"The Chaser"
Based on a story by John Collier, this comic tale of ill-gotten love features a spurned lover (George Grizzard) gaining the affections of his phlegmatic coquette (Patricia Barry) through the agency of a love potion--with not quite the delightful outcome he had expected. The bookish, wizened dealer in potions is played with crusty effectiveness by John McIntire. "The Rip Van Winkle Caper"
A criminal mastermind (Oscar Beregi) and his ruthless accomplice (Simon Oakland) steal a fortune in gold bullion, then go into suspended animation so they can enjoy their take a hundred years hence. Only the desert in which they wake up makes water more precious than gold. Splendidly acted by the two leads, though the episode's ironies are too easily anticipated.
"The New Exhibit"
This tale of murder and madness stars Martin Balsam as Martin Lombard Senescu, curator of a wax museum's murderer's row and soon-to-be inheritor of his charges' indecent fame. When the museum closes, Senescu houses the waxy simulacra in his air-conditioned basement, and eventually his obsession with the likenesses of Jack the Ripper and Landru causes them to act out his unconscious yearnings. Although credited to Charles Beaumont, the script is actually by science fiction writer Jerry Sohl, one of several friends who ghosted for Beaumont when he suffered from near-senile dementia toward the end of his life. As a result, the episode lacks the slick elegance and grim humor that marked Beaumont's best work, but it is nevertheless funny.
When you stumble onto this disc's hidden features, you'll find isolated music tracks, original ads, and program bumpers for the three episodes. --Jim Gay
