The episode begins with Leonard Nimoy's character burying his wife. She was an invalid and this makes him free. He hadn't been a good boy, having had affairs with various women including his secretary. One of the things he feels he will not miss is the ringing of a service bell where he has spent his days, answering his wife's every wish. Two things happen. His wife's friend give him a cat which she feels will keep him company. Secondly, the infernal ringing keeps going. Also, the cat morphs into different jungle cats, one time a leopard, the next a tiger. Nimoy begins to go bonkers, spinning around and holding his head. I guess he is being punished for his affairs and for being a jerk, but the episode has no sequence of events that lead anywhere. I don't know if the screenwriter even knew what to do with this.
11 Reviews
"Forget it cat, you're not staying that long."
classicsoncall12 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
It's always cool to see Leonard Nimoy show up in a non-Star Trek vehicle. He's so closely associated with the character Spock that it's hard to imagine him in any other kind of role. In this story, he becomes a widower when his invalid wife passes away, and presumably would be free to take up with women of his choosing. Henry Auden (Nimoy) seems to be a conflicted character here, alternately shunning female companionship and then going for an all out reconciliation with a secretary (Kathryn Hays) he had an affair with. Personally, I thought neighbor Barbara Morgan (Lorraine Gray) was angling for some attention when she made a present of a house cat to the new widower.
I guess you can't really put yourself in someone else's shoes to figure out how they'll respond in a given situation. In Henry's case, he begins to go mad with the sound of his former wife's bedside call bell, and the image of his pet taking on the form of various jungle cats. For me however, the coolest part of the story occurred when Henry came this close to making that 'Live Long and Prosper' sign on the glass window with his bloody palm. Unfortunately, there was no one on hand to beam him up and out of this episode.
I guess you can't really put yourself in someone else's shoes to figure out how they'll respond in a given situation. In Henry's case, he begins to go mad with the sound of his former wife's bedside call bell, and the image of his pet taking on the form of various jungle cats. For me however, the coolest part of the story occurred when Henry came this close to making that 'Live Long and Prosper' sign on the glass window with his bloody palm. Unfortunately, there was no one on hand to beam him up and out of this episode.
Pretty good, but kind of muddled
Woodyanders13 November 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Henry Auden (a fine and credible performance by Leonard Nimoy) looks forward to being single again in the wake of his invalid wife's death. His wife's friend Barbara Morgan (well played by Lorraine Gary) gives Henry an orange tabby to keep him company, but the cat proves to be more of a burden than a relief.
Director Gerald Perry Finnerman relates the absorbing story at a steady pace as well as adroitly crafts an eerie and unsettling mood. Kathyrn Hays lends sturdy support as Henry's bitter secretary and paramour June. Both Lloyd Ahern's fluid cinematography and Eddie Sauter's shivery score are up to par. However, although David Rayfiel's script makes a valid point on how guilt and loneliness can drive someone insane, the overall rather disjointed plot never really coheres into a pleasing whole and ends on a dissatisfying abrupt note. This episode serves as a sound example of something with a strong build-up that fails to pay off effectively at the conclusion.
Director Gerald Perry Finnerman relates the absorbing story at a steady pace as well as adroitly crafts an eerie and unsettling mood. Kathyrn Hays lends sturdy support as Henry's bitter secretary and paramour June. Both Lloyd Ahern's fluid cinematography and Eddie Sauter's shivery score are up to par. However, although David Rayfiel's script makes a valid point on how guilt and loneliness can drive someone insane, the overall rather disjointed plot never really coheres into a pleasing whole and ends on a dissatisfying abrupt note. This episode serves as a sound example of something with a strong build-up that fails to pay off effectively at the conclusion.
Good try, though no cigar!
safeJ26 April 2019
Frankly, I was expecting more with an episode staring Leonard Nimoy. This was basically a one-man show for Nimoy, with the couple other characters there just to fill out the plot. Agree with reviewer, thatsweetbird, about general quality of "Night Gallery" series as a whole and specifically the production values of this episode. Nimoy did his best with the material he had, portraying the new widower whose hopes for a better future for himself didn't exactly pan out as expected. I'd rate HIS performance a 9, but overall a courtesy 6 for the episode as a whole.
When your wife dies let the cat get your tongue!
blanbrn20 November 2012
Just caught this "Night Gallery" episode called "She'll Be Company for You" a catch phrase of an episode that's odd and clever. It features the well known of the "Star Trek" series Mr. Spock himself Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy plays Henry a man who's recently widowed and lost his wife. However he gets a gift in the form of a cat from her best friend and this cat is a little cursed with magic powers! Slowly strange things start to happen at Henry's house as he misses his wife soon the cat transforms into a big tiger and claws and growls it's way at Henry! This big cat literally drives him speechless and into a scared manner. Overall good episode that's memorable with Mr. Spock it proves the cat can get your tongue!
