{"id":101652,"date":"2021-03-16T09:31:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T14:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=101652"},"modified":"2021-03-16T09:33:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T14:33:58","slug":"twilight-zone-review-the-incredible-world-of-horace-ford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=101652","title":{"rendered":"The Twilight Zone Review: The Incredible World of Horace Ford"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By William Kozy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pat Hingle\u2019s performance in \u201cThe Incredible World of Horace Ford\u201d offers one of the more polarizing subjects amongst critics and fans of The Twilight Zone. Aside from the merits of The Bewitchin\u2019 Pool, I haven\u2019t come across another episode that has divided fan opinion as much. There are those that think Mr. Hingle\u2019s performance is a creatively robust juggernaut of energy in the portrayal of a man\/child who is overly fond of his childhood memories, and there are those who feel his take on the character is overwrought, over-the-top, and defies logic upon thoughtful examination. Perhaps the latter opinion prevails as the episode received just 5 votes in my survey of fans and writers asking, \u201cWhat is your favorite episode of the original Twilight Zone series?\u201d This ties it with 7 other episodes for 117th thru 123rd place.<\/p>\n

Horace Ford is a toy designer, which right off the bat is a little too on-the-nose a choice of occupation for this boyishly petulant adult. The opening scene puts Horace\u2019s annoying antics on display full force as his friend\/co-worker Leonard comes into his office to go over some details about a toy robot that Horace designed. The degree to which Horace carries on makes you wonder how he was ever able to last that long in the company. He certainly doesn\u2019t work well with others. And when Leonard is able to get Horace to settle down and stop goofing around, Horace lapses into a depression as he is faced with the reality that his design needs reconfiguring to fit the production budget. So, that\u2019s one question: Realistically how could such a near-lunatic function in the workplace? And if the answer to that is this has been a recent development, then we must next ask, what has happened to set him off like this so suddenly? The viewer dutifully stays with the episode hoping the answer will be revealed. Frustratingly, we never do find out what has precipitated Horace\u2019s sudden overbearing preoccupation with reminiscing about \u201cgrowing up, a time of street games, stickball and hide-‘n-go-seek.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horace\u2019s wife Laura shows up at work and goes to Leonard\u2019s office to update him on plans for Horace\u2019s surprise 38th birthday party. She asks Leonard to hold on to the present she got Horace so that he doesn\u2019t see it in the apartment. Now okay, yeah, there\u2019s a mate for everyone out there, but this match, Horace and Laura is not a credible one. It\u2019s not just that she\u2019s a beauty, it\u2019s also that she\u2019s such a composed cool blonde, a very mature type. It\u2019s a stretch to believe she would go for the immature and temperamental Horace. The boss, Mr. Judson comes at that same moment to talk with Horace about the toy robot, and Laura holds off visiting Horace until the boss leaves. She listened though as Horace threw an absolute tantrum when Mr. Judson suggested a tweak to bring down the cost. Hingle\u2019s Horace might be an accurate portrayal of a temperamental little boy, but it is an impractical one within the big picture framework of the story.<\/p>\n

When Laura and Horace arrive home, we discover that Horace\u2019s mother lives with the couple. That must be fun. But maybe Laura is the kind of person who enjoys seeing her husband joyously recollect funny people and events from his past? Uh\u2026no. As Horace goes into a recollection jag about some such fellow from his, Laura continually tries interrupting Horace to ease off. She even says as they sit at the table, \u201cHorace why don\u2019t you stop? No one cares about when you were ten anymore.\u201d There\u2019s more yapping and suddenly out of nowhere Horace yells out \u201cWhy don\u2019t ya just be quiet will ya?!\u201d and he retreats like a brat to his bedroom.<\/p>\n

