Twilight Zone: “Perchance to Dream” [Season 1, Episode 9] / Z-View
Twilight Zone: “Perchance to Dream” [Season 1, Episode 9]
Original Air Date: November 27, 1959
Director: Robert Florey
Writer: Charles Beaumont
Starring: Richard Conte, John Larch and Suzanne Lloyd
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Edward Hall [Conte] hasn’t slept in days. Fatigued and on the ragged edge, Hall not only has a mental issue [fear of dying if he sleeps] but a weak heart. Hall visits psychiatrist Dr. Eliot Rathmann [Larch] in hope of a cure.
Hall explains that each time he falls asleep Maya, a strangely alluring and dangerous carnival Cat Woman that he met in one of his fevered dreams visits him. Hall knows the Cat Woman will kill him but he can’t escape her or sleep.
Final Thoughts: Conte is excellent as the tormented, fatigued Hall. Lloyd comes off perfectly as the dangerous but irresistible Maya. The dream sequences are memorable.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars.