The Twilight Zone Scripts of Charles Beaumont, Volume One
Edited by Roger Anker
(436p) Gauntlet
ISBN: 1887369736
Like the first of this Gauntlet series
(As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Volume One), The Twilight Zone Scripts of Charles Beaumont, Volume One is a reminder
that solid writing makes for good scripts. A simple truism, perhaps,
but one that seems to be forgotten these days. There's nothing revolutionary
in any of the original scripts here -- the unfilmed "Gentlemen, Be Seated," and the
televised "Perchance To Dream," "A Nice Place To Visit," "The Howling Man," "The Prime Mover,"
"Person Or Persons Unknown," "In His Own Image," "Passage of the Lady Anne," and "The Jungle" --
just well-structured dark stories told primarily with dialogue that made truly
memorable television. Additional material is provided by editor Roger Anker,
who edited Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories, a collection published more
than two decades after the author's death. Anker puts the scripts in context and
sketches the details of Beaumont's too-short life and involvement with the other writers of
the "California Group." Although less packed with ephemera
and photos than the Serling volume, Beaumont, Volume One is still an
enjoyable and illuminating compilation.
--
Originally published: Cinemafantastique, February 2005
Like the first of this Gauntlet series
(As Timeless As Infinity: The Complete Twilight Zone Scripts of Rod Serling, Volume One), The Twilight Zone Scripts of Charles Beaumont, Volume One is a reminder
that solid writing makes for good scripts. A simple truism, perhaps,
but one that seems to be forgotten these days. There's nothing revolutionary
in any of the original scripts here -- the unfilmed "Gentlemen, Be Seated," and the
televised "Perchance To Dream," "A Nice Place To Visit," "The Howling Man," "The Prime Mover,"
"Person Or Persons Unknown," "In His Own Image," "Passage of the Lady Anne," and "The Jungle" --
just well-structured dark stories told primarily with dialogue that made truly
memorable television. Additional material is provided by editor Roger Anker,
who edited Charles Beaumont: Selected Stories, a collection published more
than two decades after the author's death. Anker puts the scripts in context and
sketches the details of Beaumont's too-short life and involvement with the other writers of
the "California Group." Although less packed with ephemera
and photos than the Serling volume, Beaumont, Volume One is still an
enjoyable and illuminating compilation.