last sentence, click here.)

Kevin McCarthy's about to turn 91 years old.
Maybe there's something to that episode...

Jairzinho!



Hope you like it here.

Welcome to the Twilight Zone Cafe, jairzinho. Have a good time here.

This is another thought provoking episode and makes one think about what some of the consequences of immortality would be. An old professor suspects that Walter Jameson is older than he appears. He notes that while he has become an old man, Walter has looked the same for years. Walter teaches history in a manner that makes it seem as he must have practically been there. The professor does some detective work and finds a 100 year old picture of Walter in a history book. The revealing of the picture by the professor to Walter and Walter's subsequent confession to be over 2000 years old is quite eerie. The rapid decline of Walter is quite a wonder of 1950's special effects. This is a very good episode.

just saw this one on sci fi..

great episode, but i agree the acting is a little stiff especially susanna. she got better at the end when she was worried about walter and saw the dust on the floor but she sure took her time getting across the street. prof kittridge ran over to walter's, saw laurette in the street (? i think.. it was cut from scifi syn.), had a conversation with walter and watched him age thousands of years before we even heard her coming.

-ag

Final Jeopardy this evening:

Category: 20TH CENTURY AUTHORS

Clue: IN 1956 SHE PUBLISHED "VENICE OBSERVED" & HER BROTHER KEVIN STARRED IN "INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS"

All good TZ fans should know that the brother to whom this refers is Kevin McCarthy. The correct response was "Who is Mary McCarthy?", which no one got.

To be perfectly honest, I had never heard of Mary McCarthy before this. Had I been a contestant, I'd have answered "McCarthy" and hoped that a first name was unnecessary (which is the usual rule if no ambiguity is involved).

Pay attention to the Jeopardy! closing credits, and you'll usually see "Kevin McCarthy" listed as a director. That's not the one who played Walter, though.

I just watched it again today, and I was wondering; had anybody noticed before? It seems hard to believe that somebody wouldn't have noticed in 2,000 years!

The only way he could have managed it would be to keep pulling up stakes and moving from place to place to avoid people who would recognize him. Eventually, everyone who knew him in a given area would die and he could move back. (What a sad and lonely way to live)

Regarding Tallulah Bankhead...

From imdb.com -

She was infamous for not wearing underwear. According to Hume Cronyn, during the filming of Lifeboat (1944) the crew complained about her flashing them when she had to climb a ladder to go into the mock-up of a lifeboat. When their objections to Bankhead's exhibitionism reached director Alfred Hitchcock, he reportedly quipped that he didn't know if it was a matter for wardrobe or hairdressing.

Wow and there was a lot of sitting in Lifeboat right SD? I love her in tha movie! I love that movie!

I heard (from my mom the Hitchcock fan) that Hitchcock was absolutely terrified of Bankhead, and wouldn't speak to her directly. If he had to tell her something, he would send a crew person to give her his message.

Tallulah Bankhead entered into this discussion in my post of January 4th: http://twilightzonewor.9.forumer.com/index...findpost&p=3385. She was good friends with Estelle Winwood, who plays Laurette Bowen in "LLWJ."

Patrick McGilligan's biography of Hitchcock basically says that Hitch let Bankhead lord it over the other cast and crew on the set of Lifeboat, but was not intimidated by her himself. When Bankhead had some suggestions for her role that Hitch didn't like, he said to her face gently but firmly, "No, do it my way."

Which bio do you mean, Matt? I got my mom one called The Dark Side Of Genius for Christmas one year, and she said it was really good. That was where she got her info on Bankhead.

She also said that, according to the book, Hitchcock had a notorious mean streak that no one was safe from, not even his family.

i hate this episode very much!

Why?

it just boreds me

10
Classic Beaumont, on the same shelf as "Perchance to Dream" and "Shadow Play"
Bravura performance from Kevin McCarthy, whom the plot line seems to foreshadow somewhat .
You gotta love that death sequence.

I, at long last, saw "Long Live Walter Jamison." Over the course of many years, I have heard many positive comments on this episode. Unlike so many other TZ episodes, "Long Live Walter Jamison" seemed reliable in its strength. There was no love/hate situation for this episode; instead, it was generally regarded as a solid episode representing the top third of Season 1.

Why?

Granted, I watched the Sci-fi version, so three years of the episode was cut for commercials, but there was still a touch of greatness missing. The episode was not bad, but it was by no means good, either. No, I see this episode as a phenomenal opportunity wasted. I mean, come on!

Nitpicks:

Jamison's immortality had such a weak origin (the alchemist). It was almost comic book-esque. That kind of sketchy genesis does not lead to becoming the practical role of a history professor. No. If a man is given two thousand years to make his name, knows Plato, and fought with General Sherman, then there should be an intricate backplot that is more interesting than a simple history teacher.

