"Judgment Night" is the tenth episode of the The Twilight Zone.
From the CBS Video Library cover:
"An unseen, unfriendly periscope keeps a steely watch over the S.S. Queen of Glasgow as fog and sea whip across the freighter's docks. On board the Glasgow a German passenger, Carl Lanser, wanders about in confusion as the boat rocks to and fro in the black night. He doesn't know how he got aboard or what he's doing there, but strangely all the passengers are familiar. The only thing Carl Lanser knows for certain is that at 1:15 a.m., something horrible is going to happen. Suddenly, a Nazi U-boat surfaces. Lanser zooms in on the sub with his binoculars and begins to understand a horrible truth about himself... the S.S. Queen of Glasgow...and the terrible reality that lies ahead on this raw, ugly night."
Episode Details[]
Opening Narration[]
"Her name is the S.S. Queen of Glasgow. Her registry: British. Gross tonnage: five thousand. Age: Interdeterminate. At this moment she's one day out of Liverpool, her destination New York. Duly recorded on the ship's log is the sailing time, course to destination, weather conditions, temperature, longitude and latitude. But what is never recorded in a log is the fear that washes over a deck like fog and ocean spray. Fear like the throbbing strokes of engine pistons, each like a heartbeat, parceling out of every hour into breathless minutes of watching, waiting and dreading. For the year is 1942, and this particular ship has lost its convoy. It travels alone like an aged blind thing groping through the unfriendly dark, stalked by unseen periscopes of steel killers. Yes, the Queen of Glasgow is a frightened ship, and she carries with her a premonition of death."
Episode Summary[]
Carl Lanser is a passenger aboard the SS Queen of Glasgow, an isolated British cargo liner crossing the Atlantic in 1942, but has no idea of how he got aboard or who he is. Sitting with the captain and several passengers, Lanser dismisses fears of the ship being hunted by a U-boat "wolfpack", saying only one U-boat would be necessary and it would not bother using a torpedo on the ship. He is unable to explain how he knows any of this and recalls only that he was born in Frankfurt, but says that he finds the ship, its crew and passengers oddly familiar. When called to the bridge by the captain he cannot provide proof of his identity. Still confused, Lanser is sent back to his cabin with a steward, where he finds a Kriegsmarine officer's cap among his possessions with his name written on the inside.
The captain is forced to stop the ship for repairs when the overworked engines break down at 12:05. Lanser becomes increasingly restless, haunted by an inescapable sense of impending doom. Convinced that everyone aboard the ship will die at 1:15, Lanser panics and runs through the passageways, attempting to raise an alarm. He finds the ship is mysteriously empty. When he finally locates some of the passengers, they silently stare at him as he implores them to abandon ship. At exactly 1:15, a searchlight illuminates the ship, and a surfaced U-boat, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Carl Lanser, opens fire with its deck cannon and machine guns. The ship quickly sinks, leaving no survivors.
Some time later, Captain Lanser is in his cabin aboard his U-boat, recording that night's kill. His second-in-command, Lt. Mueller, is deeply troubled by what the crew of the boat has done, not warning the people on board the ship before firing upon them, and wonders "if we are not all damned now". Lanser dismissively says he is sure the British Admiralty thinks so, but Mueller clarifies that he meant damned in the eyes of God. Despite Lanser's skepticism and sarcasm, Mueller grows more convinced that the crew of the U-boat may one day answer for their crime by reliving the act for all eternity.
Granted his own private hell as the man who ordered the massacre, the former U-boat commander re-materializes on the deck of the ship and the nightmare begins again.
Closing Narration[]
"The S.S. Queen of Glasgow, heading for New York., and the time is 1942. For one man it is always 1942 - and this man will ride the ghost ship every night for eternity. This is what is meant by paying the fiddler. This is the comeeuppance awaiting every man when the ledger of his life is opened and examined, the tally made, and then the reward or the penalty paid. And in the case of Carl Lanser, former Kaptian Lieutenant, Navy of the Third Reich, this is the penalty. The is the justice meted out. This is judgement night in the Twilight Zone."
Preview for Next Week's Story[]
"Next week, three men return from a flight into space, only to discover that their nightmare has just begun. Rod Taylor, James Hutton, and Charles Aidman appear in 'And When the Sky Was Opened'. What happens to these men once they're picked up in the desert? (Serling disappears, but is heard quite clearly.) Well, that gives you a rough idea. You'll see next week on The Twilight Zone. Thank you and good night."
Background Information[]
Cast[]
- Rod Serling as Narrator (voice only); uncredited
- Nehemiah Persoff as Carl Lanser
- Deirdre Owens as Barbara Standley [Credited as Deirdre Owen]
- Ben Wright as Captain Wilbur
- Patrick Macnee as First Officer
- James Franciscus as Lt. Mueller
- Hugh Sanders as Potter
- Leslie Bradley as Major Deveraux
- Kendric Huxham as Bartender
- Richard Peel as 1st Steward
- Donald Journeaux as 2nd Steward
- Barry Bernard as Engineer
- Debbie Joyce as Little Girl; uncredited
- Robert McCord as Sailor Wearing Ski Cap; uncredited
Crew[]
- Rod Serling (executive producer: Cayuga Productions)
- Buck Houghton (producer)
- George T. Clemens (director of photography)
- Bill Mosher (film editor)
- Millie Gusse (casting; credited: Mildred Gusse)
- George W. Davis (art director)
- William Ferrari (art director)
- Rudy Butler (set decorator)
- Henry Grace (set decorator)
- Ralph W. Nelson (production manager)
- Edward O. Denault (assistant director; credited: Edward Denault)
- Franklin Milton (sound; credited: Frank Milton)
- Philip Mitchell (sound)
- Van Allen James (sound effects editor; uncredited)
Production Companies[]
- Cayuga Productions
- Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (in association with)
Distributors[]
- Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1959) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
Other[]
- United Productions of America (UPA) (animated title)
Home media release[]
This episode is included on the Image Entertainment Vol. 13 DVD along with "The Purple Testament", "The Obsolete Man" and "A Quality of Mercy".
Trivia[]
- The Britons' beverages are coffee rather than tea since General Foods sponsored the episode.
- The filming sets included those used for the 1959 movie 'The Wreck of the Mary Deare'.
Short story adaptation[]
The episode was adapted into a short story in the 1963 collection Rod Serling's Twilight Zone. The short story recounts how Lanser's U-boat was sunk by a British destroyer. It also adds a final scene, set 20 years after the episode, in which Barbara Stanley (revealed to have survived the sinking of the Queen of Glasgow aboard a lifeboat) witnesses the ghosts of Karl Lanser and Lt. Mueller. Mueller does not share in Lanser's punishment but is doomed to witness it over and over for eternity.
External Links[]