His mother goes to soothe his feelings and Horace starts in again with happy reminiscing about where he lived on Randolph Street. His mother then offers some interesting insight for us\u2014she refutes Horace, telling him it was a terrible street. Like a bolt, Horace decides to go visit his old street. He leaves the apartment without a goodbye to either his mother or wife. Nan Martin as Laura turns abruptly, giving a look off somewhere with an expression that we can\u2019t really decipher. And crazier still is that Randolph Street is apparently very nearby since Horace is next seen strolling through it. So this is his first time there since childhood? It\u2019s this close, and he\u2019s constantly reminiscing about it, but he hasn\u2019t visited the street until this moment? It\u2019s just all too ridiculous.<\/p>\n

He returns to the apartment and recounts to his wife how he saw some kids and that they were the same kids he knew when he was a child growing up there. One boy in particular, Hermy Brandt even stopped to turn and give a toothless grin to Horace. Wiping the perspiration from Horace\u2019s face, Laura explains as gently as possible that it couldn\u2019t have been them. Horace wanders off to the bedroom, and the doorbell rings. Laura opens the door and there stands little Hermy saying \u201cHe dropped this\u201d and he holds out Horace\u2019s pocket watch that he dropped when he got jostled back at Randolph Street. The weird boy leaves and Laura closes the door slowly, puzzled.<\/p>\n

Back at work, Horace tries telling Leonard about running into Hermy the previous evening, but he can\u2019t hold focus on anything as he flies off into tangents like playing ringolevio, and Mickey Mouse watches. Leonard can\u2019t get away soon enough and retreats to his office. Mr. Judson comes by, out of compassion, seeking to find out what\u2019s troubling Horace, but Horaces storms off after another tirade. It all amounts to a lead character who is simply unpleasant to watch and hear.<\/p>\n

Back home, Horace again entertains only himself at the dinner table as he narrates some more nutty childhood experiences. Laura looks like she\u2019s getting a migraine. I find it nonsensical that he insists he saw the same boys he knew as a child, and doesn\u2019t wonder how that could be. At the very least wouldn\u2019t he join in with his wife musing, \u201cYes I know you\u2019re right, they\u2019d be 38 years old now too, but I swear to you I saw them.\u201d Laura wants him to see a doctor for a check-up which prompts Horace to up and leave again, heading for Randolph Street.<\/p>\n

There on Randolph Street, things happen again exactly as they did the first time: a couple holding hands, a woman yelling out her window, a drunk jostling Horace, and the young boys bumping into Horace, causing his watch to drop. Horace gives chase as they run off, and overhears them talking about how offended they were about not being invited to a birthday party. Alarmed at that for some reason, Horace races home, and tells Laura, stupefied, \u201cThe same thing happened all over again.\u201d He\u2019s starting to show signs of recognizing a pattern that involves him. Laura brings up the issue of getting help, prompting Horace to sulkily shuffle away, closing the door right in her face. The doorbell rings. Laura looks worried. It is indeed Hermy again handing her the watch as she looks worried. Is she starting to think there might be something to Horace\u2019s story? Now mind you, there\u2019s no way she knows it\u2019s Hermy, but it\u2019s sufficiently odd I\u2019ll admit that he\u2019s dressed in old-timey clothes, and AGAIN offers the watch. Something\u2019s up and you can see her wondering.<\/p>\n

The next day, Laura goes to Leonard\u2019s office and unloads about Horace\u2019s behavior. Leonard says something interesting; he says that Horace has always been like that ever since he\u2019s known him, but he\u2019s always been able to snap him out of it. Distraught, she tells Leonard that his latest nostalgia trips are \u201ceating him alive.\u201d \u201cI love him\u201d she says, and she\u2019s afraid for his job. She asks Leonard\u2019s help in urging Horace to see a doctor.
\nMr. Judson comes by (yet again) to see Horace and discuss his state of mind. The hour-long episodes of The Twilight Zone tend to depict the same type of scene multiple times. Judson is reasonable and kind, but another unjustified Horace tantrum makes it impossible for Judson to keep him on staff so he lets him go, but does urge Horace to get help for what Judson feels is a nervous breakdown.<\/p>\n

