The Big Whatsit

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7. A World of His Own (Season 1, 1960)

‘The home of Mr Gregory West, one of America’s most noted playwrights. The office of Mr Gregory West. Mr Gregory West - shy, quiet, and at the moment very happy. Mary - warm, affectionate. And the final ingredient - Mrs Gregory West.’

Synopsis
A playwright possesses the ability to bring his own characters to life, much to the consternation of his wife.

Review
A nice change of pace arrives in the shape of A World of His Own. Despite featuring all the usual Zone staples, it’s an episode played very much for laughs, and it’s all the more welcome for that. Given the story is about a playwright, it’s nice to find that we’re watching a Zone that’s structured like a play. The action takes place on a single set, with characters wandering on and off as though working to stage instructions.

In the yarn, Gregory West (Keenan Wynn) is first seen in the company of a lovely blonde woman, Mary (Mary La Roche). Rod Serling’s narration sets it up as though the latter is Gregory’s wife, but then a third character appears, and she’s introduced as Mrs Gregory West, Victoria (Phyllis Kirk). Convinced that her husband is having an affair, Victoria is understandably nonplussed when he tells her the blonde is merely one of a number of characters he has brought to life. Speaking into a tape recorder, Gregory can describe a person or an animal and then suddenly find them stood before him, whether it’s the homely Mary or even an elephant. ‘Uncreating’ them is just as easy - he simply cuts the piece of tape on which he has talked about the character and throws it on to the fire, extinguishing them instantly.

Even after he has explained all this to Victoria, going so far as to recreate his ‘bringing to life’ ritual as proof, she’s unconvinced, and it soon becomes apparent that this couple has no business being together. Gregory is quiet, bookish and mild. Victoria is ravishing in the aloof, ice queen kind of way that made Joan Collins a star. Over the course of the episode, she threatens to both have him committed and claim all his assets, an unwise move as it turns out that she too is a character Gregory has conjured up via the tape recorder and he can get rid of her any time he likes.

In the best bit, Serling himself turns up, delivering his closing narration. Describing the story as ‘purely fictional’ and ’such ridiculous nonsense’ he’s suddenly cut off by a very much still active Gregory, who shows Serling the tape that proves he too is a creation of the playwright’s. Angered at the narrator’s dismissal of his story, Gregory feeds the tape to the flames, at which point Serling looks resignedly at the camera, says ‘Well, that’s the way it goes’ and vanishes.

Gregory it seems is in control of the Twilight Zone, and his story is one of its finest. A comedy of manners that retains the essential Zone spirit, A World of His Own is a hoot and demonstrates the enormous flexibility of this series.