The Twilight Zone (TV Series) Shadow Play (1961) User Reviews

Solipsism meets The Angels With Dirty Faces

[darrenpearce111 · 8/10 · 18 December 2013]

Adam Grant (Dennis Weaver) is sentenced to death by electric chair in a recurring dream in which he tells all around him that they will die when he dies. Solipsism is an interesting concept (that all the world's back story and other people's consciousness are only plot devices for oneself, the existential being) and it gets death-row-as-in-old-movie treatment here. Probably Adam Grant should never have watched James Cagney in 'The Angels With Dirty Faces' or Susan Hayward in 'I Want To Live', as he is aware of the movie-like inaccurate details of the whole procedure. There's a great moment when the D.A (Harry Townes from 'The Four of Us Are Dying', season one) and a reporter acknowledge that it's strange that movies are 'technically accurate' in their world. Grant knows that his recurring nightmare is 'unreal' but it happens again and again.

An interesting episode well played by all. Dennis Weaver is best remembered now for starring in Steven Spielberg's 'Duel' and he did a DVD commentary for 'Shadow Play' in which he said he believed in reincarnation.

Don't have nightmares! Watch something pleasant after this.

Harrowing and provocative

[thatsweetbird · 9/10 · 15 December 2018]

One of the most thought-provoking episodes in that it questions the very nature of reality itself. Weaver successfully conveys the never-ending terror he's in.

One of the criticisms of the series has been that it rehashed ideas for different episodes. Certainly those familiar with all the episodes are aware certain clusters of episodes do exist to some extent . I guess you could say the "sister" episode to this one is the one with the fellow who goes to the Doctor complaining that he's scared to fall asleep because he doesn't want to have the same nightmares always has . That one is a good episode-pretty scary with a good ending- But I'd have to say "Shadow Play" is overall the better of the two episodes- Partly because it questions what is reality in a way that the other episode isn't even trying to do.

When you consider this aired the same years as some other very toothless programs did You realize how risky and mind-expanding this show could be :)

Philosophy 101 - Serling style.

[Anonymous_Maxine · 9/10 · 23 July 2008]

There are times when I start thinking about strange possibilities and different experiences of existence, such as whether people with different eye colors see the world exactly the same way. Really, if blue eyed people experienced colors one way and brown eyed people experienced them another way, we would really have no way of knowing, because everything would look normal to everyone. That's a rather childish example, but when I start feeling existential I sometimes wonder if we are all part of someone's imagination or if we are some tiny part of an unimaginably bigger world. The religious implications here are pretty obvious, but Shadow Play has nothing to do with them.

The idea that we are all just figments of someone's (or something's?) imagination is not a new proposal, of course, but Serling has taken the premise and turned it into a pretty entertaining half hour story. Dreams and their meanings is an almost endlessly fascinating subject, and has been explored extensively in the annals of psychology, as well as in film, television, and literature. Wes Craven blurred the lines between reality and nightmare in his Nightmare on Elm Street films, and long before that, Serling explored the causes and effects of recurring nightmares more than once here on the outskirts of the Twilight Zone.

It doesn't seem that the show is really seeking any answers, but is instead just presenting a situation in which a man is having recurring nightmares in which he has been sentenced to death, and is basically trying to convince the people around him to help themselves by helping him.

It is a brilliantly ironclad dilemma he is in. Imagine being on death row and trying to convince the guards and police around you that if they go through with your execution, they will all disappear. "You're all in my imagination! If you execute me you'll cease to exist!" The feeling of helplessness that he must be suffering is unimaginable! Granted, I've had dreams where I sank like a rock to the bottom of the ocean or fell off a building or something, and I always wake up at the point of death, and while it's scary, it's also an enormous relief when I wake up and realize I'm safe in my bed. Still, the nightly anticipation of electrocution's gotta make it hard to get to sleep at night.

Although personally, rather than trying to convince the guards to cancel my execution, I would just stick my arm through the bars of my cell and say - "Come on, pinch me! See what happens!"

