If Sci-Fi cinema taught us just one thing, it's most certainly that craving for immortality is a big and sad mistake! Many movies and TV show episodes have brought forward protagonists, mainly scientists but also regular folks that somehow saw their wish granted but then spent the rest of eternity regretting it! Their motivation to live forever is usually that they think one lifetime is too short to fulfill their hopes and dreams, but they don't realize that their loved ones around them continue to age normally and die. Melancholic vampires also often struggle with this issue. The most famous and legendary tale regarding immortality is undoubtedly Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray", which got turned into a couple successful and less than successful movie adaptations already. This TZ-episode, written by specialist Charles Beaumont, brings a nice variation on the same theme. Walter Jameson has allegedly lived long enough already to have known Plato and serve as a Major in the Civil War, but he always kept a low profile and now poses as a history teacher at university. He's about to marry headmaster Kittridge's ravishing daughter Susanna, but Professor Kittridge has unmasked Walter. At the same time, someone's from Walter's more recent past has discovered his whereabouts. "Long Live Walter Jameson" isn't the most memorable episode of the show, or even the wonderful first season, but benefices from an intelligent script & dialogues as well as stellar performances. The climax is intense and original, as I don't recall ever having seen an immortal person standing face-to- face with an ex-wife who's now almost twice the age he is. The special effects during the finale (the archetypal accelerated ageing process) are excellent and Kevin McCarthy (star of the 1956 milestone "Invasion of the Body Snatchers") gives a very mature and engaged performance in the titular role. McCarthy died in 2010 at age 96. Not quite immortal just yet, but a beautiful age nevertheless.
Review of Long Live Walter Jameson
