James Whitmore from On Thursday We Leave for Home - Twilight Zone

One of the great scenes from the great actor James Whitmore who passed away.

Thank you Mr. Whitmore for a lifetime of moving performances.

Rest in Peace

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• james whitmore
• twilight zone

[harley75604]

I was a great admirer of James Whitmore. This was probably my favorite Twilight Zone episode.

[cinematedman]

Same here. This one along with Walking Distance are two one hour episodes, that rank up there as my favorites.

This one is so painful, since Capt has a point, and we can sort of see with all the background how he would react the way he did, and then finally the end, as well.

I love how TZ rarely uses villians. They let the terror and tragedy happen from our own decisions, our own actions. Rod knew that is TRUE terror.

[Teflon65]

cinematedman: Not to be a pedantic jerk, but "Walking Distance" was a half-hour episode, shown during the first season. It starred Gig Young.

[cinematedman]

Funny you mention that. A good friend of mine said the same thing, calling my attention to that fact - we had both thought it was an hour long epi. Yet, it's the usual 22 mins. Amazing. In my memory, it seemed to last an hour. I think I was thinking on Rod narrated pieces, which are far and few, WD being one. Oh well. My bad.

Yup, the tragic Gig Young does a wonderful job in WD. Along with another favorite, Frank Overton. Very moving.

[Teflon65]

cinematedman: When you said you were thinking on Rod narrated pieces, what did you mean? Not to be pedantic again, but he narrated all of them. Of course, there were two, or three earlier ones, where he did some narration in the middle of the shows, as well as at the beginning and end. I think he only appeared once, on camera, at the end of an episode, during the narration. Of course, he did appear in "A World of His Own", as himself.

[cinematedman]

No, technically, he introduced all the episodes, not narrated them. He only narrated a couple, WD being one. I think, perhaps, the Dana Andrews time travel episode being another, that could be a full hour as well?

Yes, with Keenan Wynn he 'guest stars' as himself. When it comes to movie and trivia, I prefer to go by memory, not Googling, so bear with me. ;)

[michael5186]

This episode, much like "The Obsolete Man" and "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" is a Rod Serling morality play where the stakes are the individual versus the state. However, this episode's beauty is that the protagonist, Benteen, is portrayed as a life saver at the show's outset, a hero. However, right under the surface, it demonstrates how power corrupts what seem to be even the most noble of human. Ultimately, the protagonist can not relinquish the power, and it illustrates fragility of ego.

[kurtb8474]

I mean this with the highest respect: No one can say "Miracle Grow Plant Food" like James Whitmore. A great actor with a powerful voice.

[SheriffTankStoner]

@Teflon65 Rod also did 2 other 'end of episode' appearances. One for 'The Obsolete Man' and the other for (TZ Episode, not the 1963-67 TV Show) The Fugitive.

[forcelifeforce]

When a person types "I don't mean to be pendantic,"

then you come off as weak. JUST state your information

with conviction and without hesitation. It smacks of

"Please don't hurt me if I state this."

You reduce my respect for you if you feel you must

soften and be pre-apologetic in your approach.

[therealkraas]

I was about to say "I wish TV today was this good" but I'm sure there was a bunch of shit on back then just like today. Anyway, this is a damn good ep.

[MrJonavo]

Point the camera at Whitmore as he reads Serling's script while a nostalgic musical piece plays in the background, and the result is one of the greatest scenes in tv history

[fred5399]

Such a powerful scene.

[spacepatrolman]

@Teflon65 rod serling showed walking distance to his writing class when he wase teaching at ithaca college in new york state the class didnt seem to like it he didnt understand that so he took LSD i dont know if thats true so the story goes

[spacepatrolman]

@cinematedman The dana andrews episode is a one hour episode so is the one with his brother steve forest the parallel

[deetjay1]

He did a thing called "The Next Voice You Hear", about a regular guy who hears the voice of God over his radio...Pretty shlocky stuff, but he was such a great actor, it actually kind of worked...