Horace gets home and delivers the bad news that he\u2019s been fired, which Laura takes in a measured fashion, but Horace\u2019s mother practically breaks down. She goes off on a hysterical fugue about what\u2019s going to happen to her and at age 61 she shouldn\u2019t be worrying about her future. \u201cShut up!\u201d Laura finally scolds recognizing that Mother\u2019s pressure can only make things worse for Horace the beleaguered man\/child. Mother skulks to her room asking, \u201cWhat did I do wrong? Ever? In my whole life?\u201d<\/p>\n

In contrast, Laura is a complete healer, almost unbelievably so. With utmost calmness she very softly and analytically, with great positivity, answers all of Horace\u2019s question and lays out a plan. Horace turns on her, and it\u2019s all the more distasteful, even though we understand that perhaps he\u2019s going through \u201csomething\u201d. Turning 40? Is that it? It\u2019s just too big a personality upheaval for that to be the reason. His rebuffing any sort of kindness makes his characterization a rather cruel one I think, and hard to find sympathy for. He once again leaves the apartment without a goodbye. Laura cries as she runs to the phone to call a doctor, but just then the doorbell rings. Surprise! It\u2019s all the guests who have come for the party! Awkward.<\/p>\n

At Randolph Street the exact same events unfold. This time when Horace listens to the boys bellyaching about the party snub, he intervenes, but they don\u2019t hear him. He tries apologizing about the birthday, but they don\u2019t acknowledge him until suddenly\u2026.Horace turns into the little boy he was at their age. His apologizes are met with disdain and teenage boyhood cruel aggression as they surround him and beat him up.<\/p>\n

Back at the party, they all wait for Horace and when the doorbell rings they turn off the lights and Laura lights the cake\u2019s candles. She answers the door and it\u2019s that little creep Hermy again, only this time he hands over a Mickey Mouse watch. THAT was the last straw. Laura leaves the apartment and goes to Randolph Street herself. It looks different now, appropriately modern. No one else is around, but then Laura looks toward the alley where Horace received his beat down and she sees the body of the young boy version, lying unconscious. She runs to him and bends down to him. But then inexplicably gets up. Yep, she gets up and turns away from this injured little boy and she walks over to the wall shrouding herself against it. Who does that? Who doesn\u2019t stay by the little boy\u2019s side and try to provide aid? It\u2019s all done for the cheap reason of having a choreographed effect: when she turns around again, the boy\u2019s body is now Horace\u2019s adult body. And THEN she\u2019s impelled to scurry over and help.<\/p>\n

He asks her to please not ask him anything about it, \u201cCuz I could never\u2026just don\u2019t.\u201d She helps him to his feet asking, \u201cAre you all right now?\u201d She notices he\u2019s all cut, but he says he\u2019s okay and just wants to go home. She holds him close as they walk, and he announces with great theatricality, \u201cI saw something that made every memory I ever had a lie. Because when I was a kid was an ugly, sad, unbearable nightmare. And I saw it. I know what it was. I remember it now.\u201d But really how does that one birthday party incident get extrapolated into an entire childhood of misery?<\/p>\n

Laura then delivers this episode\u2019s special message: \u201cI think we’re all like that. We remember what was good, and we black out what was bad. Maybe because we couldn’t live if we didn’t.\u201d Huh? A little extreme aren\u2019t we?<\/p>\n

I rate this Mickey Mouse episode a 3.2<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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By William Kozy Pat Hingle\u2019s performance in \u201cThe Incredible World of Horace Ford\u201d offers one of the more polarizing subjects amongst critics and fans of The Twilight Zone. Aside from the merits of The Bewitchin\u2019 Pool, I haven\u2019t come across another episode that has divided fan opinion as much. There are those that think Mr. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[25892],"class_list":["post-101652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-twilight-zone-review-the-incredible-world-of-horace-ford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=101652"}],"version-history":[{"count":-2,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=101652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=101652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=101652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}