User Reviews

***SPOILERS*** After trying to knock off the Southside Loan Company small time hood Rocky Valintine, Larry Blyden, runs into a streak of bad luck as well as a police bullet in the head as he tries to makes his escape. Weaking up in a state of shock Rocky sees that he's not only alive but in the presences of this fat guy a Mr.Pip, like in Pip Pip and Da Doodly Do, played by Sabastian Cabot looking like "The Man from Glad" in the TV cleaning commercials.

It takes a while for Rocky to realize this but he's in fact dead and by some big mistake, by the Big Guy upstairs, he's in heaven with Mr. Pip as his Guardian Angel! All the dreams that Rocky ever dreamed about were happening to him and he loved it. Beautiful dames fancy clothes all the money he can spend or gamble away and an apartment that would rival the deluxe penthouse on top of the Trump Towers, occupied by Mr.Donald Trump himself, are at his disposable. What Rocky loved best about this strange arrangement is that in the local casino whatever games he plays roulette craps cards as well as the slot machines he never loses at! The women are just crazy about Rocky which at first pleases him to no end but later turns him off in that their easier for him to make it with then with a $10,00 a trick street hooker with him having $100.00 bill glued to his nose!

What Rocky likes is excitement but with everything preordained for him to work out in his favor the excitement is gone and so is the fun that goes along with it!

***SPOILERS***Almost on his knees and pleading with Mr. Pip to give him, in the afterlife, what he really deserves Rocky to his shock and horror finds out that's exactly what he's gotten. And he'll be getting it until hell freezes over if not even longer then that!

Come on now, admit it, this episode couldn't have ended in any other way, even if you or I wrote it. It's the classic 'be careful what you wish for, you just might get it' scenario, with a small time hood getting nothing that he bargained for, either in life or in death. What Rocky Valentine (Larry Blyden) is left with as he faces eternity is the ultimate hell, the absence of freedom. Sure, he's got everything he could ever hope for, but it all goes for naught when he can no longer have it on his own terms, the thrill of the chase and the adrenaline rush that comes with making a clean getaway. I found it uniquely apropos that essential guide Pip (Sebastian Cabot) tempted Rocky with his favorite color - yellow. Because that's what Rocky was, a yellow punk and a coward who needed short cuts to get ahead in life, and found himself short circuited as he tried to go over the wall.

The most surprising thing about the story for me was that I've never seen this one before, and as best as I can recall, it doesn't get any play during those twenty four hour Twilight Zone marathons they have a few times a year on the various cable channels. This one ought to be right up there with Burgess Meredith's book deal and William Shatner's last flight. The finale is classic, and couldn't have been better presented than it was, with Sebastian Cabot laughing maniacally, taunting Rocky Valentine with an eternal sentence of damnation heralded by his closing remark - "This IS the other place"!

Greedy small-time hoodlum Rocky Valentine (well played to the obnoxious hilt by Larry Blyden) finds himself in an afterlife where his every wish gets granted and his every whim is indulged in the wake of being killed in a shoot-out with the police. But Rocky eventually learns that this paradise comes at a bitter existential price.

Director John Brahm ably crafts a quirky humorous tone and keeps the clever and enjoyable story moving along at a brisk pace. Charles Beaumont's crafty script makes an interesting and provocative central point about how the worst thing you can get in life is exactly what you want as well as delivers a deliciously ironic punchline. Moreover, Sebastian Cabot contributes a marvelously hearty and charming performance as jolly spiritual guide Mr. Pip; Cabot's unctuous charm and friendly demeanor are an absolute treat to behold throughout. A cool show.

Solid entry that raises a couple of interesting philosophical questions. First, can there be too much of a good thing. And second (and more problematically), how would you feel if you knew the outcome of your actions was determined by an unnatural force outside yourself. Your choices would remain free choices, but the outcomes themselves would result from programming outside yourself. So whether you choose to roll the dice or not, for example, remains a matter of free choice. However, if you do roll them, the outcome is determined not by force of gravity or by a law of averages, but by an outside programmer who has already decided whether you will win or lose. Could you still take pleasure in your choices knowing that the results were out of your hands, so to speak.

Blyden's small-time thief has just such an experience after being shot in a robbery. Sets are imaginative and well-mounted. Much of the polish is no doubt do to director John Brahm, who was for many years a stylish filmmaker with 20th Century/Fox. Larry Blyden is appropriately obnoxious as a bottom-feeder who suddenly can do no wrong, while portly Sebastian Cabot projects the unusual quality of sinister geniality. And who wouldn't want to be in Blyden's shoes? An episode to think about.

This was one of two episodes from season one of THE TWILIGHT ZONE that is highly entertaining yet would make most theologians heads collectively explode since the ZONEs view of the afterlife is definitely NOT inspired by Christianity, Judaism or Islam. But, in spite of this, it's also a very entertaining episode and is a must-see for fans of the series.

