User Reviews

I have to say, Rod Serling inserted a clever reference into this story about an ageless movie siren, portrayed by Ann Blyrh. Like the most famous character she portrayed in film, Pamela Morris lives like the 'Queen of the Nile', basking in her timeless youth and beauty. A year earlier, Hollywood released it's blockbuster film "Cleopatra" starring Elizabeth Taylor. If you recall Jordy Herrick's (Lee Phillips) conversation with the editor of his newspaper, Kreuger mentioned that there was a 1920 silent film also called 'Queen of the Nile'. The star of that film was - Constance Taylor! And if I'm not stretching too far, Ann Blyth had quite a passing resemblance to Liz Taylor as well.

This episode did a nice job of setting up the twist to follow, in fact, that came half way through the story with the revelation that Viola Draper (Celia Lovsky) was the DAUGHTER of Pamela, and not the mother. Seeing these shows as a youngster back in the day, this was a revelation that just blew me away like a lot of the Twilight Zone's did. One of the reasons it's so easy to recall these shows after so many years, as they made such an impression the first time around.

It's too bad old Jordy didn't see it coming despite the warnings of Viola. The thing is, many of these TZ stories ended with just such an ending of finality for one of it's characters without ever considering the aftermath. Wouldn't someone come looking for the writer once he failed to show up for his next assignment? I guess Serling's intent was for the viewer never to take it that far, instead going for the shock and surprise of the moment to captivate the audience. This was one of those times when it genuinely did.

Ann Blyth never looked better than when she played the enchanting and thoroughly wicked "Queen of the Nile" in this last season Twilight Zone episode. The "Queen" is an old-time actress whose career dates back to the 1930s, but somehow she's retained her youthful appearance. Lee Philips plays a Hollywood reporter who visits Ms. Blyth in her mansion and falls under her spell, believing her when she tells him that she was "very young" when she made some of her more famous movies. Along comes someone (Celia Lovsky) who appears old enough to be Ann's mother and her unsettling demeanor is disturbing to both Ms. Blyth and her guest. Philips hangs around long enough to discover that the old lady claims to be her DAUGHTER. That should have been the big hint to tell him that something was terribly wrong. Since this is the Twilight Zone, Philips instead proceeds with his newfound relationship with Ms. Blyth at his own risk and to his utter detriment. You might say that Ann needs some fresh blood to enliven her moribund career and Philips has plenty to provide her with.

"Queen of the Nile" has some twists and turns that will keep viewers interested until the final curtain. Ann Blyth, more noted for playing nice girls (except for her turn in "Mildred Pierce"), does a fine job as the wicked lady and she exudes just the right amount of sensuality to give the role some much-needed life-blood (no pun intended). Philips, a veteran of a catalog full of television performances, is his usual competent self in the role of the bewildered and star-struck reporter. Old-time actress Celia Lovsky is perfect as Ms. Blyth's "young" daughter. What can you say? Some people just don't age as graceful as others.

The other reviews say it all so I don't fear to disclose that Constance uses a scarab (a live one!) to drain the life force from unsuspecting men(always men??) in order to keep her eternal good looks. Having Celia Lovsky as an aged "daughter" was a nice touch- that woman can say more with her eyes than with any dialogue- but speaking of dialogue, it's never explained why Constance has no accent and her 'daughter' has a distinctly Austrian/German accent!! Guess Celia couldn't imitate an American accent well, so they just left it in, but it is the one jarring note in a good episode- and yes, it's the perfect companion to the Walter Jameson episode- this time with the "happy" ending that Constance Taylor keeps going on!

The plot that involves a timeless female using living people to perpetuate her beauty had already been done several times (The Wasp Woman, etc.). This is not a bad episode. It has good acting and a fun premise. The idea of the Queen of the Nile going on for eternity is certainly intriguing. I couldn't help but think of the Praying Mantis (more bugs), as I watched this. The universe has rules and for what lives something must die and this carries on that theme. I did feel sorry for the poor saps who let their sexual urges get in the way of their common sense. They are the drones to her queen bee. She certainly gets the final say.

Pamela Morris, an attractive, seemingly good-girl actress has a dark secret. With the aid of an ancient and deadly, vampiric beetle, she can live forever, and has already been around since the days of the Egyptian pharaohs. Living with her is a German-speaking woman, Viola Draper, who is quite convincingly passed off as her mother. Viola wants no part of Morris's deadly endeavors, but fears meeting the fate of Pamela's many victims if she doesn't cooperate.

