The Hungry Glass
- Episode aired Jan 3, 1961
- 50m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
334
YOUR RATING
A married couple moves into a house that is haunted by images reflected in glass and mirrors.A married couple moves into a house that is haunted by images reflected in glass and mirrors.A married couple moves into a house that is haunted by images reflected in glass and mirrors.
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Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne of the most highly regarded of Thriller episodes, this was based on a story by Psycho author Robert Bloch, and prominently features three iconic TV stars of the 1960s: William Shatner (Star Trek), Russell Johnson (Gilligan's Island), and Donna Douglas (The Beverly Hillbillies).
- GoofsThe house sits on a cliff many feet above the water, but in the view out the window, the sea appears to be at the same level as the house.
- Quotes
Gil Thrasher: Everybody knows that vampires don't cast reflections.
Featured review
Through the looking glass darkly
"The Hungry Glass" was Douglas Heyes' second episode as both writer and director, an improvement on "The Purple Room," on par with his third, "The Premature Burial." Like "The Cheaters" it was adapted from the Robert Bloch short story "The Hungry House," the first time that the series dealt with actual ghosts rather than faux phantoms, deliberately building the pace to keep the atmosphere grim and the small cast of actors front and center. William Shatner stars as professional photographer Gil Thrasher, joined by wife Marcia (Joanna Heyes) in their recently purchased New England mansion by the sea, with an impressive front window view that truly sold the property to them from out of town realtor Adam Talmadge (Russell Johnson). The price was deemed far lower than usual due to its reputation for being cursed by its original owner, a young beauty named Laura Bellman (Donna Douglas), so enamored by her mirror reflection that she never truly loved the heartbroken husband who built the house in 1860, prancing at her unchanging features well into old age until she danced right into the hungry glass to her death. Her nephew then perished when a mirror fell on top of him, other accidents following that all involved shattered glass. Adam's wife Liz (Elizabeth Allen) joins in for a homecoming celebration with champagne, but screams when she spies the figure of the Bellman nephew in the front window, a hook in place of his hand. Gil also sees a spectral figure during a clinch with Marcia, bringing back grim memories of his stint in the Korean War that continue to make him question his sanity. Marcia's weakness is the same type of vanity that Laura Bellman suffered, the need for more mirrors around the place leading her to the attic and every hidden glass stored behind a locked door, a dozen reflections greeting her in a startling flourish as Gil establishes his equipment in the cellar, and the photograph of a little girl whose body was never recovered after a fall upon the rocks. Adam is finally coaxed into revealing the tragic background of the house, even as Marcia finds herself unable to resist the grip of the reflected ghosts. Weak performances from the female leads are offset by believable turns from Shatner and Johnson, the new tenants lasting barely 24 hours in their new home before joining the specters permanently. Ottola Nesmith's brief appearance as the elderly Laura would be surpassed by another in the celebrated "Pigeons from Hell," while Russell Johnson recalled this performance with a special fondness, like Shatner an actor whose dramatic capabilities would be overshadowed by one particular TV series. Director Heyes would also be responsible for a later Shatner series, BARBARY COAST lasting but one season in 1975, the actor reteamed with Elizabeth Allen for June's season finale "The Grim Reaper," joined by yet another GILLIGAN'S ISLAND cast member, Natalie Schafer.
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- kevinolzak
- Jan 26, 2022
Details
- Runtime50 minutes
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