A not atypical for the series episode
thatsweetbird21 January 2019
I do watch NG, so I guess I find it entertaining.
Do I think it's good? Well that's more difficult to answer.
The series got good actors. But it's production values are low, even for the time. There's a low budget feel. For comparison the horror films of the sixties by hammer generally have better effects and sets (Although I will say I recently was very unimpressed with "the Gorgon" haha ).
The stories frankly often make little sense. I'll grant that with the horror genre sense can be passed by sometimes. But NG takes that excuse pretty far.
So in this one we get a likable actor, Leonard Nimoy. We get some story about his invalid wife having passed on. Something vague about this visiting cat is maybe his wife's spirit come back to haunt him And evidently kill him. Even vaguer suggestion(s) that he had an affair with his secretary and thus deserves all this.
Many low budget effects in this. Example is where the cat becomes what I think is a Jaguar . No transformation scene , that's too expensive. Just cut to a seen of the jaguar in a doorway we are supposed to take as Nimoys kitchen. Then cut to him doing his best to act like he's a few feet from a dangerous animal. Cut back to the animal, cut back to him. Obviously not in the budget to even have him on the same set with the animal. So no not too scary haha.
I'm honestly surprised at how high most reviews are for this series. It's often unintentionally funnier than scary. I Still prefer it over slick modern horror . But I can't see this for the most part as being as well crafted as say Serlings other older famous anthology Series, the Twilight Zone. I have some affection for it-particularly the cast- But I have to give the series itself some kind of mixed review.
The series got good actors. But it's production values are low, even for the time. There's a low budget feel. For comparison the horror films of the sixties by hammer generally have better effects and sets (Although I will say I recently was very unimpressed with "the Gorgon" haha ).
The stories frankly often make little sense. I'll grant that with the horror genre sense can be passed by sometimes. But NG takes that excuse pretty far.
So in this one we get a likable actor, Leonard Nimoy. We get some story about his invalid wife having passed on. Something vague about this visiting cat is maybe his wife's spirit come back to haunt him And evidently kill him. Even vaguer suggestion(s) that he had an affair with his secretary and thus deserves all this.
Many low budget effects in this. Example is where the cat becomes what I think is a Jaguar . No transformation scene , that's too expensive. Just cut to a seen of the jaguar in a doorway we are supposed to take as Nimoys kitchen. Then cut to him doing his best to act like he's a few feet from a dangerous animal. Cut back to the animal, cut back to him. Obviously not in the budget to even have him on the same set with the animal. So no not too scary haha.
I'm honestly surprised at how high most reviews are for this series. It's often unintentionally funnier than scary. I Still prefer it over slick modern horror . But I can't see this for the most part as being as well crafted as say Serlings other older famous anthology Series, the Twilight Zone. I have some affection for it-particularly the cast- But I have to give the series itself some kind of mixed review.
Only moderately entertaining.
Hey_Sweden22 June 2022
Leonard Nimoy plays Henry Auden, whose invalid wife has finally passed away. After years of looking after her (and putting up with the incessant ringing of her bell), he's looking forward to some freedom. But then his wifes' sardonic friend Barbara (Lorraine Gary) gives Henry her cat to keep him company while she goes on vacation. However, strange things begin occurring, not the least of which is a seemingly horrible transformation of the cat.
Is any of this "real" or is this just a case of a lonely man losing all touch with reality? Writer David Rayfiel (adapting a story by Andrea Newman) clearly doesn't want to make it too obvious. The director, Gerald Perry Finnerman, soon establishes an effectively weird atmosphere with a fair amount of sinister imagery. Nimoy is fun to watch, Gary is most amusing, and the lovely Kathryn Hays has some sharp dialogue as the secretary with whom Henry had been having an affair. But this is all a bunch of build-up that doesn't go anywhere particularly interesting, or surprising. As a result, the tale has little impact. Too bad: this viewer was intrigued to see that Mr. Nimoy headlined this particular episode, and had been looking forward to seeing it.
Six out of 10.
Is any of this "real" or is this just a case of a lonely man losing all touch with reality? Writer David Rayfiel (adapting a story by Andrea Newman) clearly doesn't want to make it too obvious. The director, Gerald Perry Finnerman, soon establishes an effectively weird atmosphere with a fair amount of sinister imagery. Nimoy is fun to watch, Gary is most amusing, and the lovely Kathryn Hays has some sharp dialogue as the secretary with whom Henry had been having an affair. But this is all a bunch of build-up that doesn't go anywhere particularly interesting, or surprising. As a result, the tale has little impact. Too bad: this viewer was intrigued to see that Mr. Nimoy headlined this particular episode, and had been looking forward to seeing it.