Syndicated columnist Jordan Herrick is intrigued by Pamela and visits her in her mansion for an interview. After the interview he promises to return, in spite of a dire warning from her "mother", who tries to convince him that she is really Pamela's daughter. He is befuddled by some discrepancies in Pamela's timeline as he sees photos of her as she looks now that were shot when she was supposed to be not much more than a baby. During a return visit he uses the phone at the residence to call a friend named Kreuger, possibly his editor, and asks him to check on these discrepancies. His suspicions of Pamela's age are confirmed. Then, after a revealing conversation with Viola, he makes the deadly mistake of accepting a a cup of coffee from Miss(?) Morris. Before he takes a sip we see her slipping knockout drops in his cup when his head is turned. Then the beetle goes to work, and with Jordan's blood Pamela will live to see yet another day, which cannot be said for poor young Mr. Herrick. Almost immediately after, the doorbell rings, and another young man enters. His fate is sealed.

You have to wonder, how long can she keep this up before people get suspicious? The fact that so many people were last heard from at or on the way to her house would surely attract the attention of the authorities, and Mr. Herrick's phone call to Krueger from Morris's house would prompt Kreuger to alert the police when he fails to turn up. Rod Serling, however, wasn't bothered by such trifles. He apparently felt they would only distract the viewer, even if they also spark the viewer's curiosity.

In season one, Kevin McCarthy played a professor who turned out to be semi-immortal. In other words, if he avoided serious injuries like gunshots, he could live forever! Now, in season five, the same story has been recycled in "Queen of the Nile"--though with a much darker edge this time.

The show begins with a reporter coming to the home of a pretty film star that looks amazing for her age (Ann Blythe). At first, the show seems friendly and innocent enough. However, once the interview gets started it is obvious that the man is looking for something--some more sinister or unusual story. Again and again, he confronts her about her age and seems confused that she could only be 38. Later, after he digs a bit more outside the interview, he learns she should be at least in her 60s. What gives?!

While the idea is a re-tread, as least the nice evil twist at the end makes the show more interesting and different. Still, the show will fill you with a strong sense of deja-vu if you've seen the previous episode.

Reminded me of the H. Rider Haggard novel, "She," but that's not where the writer Charles Beaumont got the idea. Beaumont was pretty ill by this time and writing was beyond him. One of his co-authors who was wearing a scarab ring suggested the story.

Briefly, Ann Blyth is a famous movie star being interviewed by a reporter, Lee Philips, who begins to suspect that she's much older than the thirty-eight years she claims to be. Evidence accumulates that she's had many names in the past and has always looked as beautiful and glamorous as she does now. Philips asks her how she does it, and Blyth shows him. Too bad for Philips.

Aging was a problem that was commonly addressed on "The Twilight Zone," and why not? We all face it, and the dissolution that follows. There's nothing good about being old unless you're Chinese. It's all downhill, which was the underlying theme of "Citizen Kane" too.

There is nothing particularly special about this episode though. Ann Blyth had a stunning voice but her acting talents were pedestrian. She was fine when she was dressed in period costumes, standing in front of lavish sets, and singing. Here, make up has given her a coif of black hair that looks made of iron and frames her already oversized face and forehead. Maybe it was intended to give her presence a sinister cast. If so, it succeeded.

You'll probably recognize the actress Celia Lovsky, who plays Blyth's mother/daughter. But I'll bet you won't figure out why Blyth speaks with the accent of general America whereas Lovsky has a Viennese accent.

The one very realistic thing about QOTN is doubtlessly the fact that a famous Hollywood actress is ready to hop into bed with a guy she just met a minute earlier. This is not only realistic, this pretty much defines a great number of Hollywood "divas", especially from that era.

Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Mary Astor, Mae West, Ava Gardner, Hedy Lamarr... Couch casting was more prevalent back then, and so the types of women that made breakthroughs were of that caliber. Logic.

Less realistic is the journalist's non-reaction to being told by the actresses's mother that the actress is her mother not her daughter. This actor's reaction is as if he's listening to a completely different line. Either he's a horrible actor, or there was some confusion or nonsense over editing and altered dialog in post-production.

Equally absurd is the large difference in accents between the actresses playing mother and daughter. There is literally no explanation for this. A reversal of accents may have made more sense, with the Queen having an exotic accent and the daughter an American one. Or how about the same accent to keep things neat and logical?

This episode has no key flaws - other than its total predictability which takes away much of the fun. We know from the start that she's Methuselah, and that the journalist is in danger. And guess what? She kills him.

Nice clever irony of the Nile Queen playing herself in a movie, several millennia later.

The weirdest thing to believe about this story is that Ann Blyth was only 35 years old, 3 years younger than her character states she is. But because of how people, especially women, looked back then due to make up of the day, she actually looks at least 50!

This story might work much better now due to fact we all look much younger than we did half a century ago. Though with cosmetic surgery or many without using it, these days again a person who is 60 now can easily look 38! So actually that is contradictory to what I first said, actually you'd have to have the main protagonist actress be played by a 20 year old. Because at least they'd look 20 and it would be more realistically, mysteriously frightening. There have been a lot of stories similar to this over the years of course. And this remains creepy, fanciful fun.