Marsha White (Anne Francis) goes into a large department store seeking a gold thimble as a gift for her mother, and never leaves the building.
She is ushered into a waiting elevator, the operator (John Conwell) runs an express lift that drops her off on the ninth floor. The floor seems abandoned, with the exception of a strange saleswoman (the always great, and rather menacing, Elizabeth Allen) who has no other merchandise in the sales displays except for the item Marsha is looking for. Marsha goes back down in the elevator, spooked by the encounter with the saleswoman and the abandoned floor, and discovers the thimble is damaged. Seeking out the complaints department, she is told that the building she is shopping in doesn't have a ninth floor, and without a receipt they cannot do anything with the thimble...
Douglas Heyes directs Rod Serling's tight little script, with some fantastic makeup and cinematography. The cast is wonderful, capturing the retail world that hasn't changed that much in the ensuing six decades or so (I should know, I spent almost twenty years working at two Target stores). One drawback I had was Heyes' playing the episode as a tense and horrific tale that the twist explanation couldn't live up to. The finale and climax are fine, but the preceding minutes had me geared up for something more wrenching than what played out. All in all, a good episode that I give (* * * 1/2) out of five stars.
Stats:
-Directed by Douglas Heyes
-Written by Rod Serling
-Cast: Anne Francis, Elizabeth Allen, James Milhollin, John Conwell, Patrick Whyte, Nancy Rennick
-Media: Viewed on MeTV
-Running Time: 25 minutes
-Rating: (* * * 1/2/* * * * *)
-Rated TV-PG, contains mild adult situations