Jamison's elderly wife killing him adds to the two-dimensionality of Walter Jamison. How. . . simple to have a jealous wife end the cycle. The means of her retrieving the gun is even more ridiculous. Pack your own heat, lady.
When Jamison told Kittridge that he takes out a gun every night and is too cowardly to pull the trigger, it was static detail, but to have him later do it for demonstration seems tacky. Why tell Kittridge at all? In my opinion, a better way to handle that is to not mention that line to Kittridge in their conversation. Then, after a night of heavy drinking, Jamison should have opened his desk, pulled out the gun and asked himself, "To be or not to be?" Finally, he should have made a strong revelation that he was a coward. I think revealing that to the audience in solitude would have been much more poignant than in a stuffy conversation with Kittridge. Fearing death--as proven in many TZ episodes--has serious dramatic potential.

In all, I think Beaumont did a great job putting the pavement down for a phenomenal story, but it did not occur. I think with a full hour to work with, the episode would have been enhanced ten-fold. A full hour opens the door to more questions about the worth of immortality, and it gives the audience a chance to see Jamison battle momentous rivals (at least more momentous than a feeble, senior citizen) that stand as a testament to his long years here on Earth. Think if you had lived more than two thousand years the amount of influential and deadly people you would have had the opportunity to piss off.

It goes back to the crazy story about a man acheiving greatness wanting the mundane--that does not add up. It does not fit. If there were some major event that occured in Jamison's life to desire an everyday life then it would, but there was nothing I saw that gave me an impression of prosaic wishes. It is just like if Clark Kent had his powers as Superman, but he never uses them. He just keeps his life as a normal reporter, and never once gives his powers a second thought.

Opportunity wasted:

-Jamison, in his chat with Kittridge, makes mention of Kittridge's skill being in chemistry. Think: if Jamison attained his power with the aid of an alchemist, then Kittridge's identity as a chemist becomes immediately suspect. Why not make Kittridge the original alchemist that immortalized Jamison so long ago? From there, the story can go in so many exciting ways!

-Off the cuff remarks about Plato or Sherman that could display a sense of Jamison's wisdom or humor, at the very least. These were major historical figures, and with the right comment from Jamison, there is a perfect chance to see them through Jamison's eyes as opposed to our eyes, which has them on a historical, unreachable pedestal.

-Jamison majorly downplays the concept of everlasting life that our souls have questioned since the beginning of time. How dull is it to see Jamison nonchalantly say that long life does not give way to wisdom? How dull is it to see him say that long life is not worth its price? It is just more practicality that does not fit from a potentially spellbinding tale.

Gee, thanks for besmirching one of my favorite episodes.

A very compelling arguement for why Beaumont was the successful dramatic writer who's work has held up for 40 or 50 years. The essence of LLWJ, and in my opinion its' genius, is the understatement. The message is immortality will not make ordinary (or in Jamison's case, weak) individuals extraordinary, it will just make individuals who will be ordinary forever. PStevens suggestions would have made the presentation cliche ridden and implausible. There is nothing special about Jamison, he just keeps on keeping on. Beaumont, on the other hand, crafted a story of subtlety and depth which leaves the viewer thinking long after the episode is over.

Likewise.

???

I like 5CISOAE.

And I'd like to add to Buckeye's statement that the moral is immortality isn't what it's cracked up to be. As Walter says you outlive your family, your friends i.e. who wants to live forever?? He was tired of it.

The only corny thing I did recognize was how he never got sick or injured. "It happens that way sometimes."

I don't think I'd be telling my future father-in-law that I contemplate suicide every night, however. How nice for Susanna.

But I love this ep even tho it scared the bejeebers out of me when I was little. Maybe that's why I do.

PStevens,

Nice write up. I'm in complete disagreement with it, but your opinion is appreciated. If I may, I'll address your thoughts with a rebuttal.

What in the world is weak about his origins coming from an Alchemist? On the supernatural spectrum, it is the most plausible. Alchemist &/or Alchemy, for that matter, is as mysterious and mystical as one can get. It was well reputed that they strived to turn lead to gold - as far back as 1200 BC. Long before modern science learned that the difference between lead and gold was (3) protons, alchemist tried transmuting one for the other. "The Philosophers Stone," as quoted in the Harry Potter series, was thought to be fact and created by Nicholas Flanel. That is not made up by Rawlings. Flanel supposedly was able to both transmute lead to gold and create the "Elixir of Life" with this stone. According to legend, Nicholas was born in the 1200s and lived into the late 1700s. Before he tired of life, he passed on his secret to Comte Saint-Germain, who reportedly stayed youthful well passed reasonable years.
Surely, Beaumont, being and imaginative and educated man, also heard these tales and incorporated them into this story. If, however, Walter, had gained his youth from a Genie's Wish, Magic Lamp, bemusement of a god, etc, that would have been far more unacceptable to me an probably most viewers &/or Readers. Curiosity compels me to ask, what would you have created for his backplot of immortality?

