First shown on NBC-TV in November 1969, NIGHT GALLERY, the pilot to the 1970-73 TV anthology show of the same name, was the last major work of Rod Serling, creator of what may still rank as the best TV series ever, "The Twilight Zone." Although, when the series started, Serling wasn't given the kind of creative control he felt he needed to make the series work (and not surprisingly, it was mercilessly compared to "The Twilight Zone"), on this pilot film, he was firmly in control. Adapting three stories from his 1967 collection "The Season To Be Wary", Serling came up with a thoroughly engaging anthology film that combined morality, melodrama, suspense, and the supernatural into a stunning brew not seen on television before.<br /><br />Segment 1, "The Cemetery", directed by Boris Sagal, features Roddy McDowall as an unscrupulous nephew who causes the death of his uncle by exposing him to a cold wind in order to grab his hands on the old man's fortune. But as he soon learns, one of the paintings his uncle created in his last days--that of the family cemetery--keeps changing on him every time he looks at it. And soon, it seems to show his uncle coming back from the grave.<br /><br />Segment 2, "Eyes", stars Joan Crawford as a ruthless, imperious blind woman who blackmails a prominent surgeon (Barry Sullivan) into giving her an ocular transplant so that she may enjoy roughly twelve hours of sight before going blind again. The operation, done with the help of an eye donation from a petty gambler, turns out to be a success--until a blackout causes Crawford to think otherwise. This episode is noted as the professional maiden directing effort for Steven Spielberg.<br /><br />Segment 3, "Escape", directed by Barry Shear, stars Richard Kiley as a Nazi fugitive hiding out in Buenos Aires who becomes captivated by a painting of a fisherman in the local art museum. He dreams of becoming that fisherman and escaping from hiding, but a chance encounter with a Holocaust survivor (Sam Jaffe) will deny him that in a chilling conclusion.<br /><br />Although Serling's moralizing sometimes gets a bit on the heavy-handed side, NIGHT GALLERY is still superbly conceived, with the case giving excellent and often chilling performances. The first segment is appropriately spooky; the second ingenious and unconventional (for TV); and the third, even though it is the weakest, a worthy capper on this film. Spielberg, of course, got the glory for his segment, but Sagal's and Shear's segments are nothing to sneeze at either. All in all, NIGHT GALLERY comes highly recommended.