Twilight Zone Companion (37 page)

The finale Serling cooked up was pure Twilight Zone.

Mrs. Bronson, I had such a terrible dream, Norma tells her landlady. It was so hot. It was daylight all the time. There was a midnight sun, there was no night at all… . Mmm, isnt it wonderful to have darkness and coolness?

With an expression of dread expectation, Mrs. Bronson answers, Yes, my dear its wonderful.

THE MIRROR (10/20/61)

Written by Rod Serling

Producer: Buck Houghton

Director: Don Medford

Director of Photography:George T. Clemens

Music: stock

Cast: Ramos Clemente: Peter Falk Cristo: Tony Carbone DAllesandro: Richard Karlan Tabal: Arthur Batanides General DeCruz: Will Kuluva Priest: Vladimir Sokoloff Garcia: Rodolfo Hoyos Offstage Voice: Robert McCord III Offstage Voice: Jim Turley Stunt Double: Dave Armstrong Guard: Val Ruffino

This is the face of Ramos Clemente, a year ago a beardless, nameless worker of the dirt who plodded behind a mule, furrowing someone elses land. And he looked up at a hot Central American sun and he pledged the impossible. He made a vow that he would lead an avenging army against the tyranny that put the ache in his back and the anguish in his eyes, and now one year later thedream of the impossible has become a fact. In just a moment we will look deep into this mirror and see the aftermath of a rebellion … in the Twilight Zone

After seizing power, Clemente is told by General DeCruz, the deposed tyrant, that a magic mirror in his office reveals the faces of ones assassins. Looking into it, Clemente sees his compatriots advancing on him with machine gun, knives and poison. He kills them all but this brings him no sense of security. When a priest tells him that the people are appalled by the roundthe-clock executions he has ordered, Clemente replies that the people are not his concern, that he sees assassins everywhere and is constantly afraid. The priest tells him that tyrants have only one real enemy, the one they never recognize until too late. He exits. All alone, Clemente spies his own reflection in the mirror, shatters it, then shoots himself. The priest rushes in. The last assassin, he says. And they never learn. They never seem to learn

Ramos Clemente, a would-be god in dungarees, strangled by an illusion, that will-o-the-wisp mirage that dangles from the sky in front of the eyes of all ambitious men, all tyrantsand any resemblance to tyrants living or dead is hardly coincidental, whether it be here or in the Twilight Zone.

The tyrants living or dead invoked at the end of The Mirror was clearly a reference to Fidel Castro, whom Falk, as Clemente, is made up to resemble. This, however, is not one of Falks shining moments: he rants, raves and struts through a thoroughly superficial portrayal.

This was our impression of Castro at that time, says Buck Houghton. He was a very flamboyant Latin, which Peter isnt. It goes back to all those banana-boat republic strong-arm men.

The chill wind of the Cold War blows through this one-sided episode, and it does Castro a disservice, merely reinforcing the prejudices of the audience for whom it was intended. In retrospect, Buck Houghton admits, I think we had a fairly simplistic view of Castro at that time. The Mirror holds up an imperfect mirror to the real world and in doing so presents more distortion than reflection.

ONCE UPON A TIME (12/15/61)

Written by Richard Matheson

Producer: Buck Houghton

Director: Norman Z. McLeod (one sequence by Les Goodwins; uncredited)

Director of Photography: George T. Clemens

Music: composed by William Lava; played by Ray Turner

Cast: Woodrow Mulligan: Buster Keaton Rollo: Stanley Adams Repair Man: Jesse White Prof. Gilbert: Milton Parsons Clothing Store Manager: Warren Parker Policeman 1890: Gil Lamb Policeman 1962: James Flavin 2nd Policeman 1962: Harry Fleer Fenwick: George E. Stone

Mr Mulligan, a rather dour critic of his times, is shortly to discover the import of that old phrase, Out of the frying pan, into the firesaid fire burning brightly at all times in the Twilight Zone .

Disgruntled over the clamor and high prices of 1890, janitor Woodrow Mulligan uses a time helmet invented by his employer, Professor Gilbert, to travel to 1962, which he assumes will be a utopia. Once there, he realizes the error of his assumptions and is eager to get back to 1890, but the helmet has been damaged and in only fifteen minutes he will be unable to return. He meets Rollo, an electronics scientist, who takes the helmet to a repair shop. Once fixed, Rollos motives become clear: he intends to use the helmet himself! Mulligan grabs hold of him and the two materialize in 1890. Mulligan is overjoyed, but Rollo soon becomes dissatisfied; to him, 1890 is hopelessly backward. Mulligan plops the helmet onto Rollos head and ships him back to 1962.