Six out of 10.
Cats Really Are Great Company
AaronCapenBanner13 November 2014
Leonard Nimoy plays a recently widowed man named Henry Auden who is secretly relieved his wife has died, as she was an invalid holding him down, so he feels. Happy to be living alone, he is disturbed by her best friends arrival with her cat, which she offers to give him to keep him company. He declines, but the cat comes over anyway, and wont leave, and apparently has the ability to shape-shift, as he hears a much larger cat prowling the house, and seems to be out to get him... Dreadful episode is the worst of the series by far, with an incoherent story that leads nowhere, and a horrendously unjust and ignorant introduction maligning our feline friends! (Hiss!)
Too much cat, not enough story
tmccleese-7580813 August 2021
Leonard Nimoy was wasted in this filler heavy edition of hit and miss tv series. For one thing, what exactly is the poor man being punished for?
Is it for resentment of having to take care of his invalid wife? Adultry was only implied and it is also implied the man loyally cared for his wife until her end. It is not immoral or a crime to merely lament burdens of life....there is something to be said of executing the burdens out of sense of duty.
For me it was cruelty from the deceased wife and cruelty from the writers to make us watch the endless cat growling and stalking.
Is it for resentment of having to take care of his invalid wife? Adultry was only implied and it is also implied the man loyally cared for his wife until her end. It is not immoral or a crime to merely lament burdens of life....there is something to be said of executing the burdens out of sense of duty.
For me it was cruelty from the deceased wife and cruelty from the writers to make us watch the endless cat growling and stalking.
Not good
BandSAboutMovies12 August 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Henry Auden (Leonard Nimoy) is dealing with the loss of his wife, who died after years of a prolonged illness, a time in which he played caregiver. All he can feel is relief, but it's a strange place to be in, a man who has been more nurse than a husband to a woman who was once his lover.
Barbara (Lorraine Gary) is Margaret's best friend and she's unconvinced that Henry is grieving enough. She leaves her orange tabby Jennet for company, which he claims he doesn't need. And then he hears the bell that his wife used to use to summon him.
Now sure that a gigantic cat is loose in his house, Henry starts to sleep at the office. At every turn, his dream of a single life does not appear. The secretary he planned on being with, June (Kathryn Hays), seems to savor the idea that now that he can finally have her, she wants nothing to do with him.
Henry goes home and battles two of the big cats that are loose around his house, but finally realizes that he has to die. He walks to his room and when we see him again, he's covered in blood and Jennet is licking a red pool in the carpet.
Directed by Gerald Perry Finnerman (the director of photography for sixty episodes of the original Star Trek) and written by David Rayfiel (Lipstick) and based on a short story by Andrea Newman, this is a story that really goes nowhere and has a resolution that makes no sense. It feels like someone just threw together some ideas and hoped that it would make more sense than it does.
Barbara (Lorraine Gary) is Margaret's best friend and she's unconvinced that Henry is grieving enough. She leaves her orange tabby Jennet for company, which he claims he doesn't need. And then he hears the bell that his wife used to use to summon him.
Now sure that a gigantic cat is loose in his house, Henry starts to sleep at the office. At every turn, his dream of a single life does not appear. The secretary he planned on being with, June (Kathryn Hays), seems to savor the idea that now that he can finally have her, she wants nothing to do with him.
Henry goes home and battles two of the big cats that are loose around his house, but finally realizes that he has to die. He walks to his room and when we see him again, he's covered in blood and Jennet is licking a red pool in the carpet.
Directed by Gerald Perry Finnerman (the director of photography for sixty episodes of the original Star Trek) and written by David Rayfiel (Lipstick) and based on a short story by Andrea Newman, this is a story that really goes nowhere and has a resolution that makes no sense. It feels like someone just threw together some ideas and hoped that it would make more sense than it does.
No wonder Rod Serling wanted out of this show
gargantuaboy27 November 2021
Warning: Spoilers
There are some good episodes of The Night Gallery but many that are simply just awful. "She'll Be Company for You" is one of the awful ones. Leonard Nimoy gets a cat from his wife's friend to keep him company but he clearly does not want the cat and he comes off like a real jerk throughout the entire episode.
All I could figure out is the cat turns into a leopard and growls in a very threatening manner and scares Nimoy silly. I don't know or remember what else happens, I mean that seems to be it. The cat gets scary and scares Leonard Nimoy. God this show was bad.
All I could figure out is the cat turns into a leopard and growls in a very threatening manner and scares Nimoy silly. I don't know or remember what else happens, I mean that seems to be it. The cat gets scary and scares Leonard Nimoy. God this show was bad.
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