I guess this would be called historical fantasy.<\/p>\n
Sergeant Joseph Paradine is a confederate scout near the front in the Civil War, probably in and around northern Maryland.\u00a0 While investigating troop movements he discovers that a whole column of Union soldiers is frozen in place on the main street of a small town.\u00a0 The men are frozen in mid stride and some are even frozen in the act of drinking from a canteen or lifting a heavy weight. \u00a0They are as still as statues and nothing happening around them wakes them from this state.<\/p>\n
While trying to figure what was going on, Paradine hears a noise coming from a house on the street and discovers a crazy old man named Teague who claims he is responsible for the frozen Yankee soldiers.\u00a0 Asked how he did it he informs Paradine that he is the seventh son of the seventh son of a seventh son.\u00a0 His family has been full of warlocks for generations and he has a book of spells that can freeze the whole Union Army.\u00a0 When asked why he doesn\u2019t he tells Paradine that he is about to die.\u00a0 So, he tells the sergeant to take the book and do it for him.\u00a0 But before he dies, he explicitly tells Paradine that when he casts the spells, he is invoking the Devil.<\/p>\n
Back at the camp of Paradine\u2019s outfit he returns and tells the tale of what he saw and what can be accomplished with the power of the book.\u00a0 His commanding officer thinks Paradine is suffering from delusions.\u00a0 But a company returns from an area where Paradine has tested the power of the book and attests that a frozen column of Yankee soldiers is indeed right over the ridge from their camp for all to see.<\/p>\n
Now the soldiers are beginning to become excited by the prospect of snatching a Confederate victory out of the jaws of defeat.\u00a0 But as Paradine starts to read the spell he realizes that it explicitly renounces God.\u00a0 Now, even though his CO is urging him to read the spell, Paradine explains that if he reads the spell then instead of Damn Yankees it will be the Confederacy that will be damned.\u00a0 His comrades beg him to remember that if he doesn\u2019t do it the Confederacy is dead.\u00a0 Paradine replies that if the Confederacy must die then at least it will be buried in hallowed ground. \u00a0And saying this he throws the book into the camp fire.\u00a0 In the epilogue, Serling says that the troop headed north the next day and ended up in a town called Gettysburg.\u00a0 The tone at the end is a little too solemn and righteous for a fantasy but it seemed well meaning.<\/p>\n
Gary Merrill played Paradine and did an admirable job.\u00a0 Teague was played by an actor named Vaughn Taylor that I am unfamiliar with but he was very amusingly over the top.<\/p>\n
This is a minor tale but it gets the job done.\u00a0 Tastes will vary on this one but I\u2019ll stake it to a solid B.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I guess this would be called historical fantasy. Sergeant Joseph Paradine is a confederate scout near the front in the Civil War, probably in and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[237,4,244,240,1661],"tags":[38,1355,1194,44,309,265,1691,1824,154,1692,838],"class_list":["post-6657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-tv-reviews","category-tv-reviews","category-twilight-zone","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-rod-serling","tag-sci-fi","tag-sci-fi-tv-review","tag-science-fiction","tag-sff-tv-show-reviews","tag-still-valley","tag-tv-review","tag-tv-reviews","tag-twilight-zone"],"yoast_head":"\n