The Twonky

[SynapticBoomstick]

I find that some of the best movie discoveries happen when you're sick. This is because you can't do anything else other than stay at home and rest. Today I was set up on the couch and happened to find my way over to TCM, which happened to be running a Hans Conried tribute as part of their "15th Year": The Monster that Challenged the World was set to start in an hour or so. There was a 50's action/adventure movie that was just ending and the next movie showed up only as The Twonky, "Whimsical comic yarn about a professor and a robot. [1953]". Robot? Not like I thought...

You see, the story follows Cary West, university professor, whose wife is off to visit his sister. To help him cope without her, Mrs. West has bought a brand new television set. As Cary goes about his daily routine he begins to notice that this TV is a bit different, mainly because it walks, dances, and projects beams of energy that light his cigarettes and wash dishes. As Cary reveals this oddity to more people things take a sinister turn as the robo-TV, dubbed "The Twonky" by his alcoholic friend and colleage Coach Trout, begin to turn its abilities on people.

I have to say that if anybody were to try and make The Twonky these days it would never work. This is a true nostalgic gem of a scifi comedy that surprised me with its charm and (despite it all) quality and inventive storytelling. The Twonky, next best thing to the coach's special brew for a sick day!

[RCMerchant]

The TWONKY is a great film. It was made by Arch Obler....who was the  brains behind the old radio series LIGHTS OUT. He wasn't fond of the new medium of TV,I reckon,...as his real bread and butter was radio.

[SynapticBoomstick]

He wasn't fond of the new medium of TV,I reckon,...as his real bread and butter was radio.

That's a great little tidbit of trivia there, explains a little bit

[RCMerchant]

What IS unusual...he was the director of the very first 3-D film BWANA DEVIL! So he tried to adapt...and even advance the visual medium...just for the sake of proffessional survival,I believe,and did another unusual sci-fi called the BUBBLE-in 1966. He basically flowed into obscurity...sad...as his radio programs are classics of  aural horror.

[AndyC]

I've got an anthology somewhere around here with the original short story in it. The movie sounds interesting.

[BoyScoutKevin]

I guess I might be one of the few people on this board to see this film. I saw it for Hans Conried, who's work I've always been fond of, both on TV and in film.

Not a very good film (IMHO) but a memorable one. If only because it is the only film I can ever remember that features a robo-TV as the villain.

Worth checking out.

[Newt]

I am rather a fan of older SF in print (film goes without saying: I am here).  The short story "The Twonky" by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore (writing as Lewis Padgett) was published in Astounding Science Fiction, September 1942.  The written version is a twisted little gem combining humour and horror.  If you enjoy ideas that are just a tad 'diffferent', Lewis Padgett is worth checking out. 

The same basic premise of "consequences of a minor device of advanced technology accidentally introduced" is present in Kuttner/Moore's "Mimsy Were the Borogoves" which inspired the more recent film "The Mimsy".