Rod Serling: Good evening, and welcome to Night Gallery. A potpourri of paintings slightly tilted left of center, as is the case with our first selection.
The Dark Boy
Original story by: August Derleth
Teleplay by: Halsted Welles
Directed by: John Astin
Rod Serling: This picturesque background is rural America. Its central figure: a young school teacher. But this is where the commonplace ends. You're about to join a roster of students in a learning experience quite without precedent. The painting is called: Dark Boy, and this particular repository is called: the Night Gallery.
In the late 19th century, schoolmarm Judith Timm (Elizabeth Hartman) arrives at a Montana town to teach at the local schoolhouse when the last teacher unexpectedly runs off. After her first day on the job, Judith notes that there were seventeen students in her class, but her housemates Abigail and Lettie Moore (Gale Sondergaard and Hope Summers) insist that there were only sixteen, even though Judith distinctly recalls seeing a particular young boy (Michael Laird) with dark hair and a scar on his forehead. Overtime, this boy starts spying on Judith intently, evidently seeking her out for a purpose. She learns from local farmer Tom Robb that the boy was formerly his son Joel, who died falling off a ladder two years ago and has been haunting the town ever since.
Tropes
- Bookends: The first and last shots of the segment are of Joel's grave.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: Out of her kind nature and Christian faith, Lettie is prone to giving Judith details about Joel's ghost and how he scared away Ms. Mason, leaving Abigail to try and shush her.
- Chekhov's Skill: Tom reminds Joel of how he would whistle the call of a whippoorwill to find him when he got lost in the woods, and how he'd whistle back to let his father know he was alright. The segment ends when Tom and Judith hear him doing the same call from his grave, being where he needs to be at last.
- Commonality Connection: Judith learns that Tom is a widower who treasures kids, and is visited by his ghostly son just like she is, and this inspires her to motivate him in putting Joel's spirit to rest.
- The Cynic: Ever since Joel died in his accident, his father Tom became tortured by the memories of the accident for two years, and has had very little positive things to say about life.
- Death of a Child: Joel died when he hit his head on a rock after falling off a ladder. His death is the lynchpin of a conspiracy within his town and the motivating factor for his father's cynicism, but it doesn't stop him from attending classes at his school.
- Distinguishing Mark: Joel has a notable scar on his forehead, which he got from hitting his head on the rock that killed him.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Joel's spirit gets his eternal rest, and his father and teacher (who got together) are relieved to see that he's where he belongs.
- Foreshadowing: Tom Robb begrudgingly brings his son Edward to school under the law, and firmly tells Judith that he doesn't want his Edward on or around ladders. We later learn that Joel, the titular "dark boy", was Edward's brother, and he died after he fell from a ladder and cracked his head open on a rock.
- Friend to All Children: Judith is hinted to have wanted kids, but was unable to do so as her husband died shortly after they were wed. Her occupation as a teacher demonstrates to the viewers that she values her students' and their well-being, and because of her nurturing nature, she can tell that Joel's ghost is a frightened lost soul instead of a malevolent wraith, and she hopes to help him find peace and salvation, even describing an urge to hold and comfort him when she first laid eyes on him.
- Kubrick Stare: Joel's ghost gives a hesitant one to Judith whenever he looks at her through the schoolhouse window.
- Nice Girl: Judith, who wants more than anything to get to the bottom of Joel's hauntings and put his wayward soul to rest, even when her roommates try to keep her from finding him.
- Non-Answer: Abigail keeps giving deflecting statements to Judith when she keeps asking questions about why Ms. Mason left, as well as the nature of Joel's spirit.
- Non-Malicious Monster: As a ghost, Joel is treated with abject fear and scorn by everyone in his town, but Judith finds that he acts much like a regular child would in his situation; he's confused, scared, and very shy around unfamiliar people. It's for this reason and her own affectionate nature that she makes it her mission to help him get his eternal rest, recruiting his father to help her.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Joel uses the skill to peek on Judith when she isn't watching, as per his ethereal nature.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Judith gives a short but succinct one to Lettie and Abigail for withholding the truth about Joel's haunting the schoolhouse from her.
- Relationship Upgrade: Judith and Tom get together near the end of the segment, and they stay together after they help Joel get his rest.
- Schoolmarm: Judith, who wants to get to the bottom of the hauntings of the one-room schoolhouse she's been assigned and put Joel's wayward spirit to rest.
- Spot the Thread: When she notes that there were 17 students in her class while Abigail claims that there are only 16 in the school district, Judith notes that Joel stood out to her like a sore thumb, since he was the only brunette in a class full of blondes.
- Those Two Girls: The Moore sisters, Lettie and Abigail, who stay side-by-side the whole segment as the former gradually clues Judith in on the truth behind Joel's ghost.
- Title Drop: Judith directly refers to Joel's ghost as "a little dark boy" because of his black hair, making him stand out since all the other children have blonde hair.
- Undead Child: Joel Robb, whose spirit haunts his father's farm and the local schoolhouse, where he still attends classes. He's not evil by any means, but the local kids and the school teachers are frightened by his presence.
