The Chaser (1960) User Reviews (29)

"Always the same way, first the stimulant, then the chaser".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 27 March 2010]

You know what was REALLY unbelievable about this episode? Leila (Patricia Barry) left her lavish apartment and wardrobe to go live with Roger (George Grizzard). I know she was supposed to be love struck, but I didn't think it would include brain damage. For his part, once Roger slipped her the mickey, he should have been able to talk Leila into moving in together - at her place!

Well, this is one of those classic stories where you better be careful what you wish for. The Twilight Zone did them regularly, in fact, #1.28 - "A Nice Place to Vist" was done only three episodes earlier during the original series run. That one's twist was that it took place on the 'other' side, but it still offered the ironic resolution with unintended consequences.

The best performance here goes to John McIntire as the bookshop demon, the all-wise and all-knowing professor who dispenses obvious potions on the cheap, knowing full well that the antidote will cost you an arm and a soul, metaphorically speaking of course. I especially enjoyed the way he described his wares - "Nothing I don't supply (he has it all), something is my specialty (glove cleaner), anything is what you'll get here (love potion at a dollar a pop)".

I'm actually curious now about Rod Serling's cryptic use of the term 'glove cleaner'. In Twilight Zone #1.12 - "What You Need", the lady in the booth got a bottle of cleaning fluid from the wise street peddler. Perhaps it was his way of dealing with a perceived stain attendant on the human condition, a regularly occurring theme of the popular show.

A potion for all time!

[jwpeel-1 · 8/10 · 17 February 2011]

This is a particularly memorable episode for me. Perhaps because I was a love-starved kid at time, but this is the one I remember the most and made George Grizzard a name I would remember eternally. To think that a love potion would only be a dollar purchase but a bottle of remover would cost a thousand. Yet, the twist of a Twilight Zone is the medicine that makes it all so palatable... or should I say potable? Whatever the case, Patricia Barry was one of my early TV crushes mainly due to this sweet treat from Rod Serling and the gang at CBS! And to think, it was the same network that premiered my other favorite show of that time,. The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Yet another story of a lovesick shlub of a teenager and his never-ending conquest of the elusive object of desire... the babe!

Novelty little TZ.

[darrenpearce111 · 7/10 · 11 January 2014]

A slight, offbeat 'love story', put across well with some dark humour, and steeped in stereotype of the era. Leila (Patricia Barry) appears to be a vain and hedonistic woman who is pursued by Roger (George Grizzard) who is clearly a shallow-minded, hapless loser. Roger goes to Professor A. Daemon (John McIntire) who resides between immense bookshelves (an impressive set that gives this entry some good TZ atmosphere ) to buy a love potion. I cant help noticing a ring of date-rape about him slipping the stuff into Leila's drink. Anyhow, Leila comes under the spell, but that's far from the end.

George Grizzard is perfect as Roger,the lovesick man who just doesn't quite have the (natural) charm to stop women closing doors on his face. He is teamed well with Patricia Barry who plays the transformed Leila nicely.

The Chaser

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 3 June 2012]

Silly fluff about a lovelorn man, Roger Shackleforth (George Grizzard), desperate to win the affections of Leila (Patricia Barry), given a card by another older gent in a rush to the use the phone he was hogging. The card leads Roger to the immense library (three monstrous shelves, books as far as the eye can see) of Professor A Daemon (John McIntire), known for his many potions and concoctions that provide clients with the ability to gain whatever they so desire: money, prestige, power, even love. All Roger wants is Leila's love and so, reluctantly and with much hesitance, Daemon, knowing he will eventually return, gives him the potion he needs to have the girl of his dreams, completely under his spell. But this comes with a heavy burden: she devotes mind, body, and soul to Roger, insufferably, aggravatingly, gratingly, and obsessively seeing to his every need, no matter how small. He cannot escape offers to rub his back, light his cigarette, put on his slippers: Leila covets her man, heaps upon him "I love you" practically with every breath, dotes on him incessantly, to the point that Roger is on the verge of going insane. So Roger returns and Daemon offers an "alternative" to ease his suffering--a "glove cleaner" sure to do the trick. All Roger has to do is apply it to a drink as he did with the love potion, problem solved. It is painless, odorless, and colorless: this is the perfect chemical to rid one of a specific misery. But will Roger be able to go through with it? This is a comedy on how you get what you paid for and then some. A price comes with love, especially if you gain it by corrupt means. Daemon's salesman antics, I'm sure, have gained him plenty of $1000 checks for glove cleaner; he knows all too well that those who enter his establishment, purchase a potion of some sort are certain to return because it worked a bit too successfully. That is really where the irony lies: is gaining material things worth all that other baggage that comes along with them? The Twilight Zone always allows its characters to learn these things the hard way. The final moment with Daemon blowing a heart smoke ring into the air is really neat, adding just the right touch to conclude this episode of Twilight Zone...it's easy money, as far as these clients are concerned and Daemon profits from their frailties.

