The Twilight Zone - Still Valley

What I just love about the Twilight Zone is that the show could go into the future (through the sensibility of those living in the 60s, contemplating what might lie ahead through the prism of past experience) and tell fantasy and sci-fi stories set during the past. Like the Civil War. I have noticed that often when TZ tells stories set during wars, it gets spiritual, as if reflecting on the toll taken on those who are in the middle of them, the effects they produce and profound, existential questions they provoke. In Still Valley, while I still don’t consider it prime TZ at its best, I do think it is rather entertaining as a “what if?” tale. What if a Confederate scout (played in a grizzled, piss-and-vinegar characterization by Gary Merrill of All About Eve (1950)) locates a town where a book on witchcraft, kept by an old, dying, proud practitioner of “the devil’s work” named Teague (Vaughn Taylor, who was only 50 at the time but looks elderly) can freeze those “damn yanks” into silence? 

So Sgt Paradine (Merrill) and a “yellow-belly” (Merrill doesn’t like him much) soldier accompanying him (Ben Cooper) believe they have found a company of Union soldiers traveling through a nearby town. A sudden quiet gives them pause but Paradine is willing to go down to see what’s up (Cooper’s Dauger just wants to get back to their own Confederate company, scared and tired). That is when Paradine finds the Yankee soldiers “stuck” as if frozen in the middle of a busy morning of activity, soon discovering Teague was responsible. But Teague is assured that “ole death is come a gallopin’ after him on that white horse” and enlists the aid of Paradine to take up his cause…to some “conjurin’”, keeping up the work of the devil and summoning up the stillness in order for the Confederacy to win the Civil War. 

That premise is pure Twilight Zone, with the weary, defeated soldier—desperate for a solution considering his side of the war is losing—perhaps finding a gift that can assist in a war that could use a miracle. Taylor is quite a hoot as the fragile old coot looking to leave behind some magic for the side of the Civil War he supports. Merrill is right to the point, a straight-shooter, but reveals that revoking God in order to give the Confederacy an advantage is not worth the price it requests. So Merrill has this book that he uses once on another company of Union soldiers, calling up a spell that works, corroborated by another soldier, returning from a scouting assignment, shocked by what he witnessed with the stillness and what-not. Mark Tapscott, as the lieutenant almost willing to agree with using the book to revoke God (with Cooper just as willing), is another example of the desperation that was taking hold over Confederate soldiers with each additional battle lost in defeat. I think that point gets across quite well which is why I kind of have warmed up to the episode a little more than previous viewings.

I did want to include a review from June 2012 as it does recall my feelings at that time. I had also watched it during one of the Syfy marathons (more than likely the July 4^th marathon a year before revisiting it that summer of 2012), so the episode was given a couple chances to impress upon me more its “spell” (pun intended). I wanted to review a lesser TZ episode for the blog as I prepare for a feature review on Nightmare at 20,000 Feet coming up later, and that isn’t as much a slight on Still Valley as just stating that it doesn’t slough off any resounding impact. There’s no residual imprint that leaves behind anything lasting. When you have five seasons of episodes, not all of them are After Hours or Mirror Image. But I think Still Valley has teetered me over slightly in favor of it. A middle-of-the-road episode, for sure, but not completely mediocre; Still Valley is in the same conversation of The Shelter or The Fever. I think Merrill and Taylor’s conversation scene, among the Union soldiers “asleep” in the town, is my favorite of the episode. This one scene basically won me over. The rest of it, to me, more or less lays there on screen, neither great nor awful. It does posit a supernatural device that could have altered the course of American history, but the end deposits that rather quickly. Taylor freezing Merrill and continuing to address him, showing off the power of the book and what control it gives him, is my choice for the episode’s highlight. Merrill looks weathered and raw and performs Paradine that way. It worked to me.

"Still Valley" comments on the waning times of the Confederacy as the

Civil War was winding down and their forces were dwindling, guns and

men becoming short supply. A Confederate guide, Paradine (Gary Merrill,

whose rugged features give him an interesting face to follow such an

extraordinary series of events few people could come to grips with),

follows orders to search a nearby town for Yankee soldiers, finding

them frozen like statues, yet alive. This is possible thanks to black

magic, a local old timer (Vaughn Taylor) holding a book of witchcraft,

who will be dead soon, with a disdain for the Yanks, wanting to pass

down the Devil's power to Paradine, essentially making this Johnny Reb

his successor. This is another one of those Twilight Zone episodes that

has a character walking amongst actors remaining uncomfortably still

(you can tell that these actors are having a time of it, trying to stay

perfectly in place as action surrounds them). I was amused at how

Serling points out in his closing narration that this is a possible

event prior to Gettysburg, the war could have been totally different

had Paradine used the Witchcraft book, calling upon Satan, and

denouncing God. I consider "Still Valley" a rather insignificant

episode during the Twilight Zone as it doesn't really cover anything

that particularly interesting enough to maintain a certain power after

it is over. We have seen episodes during the show where characters

encounter the supernatural in a town where "things are too quiet". It

does feature a pair of inspired performances, but the material and

dialogue aren't earth-shattering or thought-provoking. Using witchcraft

to get an edge over opposition isn't anything that new, even for that

time. Overall, this will probably be interesting for Merrill's

performance as he shows a loyalty to his side, but not enough to

denounce the Lord. This episode is basically a conversation between a

dying practitioner in the Dark Arts trying to recruit a loyalist of a

failing military regime right before the Civil War's end. There are far

more interesting Twilight Zone episodes dealing with war and its

effects on those involved, so "Still Valley" will probably easily fade

from memory not long after you watch it. Still, on a bored Sunday

afternoon, I could think of worse time to kill that "Still Valley".