- The Voiceless: Joel's ghost doesn't speak, likely because he's shy around people. He does emit a whippoorwill call to signal to his father, but that's about it.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Lettie and Abigail tell Judith that they didn't tell her about Joel's ghost because they were afraid that she'd leave like Ms. Mason did, and the children desperately need a teacher.
Keep in Touch – We'll Think of Something
Written by: Gene R. Kearney
Directed by: Gene R. Kearney
Rod Serling: I presume that most of you, in moments of weakness or in spasms of compassion, have picked up a hitchhiker. The story behind this item here has to do with a man who stops his car and invites a stranger in; and such a stranger. The kind that makes you wish you'd taken the bus or stayed in bed. Its title: Keep in Touch – We'll Think of Something.
Pianist Erik Sutton (Alex Cord) visits the San Francisco Police Department twice over a three-day span to report his car being stolen by a woman he picked up while hitchhiking, who also pistol-whipped him. Erik's sketch of the culprit's identity leads to Claire Foster (Joanna Pettet), an attractive woman who the police are forced to release when there isn't enough evidence to convict her. Upon seeing her, Erik claims that Claire is a woman he's repeatedly encountered in his dreams, giving himself hope that they were meant to be together. Claire shares that her husband Walter also has recurring dreams of a man with a long scar across his hand coming into his bedroom and strangling him while he's sleeping. When she finds that Erik has no such scar, she decides to make the pair's dreams come true, no matter the cost.
Tropes
- Awful Wedded Life: Erik says to Joe that he and his wife have been splitting apart for sometime, to the point where she's already moved to Salsaledo. Claire is hinted to have an unhappy marriage to aconstruction worker who has dreams about being strangled to death by a man with a large scar across his hand. It's for this reason that both people seek each other out, as well as the fact that Erik's and Walter's dreams indicate that they're meant to be.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Sympathetic as they may be, Erik and Claire end up together thanks to the former strangling the latter's husband after filing false police reports against her.
- Commonality Connection: As stated above, Erik and Claire are both in deteriorating marriages and have seen each other in their dreams, hinting that they're meant to be a couple because they're the only source of comfort and happiness they've had since then.
- Deadpan Snarker: Joe, who doesn't take Erik's stories about Claire too seriously.
- Dreaming of Things to Come:
- Erik claims that Claire is a woman he's been seeing in his dreams ever since he was in college, and he believes that they were fated to be an item, having falsified her report of grand theft auto to meet her.
- At the same time, Claire says that her husband Walter has been dreaming of a man with a large scar on his hand strangling him to death while he sleeps. She slashes Erik's hand to give him that large scar and goads him into strangling Walter for her, allowing both of their dreams to come true.
- Femme Fatale: Claire, who Erik has seen in his dreams, engineers his role in the murder of her husband so the pair can be together.
- Four Is Death: When Claire is brought to the station, she's placed fourth in the lineup. This turns out to be appropriate as she goads Erik into strangling Walter so they can be together.
- Hostile Hitchhiker: Claire, who Erik picked up on the side of the road, is portrayed as one in Erik's stories, having stolen his car after pistol-whipping him unconscious. While these claims are false, she does manipulate Erik into strangling her husband so they can be together, which he's not arguing with.
- Karma Houdini: Claire and Erik receive no punishment for their illegal acts; the former for slashing Erik's hand and goading him into murdering her husband for her, and the latter for filing false reports to the police.
- Lighter and Softer: There are some brief comedy elements to the segment, such as the scene where Joe accidentally spills coffee when he absentmindedly pours from the wrong end of the pot, complete with the typical resigned look.
- Noodle Incident: In the opening scene, Joe is seen talking to someone who claims to be a 10-year-old girl who claims to see a kangaroo outside her window, when it's later hinted to be a cat.
- Police Are Useless: Played with in regards to Detective Joe Brice and the SFPD. They originally don't intend to persecute Claire for stealing Erik's car because they're understaffed, as well as the fact that she didn't attack him or use the car for illicit actions. When Erik again comes to them with another tale of theft, Brice has some men sent to bring Claire in for questioning, but she's forced to be let go when there's no evidence for a conviction. This is essential to Erik's plans, as he falsified her reports of theft and assault to get together with her.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Joe can easily spot holes in Erik's stories, and he doesn't intend to search for Claire or his car at the moment due to the fact that she didn't actively assault him or intended to use his car to rob a bank, as well as the fact that the SFPD is understaffed at the moment. After Erik's second claim of her stealing his car, he relents and soon sends some men to hold her for questioning, but releases her when there's no evidence to prove her guilt. Furthermore, when it's hinted that Erik was filing false reports of her theft, Joe tells Claire that she can actively enact a civil action lawsuit against him.
- Time Skip: After the opening scene, the segment skips ahead three days, where Erik claims that Claire had stolen his car again and assaulted him this time.
- Wrongfully Accused: To get some quality time with Claire and formally introduce himself, Erik fabricates stories about her pistol-whipping him and stealing his sports car to the police, who hold her for questioning, then let her go due to the lack of evidence.
