The Twilight Zone 1.17

The Fever

starring Everett Sloane, Vivi Janiss

written by Rod Serling

directed by Robert Florey

Franklin (Everett Sloane) and Flora Gibbs (Vivi Janiss) are in Las Vegas on an all expenses paid trip that she won. Franklin is disgusted by everything he sees around him in the hotel where they are staying, most notably the casino. Everything changes for Franklin after someone gives him a silver dollar and asks him to give it a try. He wins around $20 dollars. He takes the money up to their room but then he starts to hear the machine calling his name. Only he hears it.

Franklin takes the $20 downstairs, in the middle of the night, and returns to the same machine. He puts all the money in but doesn't win. He writes checks and gets more money and keeps playing. He wins a little here and a little there but he can't stay ahead. He keeps feeding more money into the same machine but he just can't win. Finally he quits when the lever stops working. He goes back to the room but the machine follows him. He's the only one who can see it.

Thoughts

This is an interesting episode. I like it to some degree but it isn't a great episode. What's great about it is Everett Sloane's performance in it. Vivi James does a good job but this is mostly Sloane's episode. The story is a little thin and kind of preachy. I'm not into gambling but this episode feels very much like a heavy handed condemnation of legalized gambling.

Notes

I've seen Everett Sloane in a few other things. Most recently I saw him in an episode of Kraft Television Theatre, 8.16 Patterns which was also written by Rod Serling. He was also in a great episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), 1.08 Our Cook's a Treasure.

This is the first of two episodes of this show in which Vivi Janiss appeared. She was in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), the first of which was 1.16 You Got to Have Luck. She was in one episode each of Four Star Playhouse and Kraft Suspense Theatre. She also had a small uncredited part in 99 River Street (1953).

This is the second of three episodes of this show that Robert Florey directed. The first was 1.09 Perchance to Dream. See my notes about the first episode of Four Star Playhouse, 1.01 My Wife Geraldine, for information about some other things he directed.