The Twonky (1953)
Directed by Arch Oboler

Film Review

Arch Oboler is an American playwright who is most famous for his radio work, notably the horror series Lights Out.  He started directing films in the mid-1940s and scored a notable success with Five (1951), a post-apocalyptic melodrama made on a shoestring budget.  Oboler followed this with another entry in the sci-fi genre, The Twonky, a weird blunt satire on the impact of television on domestic life.  Subtle the film may not be - the humour is heavy-handed both in its writing and its execution, and every supposed gag is stressed by some irritating 'goofy' music - but it nonetheless has an impact.  The low budget special effects give it a zany 'bricolage' feel that makes it one of the strangest films to get a theatrical release in the 1950s.

Hans Conried, a member of Oboler's radio company, shows next to no aptitude for comedy, although the script, loosely based on a short story written by sci-fi writer Henry Kuttner in 1942, would have made it virtually impossible for any actor to shine in this film.  Billy Lynn plays a football coach who - annoyingly - has all the answers as to what the mysterious television set is and where it came from, but at least he gets the best line: "In a few moments, your Twonky will twonk no more."  The line uttered by everyone who gets taken over by the television set, "I have no complaints", is not one that was voiced by the critics or audiences - the film bombed at the box office and was soon forgotten before it showed up - ironically enough - on television.  Whilst it struggles to be remotely funny, The Twonky has an indefinable charm, and is so strange that you end up liking it in spite of its obvious flaws.

Film Synopsis

Small town college professor Kerry West finds an unwelcome addition to his household after his wife has left him to spend some time with her sister.  Mrs West's newly acquired television set does far more than what it is supposed to.  First it lights Mr West's cigarette for him, then it starts doing household chores and opening bottles, and this it does without even being plugged into the mains!  When a man shows up to collect the 100 dollar fee for the set, the infernal device magically produces twenty five dollar bills.  According to Kerry's friend Coach Trout the television is a Twonky, something from the future that is intended by the state to control the behaviour of its citizens.  Sure enough, the television set soon begins taking control of Kerry's life, deciding what music he should listen to, how many cups of coffee he can drink, and even which books he can read...