Tuesday, March 20, 2018

The Twilight Zone episode "The Masks" airs 1964


Ida Lupino directed this classic episode of the Twilight Zone, The Masks which first aired March 20, 1964.  It is the only episode directed by a woman and Lupino is the only person to have appeared in an episode and to direct an episode. 

Wealthy Jason Foster is dying in his New Orleans mansion no Mardi Gras, and has his considerably-less-than-loving family to be with him.  He makes them wear hideous masks until midnight or they lose out on their inheritance.  Each mask mirrors their own deplorable personalities.  I won't put any spoilers here but one can see where this is headed when the family is allowed to remove their masks.

The Masks keeps appearing on lists of the best episodes or the scariest episodes of the Twilight Zone.  Interestingly, the son is played by Alan Sues, who plays a sadistic thug, but went a few years later went on to star in the over-the-top comedy Laugh-In.


2 comments:

www.writegrantproposals.com said...

In terms of their physical appearance, shallowness, and lack of integrity, they remind me of the Trump family.

Alan Scott said...

You caught that, too! It does seem like you could drop the tRumps in there and the episode would be the same.