Before 'The Godfather,' Diane Keaton Got This Dark Showcase in Rod Serling's Underrated Sci-Fi Series

The late, great Diane Keaton had plenty of iconic roles under her belt, from her star-making turn in The Godfather to playing the matriarch of a wildly dysfunctional family in the surprisingly emotional The Family Stone. One of her first roles came in the second episode of Night Gallery, the anthology series created by Rod Serling. While Night Gallery bears the same creator and format as Serling’s other famous work, The Twilight Zone, there’s more than a few key differences between both shows.

For starters, Night Gallery leans more into the supernatural while The Twilight Zone is more sci-fi focused. It also features a unique framing device with pictures depicting the events of each story, while Serling provides the following narration:

“Good evening, and welcome to a private showing of three paintings, displayed here for the first time. Each is a collector’s item in its own way—not because of any special artistic quality, but because each captures on a canvas, suspended in time and space, a frozen moment of a nightmare.”

Keaton would have the honor of starring in Night Gallery‘s second episode, particularly in the opening segment “Room With A View.” She plays the nurse to Jacob Bauman (Joseph Wiesman), a bedridden man who suspects his wife of cheating on him with a younger man. Though “Room With a View” is only ten minutes, it features an excellent performance from Keaton.

Diane Keaton Is A Surprising Standout in Her ‘Night Gallery’ Episode

Diane Keaton Night Gallery — Diane Keaton in the ‘Night Gallery’ episode “Room With a View”.

At first glance, it would be easy to write off “Room With a View” as a Rear Window clone. Like Alfred Hitchcock‘s iconic thriller, it features a bedridden figure who sees something he shouldn’t through binoculars, but while Rear Window takes a hard turn into a murder mystery, “Room With A View” takes a turn no one was expecting thanks to Keaton’s nurse. She tells Bauman that she’s prone to fits of jealous rage, and when presented with a gun, ends up shooting Bauman’s wife and her secret lover (who also happened to be his chauffeur.)

What makes this twist work is Keaton’s slow build up to the reveal. At first, she seems like a young yet nervous nurse, but as the segment goes on she starts to show a darker side to her character, to the point where you have to wonder if she’s done this kind of thing before. It serves as a foreshadowing of Keaton’s ability to play layered, compelling characters, especially her role in The Godfather as Kay Corleone. The scene where Michael (Al Pacino) takes over his father’s business and literally shuts Kay out is a heartbreaking one due to the look of sheer horror that crosses Keaton’s face, serving as another masterful display of emotion on her part.

The 10 Greatest Diane Keaton Movies, Ranked

1946-2025.

‘Night Gallery’ Served as a Showcase for Some of Hollywood’s Brightest Talents

Night Gallery might not be as well known as The Twilight Zone, but it’s no less lacking in talent behind and in front of the camera. Directors included the likes of Star Trek alum Leonard Nimoy and Steven Spielberg, who’d go on to direct major blockbusters including Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Raiders of the Lost Ark; guest stars included genre icons like Mark Hamill, Adam West, and Orson Welles. Night Gallery would undergo major changes for its second season, especially with CBS asking the series to tone down the philosophical elements. Rod Serling didn’t mince words when talking about his displeasure with these changes: “I’m fucking furious. These people are taking what could have been a good series and they’re so commercializing it it’s not going to be commercial.”

Night Gallery only lasted for three seasons, yet it managed to have an influence on certain creators and television shows. The Simpsons referenced Night Gallery’s framing device during one of its early “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, and Guillermo del Toro has admitted that the series shaped his approach to filmmaking. “Night Gallery is still the foundation of what I love. Night Gallery stays in my mind… and it forms my roots as a storyteller,” he told FilmInk. Night Gallery also deserves recognition for showcasing Diane Keaton’s talent long before she became a star.

Release Date: 1970 – 1973-00-00
Directors: Jeannot Szwarc, Jeff Corey, John Badham, John Meredyth Lucas, John Astin, Don Taylor, Gerald Perry Finnerman, Steven Spielberg, Timothy Galfas, Theodore J. Flicker, Allen Reisner, Boris Sagal, Daniel Haller, Daryl Duke, Douglas Heyes, Edward M. Abroms, Gene Levitt, John Newland, Leonard Nimoy, Richard Benedict, Rudi Dorn, Walter Doniger
Writers: Rod Serling, Halsted Welles, Gene R. Kearney, Robert M. Young, David Rayfiel, Richard Matheson, Hal Dresner, Jack Guss, Jerrold Freedman, Malcolm Marmorstein, Robert Bloch, Matthew Howard