Judgment Night - Season 1, Episode 10. Written by Rod Serling. Directed by John Brahm. Starring Nehemiah Persoff, Ben Wright, Patrick Macnee, Deirdre Owens.




Opening Narration: Her name is the S.S. Queen of Glasgow. Her registry: British. Gross tonnage: Five thousand. Age: Indeterminate. At this moment, she's one day out of Liverpool, her destination: New York. Duly recorded on this ship's log is the sailing time, course to destination, weather conditions, temperature, longitude and latitude. But what is never recorded in a log is the fear that washes over a deck like fog and ocean spray. Fear like the throbbing strokes of engine pistons, each like a heartbeat, parceling out every hour into breathless minutes of watching, waiting and dreading. For the year is 1942, and this particular ship has lost its convoy. It travels alone like an aged blind thing groping through the unfriendly dark, stalked by unseen periscopes of steel killers. Yes, the Queen of Glasgow is a frightened ship, and she carries with her a premonition of - death.



Synopsis:  The British cargo ship Queen of Glasgow has been separated from its convoy in thick fog while crossing the Atlantic in 1942.  On board are a handful of passengers including Carl Lanser.  But Carl Lanser is very confused.  Barely able to remember who he is and unable to remember how he got on the ship.  But he has a rather good knowledge of German U-Boat tactics...in waters where U-Boats are known to hunt.  Lanser's actions, even if he doesn't remember them, lead him in to The Twilight Zone.  


Thoughts:  For me this was probably the weakest episode thus far.  The ultimate conclusion is pretty well telegraphed from the start and Persoff just doesn't convey the confusion or terror of Lanser in a particularly compelling way.  Given the limits of the 25 minute format it's hard for more than one or two members of the cast to shine, and that's a real shame when you have someone like Patrick Macnee who has almost nothing to do.  The episode probably played better in 1959 when a significant portion of its audience still remembered the horrors of World War II.  And there is a pretty significant amount of violence for television at the time.  Still a weak (possibly the weakest) episode.  




Trivia:  Nehemiah Persoff who plays German officer Carl Lanser was Jewish and was born in the Palestine Mandate.  Small roles for Patrick Macnee as the British First Officer and James Franciscus as Lt. Mueller.  The British are shown drinking coffee rather than tea because the show was sponsored by by General Foods who made Sanka instant coffee.  Serling didn't feel that it was a battle worth fighting.