(To each his ownso goes another old phrase to which Mr. Woodrow Mulligan would heartily subscribe, for he has learned definitely the hard way that there is much wisdom in a third old phrase which goes as follows: Stay in your own back yard. To which it might be added, and if possible, assist others to stay in theirs via, of course, the Twilight Zone.

Richard Mathesons Once Upon a Time is a slapstick comedy starring Buster Keaton. I met Buster Keaton through Bill Cox, a writer friend of mine, relates Richard Matheson, and I thought, Gee, that would be wonderful if we could get Keaton into a Twilight Zone

To oversee this episode, Buck Houghton turned to Norman Z. McLeod, an old-time director who was in semi-retirement. McLeods credits read like a history of film comedy: Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, Ifs a Gift, Topper; The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and The Paleface (McLeod also directed the disastrous 1933 Alice in Wonderland). He wasnt working a lot, he didnt want to, says Buck Houghton. But he thought, My God, work with Buster Keaton? Lead me to it.

The experience with Keaton was absolutely wonderful, says Houghton. Heres a legend in his own time, for goodness sake, and he was exactly as reported. He was very sober about comedy. Hed take me out on the street and say, Buck, you cant do it that way. If I start here, then the gag works, but if I start there you can never make it work. Such things as walking behind a policeman in step and disappearing down a manhole just before the bird comes, you know, those Rube Goldberg devices that the picture was full of. He knew right down to the jot what made it work. It was fascinating, too, to be walking around the backlot and have the art director say, You know, this section of street was built for a Buster Keaton comedy in 1921.

Sad to relate, the humor in Once Upon a Time is not very funny. The sequences in 1890 at the beginning and end are silent, with cards replacing dialogue. A typical gag shows Keaton walking past chickens and pigs on the street. A card appears which reads Oink, oink … cluck, cluck. Robert Benchley, it aint.

Some of the shows problems were apparent from the first. This thing sat in the cutting room for weeks and weeks while [editor] Jason Bernie and I wondered how to get the goddamn thing to work better, says Buck Houghton, because it seemed to go kind of slowly, as if theres one apple … and two apples … and three applesand by then youre bored to hear me talk about the fourth apple. So it needed a goose.

The solution that Houghton and Bernie arrived at was to print only two out of every three frames in the silent sequences. This sped everything up and gave a jerky look to every movement, similar to early, hand-cranked silent films.

Having done that and found that it was a good notion, says Houghton, the episode needed an added sequence, and that sequence in the repair shop was directed by somebody else [Les Goodwins] months later.

Richard Matheson was not pleased with the results. I had so much more going on, it was so much funnier, what I had written. Obviously

because of cost reasons, the second act became this interminable scene in this repair shop, but I had it a chase from beginning to end, with him going through a car wash and a supermarket on a bike. It never stopped for a moment. After he meets Stanley Adams, though, it just stagnates. When all is said and done, Keatons presence alone makes Once Upon a Time worth watching. For all its faults, it is a warm reunion with a man who, long ago, made us laugh long and hard and well.

KICK THE CAN (2/9/62)

Written by George Clayton Johnson

Producer: Buck Houghton

Director: Lamont Johnson

Director of Photography:

George T. Clemens

Music: stock

Cast: Charles Whitley: Ernest Truex Ben Conroy: Russell Collins Mr. Cox: John Mar ley David Whitley: Barry Truex Carlson: Burt Mustin Mrs. Summers: Marjorie Bennett Frietag: Hank Patterson Mrs. Wister: Anne ONeal Agee: Earle Hodgins Mrs. Densley: Lenore Shanewise Nurse: Eve McVeagh Boy #1: Gregory McCabe Boy #2: Marc Stevens

Sunnyvale Rest, a home for the aged a dying place and a common childrens game called kick-the-can that will shortly become a refuge for a man who knows he will die in this world if he doesnt escape into … the Twilight Zone.

After his son refuses to take him in, Charles Whitley a resident of Sunnyvale Rest Home begins to brood, ultimately concluding that the secret of eternal youth lies in acting young. He tries to convince the other residents of this much to the dismay of his lifelong friend, Ben Conroy, now a sour old man. Late one night, Whitley awakens the others and pleads with them to join him in a game of kick-the-can. Touched by his sincerity, all agree but Ben, who runs off to rouse Mr. Cox, the homes superintendent, in order to stop the game. But when the two rush outside,all they find is children; the magic has worked. Ben pleads with Whitley now a boy to take him along … but it is too late. The children run off into the bushes, leaving Ben behind.