Till death – or another potion – do us part

[Coventry · 7/10 · 14 May 2017]

It never ceases to amaze me how important and influential "The Twilight Zone" TV-series was; and still is for that matter! In every episode I watch, I spot ideas and concepts that were recycled, imitated or even shamelessly copied in numerous of other movies and TV-series that were released much later. This installment, "The Chaser", catapulted me straight back to my childhood years in the early 90s. I wasn't able to watch many movies in my favorite genre, because I was still too young and not allowed to rent horror, but I was addicted to secretly watching "Tales from the Crypt" on late- night television. I must have seen every episode 4 or 5 times, and one of them was called "Loved to Death" and starred Andrew McCarthy, Mariel Hemingway and the utterly cool British actor David Hemmings. It's only now, approximately twenty- five years later, that I've come to realize that "Loved to Death" is an almost identical re-telling of a "Twilight Zone" episode that was made 31 years earlier already. Pathetic and clumsy Roger Shackleforth is desperately in love with the beautiful Leila, but his feelings remain unanswered. He comes into contact with the brilliant Professor Daemon, who sells solutions to every imaginable type of problem in the form of magic potions. For the lousy price of $1, Roger buys a potion guarantying him that Leila becomes hopelessly devoted to him, but the purchase comes with a warning… "The Chaser" is a fairly light-headed and unusual TZ-episode, dealing with puppy love in an overall solemn first season primarily dealing with time traveling, the afterlife and the exploration of space. It's definitely a nice diversion, with refreshing performances and a delightful climax.

Pleasant fluff...

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 3 October 2009]

"The Chaser" is one of those comedic episodes of "The Twilight Zone" and on this level it works well, though it is far from one of the better episodes of the series. In fact, I'd place this in the middle as far as quality goes.

A young loser (George Grizzard) is infatuated with a selfish but pretty lady (Patricia Barry). I call him a loser because the lady has practically nothing to offer anyone other than her looks, but still this nerdy guy thinks he has a chance to capture her heart...if he had a love potion. So, he goes to a place that looks like a library where he meets a guy who makes potions that are guaranteed to work. However, the man tries to get Grizzard to consider some other potion--it's not like he didn't warn him! And, because it's the Twilight Zone, you know that somehow this potion will backfire--which is exactly what it does.

The episode is cute and clever but not one that deserves all the 10s it has received. Very good...not perfect.

They must have had a blast making this.

[Mr. OpEd · 10/10 · 3 July 2006]

They must have had a blast making this.

Douglas Heyes is one of my favorite Zone helmers, starting with what may be the most disconcerting Zone, "And When the Sky Was Opened," but also, "Elegy" "The After Hours" and "The Howling Man." Of course, he was also the director of two "could see this coming a mile away" entries: "The Invaders" and "Eye of the Beholder," but hey, those are still popular entries.

"The Chaser" is one of those tight, efficient, and truly humorous Zones with excellent acting (and plenty of chops materials for those actors), an ingenious set, and an ending that probably would upset Planned Parenthood (yes!). Patricia Barry was one of the most beautiful creatures ever to grace screen or earth (reminds me of a pin-up painting come to life).

If I were teaching a screen-writing or directing class, this gem would be in the curriculum.

Frivolous fun from The Twilight Zone.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 14 December 2017]

The Chaser reminds me a little of another episode from season one of The Twilight Zone: A Nice Place to Visit. Both feature a character who believes he has everything he could ever want, only to find out that it's possible to have too much of a good thing.

