User Reviews

"Lindemann's Catch" - Bitter fisherman Captain Hendrick Lindemann (a superbly crusty portrayal by Stuart Whitman) falls in love with a mermaid (lovely Annabelle Garth) after he catches her in his net. Director Jeff Corey ably crafts a brooding gloomy mood for this harsh parable on mankind's cruel and greedy nature. The dandy grim and tragic ending packs a potent punch.

"A Feast of Blood" - Homely and desperate suitor Henry Mallory (Norman Lloyd in peak deliciously slimy form) gives a creepy brooch as a gift to the beautiful Sheila Grey (a nicely haughty turn by Sondra Locke) that appears to be alive. This nasty tale boasts two memorably grotesque characters and a pretty unsettling climax.

"The Late Mr. Peddington" - Destitute widow Cora Peddington (an excellent and energetic performance by Kim Hunter) shops around for a cheap funeral for her deceased husband. Harry Morgan lends sturdy support as drunken mortician Thaddeus Conway while Randy Quaid has a small role as an embalmer. Acted with tremendous gusto by Hunter, this wickedly funny segment further benefits from a priceless last shot.

This episode of the Night Gallery has a tired and weathered fisherman(played brilliantly by Stuart Whitman)net quite a catch in his long and miserable fishing life, as he puts it, and must decide what to do with it. It's half woman, half fish(mermaid)and he's strangely fond of it and can't decide whether to keep it below deck, throw back to the sea, or put it on display for cash. All the while, he's turning a deaf ear to those who offer advice on what to do with his catch. What I enjoyed mostly was the dark and foggy atmosphere, probably a New England setting, especially the desolate Inn, where the beaten down fisherman go to forget their troubles for an hour or so. The captain decides to keep her for himself, as he decides that the mermaid communicates with him, but not by speaking. The mermaid's whimpers get a tad annoying after a while, but that's the only negative here. The odd conclusion has a drunken fortune teller basically reverse the creature's appearance, as we see normal legs and a nasty fish head. The captain dives in after his prized catch, and that leads to his death, for which he is remembered by the rest of the characters. Whitman played this character perfectly.

'Lindemann's Catch' is, if you've seen enough of these types of stories, one that you'll be able to anticipate the twist coming at the end. These sorts of tales tend to astonish younger viewers introduced to them for the first time, but I think as we get older and more experienced in TV and movie fare, we begin to formulate our own ending that often matches the outcome of the picture we're watching. Suggs's (Harry Townes) potion was meant to help the ailing mermaid, but as it turns out, the cure is sometimes worse than the disease, as in this fish out of water fable.

For the longest time and to this day I couldn't determine if Sondra Locke was a good looking woman or not. There's just something about her appearance that's strangely odd to me, although for purposes of 'A Feast of Blood', I'll go with Henry Mallory's (Norman Lloyd) assessment that she was an attractive catch for someone like himself. Also an out of reach catch that he's prepared to deal with in his own way. However there's no quibbling over how ugly that brooch was, it was just atrocious. Why even allow it on your coat? I wonder how many women Mallory had to go through to find Ms. Right.

Now regarding my earlier thought about how these kinds of stories turn out, 'The Late Mr. Peddington' was just off the beaten path enough to make the resolution a blast and a half. With Cora Peddington (Kim Hunter) shopping around and maximizing as much value as she could out of her husband's funeral arrangements, she was more than prepared to send him off on his eternal voyage with a flair. That would be in more ways than one. This is a Night Gallery must see in terms of planning your work and working your plan.

'Lindemann's Catch'. Scripted by Rod Serling himself, and directed by Jeff Corey. Stuart Whitman is very good as Lindemann, a cranky fisherman who has a tendency to push people away. He's actually very lonely, so when he catches a mermaid in his net one night, he soon ends up smitten - and is intrigued by the idea of her possibly becoming fully human. Solid acting from the cast, especially Jack Aranson as the local doctor and Harry Townes as a doomsayer named Suggs, helps to anchor this tale which has an excellent period atmosphere. The mermaid herself, played by Annabelle Garth, is very alluring. Now, the half-comical / half-tragic ending doesn't exactly come as a surprise, but getting there is still quite enjoyable. This is the standout segment of this episode.