Superior -- simply

[caa821 · 10/10 · 2 June 2007]

The brief "summary"of the plot in this site - in my opinion - provides a better depiction of the essence of this story than the longer, more esoteric analyses provided.

The Weaver character - trapped in a recurring nightmare, and sentenced to be executed therein - repeatedly must try to convince the other characters they are figments of his imagination, and their on existence will cease if and when his does.

Rod Serling could convey more, in his programs, covering 20-some minutes in the show's half-hour time slot, than the big-screen, 2- or 3-hour, expensive extravaganzas do today.

And the black-and-white, small screen/noir aspects provide not only a better feel for this genre, but also a nostalgia for the way entertainment was provided nearly a half-century past.

Today, with all the advances in animation, the providing of special effects, and the seamless blending with human actors and animation, etc. -- it seems to me a price is paid in terms of the stories' effect and impact. With the tens of millions of dollars spent, the producers and directors seem to be intent of emphasizing these elements, in lieu of simply a good storyline and acting, period.

Juxtaposing the vast majority of science fiction offerings and psychological dramas, the current crop pale compared with Serling's weekly offerings. This program is simply one of the better among a host of these.

Dare to Dream

[ron_tepper · 10/10 · 8 May 2007]

This is by far the most fascinating Twilight Zone I have seen.Episode inspired great Directors such as David Lynch (Mulholland Drive)and others.Why are dreams and nightmares so fascinating? There are many reasons .We have all been told that people should get 8 hours of sleep every night. If that was true than a 75 year old man will have spent 25 YEARS of his life dreaming.Adam Grant has some real problems. He dreams of his execution again and again. What does this mean and what has he done to create this nightmare of an existence for himself.Reasons are not revealed.All we know is what is going on in this man's mind.Is he evil? Is he a victim? The bottom line is no jail or torture can be any worse. What Serlings screenplay shows here is the language of dreams.When a dreamer realizes he is in the act of dreaming it is called "lucid". Adam Grant not only knows he's dreaming but knows what will happen. Most dreams transfer different characters into different roles as part of the thought process-thus the Jail mate becomes the lawyer-the lawyer the judge, etc. These people probably existed in Adam Grants "real" life but may have been just glancing images-maybe someone you see in a room or pass on the street

All that matters is will these nightmares ever end? If I have any faults with this episode it is that we never really see him dream. How do we know that he may also be a fragmentation of someone else's dream. The other problem is we are under the impression that this is a nightmare that never stops. Does it? Are there any normal waking moments of "real life" in between these nightmares.Serling seems to be driving the point of personal disintegration.Who are we? What are we? Existentional thoughts abound

All Adam Grant wants is to have this finally end. If he ever did have a real "waking" moment in his life the only thing he would want is a gun and a bullet with his name on it. Its hard to talk about great Twilight Zones because there are so many but "Shadow Play" delves so far into the subconscious even Freud would be impressed.This is heavy stuff to be showing on prime time television in the early 60's.

Dreams and Nightmares

[AaronCapenBanner · 10/10 · 27 October 2014]

Dennis Weaver plays convicted murderer Adam Grant, awaiting execution but desperately tries to convince anyone(especially the District Attorney, played by Harry Townes) that in fact they are all a part of a collective dream he is having, and has in fact had countless times, and will quite possibly continue to have forever. Initially skeptical, a concerned newspaperman convinces the D.A. to postpone the execution, but it may indeed already be too late... Brilliant episode with a superb performance by Dennis Weaver perfectly encapsulates everything the series is about, in chilling, unforgettable fashion, and a stunner of an ending, with Rod Serling's narration being among the best.