George Grizzard stars as lovestruck Roger Shackleforth, who is obsessed with sexy babe Leila (Patricia Barry), who, to his dismay, wants nothing to do with him. In desperation, Roger visits Prof. A. Daemon, a purveyor of magical potions, who sells him a love elixir for just $1. Slipping the mixture into a glass of champagne for Leila, Roger finally gets the love he so desires, but isn't quite prepared for the results: smothering devotion and total subservience. So effective is the potion that after six months of marriage, an exasperated Roger is considering taking drastic measures, at least until Leila reveals that she is expecting.

Told with tongue firmly in cheek, this is reasonably fun while it lasts, but is far from a classic TZ episode (besides, I can think of far worse fates than having every whim catered for by a very obliging beauty).

A dollar for the potion, but $100 for the antidote

[oversplayer · 10/10 · 13 June 2006]

One of Rod Serling's most frequently recurring themes was, "Be careful what you ask for; you may get it." Along with "A Nice Place to Visit," this theme is on full display in "The Chaser," as George Grizzard pines for the breathtakingly beautiful Patricia Barry, who pays him no mind at all. At least until Mr. Grizzard obtains a rather unusual elixir from the aptly named "Professor A. Daemon" (John McIntire whose wife, Jeanette Nolan was the penultimate witch of all our nightmares in the "La Strega" episode of "Thriller.") Then, in vintage Twilight Zone fashion, everything, of course, begins to go awry with the predictable twist at the end. Another showcase for the unparalleled beauty of Ms. Barry, who makes Mr. Grizzard's obsession all too believable. If she were still around, I would buy the potion myself.

Love Potion

[AaronCapenBanner · 6/10 · 26 October 2014]

George Grizzard plays a lovesick young man named Roger Shackleforth, obsessed with the beautiful Leila(played by Patricia Barry) who barely gives him the time of day, and certainly doesn't love. Frustrated, Roger visits a mysterious merchant named professor Daemon(played by John McIntire) who sells him a love potion for one dollar guaranteed to work, but offers a warning not to use, which of course goes unheeded, much to Roger's later semi-regret... Light-hearted but ultimately frivolous episode remains watchable because of the good cast and direction, but outcome could not be more obvious; still, it's hard to dislike this entry either.

Too much of a good thing leads to disaster

[chuck-reilly · 8/10 · 10 January 2007]

George Grizzard is in love with beautiful Patricia Barry, but she won't give him "the time of day." All that changes when collector John McIntire sells Grizzard a magic potion that can gain a woman's love and affection forever, and all for the minimal price of one US dollar. Delighted with this new discovery, Grizzard eagerly purchases the potion and administers it to the unsuspecting Ms. Barry. Within minutes, she is swooning to his every word and they live happily ever after...for a while. To his utter chagrin, Grizzard finds out that "The Chase" for Ms. Barry's love was a lot more fun than the actual attainment of it. He soon grows tired of his cloying and overly doting new wife and returns to McIntire for a much-needed soluble solution. McIntire has the anti-love potion (undetectable poison!), but it costs far more than one measly dollar. Reluctantly, Grizzard is forced to buy it in order to return to a normal existence. But due to his own ineptitude, Ms. Barry is able to survive the attempt on her life and poor George accepts his fate and her endless love.

"The Chaser" was remade as "Loved to Death" in a later "Tales From the Crypt" episode in 1991. The remake featured Andrew McCarthy and Mariel Hemingway as the lovers and David Hemmings as the mystery man with the magic potions. Obviously, the "Tales From the Crypt" story featured much more deadly consequences for the parties involved. But the general theme remained the same.

Loved to the point of escape!

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 21 February 2019]

Stage veteran George Grizzard is perfectly delightful as a nebbish little man who is so in love with the sophisticated Patricia Barry that he decides to win her love over by giving her a potion. But this potion has a power that makes her love out of control and she refuses to leave his side, causing him to return to the source of the potion to find a way out. That is the chaser. Whether or not the chaser is the turn the love off or turn the lover out is up to the determination of the viewer, but to me it was obvious that it was the later.

Veteran character actor John McIntire is delightfully cantankerous as the man in the giant bookstore who provides Grizzard with the potions. He looks on with the cynical know all of exactly what will happen and predicts without a doubt that Grizzard will be back. Barry is delightfully kittenish, obviously the testing the attention Grizzard shows her at the beginning but then devoted to his every word after she sips the tension champagne.