Now, anyone who lives 2000+ years, would want to keep a low profile. Especially if one could die easily. After all, Walter did profess that he was lucky that way. Maybe he joined in the Civil War to hopefully die leading a charge and his cowardice got the best of him or maybe he was indeed lucky? However, being alive for 2000 years would put you at a great benefit as a history professor. He could teach what history forgot or rewrote, thus, reliving his own past. I believe that being a history teacher would be both rewarding and a perfect career for a 2000 year old man.

Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned! Most befitting end to an obvious womanizer. He stated that he watched his wife and children, friends, all grow old and die around him. Yet, as the zone proves over and over, everyone needs a companion in life ... regardless of how long that life may be. So, if every 25 years or so you move on a leave her behind when she gets too old, you would rack up many hurt women and possibly children. Averaging it out, that's approx: 80 women he has done this to in his lifetime. The odds finally came up for Walter. He should have moved farther away so that she wouldn't have seen his picture in the newspaper. Careless on his end or another flirt with fate?

Sorry, gotta strongly disagree. As a writer myself, this is a setup and confirmation of a character's character. This situation and story telling is as old as ... well, Walter. If, as we see, he tells Susanna that they need to get married tonight and he goes home and does the Hamlet soliloquy, we would be left wondering why now? This is stupid. By telling Sam of his past actions it sets a precedent about both Walter moral & psychological state. He knows what he is doing is wrong, yet, like an addict, he keeps repeating the cycle, over and over again. The confirmation of his words by his actions is the poignancy. Television is a visual medium. Being that there was no mental narration, as one might find in a book, his narration must come out in his conversation with Sam.

Well, unlike Clark Kent, Peter Parker, or Bruce Banner, Walter Jamison has no super powers. He is only immortal as long as he does not get a life threatening injury. Walter's sole desire was to increase his knowledge and didn't feel that 80 years was sufficient time in which to learn all there is to be learned. Unfortunately, Walter forgot the one simple truth that Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle couldn't teach him. "He who increases knowledge-increases sorrow." Walter did learn this over time. And having learned it, became a teacher of all the sorrow he had learned - yet did not heed.

So, in truth, Walter did use his superpower much like the heroes aforementioned. His power wasn't immortality, it was knowledge. And what better way to use that power than as a teacher. Walter is seen clearly as a 3d character, longing to change what he had become though lacking the courage to change. His womanizing, a lesson he didn't learn, was his down fall ... or perhaps the only way he knew how to pull that trigger. Lesson to be heeded ... in The Twilight Zone.

DrM

Adding to the good Doctor's sterling analysis of PStevens critique of LLWJ, the quoted passage of the missive reveals a serious misconception about the episode. How would it be that Jameson, in whatever incantation, would have had the opportunity to "battle momentous rivals"? Sure we look at the perspective of 2000 years and think of all the noteworthy historical figures with whom one could have interacted, but we do so with hindsight, hindsight that Jameson would not have enjoyed because he was living those years. Remember he has the gift of immortality not the gift of foresight. He wouldn't know who it was that would influence history or, even if he did know, have egress to those persons as he has no extraoridnary talents that would gain him that access. He just doesn't age. If the episode had portrayed "influential and deadly people" that Jameson had managed to piss off, then it would have been as trite and corny as an episode of Time Tunnel where the protagonists just happened to randomly appear, out of all the vastness of time, in a critical juncture of some well known historical event. Twilight Zone and Beaumont were better then that.

By the way, I never got that Jameson had actually interacted with Plato. His line , I believe, is that he is old enough to have known this gentleman (indicating the bust of Plato) personally. I always have taken that to be an indication of his actual age to Kitteridge, not that he hobnobbed with the great philospopher. No matter, it was Plato who was the genius (just as it was Sherman who was the great soldier) while it was Jameson, without great gifts, who was an observer. Merely being in the company of greatness or wisdom does not confer those traits upon a person.

Honestly, think about 2000 years of history, of living, and one would realize that 99.9% of that time would be day in and day out drudgery doing the things most people would have to do to survive over that period of time: farmer, merchant, tradesman, teacher, soldier, how much of that is stimulating on a a daily basis and does it contribute to wisdom? No, not even close. That's Beaumont's point and Jameson's flawed premise. In the end what does him in is the fundemental, almost instinctive male need for female companionship which led Jameson to be reckless. So rather then wise, Jameson is fundementally primeval and his fate at the hands of a very ordinary forgotten lover is a million times more powerful then if the work of the alchemist had been undone by someone "famous". Classic T-Zone irony and poetic justice. Not a missed opportunity, but a great episode.