alynsrumbold

One of the most faithfully-adapted of Serling's teleplays for this series, "Camera Obscura" follows Basil Copper's creepy short story very closely. The dialogue is very well-written, and the casting is interesting. Rene Auberjunois plays the hard-hearted financier Mr. Sharsted very much in the style of his character on "Benson" (rather than as the gruff security chief on "Star Trek: DS9" -- makes you wonder which is his real voice!), and Ross Martin plays the mysterious and otherworldly Mr. Gingold very differently than most of his other TV characterizations (unless it was as Artemis Gordon in one of his disguises). The Mark Twain-lookalike makeup on Martin is a little discordant, but otherwise his performance is very fine. The set designs are superb, from Gingold's gloomy (and apparently haunted) house to the preternaturally grew environment that Sharsted finds himself after leaving the comparative safety of the house. The soundtrack is also nicely done, with an alternately intense or warbling melody that sets the tone well for the vaguely sorcerous theme of the episode.

The interaction between Martin/Gingold and his "Victorian toy," the titular camera obscura, is particularly fascinating, and there are a couple of fine moments of foreshadowing when the viewer begins to understand the underlying sinister nature behind Gingold's otherwise obliging exterior. For example, when Gingold offers to show Sharsted his other, truly unique camera obscura in another part of the house, he opens the door to the passageway and offers, "It's through here, Mr. Sharsted," in a voice that is soft and yet subtly menacing that causes Sharsted to stutter and hesitate. Also, the expression on Gingold's face while they're watching visions from both the past and the future on the remarkable device seems somber and almost melancholy, very different from Sharsted's open-mouthed astonishment. But it's his, "And I bid you good-bye, Mr. Sharsted," that really seals the deal.

Having seen one of these very interesting devices in operation once in Edinburgh, it's all the more fun to watch this episode again. Thank heavens the one I saw didn't have the extraordinary powers of Gingold's!

This was one of my favorite episodes of a generally uneven but watchable classic series from 1970s TV. "Cool Air" as written by Rod Serling takes a number of liberties with H.P. Lovecraft's original tale, not the least of which is substituting a female visitor (capably played by Barbara Rush) to the enigmatic rooming house boarder Dr. Munoz, in place of the male fellow renter who meets and befriends his mysterious neighbor via a medical emergency. However, in spite of the the artistic license, the story is well written and well acted; veteran TV character actor Henry Darrow does a nice job as Munoz, though he's not exactly as I would have pictured him from the Lovecraft story. He seems younger, and his voice is a bit too lively and vibrant. Also, in light of Munoz' unique physical malady, it's rather odd to see him sipping coffee or tea at dinner with Rush's character. All in all, though, the story is beautifully filmed and paced, and the haunting acoustic guitar soundtrack provides a very moody backdrop to the gradual eerie build-up to the horrific climax.

This story was redone about 10 years ago as part of the "H.P. Lovecraft Collection" with another veteran actor, Jack Donner, playing Dr. Munoz much closer to how I would have visualized him. The story is very faithful to the original tale, with the main character once again a male (and apparently meant to be a surrogate Lovecraft). Nevertheless, the Night Gallery version is very well done and well worth the watch.