Stay Away from the Sominex

[dougdoepke · 13 August 2006]

Suppose that all of us-- past, present, and future-- are mere figments of a dream, even now during the experience of reading these words. In short, imagine that we and everything else dwell in nothing more substantive than a spectral world of imagination. Is this possible, or must our ordinary common sense beliefs be true. Of course, to anyone who's taken a philosophy class, this is a familiar puzzle-- how do we prove that the dream hypothesis is false and that we're all really real. However you decide to answer the challenge, Dennis Weaver (on a break from Gunsmoke) is caught up in a recurring nightmare whose inhabitants have no more substance than mere figments, but whose experiences seem not any less real to him or to them. Now, there are dreams and there are dreams. Frankly, a recurring dream that I am Sultan of Turkey with vast wealth and harems at my disposal seems not such a bad deal. However, pity poor Weaver, since his fantasy lies on the other end of the scale-- every night he's electrocuted! Talk about being afraid to go to sleep. One central question unshown in the episode-- is it really Weaver who's having the dream?

Trapped in a never-ending nightmare

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 20 October 2017]

Anguished convict Adam Grant (splendidly played with riveting intensity by Dennis Weaver) finds himself stuck in a recurring nightmare in which he faces death by execution. Both newspaper reporter Paul Carson (an effectively antsy portrayal Wright King) and district attorney Henry Ritchie (a sound performance by Harry Townes) begin to believe Grant about something being amiss.

Director John Brahm relates the gripping story at a steady pace and milks plenty of tension from the claustrophobic prison setting. Charles Beaumont's intelligent script makes a potent and provocative point about the desperate measures a man will go to in order to cope with a grim situation as well as offers an interesting perspective on the power of imagination. Moreover, there are sturdy supporting contributions from William Edmondson as the skeptical Jiggs, Tommy Nello as the batty Phillips, and Gene Roth as a hard-nosed judge. An on the money episode.

Eternity

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 19 November 2008]

Dennis Weaver sits in a courtroom. The jury pronounces him guilty of first degree murder. The nightmare begins again. He goes through the same trial and execution over and over. He tries to get the judge, the prosecutor, the principles to listen to him. He plants enough doubt to confuse everything. The characters change appearance but they say the same things. It has happened so often, he can actually mouth them as they are said. Sometimes we think how eternity would be; how we would be punished in the hereafter. Imagine the torture of this loop of reality, played over and over. It's Ground Hog Day, without the happy ending.

Trapped in a Nightmare

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 5 July 2018]

"Shadow Play" is an intriguing and original episode of "The Twilight Zone", with a man sentenced to death penalty trapped in a nightmare. Has he already lived all that period or is he dreaming is the question along the episode. The idea of a man living different realities or dreams might be the seed of "12:01" storyline. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Sonho ou Realidade" ("Dream or Reality")

A merry-go-round or a bad dream???

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 31 May 2020]

In a Courthouse the sentence will be pronounces by the judge, as usually he asking to accused Adam Grant (Dennis Weaver) if wants speak something, he claims that all that is an error he already was condemned several times, taking to a cell he explains it to their inmates how it has been happened, also for a member of the jury that almost begging for to District Attorney Henry (Harry Towers) listen what he has to say, Henry agrees, on the jail Adam explains that trials were recurrent many times, but just changing the actors on the judgment, Henry not convinced at all over such oddity, he went back home, nonetheless in last minute he call to Governor to adjourn the death sentence, to late all starts again, bizarre tale by the Twilight Zone, it's a merry-go-round or a bad dream??

Resume:

First watch: 2020 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5

Beaumont at his best

[Coventry · 8/10 · 11 July 2019]

We all know the clichéd plot-twist in movies or TV-series where everything that happened thus far was only a dream or a hallucination in the protagonist's mind; - and we surely all have been annoyed by it already. Well, this wondrously creative Twilight Zone episode somewhat turns the tables around. Here, the protagonist (Dennis Weaver with a downright stellar performance) desperately attempts to persuade all the other characters they only exist in his dream and that their lives will be cut short because they'll simply vaporize in case he dies. And Adam Grant most likely will die, because in his recurring dream he's sentenced to death in the electric chair and has less than 12 hours to convince everyone (and notably the district attorney) to halt the execution. Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zones" never ceases to amaze me, as this is another highly original and intelligently scripted tale. The premise is incredibly innovative, and you'll find that the script (Charles Beaumont, who else) is meticulously detailed in spite of all the complexities and paradoxes that it brings alone. John Brahm, one of the most underrated directors of all times, brings the curious tale with lots of style and an uncanny atmosphere and "Shadow Play" also features some of the most passionate acting I've seen in the entire "Twilight Zone" series.

