The Changing of the Guard
- Episode aired Jun 1, 1962
- TV-PG
- 25m
After being forced to retire, Professor Fowler contemplates suicide when he doesn't feel he's made a difference in the world.After being forced to retire, Professor Fowler contemplates suicide when he doesn't feel he's made a difference in the world.After being forced to retire, Professor Fowler contemplates suicide when he doesn't feel he's made a difference in the world.
- Dickie Weiss
- (as Buddy Hart)
- Graham
- (as Bob Biheller)
- Narrator
- (uncredited)
- …
- Boy
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe final Twilight Zone episode where the ending shot rose upward, seeing the setting's higher point replaced by a starlit sky.
- GoofsWhen Professor Fowler is looking out the window listening to the singers, he is wearing glasses in some angles and not wearing glasses in others.
- Quotes
Professor Ellis Fowler: [looking through school yearbook] They all come and go like ghosts. Faces, names, smiles. The funny things they said or the sad things, or the poignant ones. I gave them nothing. I gave them nothing at all. Poetry that left their minds the minute they themselves left. Aged slogans that were out of date when I taught them. Quotations dear to me that were meaningless to them. I was a failure, Mrs. Landers. An abject, miserable failure. I walked from class to class, an old relic, teaching by rote to unhearing ears, unwilling heads. I was an abject, dismal failure. I moved nobody. I motivated nobody. I left no imprint on anybody. Now, where do you suppose I ever got the idea that I was accomplishing anything?
- ConnectionsFeatured in American Masters: Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval (1995)
- SoundtracksIt Came Upon The Midnight Clear
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Edmund Hamilton Sears
Music by Richard Storrs Willis
Performed by Christmas carolers
In this installment, Rod Serling once again relied on a formula with which he'd have amazing success throughout the entire run of The Twilight Zone: the transformation of a sensitive, disillusioned man by way of an extraordinary or even supernatural encounter. As I've noted in other TZ reviews, some of Serling's best episodes were based on a character such as this, and in most of these episodes, a brilliantly cast lead actor allowed Serling's writing to reach its full flower. This time, the incomparable Donald Pleasence was front and center as Ellis Fowler in a portrayal that was deeply emotional without being maudlin. It wasn't often Pleasence had the chance to play someone so sympathetic, and it's a real shame another role couldn't have been found for him in the series. His work in "The Changing of the Guard" is easily among the finest performances ever to grace the Twilight Zone.
This episode was originally broadcast in summer, but its tender themes combined with a Christmastime setting makes this an ideal holiday watch. Ably supporting Pleasence are Liam Sullivan and Tom Lowell just before his first big movie appearance in "The Manchurian Candidate". "The Changing of the Guard" sits right alongside "The Night of the Meek" as being an outstanding holiday-themed episode despite its aggressive playing of the heartstrings. 9.0/10.
- meansphene
- Dec 23, 2018
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1