The lesson Serling provides here is that forced love Is false love, and be careful of what you wish for which Grizzard finds out too late. It's a light-hearted entry that is enjoyable yet unimportant especially when compared to the classics of that brilliance first season. Of course, it's still a good episode, as all of the first season episodes have been, and that is a rare quality among any TV show especially one with 30 episodes prior to this one.

Love Potion #9

[dougdoepke · 2 December 2006]

A lesson in love courtesy the TZ. There's none of the usual chills, thrills, or suspense in this slyly humorous commentary on the fickleness of our species. Yes, it's true, there can be too much of a good thing, even when the prize is the luscious Patricia Barry. George Grizzard runs aptly through the gamut of emotions as he chases after his lady love, only to be duped by the wily alchemist, John Mc Entire. By the way, just what is it wardrobe has plopped Barry into as she simpers and coos around Grizzard. It looks like she's drowning in a sea of frilly white. Notice also how the script quickly sneaks in that the two are married just before Barry announces that she's expecting. Ah, yes, it is the 1950's, and the Production Code remains the God Supreme. Wedlock babies are not to be allowed, not even in the fifth dimension of the Twilight Zone.

Stalker Rog

[Calicodreamin · 5/10 · 1 June 2021]

Not the best episode of the twilight zone, there wasn't a cool scifi side (no science or effects) and the storyline wasn't interesting. Decent acting.

Maybe predictable but that was in 1960

[danieln-15525 · 7/10 · 25 August 2020]

Other "Valentine's Day" specials, on other shows, took their story-line from this episode.

Was it Love Potion Number 9?

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 17 February 2021]

Young George Grizzard will just not take 'no' for an answer. He's so infatuated with Patricia Barry that one night he's tying up the phone booth at the local liquor emporium. J. Patrick O'Malley tells him that a local bookstore owner played by John McIntire will solve all his problems.

The set depicting McIntire's bookstore is a great one. It reminds me of Powell's bookstore in Portland, Oregon. If you've ever been there you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyway McIntire delivers the goods with his version of Love Potion Number 9. Does he ever.

This cute, but ironic Twilight Zone story is one you'll like.

The love we have and the love we wanted

[AvionPrince16 · 6/10 · 27 February 2023]

Interesting episode about love obviously in the twilight zone. So we have that man who got rejected by a woman and he is so desesperate that he will ask a seller to have a kind of potion to use on his lover and to see her love him like never before. So he used the potion and got his love who adore him but it was not really what he think it will be and that kind of obsession will annoyed him. So he will try to cancel the effect but he will get shocked when the woman will say that she is pregnant. The big morality of the story its that we have love but nothing as expected and even if we have love its nothing as we really wanted or imagine. Because its only a desire and like everything in life its temporary. And that man will realise that and the consequences of it that will cant change.

Sounds like a Gumball episode title

[ericstevenson · 10/10 · 17 July 2018]

I loved this because it took on the popular idea of a love potion. This has been around forever. The episode shows a guy who wants a girl to fall in love with him. He goes to this shop where the guy has something that costs $1,000. Fortunately what he's looking for, the love potion, only costs a dollar! He uses it and is married with the woman for six months.

He is then annoyed by how the woman won't stop bothering him all day. He goes back and realizes the $1,000 item was an antidote. A deal like that was too good to be true. He puts it in a champagne bottle like he did the love potion. Unfortunately, he drops the glass upon hearing his wife is now pregnant. I knew it wouldn't work out for him. ****

Your Next Stop, The Twilight Zone

[StrictlyConfidential · 6/10 · 8 June 2021]

"The Chaser" (episode 31) was first aired on television May 13, 1960.

Anyway - As the story goes - Roger Shackleforth, desperate to win the affection of the pretty Lelia, slips her a love potion. He is overjoyed that the potion works so well... at first.

Be careful what you wish for

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 27 June 2017]

Shallow and obsessive would-be ladies man Roger Shackleforth (well played to the desperate hilt by George Grizzard) acquires a love potion from the cranky Professor A Daemon (a delightfully grouchy performance by John McIntire) so he can win over the beautiful Leila (a perfectly sultry portrayal by the stunning Patricia Barry). However, things don't work out for Roger the way he thought they would.

