"The Photograph" remains a weak episode, despite the presence of veteran character actor John Crawford in the central role of photographer Donald Powell, famous enough for his agent (Ralph Brown) to arrange an exhibition of his best work. A womanizer who beds all of his models, Powell is sent from New York to Maine for a much needed vacation, and spies a house from which a pretty young woman exits as he's taking pictures, silently ignoring his pleas for her attention, causing him to follow, rape (unseen) and kill her, leaving the body in the snow. A nervous wreck after returning home, he is startled to see the girl in his photograph of the house, which no one else can see, yet each time he checks her image grows larger as she nears the camera lens. An unsympathetic protagonist makes for dull viewing, especially when the finale proves sadly predictable. Still, it's one of the better known episodes, as it was one of the three to form the basis for Kenneth Hartford's 1961 compilation feature "The Devil's Messenger," along with "The Girl in the Glacier" and "Condemned in Crystal," expanding Lon Chaney's role as host to becoming the Devil himself in exclusively shot new footage.
Review of The Photograph