Sunnyvale Rest, a dying place for ancient people who have forgotten the fragile magic of youth. A dying place for those who have forgotten that childhood, maturity and old age are curiously intertwined and not separate. A dying place for those who have grown too stiff in their thinking to visit the Twilight Zone.

George Clayton Johnsons final script for The Twilight Zone was Kick the Can, an enormously moving piece about youth, old age, death, and friendship.

As Charles, Ernest Truex is passionate and persuasive. In What You Need, he had been rather forgettable, but here his performance is superb. This is an extremely sentimental show, and without the right balance it could have been cloying. But Truex throws himself into the part wholeheartedly.

The others in the cast are very fine as well, notably Russell Collins as Charless sour and unbelieving friend Ben, John Marley as the superintendent of the home and Burt Mustin as one of the residents. Snatches of Bernard Herrmanns lovely score for Walking Distance are heard throughout and contribute much to the feelings of nostalgia and longing.

Johnsons writing in Kick the Can is marvelous for its brevity and accuracy. In one effective scene, Whitley had awakened the other residents, all but Ben. He pleads with them to come out on the lawn with him to play kick-the-can. At first, theyre extremely resistant. He says to them, Look! Think! Feel! He presses an old tin can into their hands. Here, hold it. Doesnt that wake some sleeping part of you? Listen, cant you hear it? Summer, grass, run, jump youth! Wake up! Wake up! Oh, this is your last chance! Finally, in desperation, he cries out, I cant play kick-the-can alone! This does the trick; the others rise out of their seats to play.

Lamont Johnson remembers the experience of working with these actors. I find old people, if theyre turned on, to have a curious kind of wonderful daring and madness and commitment, because they say, Why the hell not? What have I got to lose? Middle-aged and younger actors are far more uptight. They really had such fun. It was such joy to them to be released into a kind of fanciful thing.

As the others ready themselves to play, Whitley goes to wake Ben to plead with him to join in the game. Ben is adamant in his refusal. Whitley says, Ben, youre afraid. Youre afraid of a new idea. Youre afraid to look silly. Youre afraid to make a mistake. You decided that you were an old man, and that has made you old. Reluctantly, Whitley goes off to play kick-the-can without him.

Kick-the-Can is not an escapist fantasy, instead it makes a point that has tremendous validity: that the key to youth lies in taking risks, in commitment, in extending oneself; and that old age is the price of being judgmental and opinionated, of playing it safe, of living a sedentary life. When George Clayton Johnson wrote this he was only thirty-two, but he had a wisdom beyond his years. Whitley recaptures his youth, but only because the others regard him highly enough to risk looking foolish. The magic lies in the caring.

ONE MORE PALLBEARER (1/12/62)

Written by Rod Serling

Producer: Buck Houghton

Director: Lamont Johnson

Director of Photography: George T. Clemens

Music: stock

Cast:

Paul Radin: Joseph Wiseman Mr. Hughes: Gage Clark Mrs. Langford: Katherine Squire Col. Hawthorne: Trevor Bardette Policeman: Ray Galvin Electrician #1: Joseph Elic Electrician #2: Robert Snyder

What you have just looked at takes place three hundred feet underground, beneath the basement of a New York City skyscraper. Its owned and lived in by one Paul Radin. Mr. Radin is rich, eccentric and single-minded. How rich we can already perceive; how eccentric and single-minded we shall see in a moment, because all of you have just entered the Twilight Zone.

Radin invites three people to the elaborate bomb shelter hes constructed: high school teacher Mrs. Langford, who flunked him; Colonel Hawthorne, who court-martialed him; and the Reverend Mr. Hughes, who made public a scandal involving a girl who committed suicide over him. Using bogus sound effects and radio announcements, he convinces them that all-out nuclear war is moments away; they can remain in the shelter if only they apologize to him for their past actions. The three refuse, valuing honor higher than life itself, and then depart. Suddenly, the sound of a tremendous explosion shakes the shelter. Radin takes the elevator to the surface and is devastated to see that nuclear war has occurred the world is in ruins. In reality, however, there has been no war; Radin, shattered by the failure of his hoax, has lost his mind.