Phew, "Sounds and Silences" was not an episode I'd want to watch during marathons all the time. John McGiver certainly doesn't bother with subtlety as his character, Roswell G Flemington, is full tilt boogie demonstrative in his everyday evocation of the sound and fury of war (even if he wasn't quite the soldier he so loudly and dutifully relives to his beleaguered and tormented employees (he operates a model ship company you'd think was a cruiser on the open sea heading for battle)), certainly decorating his office and home and sounding off battle noise/activity from records he dedicatedly plays ad nauseam.
Well, this episode spends a hell of a lot of time with McGiver just going to war with a fed-up wife played by Penny Singleton, their words exchanged with such rage, vitriol, and heated furor that it is just plain draining and exhausting. I think McGiver's character is so obnoxious, thunderous (a word coined throughout this episode and an apt description of McGiver's temperament and voice), and demanding that the episode, I believe, suffers for it. This guy is such a piece of work. His visit to a doctor, he considers a quack--who gives him *sound* advice that he should perhaps see a shrink when Roswell starts to hear sounds at a heightened degree (dripping water sounds like bullets in a ricocheting off metal, shoes across the floor or a ticking clock are loud enough to tremor the nerves and shake the eardrums)--running him down as unworthy of his position, only to accept his recommendation after a night of epic noise during a hard night.
The psychiatrist convincing Roswell that it is all mind over matter and that he can mentally shoo away the sharp influx of deafening noise that befalls him is a significant development that secures a twist Serling's monologue calls "poetic justice". While I think pretty much anyone watching this should expect a character like Roswell to suffer for just being a incorrigible blowhard barking continuously at everyone he comes in contact with (even when he brags on someone, like the shrink), having to endure him for an entire episode is quite a tasking experience. McGiver is a volcano spewing forth with rarely any let up not a performance that makes my Twilight Zone hierarchy which has such a rich history of talent putting up a wealth of good work during the wonderful series' tenure.
All that said, the film has some funny moments at the expense of Roswell, particularly his employees talking among themselves about him when he isn't around, poking gleeful fun at his annoyingly growl-and-push assertiveness, expecting them to operate a business with all the noise surrounding the workplace due to him. The episode loud and clear considers the lead character a thorn embedded in the ass of all he met, so spending twenty five minutes with him is not exactly easy.
Fascinating trivia tidbit from Zicree's Twilight Zone Companion: this episode was literally shelved and vaulted due to a plagiarism case due to Serling writing it too close to a script from another author not used.
Well, this episode spends a hell of a lot of time with McGiver just going to war with a fed-up wife played by Penny Singleton, their words exchanged with such rage, vitriol, and heated furor that it is just plain draining and exhausting. I think McGiver's character is so obnoxious, thunderous (a word coined throughout this episode and an apt description of McGiver's temperament and voice), and demanding that the episode, I believe, suffers for it. This guy is such a piece of work. His visit to a doctor, he considers a quack--who gives him *sound* advice that he should perhaps see a shrink when Roswell starts to hear sounds at a heightened degree (dripping water sounds like bullets in a ricocheting off metal, shoes across the floor or a ticking clock are loud enough to tremor the nerves and shake the eardrums)--running him down as unworthy of his position, only to accept his recommendation after a night of epic noise during a hard night.
The psychiatrist convincing Roswell that it is all mind over matter and that he can mentally shoo away the sharp influx of deafening noise that befalls him is a significant development that secures a twist Serling's monologue calls "poetic justice". While I think pretty much anyone watching this should expect a character like Roswell to suffer for just being a incorrigible blowhard barking continuously at everyone he comes in contact with (even when he brags on someone, like the shrink), having to endure him for an entire episode is quite a tasking experience. McGiver is a volcano spewing forth with rarely any let up not a performance that makes my Twilight Zone hierarchy which has such a rich history of talent putting up a wealth of good work during the wonderful series' tenure.
All that said, the film has some funny moments at the expense of Roswell, particularly his employees talking among themselves about him when he isn't around, poking gleeful fun at his annoyingly growl-and-push assertiveness, expecting them to operate a business with all the noise surrounding the workplace due to him. The episode loud and clear considers the lead character a thorn embedded in the ass of all he met, so spending twenty five minutes with him is not exactly easy.
Fascinating trivia tidbit from Zicree's Twilight Zone Companion: this episode was literally shelved and vaulted due to a plagiarism case due to Serling writing it too close to a script from another author not used.