Director Douglas Heyes relates the amusing and enjoyable story at a brisk pace and maintains an engaging lighthearted tone throughout. Robert Presnell Jr.'s witty script makes a neat and funny point that sometimes the worst thing you can get is exactly what you want (Leila's constantly doting on Roger eventually drives the poor guy up the wall). The sharp cinematography by George T. Clemens boasts a few snazzy stylistic flourishes and nifty camera angles. The swinging jazz score adds plenty of bounce and vibrancy. A real hoot.

Familiarity breeds contempt

[putahw-40997 · 8/10 · 14 November 2020]

A very delightful episode. One that reminds us that, we all at one time in our life wish we had either one of those two potions.

Had to watch it in parts to get through it.

[vitoscotti · 3/10 · 21 March 2023]

All the three main characters are extremely creepy. Not "The Twilight Zone" good creepy. But, creepy, creepy. Roger Shackleforth (George Grizzard) plays one of the series' most detestable characters. An annoying, begging oddball who'd stoop to drugging gorgeous Leila (Patricia Barry). She was likable when she walked all over twirp Roger. The mad professor A. Daemon (John McIntyre) into the episode I was hoping he'd get his in a surprise ending. Story was just too simplistic with all the characters being unlikable most of the time. We do get to see Barbara Perry who was Pickles Sorrell on "The Dick Van Dyke Show", and J Pat O'Malley among his many fine works Barney Fife's landlady's con man husband to be from "The Andy Griffith Show".

Careful What You Wish For.

[rmax304823 · 8/10 · 3 February 2013]

Most of the stories from the first few years were a lot of fun, as this one is. George Grizzard is "all-consumingly" in love with Patricia Barry, who doesn't like him. Grizzard manages to buy a love potion from grouchy old John McIntire who lives in a room stacked to the ceiling with old books.

McIntire tells Grizzard, or rather warns him, that if he gives Barry the potion, she'll love him forever, never leave his side, gaze adoringly at him, and if he shows an interest in any other woman, she'll be hurt for a while but will forgive him. "You can get the same thing from a cocker spaniel." Grizzard marries Barry and the prophecy comes true. She's a constant nuisance, offering to massage his feet, spraying him with perfume, climbing onto his lap so that he can't even read a book.

Grizzard returns to McIntire and pays a high price for the antidote, the "chaser", which he drops before Barry can drink it. He's stuck with her for the rest of his life.

I always found George Grizzard a kind of winning and reliable actor, from his early work on TV through the character of defense lawyer Gold on "Law and Order", to the dying father and ex Marine in "Flags of Our Fathers." It wasn't revealed until after his death that he was gay. McIntire's talent is problematic. Sometimes he turns in a sensitive performance; other times he convinces us that his grouchiness is part of his real-life personality.

I mentioned that somewhat clever line about the cocker spaniel. There are some others in this script.

Grizzard to McIntire: "You're not making SENSE!" "Mister Shackleforth, I make nothing BUT sense. That's why I'm a lonely man."

The fawning Barry to Grizzard after she has drunk the potion. "Am I disturbing you?" "No, not at all." "Did I disturb you by asking if I'm disturbing you?"

Grizzard to McIntire: "Things look pretty bad, huh? The thing with China?" "You don't look so good either." Well, it's not Neil Simon or Monty Python but somebody had to put a little effort into that kind of dialog.

It Sucks To Have This Much Doting

[uncatema · 10/10 · 5 October 2020]

This writer had a woman just like Roger has. To be smothered is a hell on marriage. Don't do it! Men, stay single. Don't do it!

Love that Glove Cleaner

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 3 October 2008]

A classic short story brought to life. Love will fly if held too lightly. Love will die if held too tightly. This is about a man who is too stupid to know that what he is getting into will destroy him. He goes to a mysterious bookstore and buys some "Glove Cleaner." It is a love potion that will make whichever woman he gives it to fall madly in love with him. He is so taken that he doesn't realize what that means. Ray Bradbury had a similar theme in Marionettes Incorporated. This is about what you do after you've set yourself up. He gets only one chance to take care of his error. What will happen. George Grizzard is so sappy it's hard to feel much sympathy for him. There is the nice TZ twist at the end and a little look at the love broker. It's certainly a pretty good story.