Still, I can't help thinking about what would happen to all the people in Grant's dream in case he would be rescued. He'll have to wake up anyway, won't he?

Death would be a better option...

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 24 April 2019]

The future McCloud, Dennis Weaver, is the star of this chilling episode that shows a murder suspect reliving every moment of his guilty verdict and the walk to the death chamber. he lives the dream daily over and over and over again, waking up exactly where he started. I'm sure if I were in the death chair, I just wanted to be over and not start from the beginning. This is a psychological horror story that has been seen in many films and TV shows over the years, perhaps anti corporal punishment and definitely a stepping stone in the career of its rising TV star.

Harry Townes is also featured as Weaver's council who doesn't quite believe his claim that his dreams could prove his innocence, but as Weaver gets closer kill being electrocuted, Townes begins to see coincidences arising that just are too strange to ignore. Will his call to the governor gets through on time, or will this be another "Green Mile" situation? This is an episode that is only for the strong of stomach, because it brings up fears and memories of dreams that never go away and are probably never understood.

Half way there.

[bombersflyup · 5/10 · 17 September 2019]

Shadow Play is a solid episode, because of the superb acting chops of Dennis Weaver. He gives the story life, unfortunately it doesn't go anywhere. Dreams can only come from your thoughts as you perceive things, but they can take any unsuspecting turn. The attorney asks since it's not real, why doesn't he just enjoy it. Stupid since he's in jail and going to the chair, what's there to enjoy?

A Man's Worst Nightmare

[Samuel-Shovel · 8/10 · 19 November 2019]

"Shadow Play" does that thing I love where it throws you into a Twilight Zone episode without any real context as to what is going on. It's disorienting as the court room is revealed before us, but it's extremely effective.

I will say the reveal that this is his dream every night doesn't 100% work for me. He knows it's a dream... yet remains utterly terrified. Also he's lucid dreaming so he can change the turkey to a roast yet can't spring himself from jail? I don't totally understand it all.

Does being electrocuted in a dream hurt? I assume it doesn't. Because if it's painless, what's he so freaked out about?

But I'm nitpicking. This is a lovely episode that is shot and acted spectacularly.

Kind of a precursor to 12:01pm and Groundhog Day

[safenoe · 9/10 · 4 October 2016]

"It's a cookbook!!!"

Actually Shadow Play isn't the famous cookbook episode (that's To Serve Man) but it's sort of the episode where the protagonist, who's on death row and who is played by Dennis "McCloud" Weaver, warms anyone who listens that if he is executed, the whole world will just dissolve, end, kaput big time.

It raises interesting moral insights into what is the nature of reality, how do we know when our reality is subject to another's reality? This would be a great foundation for Philosophy 101 classes, and if a philosophy lecturer runs out of ideas, he can slip in a DVD (or YouTube if you know what I mean) and play Shadow Play for the class.

Remarkable episode

[gridoon2024 · 8/10 · 14 June 2016]

Charles Beaumont's sophisticated script and John Brahm's inventive direction (including one split-screen trick that I thought Brian De Palma was the first to come up with, but apparently not!) make this one of the better episodes of the second season of "The Twilight Zone" (the previous one, "The Silence", is also very good). As far as episodes about dreams & nightmares go, it's certainly more intense and compelling than Rod Serling's own "Twenty Two", and it's superior to the first season's "Perchance To Dream", as well. Dennis Weaver gives a strong performance in the lead. This is one episode that I would use to draw non-believers into the series. *** out of 4.

