One of my all time favorites.

Good concept, poorly executed.

A Brilliant Conflict

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

" Ultra-Obscure Super-Shi**y Cinema " presents: The Twonky The Twonky is an extremely dated and obscure sci-fi/comedy from the early 50's, it's also rather distinctive, because I can't think of any other movie quite like it. I think my favorite thing about it is just how dated every single aspect about it is - especially the music, it's special effects and of course the vintage "television sets" some of which have four leg's and are in the habit of walking around the house."The Twonky" (WTF's a Twonky?) the title alone is what first made me look into this movie, certainly an eyebrow raiser, anyways the basic plot of it is this: A professor's wife leaves town for a visit to her sisters, and to keep her husband company while she's gone, she goes and buys one of those new-fangled electronic contraptions known as a television, only this ones very different from any other television. It's basically a robot and "It's Alive!" as it pretty much walks and talk's and (obnoxiously, even violently at times) serves it's master by emitting rays of light from it's screen. It has the ability to: light cigarette's, explode coffee mugs, counterfeit 5 dollar bills, shave beards, polish shoes, tie bow-ties, paralyze legs and brainwash people - "Passion Through The Ages" why it even has kinky reading habits. Throughout the film an assemblage of characters manage to wander into the professors house, most of which cross paths with The Twonky, why all the while it's master is plotting on how to get rid of it.If you don't follow me, just keep in mind that "The Twonky" IS the television set - as that will be obvious when watching the movie.The Twonky strikes me as a very unique cornball comedy, though, however NOT a particularly good one. I think my favorite character is that very dopey and dull-witted TV serviceman - now that's some funny acting, that guy was born to play a dullard in the movies. I find that there's definitely some similarities between this movie and Harvey (1950) having seen both several times it's pretty obvious, why even one of the actors from Harvey is in this movie; but you'll need someone else to examine it and explain it though. When comparing The Twonky to Harvey well.... this much is certain, both are quirky comedies from the early-50's, one is very well-known while thee other is virtually unknown, one is brilliant, thee other is mediocre.When watching this profoundly dated movie, I felt like I was trapped in a time-warp of sorts and was being transported back to the early 1950's. Like I said it's VERY dated.I know I haven't been exactly flattering of it in my review, however The Twonky DOES have it's qualities and is certainly worth seeing at least once. I must confess it's a better movie than I remember, I was going to rate it at 2 or 3 stars, but I recently saw it again and was left with a higher opinion of it. Sit back and admire the sheer strangeness of it all, as it certainly is an oddity and an obscure rarely seen one at that.If you're ever wanting to see this obscure fossil of a movie try catching it on TCM (yes, Turner Classic Movies) they have what is surely the best looking copy available; as most prints of The Twonky are terribly washed out and fuzzy and are just plain awful looking. But not so on TCM.

I'd only heard of this film, and by great chance stumbled on it last night on the "Comet" sub-channel. (It never occurred to me to look for it on YouTube, where it's currently available.)I haven't read the Kuttner/Moore short story, but Oboler's alteration, making the Twonky a television (rather than a radio-phonograph) is ideal, creating a metaphor that should have been obvious even in 1951.Human beings are basically visual animals, making television addictive in a way radio cannot equal. There's no point in showing vapid TV programming turning people into intellectual zombies, because the Twonky itself isn't a television. It's a shape-shifting household robot a future civilization uses to control the way people think and act.To the extent that TV watching distracts people from their own inner dialogs -- and dialogs with other people -- it serves the purpose of those who wish to twist "democratic" society to their own ends -- politicians and businessmen. *Hans Conried is a great actor (I'm aware of what "great" implies), in full control of his performance. He's the perfect choice for a philosophy professor beset by a machine determined to destroy his independence and individuality.Oboler's direction, too, is solid. The film's principal problem is its Really Cheap animated effects, which look like Really Cheap animated effects.Strongly recommended.* Douglas Sirk makes a similar point in "All That Heaven Allows".

This one might be a little too frightening for young children, perhaps under about age 8. There seems to be an "urban legend" about this movie, in fact, where a small child who saw this on some B-movie TV show develops an intense fear of household appliances and electricity after being slightly injured by the family's TV set when he/she tries to "protect the family" by opening up the set and pulling out some tubes. The trouble is, tubes get pretty hot while operating and TV sets of the conventional (direct-view CRT) type can store enough of a charge in certain parts for hours or days after being turned off and/or unplugged to deliver a nasty jolt. Although the residual charge is rarely enough to cause permanent injury or death, it can give a painful and frightening shock (Been shocked enough times myself, I ought to know.). In the old days, hot tubes burned many tiny fingers (I've had THAT experience myself, too.). There can be "hot spots" inside transistorized TV sets, too, especially in the Power Supply area. Obviously, I wasn't traumatized too badly from minor mishaps in my youth with electricity. Minor mishaps sparked scientific curiosity for me. I now restore Vintage TV sets professionally for Collectors and/or Museums and have worked as a TV Repairman for many years. The urban legend I heard, while not necessarily true, is certainly quite plausible. If showing this one to a child under age 8, make sure to hide Dad's toolbox well out of Junior's reach for a few days afterward.

Arch Oboler's LIGHTS OUT is one of the handful of radio shows I've listened to over the years that was genuinely worth listening to. (One of my all-time favorite writers, Harlan Ellison, mentioned Oboler's show somewhere along the line, and that's how I came to it. In DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND, one of Ellison's two episodes of the original black and white series THE OUTER LIMITS, one of the characters is called "Arch." I'm guessing he was named after Oboler.) Likewise, his end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it feature, FIVE, was watchable. THE TWONKY, while maybe not as watchable as FIVE, is nonetheless not bad for what it is (or isn't). As pointed out elsewhere, it could've fit right in with the rest of the episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Once the one-eyed monster gets its hooks in you, you're as good as finished. (Just look around you.) Both NETWORK and VIDEODROME would go still further in their depictions of a medium gone mad, but Henry Kuttner and Arch Oboler were there first. And funniest.