'The Late Mr. Peddington'. Kim Hunter plays a woman attempting to arrange a LOW budget funeral for her husband. A delightful Harry Morgan is the mortician bemused by her restrictions. Scripted by Jack Laird, based on a short story by Frank Sisk, this segment largely depends on the entertaining byplay between two good actors. However, the full import of the tale only happens when the mortician realizes what the "widow"s' actual game is. This leads to a hysterical final shot and sudden ending. Randy Quaid co-stars as a young embalmer. This segment was also directed by Corey.

'A Feast of Blood'. Scripted by Stanford Whitmore, based on a short story by Dulcie Gray. Sondra Locke plays Sheila, a lovely but stuck-up young woman who's determined to marry a particular suitor, despite the fact that another suitor, the middle-aged and "homely" Henry (Norman Lloyd), is equally determined to woo her. One night, he gives her the odd gift of a rather ugly brooch - a "vo-do", or primitive form of mouse. This figures into the resolution when Sheila finally gives Henry the big brush-off. A rather nasty finish for a pretty entertaining segment, with some comedy-relief drunken bicyclists adding some humour. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc, one of the most prolific directors on the series.

Seven out of 10.

There is something just WRONG about that "broach"... The empty eyes, the long snout, just SOMETHING! When it starts to grow and move up her dress (or was it a coat? Been a long time!), well, that about did it for me. That last brief glimpse of it at about the size of a large cat or medium dog is enough to put most people off their snacks. It's kinda hard to juggle the morality of this little tale....the guy certainly was no Brad Pitt.... But I think most of let out a muffled "YES!!!" for him. She was a snobby bitch from the start. I thought about this episode a few years later when I moved to the tropics, although most of the "monsters" there had six or more legs.

There are only seven episodes left in the second season of this show and here's hoping that there's some magic in this journey into the Night Gallery.

"Lindemann's Catch" was directed by Jeff Corey and written by Rod Serling. In anyone else's hands, the end of this story would be like the comedy moments that litter this series. Yet there's a lot of sadness in this story of Captain Hendrick Lindemann (Stuart Whitman), a fisherman who finds a mermaid (Annabelle Garth). The rest of his crew dreams of the money they'll make by exploiting her. He dreams of love. He wants her to be able to live on land with him and even magic can't make that happen.

"A Feast of Blood" is directed by Jeannot Szwarc and written by Stanford Whitmore. The teleplay is based on "The Fur Brooch" by Dulcie Gray and that title refers to the strange gift that Sheila (Sondra Locke) has been given by the much older Henry Mallory (Norman Lloyd). She'd rather be with someone younger and handsome, anyone but Malloy. "I'd sooner die than stay with you," she yells and she gets her wish.

"The Late Mr. Peddington" has Thaddeus Conway (Harry Morgan) meeting with the widow Cora Peddington (Kim Hunter, Planet of the Apes) to plan the funeral of her husband. She needs the cheapest affair possible, as her husband left her just a $2,000 life insurance policy to live on for two years before she is given his substantial wealth. Randy Quaid makes an appearance as the embalmer in a story that really goes nowhere, but what do you expect from Jack Laird? This was based on "The Flat Male" by Frank Sisk and directed by Jeff Corey.

This episode feels like it's kind of stalled out. I'm holding out hope that there will be a few great stories. I know "The Sins of the Fathers" is coming and that's the thing keeping these reviews coming. That said, "Lindemann's Catch" has a cold and dreary feel and at the end, when the captain dives into the water, ready to choose death over a life without a love that he feels as if he has connected to, Serling shows power even in an episode with some of the silliest special effects. One should be upset or frightened at the end instead of feeling the urge to laugh. Otherwise, that's the bright spot of this Night Gallery.