Heartbreaking

[Calicodreamin · 8/10 · 8 June 2021]

This episode was perhaps the saddest so far, almost heartbreaking. The storyline was developed and flowed well. The acting was great from the whole cast with a few good monologues.

That stake your wife is cooking you for dinner tonight ! It's a Pot Roast!

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 21 September 2010]

***SPOILERS*** Convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death in the electric chair death row inmate Adam Grant, Dennis Weaver, is terrified in what's going to happen to him when the cloak strikes 12 midnight. Terrified not of being executed by the state but him coming back to life and going through the same nerve wracking experience again and again and again until the end of eternity!

Grant, in his deranged mind, has been through all this hundreds of times before and it seems that whatever he did to deserve this it's far worse then just getting executed once and getting it all over with. The one ace that Grant has up his sleeve, and it's a big one, is the fact that the way he sees it is that if he dies everyone else's associates with him, the judge jury and State district attorney and their families, will die along with him! Or that's what Grant tries to tell those responsible for his upcoming execution in order to save his own life!

It's the D.A himself Harry Ritchie, Harry Townes, who's nerves start to crack as the witching hour of 12:00 midnight approaches! Ritchie against his better judgment goes to see Grant just hours before he's to be executed to clear his conscience not in him knowing that he didn't send an innocent man to the electric chair but that by sending him there he also condemned himself his wife Carol, Anne Barton, and the entire world as he knows it to death as well!

***SPOILERS*** Grant as much as he tries to convince Ritchie that what he's telling him is the God honest truth he just can't bring himself to believe him even though after talking to Grant it strikes him that there's something real behind his madness that's just too terrifying for him to accept!

It's D.A Ritchie's good friend newspaper reporter Paul Carson, Wright King, who's on the verge of drinking himself to death, in fear of what going to happen if Grant is executed, who finally gets D.A Ritchie to call the governor to grant death row inmate Grant a stay of execution! But by then time had just about run out and and all that was left was for everyone on earth to wait and see if Grant was either insane desperate or telling the truth in what was to happen following his execution! And before his body was even cold Grant was back together with everyone else's in the film, in entirely different roles, from where they all started from to go through this horror of horrors all over again!

Not that important

[ericstevenson · 10/10 · 29 July 2018]

This episode features a guy who is being sentenced to death. He then claims that this is all a dream and everyone else will cease to exist if he dies as that will wake him up. It really is amusing to see these characters wondering if they're part of a dream or not. It's weird to have the characters act independently like this. Someone asks why he cares if it's all just a dream. He claims he has the same nightmare every night.

He thinks that if he can be saved from execution, he'll stop having these nightmares. Is he supposed to be in Hell or something? At the end, he dies and is apparently dreaming about his execution again. I love how he points out how this execution doesn't make sense in real life. It's just as far as he knows. Well, it's all a dream anyway. ****

"You only sleep and dream because I dream you that way".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 1 May 2010]

Be wary of this episode or you'll get sucked into the entire existential conundrum of whether you and your experiences are real or not, or on some different level, even a dream. You get caught up in a loop like that and you'll drive yourself crazy, much like Adam Grant (Dennis Weaver) did in 'Shadow Play'. It's an interesting concept of course, as interesting as those time travel stories that take you back or forward in time with implications on your existence in the present. There's no way to test those theories, so all you're left with is an intriguing story.

That doesn't mean this story's not a keeper. It's played for drama and emotion, and does cause you to entertain thoughts about life and aspects of it that might be unknowable. I thought it was well done, even though I personally refuse to fall victim to that type of mindset that could ultimately lead one to mental illness. It doesn't seem like that was what writer Charles Beaumont was going for here, but it was something that crossed my mind.

Always cool to see Dennis Weaver in a non-Chester Goode/Gunsmoke characterization. I've seen him in other roles where he showed good range as an actor, and this would be one of them. Conflicted and driven to the edge of madness, Weaver's character exemplifies the type of person who ultimately becomes a permanent resident of The Twilight Zone.

