Twilight Zone: The Shelter (1961)
Reviewed by Geno McGahee
Dr. Stockton (Larry Gates) has built a bomb shelter and his wealthy friends all seem to believe that he was crazy for building it. They poke fun at him at a dinner party over it, but when a bulletin over the radio declares that there may be enemy nuclear missiles headed toward the U.S., everyone wants in his bomb shelter.
Jerry Harlowe (Jack Albertson) of Willy Wonka fame. He was Grampa Joe. Unfortunately for him, not even a golden ticket would get him into Stockton’s shelter. Not even a musical number would sway Stockton. I don’t even think that an Oompa Loompa could talk some sense into the doctor. He and his family locked themselves in and away from their friends, who soon begin to congregate outside of the shelter.
The more that time goes by, the more that tempers flare and real feelings come out. What makes this show so great is that it never pulled any punches and it was real. The good friends at the party begin to unravel and insult each other, all fighting for the right to live and to find their way into the bomb shelter.
With the danger apparently more eminent, the mob takes a battering ram and knocks down the shelter door. They are ready to kill and the Doctor and his family probably would have been had the radio broadcast not announced that it was a false alarm. Suddenly reality hits them and they all realize that they were ready to kill their best of friends and that they had said the worst things to and about each other.
Stockton is most affected by the situation that had just transpired. Everyone, including himself, were exposed.
RSR Rating: 8/10.