Night Gallery: The Girl with the Hungry Eyes (Air Date: October 1, 1972) (Lost, actor)

[Martin1973]

In this segment adapted by Robert Malcolm Young from the short story by Fritz Leiber, Jr., son of actor Fritz Leiber, Sr., Joanna Pettet is Hungry Eyes, an arctic, ravenous soul vampire with an appetite for the souls of males. The plot of the segment is as follows: Fashion photographer David Faulkner (James Farentino) meets his latest model while on the phone with Harry Krell (Kip Niven), his assistant and best friend one night, not knowing until later that her name is Hungry Eyes. She asks David, "Why don't you hang up the phone, David?" David asks, "You?" "Us," Hungry Eyes responds. "Why did you come here?" David queries. "You're looking for a model. I want to be a model," she replies. "You've never modeled for anything in your life, and I don't hire amateurs," David says. "Do you have any references, a resume, and a release?" "It's on the desk, David," Hungry Eyes responds. "We'll start the session tomorrow at, say, ten o' clock?" after which she departs. The next day at the shooting session, David asks, "Can you smile just once?" "I AM smiling, David," Hungry Eyes replies. "Well, if that's the best you can do...Look, why don't we do some bikini shots? The changing area is over there," David says. During the bikini poses, Hungry Eyes asks, "Am I smiling now? Look in my eyes, David. What do you see?" Through the lens of his camera, David notices that the girl's eyes are glowing with an intermittent green light, and he responds, "I see a need, a hunger..." When the session ends, David asks her to fill out her forms since they're blank, informing her that he pays late. "The money isn't important," responds Hungry Eyes. David asks her where she lives so he can contact her. "My way, David. things will be so much easier my way. And, David...don't ever try to follow me," Hungry Eyes says as she departs. Later that day, one of David's clients, a beer baron named Munsch (John Astin), asks David if he has a model who epitomizes the manifestation of the materialism and lusts of all men, a model who would be perfect as Miss Munsch, the spokesperson for Munsch's product. David submits several photos, from which Munsch selects the bareback pose of Hungry Eyes to be Miss Munsch. Once the billboard advertising Munsch Beer has been erected with Hungry Eyes as the spokesperson, David and Harry are celebrating the success brought about by David's model, and Harry asks to meet her. David refuses, and Harry heads home. David closes the door, and says over his shoulder, "You can come out now, he's gone." Hungry Eyes says, "Don't ever let it happen again, David," as she descends the stairs. "Come on, he doesn't even know your name," says David. "Why don't you tell him my name, David?" Hungry Eyes asks as she leaves the studio. David looks at the billboard and says, "Munsch was right. You're nothing...but the essence of all our dreams. He then notices Hungry Eyes and Harry are engaged in conversation just outside the studio window. They depart for the park, and David follows as far as the park to find Hungry Eyes heading for home by herself, without Harry. He would've followed her further, except for the warning given him by Hungry Eyes ringing in his ears: "David, don't ever try to follow me." He returns home. The next day, Munsch contacts David to ask him to arrange a meeting with the girl, informing David that last night the police had found another victim of the so-called "maybe murders" because the coroner was unable to determine whether the cause of death was from heart attacks or homicides. David refuses to arrange such a meeting, and after he hangs up the phone, he picks up the newspaper to find that the victim was Harry. Hungry Eyes reports for work later that morning, and David queries her about her whereabouts last night. "I went home," Hungry Eyes answers. "I know nothing about you," David says. "You know how rich I made you," she replies. "Look, last night I lost a friend, a really good friend. His name was Harry Krell. Now, I want to know, where were you?" David asks. Hungry Eyes responds with a question of her own, "What do you want, David? Revenge? Justice? Look in my eyes, David, and tell me what you want." David sees the green light in her eyes again, and replies, "I want...I want you. I've never felt this way before until now." He moves to embrace Hungry Eyes and kiss her. "Not now, David. In time. It will happen in time, or it all ends now," says Hungry Eyes. "But I need you," David pleads. "We need each other. I can make it without you now, David. Can you say the same?" she replies as the shoot begins. Later that day, Munsch, after David refuses to either set up a meet between Hungry Eyes and the beer baron, or even to follow her, follows the girl, and ends up yet another victim of the "maybe murders". Finally, David follows the girl that evening, and watches as she gets the soul of her latest victim (Bruce Powers) by embracing and kissing him. As she prepares to leave, David stops her and says, "Munsch wanted me to follow you, but I didn't because I was afraid to. Harry wanted me to set up a meet between you and he, but I didn't for the same reason. I followed you tonight to see what you were up to, and I know you now." Hungry Eyes responds, "Now you know my name, and what I do, David. They followed me because they wanted to." David looks into her eyes, and this time, the green light glows steadily instead of intermittently. He says to her, "Your eyes...Your eyes are...are..." "Are hungry," she responds. "It's time, David. Time." She embraces David and kisses him very passionately, and after a while he manages to effect an escape to his studio, piling her prints and negatives on the floor. She finds him in the midst of doing this, and says, "Don't do it, David." "You almost had me out there, like you had that poor unfortunate man out in the street, and Munsch and Harry, and however many other unfortunates before them. But, you see, I know you now. Hungry Eyes...hungry for my soul!" "But, David, you don't have to do this. You can enjoy me. I want your wanting me (when I heard that line, I thought: gee, Joanna, I want my wanting you, too.)," pleads Hungry Eyes. David responds, "You not only want it, you require it. It's your heartbeat, it's your survival kit, it's what keeps you alive...and you, you suck the love from us, because that's what feeds you, isn't it? Everything that you are exists on these negatives, because they provide you life." He pours Ronsonol on the pile. "But, David, that's murder," Hungry Eyes pleads. David responds, "I know. That's why this must be stopped. I'm going to destroy you before you drain the world dry." David ignites the pile, at which point Hungry Eyes pleads shrilly, "No! David! Stop it, please! Please, David, please!" and begins to curl, and burn, like a life-sized negative. After being overcome by the smoke momentarily, David recovers enough to look at the few remaining prints of the girl named Hungry Eyes, whose deadly eyes have now been seared into whitened, spent orbs, at which point he switches off the viewing lamp to which the pictures have been pinned. The photos of Joanna Pettet for this segment were from a shooting session done at Harry Langdon, Jr's Melrose Avenue studio, a session arranged for Joanna by John Badham, the segment's director. When I saw this segment, I wanted to be with that girl, and not only that I wanted to be with Ms. Pettet, who portrayed her. And I still want to. It's simply an observation that I wished to make, nothing else. Comments, anyone? Martin1973 January 28, 2009