"The Last Night of a Jockey" in Season 5 (1963-64) Forum

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"The Last Night of a Jockey"

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Crown 85

#81

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Jan 30 10 3:28 PM

Me included.
Just listen to his rather...er...unpleasant Zicree interview in the Definitive DVD collection.

Room For One More

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HarrisonS

#82

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Jan 30 10 3:46 PM

I have no problem at all with Mickey Rooney; I don't care for this episode simply because it is boring. It is awfully boring just to sit for a half hour and watch someone just talking to himself in a cheap hotel room. The same thing can be said for "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room".

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Paladin

#83

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Jan 30 10 5:54 PM

QUOTE (HarrisonS @ January 30, 2010 04:46 pm)

I have no problem at all with Mickey Rooney; I don't care for this episode simply because it is boring. It is awfully boring just to sit for a half hour and watch someone just talking to himself in a cheap hotel room. The same thing can be said for "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room".

Yes, but the nervous man does get to talk to George several times.

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nightmare as a child

#84

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Posts: 51

Feb 1 10 1:59 PM

I gave this one a three. I was going to give it a four, but I penalized it an extra point for Mickey Rooney's interview/commentary. I turned it off after a few minutes because I couldn't stand listening to him.
None of his movies ever did much for me, but I always kind of liked him; he just seemed like a nice guy. Must be a hell of an actor.

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LeenZone

#85

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Feb 1 10 2:43 PM

QUOTE (nightmare as a child @ February 01, 2010 01:59 pm)

I gave this one a three. I was going to give it a four, but I penalized it an extra point for Mickey Rooney's interview/commentary. I turned it off after a few minutes because I couldn't stand listening to him.
None of his movies ever did much for me, but I always kind of liked him; he just seemed like a nice guy. Must be a hell of an actor.

Unfortunately you thought wrong about him seeming like a nice guy.

He showed his true self at the '06 convention in NJ as the attendees will attest to here.
And some of that can be found in this thread I'm sure.

Head 'em up, move 'em out!

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Romney Wordsworth

#86

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Posts: 198

Feb 1 10 3:06 PM

What Mr Rooney recalls or what he said in 2006 about this episode really has no bearing on his performance. He played a one man show and maybe he never appreciated how well he did this or how memorable it was for folks who enjoy the TZ but it is.

Nehemiah Persoff does not remember his outstanding performance in Judgment Night because of his schedule back then and because they work on so many things and Mr Rooney has to be given the same benefit of the doubt, it does not diminish in any way what fans of the series think of the performance or the episode.

I thought he was outstanding as a man so conflicted, so beaten down that in the end he really did not know what he wanted when he got a chance to have it not seeing the ramifications of his hearts desire.

His alter ego was the disappointment here that hurt the episode, mocking him constantly, beating him down to the point he made him even larger again simply to hurt him even more. That character was supposed to be the best version of himself that comes out in desperation, this was a man who was a winner who was a big man regardless of size and had that in him but instead drove him and even led him to disaster and enjoyed doing it which made little sense which contradicted his purpose.

His alter ego brought out his worst and went the other way for some reason to apparently punish him which hurt the episode.

If the plot turned out that he became a giant of a man in character and got to do what he loved again it would have been a far better ending to me but not every episode can have a happy ending.

Episode rates a very solid six for me.

Mickey Rooney still alive and active rates a 10 in 2010, what he recalls of something he did over 50 years ago for 20 minutes should have no bearing.

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MichaelBiehnObsession

#87

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Posts: 1825

Feb 1 10 3:36 PM

QUOTE (HarrisonS @ January 30, 2010 01:46 pm)

I have no problem at all with Mickey Rooney; I don't care for this episode simply because it is boring. It is awfully boring just to sit for a half hour and watch someone just talking to himself in a cheap hotel room. The same thing can be said for "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room".

Here, here. I agree about the boring nature of both episodes.

As to Mickey Rooney, I've never been a fan of his, although he occasionally has done good acting work - The Bridges at Toko-Ri comes to mind.

And his personality can be summed up simply by the fact that he's been married 8 times with 6 divorces (he was widowed once). His current marriage has lasted longer than the other 7 combined. None of the others made it longer than 7 years. What I've heard is that his current marriage has lasted because he's not married to anyone from the entertainment business, so he can be "on stage" all the time at home; i.e., the center of attention.

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nightmare as a child

#88

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Posts: 51

Feb 1 10 4:53 PM

QUOTE (Romney Wordsworth @ February 01, 2010 12:06 pm)

what he recalls of something he did over 50 years ago for 20 minutes should have no bearing.

Personally, I don't care if he, or anyone else, recalls a thing about a show they did more than forty years ago, it wouldn't affect my like or dislike of their particular episode -- I don't think I even care if they are a nasty person in general, really -- BUT he was an abusive jerk publicly to a fan of the show he was in. I have no problem docking him a (meaningless) point for it.

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cadwallader

#89

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Posts: 1175

Feb 2 10 6:50 PM

QUOTE (Romney Wordsworth @ February 01, 2010 12:06 pm)

His alter ego was the disappointment here that hurt the episode, mocking him constantly, beating him down to the point he made him even larger again simply to hurt him even more. That character was supposed to be the best version of himself that comes out in desperation, this was a man who was a winner who was a big man regardless of size and had that in him but instead drove him and even led him to disaster and enjoyed doing it which made little sense which contradicted his purpose.

