Jess-Belle

"Jess-Belle"
The Twilight Zone episode
Scene from "Jess-Belle"
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 109
Directed by	Buzz Kulik
Written by	Earl Hamner, Jr.
Featured music	Nathan Van Cleave
Production code	4855
Original air date	February 14, 1963
Guest stars
Anne Francis: Jess-Belle James Best: Billy-Ben Turner Laura Devon: Ellwyn Glover Jeanette Nolan: Granny Hart Virginia Gregg: Ossie Jon Lormer: Minister George Mitchell: Luther Glover Helen Kleeb: Mattie Glover Jim Boles: Obed Miller
Episode chronology
← Previous "Death Ship" Next → "Miniature"
List of Twilight Zone episodes

"Jess-Belle" is an episode of the American television science fiction & fantasy anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Synopsis

Jess-Belle, determined that ex-boyfriend Billy-Ben Turner and his fiancee Ellwyn Glover not marry, enlists the aid of a local witch ("Granny Hart," played by Jeanette Nolan), who casts a spell that makes Billy-Ben forget Ellwyn and fall back madly in love with Jess-Belle. Jess-Belle learns there's a price for the spell when she transforms into a leopard from midnight until dawn. She goes to the witch and questions her about what is happening, as she is not only transforming, but is also growing cold and heartless. The witch explains that she did not simply curse Jess-Belle: her soul has been extinguished and she has been transformed into a witch herself.

Horrified, Jess-Belle realizes that her humanity is rapidly waning and debates running away from Billy-Ben. Unfortunately his devotion to her remains unwavering, and she finds herself unable to give up on her selfish desire. The two arrange to be married, but a hunting party finds the leopard and shoots it, and it disappears in a cloud of smoke.

A year later, when a recovered Billy-Ben is preparing to marry Ellwyn, Jess-Belle reappears. Billy-Ben learns from the local witch that to kill Jess-Belle, he must make a figure of her using clothing she has worn and stab it through the heart with silver. He avoids being cursed by paying for the information with gold. He returns home to find Ellwyn possessed by Jess-Belle. He puts one of Jess-Belle's dresses on a mannequin and stabs it with one of Jess-Belle's own silver hairpins. Jess-Belle appears in the dress, and then disappears forever. After this, Ellwyn does not remember anything after the wedding, but claims, upon seeing a falling star that "it means a witch has died."

This story, set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, was penned by Earl Hamner, Jr., who later went on to write Spencer's Mountain, and was the creator and narrator of The Waltons. The episode also starred Helen Kleeb, who played the role of Miss Mamie Baldwin in The Waltons.

This is the only episode of the original series with no closing voiceover from Rod Serling (although he does provide an introduction as usual).

References

• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

External links

• "Jess-Belle" at the Internet Movie Database