The show starts with a small-time hood running from the police. As the police fire, the man jumps over a wall--only to find a very creepy Sebastian Cabot waiting there for him. Creepy, I say, because his hair and beard are white as well as his clothing. The crook soon realizes he did NOT survive the gun fire and this must be Heaven. Cabot ("Pip") shows him about and the place seems better than the crook could imagine--beautiful girls, money, gambling and booze--everything he could possibly want. So what is the bizarre twist that you find at the end of most every episode? See it for yourself--it's quite an entertaining and memorable show!

Is the fat man in white really as jovial and kindly as he seems, or is he the master of vice and soul destruction? That's the lesson that gangster Larry Blynden must learn in his first day of the afterlife where everything seems to be going his way... At first. The happy-go-lucky fat man in white is Sebastian Cabot, best known to TV fans as Mr. French on the "Family Affair" series, plays a spirit of such charm that there seems no way in this alternate world for blending to be completely happy. Everything seems to be going his way but he realizes that this world has no challenge for him, and that is a hell of a different sort.

Cabot, once cast as Santa Claus in the TV remake of "The Miracle on 34th Street", plays the opposite side of the spectrum, filling his characterization with jolly good devilish delight, basking in the knowledge of his identity which Blyden does not realize until it is too late. written in a comic manner, once again the scriptwriter has the audience fooled with the serious teams below the surface and the twists and turns that ultimately are jaw-dropping. Fantastic art deco, speedy editing and crisp photography has this holding you prisoner just as much as Blynden is held in his afterlife prison. Cabot grabs onto his character's last line and roars just like the MGM lion as this brilliant episode comes to its chilling conclusion.

Without getting too philosophical like some of the other reviewers, the 1960 entry "A Nice Place to Visit" has a unique twist at the end that isn't altogether predictable. Larry Blyden plays recently deceased Rocky Valentine, a small-time hood who happened to get shot down by the police during his normal petty robbery. When Rocky awakens he's in "heaven" or at least someplace that outwardly appears to be heaven. A portly and genial Mr. Pip (Sebastian Cabot) greets him and introduces himself as his new guide to this wondrous land where everything Rocky wants Rocky gets. At first Rocky has a blast, and who wouldn't? All the girls, the booze, the gambling, the money etc. are at his disposal and he just can't get enough...until a month rolls by. By that time, Rocky is bored to the nth degree and wants some real "action." It just isn't the same when everything you want is preordained. Mr. Pip tries to explain to him that it doesn't work that way. If Rocky wants to lose at gambling, he can fix it so he'll lose. If he wants to get arrested for committing a robbery, that can also be "arranged." But it's just no good for poor Rocky; he's only interested in the thrill of the chase and the chance to be able to truly beat the odds. What he craves and can't live without is the uncertainly of it all.

"A Nice Place to Visit" displays some expensive sets (at least for the Twilight Zone) and lively performances by Blyden and Cabot. Blyden, who died much too young, was an excellent comedian who also had the talent to effectively play a despicable punk. Cabot, best known for his co-starring role on TV's "Family Affair", is a fine foil for him here. As one might guess, Rocky's stay in "heaven" doesn't turn out to be a gratifying experience after all. But it is "permanent."

"Who said you were in 'heaven' Mr. Valentine?" roars Mr. Pip at the end to the now very distressed Rocky.

Rocky Valentine is a criminal that ends up dead after a shoot out . He meets someone that I can only describe as a chap named Pip . He lets Rocky know he can have whatever he wants. Rocky doesn't totally trust the man or the situation but it doesn't stop him from getting into all the fun he can have . Mostly gambling and women. The problem is it gets boring everything is fixed for him there is no challenge. It's like having your favorite meal or dessert all the time. You think that if you could do it more it's better but after a while it's nothing special.

He says he doesn't deserve to be in heaven he must have done something good to be there . They check the hall of records and no he never did anything good from an early age he stole toys, killed animals ect. So why is he in heaven. Pip explains it's the other place.

Still why just limit himself to the same things? Rocky as mentioned by others could do anything.

Eternal damnation can be interpreted in many ways - having "everything you ever wanted" could most certainly become detestable after a short period of time. Granted there was no fire and brimstone, but the concept was very theologically sound. Just living with the frustration of always winning, always getting whatever you want, always having things turn out in your favor - imagine it! The spice of life is the unexpected, it's in the "not knowings" of this world that we find excitement. Remove that, and life becomes unbearable for many. Add to that the concept that "Hell" means different things to different people, and the precepts behind the story become very theologically sound.

I have always found the less-raved about TZ episodes the most interesting. I don't appreciate some politically correct eggheads deciding what everyone is supposed to think is great. This episode is great. Seeing Sebastion Cabot all in white is fun, and a bit misleading. Larry Blyden did a good portrayal of a character born in Brooklyn (considering that Blyden was from Texas.) Blyden's character thinks he's gone to heaven. Not much else can be said, that wouldn't qualify as a spoiler. The ending is profound. This episode and The Monsters are Due on Maple Street have the two (equally) greatest "moments of revelation" of the entire series.