His alter ego brought out his worst and went the other way for some reason to apparently punish him which hurt the episode.

You make a good point here, Mr. Wordsworth.

What are the motivations of the alter ego? If it is a part of Mr. Grady, why on earth would it encourage, and take pleasure in, a decision that ruins his life? If it were an external entity, a genie for example, it would be more understandable. And while John Rhodes is somewhat antagonistic towards Jackie, his ultimate goal - and achievement - is self-improvement.

But it makes no sense at all for the alter ego to act the way it does - unless it isn't who/what it says it is.

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LeenZone

#90

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Posts: 11477

Feb 2 10 8:30 PM

QUOTE (Romney Wordsworth @ February 01, 2010 03:06 pm)

What Mr Rooney recalls or what he said in 2006 about this episode really has no bearing on his performance.

True, but if you were referring to my post his behavior at the Saturday night dinner is what I was referring to. I have no clue if he spoke of "Jockey" or not.

Head 'em up, move 'em out!

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James B W Bevis

#91

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Posts: 15447

Feb 2 10 9:17 PM

a.k.a. "Beev"

QUOTE (cadwallader @ February 02, 2010 06:50 pm)

QUOTE (Romney Wordsworth @ February 01, 2010 12:06 pm)

His alter ego was the disappointment here that hurt the episode, mocking him constantly, beating him down to the point he made him even larger again simply to hurt him even more. That character was supposed to be the best version of himself that comes out in desperation, this was a man who was a winner who was a big man regardless of size and had that in him but instead drove him and even led him to disaster and enjoyed doing it which made little sense which contradicted his purpose.

His alter ego brought out his worst and went the other way for some reason to apparently punish him which hurt the episode.

You make a good point here, Mr. Wordsworth.

What are the motivations of the alter ego? If it is a part of Mr. Grady, why on earth would it encourage, and take pleasure in, a decision that ruins his life? If it were an external entity, a genie for example, it would be more understandable. And while John Rhodes is somewhat antagonistic towards Jackie, his ultimate goal - and achievement - is self-improvement.

But it makes no sense at all for the alter ego to act the way it does - unless it isn't who/what it says it is.

Or maybe, if you pass a certain point of corruption or other "badness," even your own alter ego turns against you?

It's interesting to think about.

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Aunt T

#92

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Posts: 302

Feb 27 10 9:09 PM

Just saw it for the first time.

Tedious. Boring. The theme of a guy talking to himself and seeing himself in a mirror in his room is tedious. This was at least the third episode like that.

Like "Nervous Man in a Four-Dollar Room", I found my self looking at the time elapsed on the video to see when it would be over and I could check off another episode watched.

One-man episodes can be deadly.

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9118999

#93

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Posts: 146

Jun 5 10 11:42 PM

(Contains mild spoilers)

I can see why people dislike this episode but I found it tolerable; Rooney was somewhat melodramatic but interesting enough in both his guises and kept me interested throughout the episode, no mean feat in a one-man effort. Also thought the special effects when you saw his alter-ego were good.

But I think this is a good example in the decline in Serling's writing from Seasons 1/2 of the series. The moral, dramatic and structural rigour that were such essential features of his scripts back then is largely absent here, so instead of a pointed and insightful story and resolution, it all comes across as rather pointless.

And I think this was best illustrated by the issue of the wish itself. How is his alter-ego having the power to increase his height (was thinking at one stage during the episode that it was actually the devil in disguise)? There's a lot of unlikely things I can accept on the TZ but not that. Bevis' point about perhaps even his own ego turning against him is an interesting point but I don't think that was really explored that well if that was the case; certainly would've been done better in Seasons 1/2 of the show.
5/10.

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Paladin

#94

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Zone Master

Posts: 3846

Oct 17 10 3:04 PM

Last Night of a Jockey and Nervous Man in a $4 Room, #'s 1 & 1A. They're running neck and neck, in this 2 episode race to see which man you find the most irritating when he starts yelling at his reflection in the mirror. Rounding the far turn, and coming up fast on the rail, is CBS's cancellation announcement. twilightzonewor/rip_1.gif

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Reverend Anderson

#95

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Posts: 329

Oct 25 10 10:09 PM

The episode never reaches beyond average for a good fifteen minutes. It's a lot of been there done that for Twilight Zone.
However, the last segment of the episode is truly tragic, and you can't help but feel the pain Grady feels. I always loved the TZ episodes that end on a sad note. Doesn't make it a great episode, but it does earn it a few more points for me.

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Gooberman

#96

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Posts: 1160

Oct 25 10 11:09 PM

I haven't seen it in a long while, so someone might have to correct me about this. Apart from the threats toward the on and off girlfriend (which admittedly is a very big thing), I don't remember him being one of those characters who deserve what they get in a big way. As far as I remember, it concentrated on his lack of ethics as a jockey, which to me just isn't big enough. Of course, I used to give weary looks all through the Pete Rose business. (Admittedly, I'm not a baseball fan, but I like to think I'd have had a similar attitude if I HAD been one.)