"You know, Wilfred, I think the only book you ever read was a ledger. I think if someone cut you open they would find a cash register."
Director: Ida Lupino
Writer: Rod Serling
Composer: Stock music
This one's just a good example of people getting their comeuppance and being careful of what you wish for. The ugliness of human greed, selfishness, and pigheadedness is put on full-blast here, all from a crazy old man who just doesn't even care anymore. It's a fairly simple concept, and one of the rather "black and white" tales of the Twilight Zone, in terms of who is in the right and who is in the wrong, so really the episode is just some phenomenal buildup to the end.
"The Masks" is about the Harper family coming down to receive their inheritance money from their wealthy predecessor Jason Foster, as he is dying and has his daughter, Emily (Virginia Gregg) and her husband Wilfred (Milton Selzer) to receive his inheritance. Their children, Paula and Wilfred Jr. (Brooke Hayward and Willis Bouchey respectively) are there as well, though are far less interested in the dealings of the money as much as they are being literally anywhere else. And since the episode takes place in New Orleans, why not have it concurrent with Mardi Gras?
Initially, the idea of having the episode surrounded by the festivities of Mardis Gras seems to serve little purpose than juxtaposing the boring, dull affair of just sitting around and waiting until midnight with the crazy party outside, but upon another rewatch and just thinking about what happens in the episode, it's rather fitting that Mardis Gras should be going on as well, since it ties in a bit to what goes on in the story.
Now, the story here is pretty straight-forward: the Harper family must put on ugly masks until midnight, wherein they are guaranteed the inheritance money from Mr. Foster. All they need to do is just chill in the house. And, really, this feels more like a Richard Matheson screenplay than a Rod Serling one; characters stuck in a single location with a simple plot is practically the makings of a Matheson plot, but whereas Matheson normally explores the psychological impact this will have on our main character, Serling more-in explores the human element, dissecting the Harper family one by one repeatedly, and easily turning the viewer to Mr. Foster's side.
Robert Keith brilliantly plays the aging, withering Mr. Foster, who shows warmth and love to some of his assistants throughout the episode. He only has contempt for his family but not because he hates them; rather, he pities them all, and he's making sure he gets the last laugh of the family before they have to suffer through his wealth.
Keith displays the most range in the episode and really acts as any man would when he's at the end of his rope and knows it. He plays things as if he doesn't care but the only reason he's doing all of this is because he really does care. If he didn't, he would just die and let them take his money, God rest his soul. But he's a clever man, a cunning man, and Keith plays this up throughout the episode. It's obvious that he's speaking to his family in mostly sarcastic tones most of the time, but what's great is that it's never entirely obvious if the family catches on or not.
Everyone plays their parts to the perfect degree. Wilfred Sr. is arrogant and stubborn, Emily is pathetic, Paula is selfish, and Wilfred Jr. is just a meathead who doesn't care about literally anything. He probably has the least amount of character from the bunch, though that may be because there's just nothing to him; it's not like he's a jock who only likes sports or a social outcast. He's basically Patrick Star if Patrick never learned how to have a sense of humor.
Wilfred Sr. and Emily are the sleaziest of the bunch, trying to stay on Mr. Foster's good side by blatantly sucking up to him and just wishing that he wasn't dying. Even if they didn't reveal why it was they were there then it would be obvious that these characters just wanted to stick around for the money. Thankfully they don't nosedive into becoming actual murderers by trying to get him killed quicker, but still, they're pretty terrible people.
For example, Emily claims to be dreadfully ill in the presence of her dying father. Seriously, lady! Paula can't even look at her grandfather unless it's through a mirror. The brilliant thing of it all is that it's not just something for the audience to pick up on; rather, Mr. Foster makes a point of not just pointing it out, but by turning it against them. He "admires" how resilient Emily is in the face of such hardships, how beautiful Paula is underneath all of her makeup in front of all her mirrors, how "clever" Wilfred Sr. is for always sticking to his guns, never sheeping away from anything.
This is a fairly simple episode in terms of direction and camerawork, but Lupino directs these actors to be just corny enough to make them nearly unbelievably sleazy, but also to strike that perfect note to get where the episode is taking each of their characters in the end. Serling takes the cake on this one though, with an excellent screenplay.
"The Masks" is just one of those classic good-time episodes of The Twilight Zone. For once, the main character is completely in the right and the audience can get on their side from the get-go. It's just a good lesson to treating others as you would want to be treated.
***SPOILER SECTION***
God I hate every single one of these characters that isn't the Dr. Thorne, Jeffery, or Mr. Foster. The entire Harper family got exactly what was coming to them and in a twisted way it's one of the more satisfying endings to a Twilight Zone episode.
And as mentioned before, it makes clever use of its atmosphere and location. Having it set during Mardi Gras doesn't make a whole lot of sense beyond the aforementioned juxtaposition, but when the masks are introduced and their full effects revealed, that odd witchcraft that the bayou is known for makes itself known and really makes a bit more sense. Thankfully it's never mentioned nor is it brought up, it's just something for the audience to pick up on after a little thought.
I also love Mr. Foster's explanations for why he is giving each member of the Harper family their respective mask; Keith really plays it up here and it's just an enjoyable performance to watch, especially on a second viewing when you know what's headed their way.
This episode has great value on the first-run through and honestly just gets more enjoyable on subsequent viewings simply for the clever writing and acting that's on display here. One of the more fun episdoes of The Twilight Zone, I suppose, though in a strange, twisted sort of way.
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