A couple is having trouble finding a motel to stop at. They end up at a strange one. In the room they rent is a tombstone with the name "White." It was left there by the monument maker who had spelled the name wrong. The wife (played by Shelley Duvall) is superstitious and a pain. She doesn't want to stay in the room with the gravestone. She believes there is a body under the floor. There is an old couple in the room below and he is quite ill. There are all kinds of representations of superstitions. Gee. I never figured this one out. It is scattered and lacking concision. One of the poorer efforts in this series. The people aren't interesting and the plot is entirely predictable.
3 Reviews
The dead is left in the room to haunt!
blanbrn19 October 2020
This episode 15 from season 6 of the Ray Bradbury Theater called "Tombstone" is one that's different and a little odd surely not one of the best still it tries to entertain with a little suspense and drama. The story involves a couple Walter Bean(Ron White) and Leota("The Shining's" Shelley Duvall) who are looking for a motel to stop at and stay the night. Finally they find one and it seems a little out of place and different. The room they get has a tombstone with the name "White". It's like this room is haunted and things get more complex when it's revealed that the name has a connection to some people and the motel. Overall the episode tried it was okay still not one of the series best ones.
"Bad luck to bury someone in the dark."
classicsoncall3 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
This story is like a broken jigsaw puzzle where the pieces are forced to fit. It starts with the misspelling of the name 'Whyte' on a tombstone, and in a fit of pique, the engraver leaves it in his hotel room and departs in disgust. Now I ask you, who brings a gravestone that big to a hotel room to work on it? Didn't the guy have a workshop?
So along comes a couple of Beans (Ron White, Shelly Duvall), and the only room they can locate is the one with the tombstone in it. I have to admit, I'd probably be put off by that prospect myself, so Leota Bean's instincts weren't that unusual. Husband Walter is too tired to care, until bumps in the night and an elderly couple in the room below portend a dubious outcome as their room's previous occupant returns to lay claim to the stone for which he now has found a use. Seems that Mr. White downstairs spelled his name properly, therefore Mrs. White already had a proper burial marker at the ready when the old guy passed away in the middle of the night. No irony here, as the outcome of the story was dictated by the writer, in this case Bradbury, in a manner that defied the odds.
So along comes a couple of Beans (Ron White, Shelly Duvall), and the only room they can locate is the one with the tombstone in it. I have to admit, I'd probably be put off by that prospect myself, so Leota Bean's instincts weren't that unusual. Husband Walter is too tired to care, until bumps in the night and an elderly couple in the room below portend a dubious outcome as their room's previous occupant returns to lay claim to the stone for which he now has found a use. Seems that Mr. White downstairs spelled his name properly, therefore Mrs. White already had a proper burial marker at the ready when the old guy passed away in the middle of the night. No irony here, as the outcome of the story was dictated by the writer, in this case Bradbury, in a manner that defied the odds.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