A hoodlum ends up getting shot and then is suddenly in a life that seems to be perfect. As we watch the episode, everything for the hoodlum is too perfect, ergo too predictable, ergo ergo he will be driven into insanity for eternity because said hoodlum is too simple minded to make this scenario actually work for him. Anyone with even the slightest sense of imagination would thrive in this setting. That is what makes this episode so great. This setting IS hell for a man that has such simple yet normally unobtainable pleasures such as women and money. Having Sebastian Cabot be such a charming host to this man's hell is such a delightful experience that this episode is Heaven to most of us mortals that enjoyed this episode. Larry Blyden played the stereotypical NYC hood with such aplomb and over the top mannerisms that it must have been a blast to film for everyone involved.

I had seen most of the most popular episodes of "The Twilight Zone", except for this one. Even though I knew everything that happened including the ending, it didn't matter. The real fun is to actually see the story unfold on screen. You always have an idea of what you're going to see. This episode features a criminal who dies and goes to the afterlife. He finds everything is perfect there and he can have everything he wants.

He then gets bored knowing that everything is perfect and tries to think of some ways to fail. Even with that, he's bored. He says he'd be better off in the other place, only to be told he is in the other place. It raises a very interesting question. If Hell is bad because you get everything you want and become bored, than what is Heaven like in this episode? I guess it's something we'll never know. ****

Certainly this is a very well-made episode, with Larry Blyden and Sebastian Cabot both putting in excellent performances, given some clever dialogue, and briefly placed a very impressive-looking "Hall of Records" set.

What lets it down in that it's very heavy-handed with it's message and telegraphs it's twist a mile off. Through the first half it seems to try to make a surprise of the fact that after Valentine has been shot and approached by a mystical man all in white, he is in fact dead. The message, essentially that "heaven isn't getting everything you want," is true, but also such a truism that it was already an old chestnut by the time this episode was filmed. Guessing the final revelation than Valentine is not in Heaven but in "the other place" is not difficult, so when the program gets to confirming it, there's little punch.

There are a couple of sexually suggestive moments, but their impact feels muted in the context of such a moralistic play. On the plus side, there are some somewhat funny lines and concepts illustrating the invulnerability of getting everything you desire, and the pacing, while it doesn't help alleviate the predictability of the proceedings, does keep them moving entertainingly enough.

Alan Watts again and again pointed out: What would you do if you were in heaven? Write a 10-page essay of your version of heaven. What would God do if He ever got bored? What if everything in life was predetermined including game of chance and you got everything you wanted?

As Alan mentions:

"Let's suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream that you wanted to dream. And that you could, for example, have the power within one night to dream 75 years of time. Or any length of time you wanted to have." (Alan Watts, Dream of Life)

And in Game Theory of Ethics, he points out:

"So we get optimal games in the middle-like bridge, or poker, or checkers, or chess-where there is this interplay of skill and chance. So we look for this optimal point where there is a risk-there must be a risk, there must be chance, it mustn't all be predetermined-because any game where the result is known is not worth playing. That's to say, when, in chess, the players suddenly realize that white is going to mate in five moves, they abandon the game and say, "Let's begin again." And so in life. That's why a lot of people don't like going to fortune tellers. They don't want to know the future. If I know exactly what's going to happen to me, in a very real sense I've had it. So let's finish it up and begin again; turn in the check. You see, the whole fun of the situation of a game is that you don't know the outcome, and that's why it's worth playing. This is one characteristic of a viable game: a certain combination of skill and chance."

Far too often in life we get disillusioned and frustrated that things are not going our way. We muse what would happen if only we were given a fair end of the bargain.

Well this episode highlights and answers the question. I know everyone is saying that they could sense the ending and how predictable it is... well I couldn't. And that's not the point of it after all folks.

As the quotes above show, the far more bigger philosophical problem is assuming a concept of Heaven exist would it really be Heaven or Hell? Or for that matter the fact that we live here on Earth and sometimes consider this humdrum, mundane drone of life an utter terror, hell and nightmare - does it really mean so or is it perfect as it is?

This very episode hits the mark. I am absolutely in love with the character of Pip. (Yes the ending showed his true colors, but I just love the concept of a "paid-off-VIP-service-and-five-star-treatment" with a loving, understanding concierge as portrayed by Pip at first.

A Nice Place to Visit doesn't work, the characterization's terrible. Keeps doing things involving money, when money's irrelevant there. This is no hell, it's heaven, just we have an idiot in the driver's seat. If it's anything he wants, he can play out any dream or any experience he could ever envision. He could watch his favourite films and then be a character in them, everything wouldn't go askew because the script's already written and he wants it to be the same as the script, but he could do what he wants in them if he'd like.