Night Gallery episode review — 3.3 — Rare Objects

Original air date: October 22, 1972
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Writer: Rod Serling

Rating: 5/10

I was really, really looking forward to this. A Rod Serling script not brought down by other segments. The closest thing we’ve gotten to The Twilight Zone.

Unfortunately, it’s just not a great script — a huge disappointment from a writer as undeniably talented as Serling.

Mickey Rooney plays Augie Kolodney, a New York gangster with a hit out on him. He narrowly survives an assassination attempt at an otherwise empty restaurant, and his doctor sends him to someone else that can keep him safe.

But in order to do so, he will have to sacrifice everything he has.

It’s eventually revealed that this guy’s business has kept missing people alive for decades, including Amelia Earhart, Princess Anastasia, and for some reason Hitler.

It’s very silly, and not really good. And it has elements of the classic Twilight Zone episode “Elegy,” just much less interesting, entertaining, or effective.