A Twilight Zone Master Work!

[al_r_stein · 10/10 · 11 January 2022]

The Twilight Zone, at its best, had the potential to blow you away with its clever, sharp, and challenging writing and memorable performances.

And then there were some memorable episodes that made you ponder the nature of life, and to view the nature of reality with fresh eyes and ears.

"Shadow Play" is, IMO, an OUTSTANDING example of a Twilight Zone "mind f><k" of the first order.

Dennis Weaver gives an Emmy worthy performance of a man facing imminent execution at the hands of the State. Or, are the hellish circumstances, and all those who play a part in this frightening and tense scenario, just figments of his imagination, shadow players in his recurring nightmare?

Weaver's existential crisis.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 13 March 2022]

Regular The Twilight Zone writer Charles Beaumont gets all existentialist on our ass with a tale in which his central character - murderer Adam Grant (Dennis Weaver) - believes that he is caught in a recurring nightmare in which he is sentenced to the electric chair. As his execution approaches, he tries to convince those around him, including the district attorney, that none of this is real, and that if they send him to the chair, they are also facing a death sentence, for when he dies they will cease to exist.

There's no unexpected sting in the tail with this story - it just repeats exactly as Grant predicts, his execution leading back to the court case - but Beaumont isn't interested in such trifles as twist endings this time around: he's exploring deeper themes and asking probing questions: what it is to be human, What is reality? Do we exist or are we simply part of someone else's thoughts? What happens after death? You know, the kind of stuff that can never be answered but which will absorb those with enquiring minds nonetheless.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for the fact that the death house is pieced together from clichéd images and sounds gleaned from the movies - a nice touch!

Taut episode

[kellielulu · 9/10 · 14 November 2022]

There is no wasted scenes or dialogue in this one. There's a trial a man Adam Grant( played by Dennis Weaver) is convicted and sentenced to death. He makes a plea to the district attorney and a reporter that none of this real it's a dream and it keeps happening! He tells this to another prisoner and the clergyman too. He says only a dream makes sense. The trial , conviction and execution takes place in one day but at the instant of execution it starts all over again. If the execution is stopped he may wake up and the dream will end . The reporter thinks it's worth doing. What is the harm ? The DA finally relents and calls for a stay it's at the exact moment of execution and suddenly it starts all over again! This time the judge is the man who was the other prisoner and the reporter is now the jury foreman and so on! Only Adam Grant is still the defendant. Serling's closing narration raises questions about our existence and can we trust in what it is . Another TZ specialty questioning our own reality. It's also another episode that deals with dreams and how they can seem real even the things that don't make sense like characters changing roles .

The actors take their roles seriously and the direction is like that of a film and adds to the effectiveness of the episode.

No politics here. Sorry.

[fedor8 · 21 May 2022]

SP has one of the best premises in the show, and represents all that's great about TZ. Any piece of fiction that investigates the topic of reality in an intelligent way gets my thumbs up. There are quite a few great movies that toyed with this or similar ideas, and perhaps a half-dozen or so TZ episodes are based on such wild concepts and themes. All such episodes happen to be among the best.

It is fascinating that a story which centers around an electric-chair execution ISN'T political, not even slightly. Execution was picked simply because it is the ideal plot-device to keep this Groundhog Day plot going in circles, in a precise and exact way, which serves the story.

The acting is very good, the dialog never wasteful, and the script is tight. The 1987 TZ version is also pretty good, though I can't vouch for it being as apolitical as the original because it's been a very long time since I'd last checked it out. If they remade this now, it would be quite literally an anti-death-penalty propaganda piece hence completely worthless. I don't know HOW they would manage to stuff so much politics into a story that leaves no room for such nonsense, but they would have definitely done it. Nowadays, everything is infused with political subtext.

This episode is further indication how top-notch consistent the series could have been if only Serling hadn't insisted on writing so many episodes himself. Gene Roddenberry isn't the only proof that the creator of a great show isn't necessarily the ideal person to remain at its helm.