I have no criticism to make of Cliff Robertson in the lead role as ventriloquist, Jerry Etheredge. He gives a good performance as a seemingly likable man whose peculiar and insecure nature becomes increasingly visible. However, as the night club owner says about this kind of act 'you've seen one, you've seen them all'. The same pretty much goes for predictable ventriloquist stories like this (although 'The Glass Eye' in 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' was fairly different).
My problem is that the sentient dummy idea is mad and silly, creepy but uninteresting, as well as being predated by the film 'Dead of Night'. I prefer the segment 'Ventriloquist' in that movie to this TZ, but I prefer the Zone's 'Twenty Two' to the same storyline as 'The Hearse' within 'Dead Of Night'.
My problem is that the sentient dummy idea is mad and silly, creepy but uninteresting, as well as being predated by the film 'Dead of Night'. I prefer the segment 'Ventriloquist' in that movie to this TZ, but I prefer the Zone's 'Twenty Two' to the same storyline as 'The Hearse' within 'Dead Of Night'.