"The Queen of the Nile" 47 years later

Over the New Years weekend, Sy Fy TV ran a Twilight Zone marathon. I do love the old Twilight Zone series and have seen almost every episode at least 100 times. Well, that may be an exaggeration, but it is close, very close.

One favorite episode from 1964 is called "The Queen of the Nile" starring Ann Blyth. She plays actress Pamela Morris who, amazingly, never seems to grow old. This "ageless beauty" puzzles writer Jordon Herrick who stumbles into her web of deceit. "Will you walk into my parlour said the spider to the fly" wrote Mary Howitt, but in this case, Pamela uses a scarab beetle to do her dirty work.

Pamela's "mother" (who has a weird accent of some sort while Pamela has none - what is up with that?), is actually Pamela's daughter and tries to warn Jordon Herrick to stay away, but the handsome young man falls under the spell of the lovely Pamela with dire consequences.

Remember that scarab beetle? It drains the life out of Jordan, leaving a pile of dust and clothing on the floor for the maid to sweep up. Is this a nice way to treat a guest? I think not. Pamela "energizes" herself with the scarab beetle and, except for her old "mother," no one is the wiser.

Mediocre plot, of course. Predictable, yes, but it occurred to me that life was, in a way, imitating art in "Queen of the Nile." Ann Blyth still appears as young and beautiful in 2011 as she was in 1964. Ann seems as ageless as Pamela Morris, forever young, in the re-runs of old TV shows as well as in the archives of her movies such as "Kismet," "The Helen Morgan Story," and "Mildred Pierce" with Joan Crawford.

Ann Blyth is in good company. Many actors starred in The Twilight Zone over the five seasons it was a regular in our living rooms. Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Lee Marvin, Gig Young and Cliff Robertson starred in episodes. Child star Billy Mumy of "Lost in Space" fame as well as most of the cast of Bewitched (Elizabeth Montgomery- "Two" in 1961, Dick York- "A Penny for Your Thoughts" in 1961 and Agnes Moorehead- "The Invaders" in 1961) will all remain youthful in re-run TV. Jack Klugman, James Coburn, Jack Weston, Sebastion Cabot, Art Carney and Inger Stevens are all alumni of "The Zone."

Many of us, of a certain age, remember these wonderful actors. Even Leonard Nimoy ("A Quality of Mercy" in 1961) and William Shatner ("Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" in 1963 and "Nick of Time" in 1960) -good old Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk, had roles on T.T.Z.

In "The Queen of the Nile," murderous Pamela sacrifices her prey for her own selfish gains but regardless of the morality, there is Ann Blyth on screen at the end of the story. She will always be age 43, glamourous and, like Pamela, forever young. At least as long as there are TV re runs.