Last night I watched an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled Of Late I Dream of Cliffordville. It’s a wonderful little story about Feathersmith, a cruel president of a large company, who travels back in time to his childhood town of Cliffordville, Indiana in hopes of reliving the little moments in his life that he missed the first time due to his workaholic nature. Of course, being The Twilight Zone, things aren’t always what they appear to be and Feathersmith is forced to deal with that issue head on.
The individual responsible for giving Feathersmith the opportunity to travel through time is a mysterious and beautiful woman named Ms. Devlin. It becomes obvious quite quickly that she is indeed the Devil incarnate.
Therein lies my dilemma. This was the first time I watched Cliffordville, and the first time I laid my eyes on Ms. Devlin (rather, the actress portraying her), I was struck by her insurmountable beauty. I could have sworn I’ve seen this woman before. But from where?
Throughout the episode’s one hour runtime, I racked my brain, trying to put a name to the face. As is the norm with The Twilight Zone, the cast list isn’t revealed until the end; so needless to say, thousands of names of young starlets crossed my mind. Just who was this woman? Sultry eyes, infectious, devious smile, and… my god… the talent. Even in a brief role this woman acted circles around her fellow players. I swear I’ve seen her before.
Finally, the episode ends and the credits role. I waited with baited breath to see who brought Ms. Devlin to life. And imagine my surprise when I did.
Julie Newmar.
Boy, did I feel sheepish. Especially for someone who watched the Adam West Batman series (with Newmar playing Catwoman for a number of episodes) religiously as a kid. This is what you call a brain fart. We all get them and we’re usually all embarrassed by them.
However, that is not the point of this article. Rather, I want to bring to light the sheer beauty of starlets such as Newmar, who literally owned the screen with their looks, talent and class back in the 50’s and 60’s. Today, there are only a select few of actresses who back up their looks with genuine acting talent. I won’t say who they are, but I’m sure you know who I’m talking about.
In any case, if you get the opportunity, watch Of Late I Dream of Cliffordville. Not only does it have an intruging premise and true storytelling prowess, it also contains a performance that will last for the ages.