All language subtitles for The Twilight Zone - S05E33 - The Brain Center at Whipples.eng.SDH

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

NARRATOR: You unlock this
door with the key of imagination.

Beyond it is another dimension.

A dimension of sound.

A dimension of sight.
A dimension of mind.

You're moving into a land of
both shadow and substance,

of things and ideas.

You've just crossed over
into the Twilight Zone.

Good evening, happy family
members and stockholders

of the W.V Whipple
Manufacturing Corporation.

This year, as you've already perceived,

we are bringing you the
story of your company's

progress via the motion picture screen.

[ON FILM] This is our main operating
plant in the Midwest.

You will note the number of
employees attending the assembly line.

In this one plant,

your company employs 34,827 men.

Added to 13 other major
Whipple plants across the country.

We employ a total of
close to 283,000 personnel.

And now, to the stunning
and exciting news

which I believe you'll
agree shows, once again.

That at Whipple's, we
only take forward steps.

And now, family members and
stockholders of the Whipple Corporation…

This is the X109B14

modified transistorized totally
automatic assembly machine

which eliminates 61,000 jobs,

73 bulky,
inefficient machines,

81,000 needless
man hours per 11 working days,

and $4 million in expenditures each year

for employee hospitalization,
employee insurance,

employee welfare and
employee profit participation.

Even as you stockholders
are watching this film,

the first model of the X109B14

modified transistorized machine

is being placed into operations

here in our Midwestern main plant.

Within six months, our
entire production facilities

will be totally automated.

Ladies and gentlemen, from now on

Whipple will operate from a brain center

with machines such as this one.

Ladies and gentlemen
of the Whipple family,

this ends our 1967 year-end report.

Well, what do you think, Hanley?
Will that bring the stockholders

to their feet cheering? Not that I
need any particular encouragement.

The movie speaks for itself.

It does, indeed.

You didn't like it, Hanley?

I'm a chief engineer, Mr. Whipple.

My duties consist of plant
management. I'm not a film critic.

Look, I didn't expect you
to give it four stars, Hanley.

But as plant manager, I
thought you'd have a point of view

as to the film's content. I thought
you'd have some degree of enthusiasm

for the changes we're planning.

Now, does it or doesn't it
give you the lay of the land?

You can answer that can't you?

Oh, yes. It gives me the lay of the land.

Tell me, do you really expect to
automate this place in six months?

Four months would be a better guess.

There a lot of things going
in the old trash heap, Hanley.

Time clocks, for instance. There
won't be anybody to punch in or out.

I, uh, I think I'll donate
them to a museum.

Something, Hanley?

Yes, something. Something
like a lot of men out of work!

That, unfortunately, is progress, Hanley.

You know, you're a solid man when
it comes to assembly line planning.

But when it comes to the
aforementioned progress,

you're a footdragger.

Well, little sweetheart, you and I are
gonna spend a great deal of time together.

Indeed, we are.

Indeed, indeed, indeed we are.

NARRATOR: These are the
players, with or without a scorecard.

In one corner, a machine.

In the other, one
Wallace V. Whipple, man.

And the game?

It happens to be the historical
battle between flesh and steel,

between the brain of man
and the product of man's brain.

We don't make book on this
one, and predict no winner

but we can tell you that
for this particular contest,

there is standing room
only in the Twilight Zone.

You know what your trouble is, Hanley?

You're holding on tight
to this 19th century.

I'm holding tight to some
principles, Mr. Whipple.

Some principles that
have to do with firing.

The regret for the wholesale firings

of men who've worked
here from 20 to 30 years.

Regret, indeed. It's come to regret,
huh? I'll let you handle the regrets.

That'll be your
responsibility. I tell you

what, Hanley. Have a
sign made for your desk.

It'll say, "Mr. Walter Hanley,
plant manager in charge of regrets."

Tell me, Mr. Whipple, why are you so
eager to replace men with machines?

Ever occur to you that you might
be trading efficiency for pride?

Pride?

Yes, pride! Craftsmanship. What a
man feels when he makes something.

Tell me, what do you suppose that machine

of yours feels?
Anything? Anything at all?

What the devil can I do with pride?
Can it, bottle it, wrap it, produce it?

I'm not selling pride,
I'm selling product.

-Your father, God rest his…
-What about my father?

Your father ran this plant for 40
years. He had an eye for profit.

Nobody ever accused
him of inefficiency, but…

But what?

He had something else on his mind.

What else did my father
have on his mind, Mr. Hanley?

Good will. And the welfare of
the people who worked for him.

Good will and the welfare of the
people that worked for him, indeed.

In 40 years, my father
doubled the size of his plant

while his competitors quadrupled theirs.

His competitors, Mr. Hanley, who
were perhaps a little bit less concerned

with the good will and welfare of
the people that worked for them.

They paid a fair wage and they
got a fair day's work in exchange.

But, if they could find a machine they

could put in to replace
a man, they did it.

But perhaps they didn't have
plant managers like yourself

who went off into a crying jag every time
a pink slip was attached to a time clock.

What's the name of the plant foreman?

Dickerson, Dickerson, that's his
name. Get him up here for me, will you?

I'm going to indulge in some of that
heartfelt compassion that you hunger for.

I'm going to give him and
his staff four months' notice.

Now, I put it to you, Hanley, is
that compassionate or isn't it?

Now, you go get him, would you
please, Hanley? Get him up here

and hold his hand, dry his
eyes, pat him on the head,

but get him up here.

So, that's about the
size of it, Mr. Dickerson.

You may tell the entire day shift

that they'll be pink-slipped
as of the first of July.

We're here to set it up, Mr. Whipple.

Fine, I've checked the machine over. Just
put it downstairs, but treat it gently.

Handle it with care.

Now, you realize that this
somewhat wholesale discharge

has nothing whatever
to do with dissatisfaction

on your part or that of the men.

It's merely progress,
Mr. Dickerson. Progress.

Out with the old, in with
the new. Automation.

That'll be all, Mr. Dickerson.

Yes, Mr. Whipple.

That will be all.

Did you ever notice, Mr. Hanley,

ever notice how it
looks like it had a face?

An ugly face.

A miserable, ugly face.

Whipple, he thinks it's a machine.

It's not a machine, it's an
enemy. It's an opponent.

I swear, we've got to
hate a thing like this.

Getting awful late, Dick. Should
have closed half an hour ago.

[DRUNKENLY] You know what these are?

Pair of hands?

Yeah, pair of hands. You
know what else they are?

They're obsolete, they're off the market.

They're like wooden wagons
trying to roll down a freeway.

Flesh and bone and muscle and nerve,

but that don't cut mustard anymore.

I want to tell you some… I'm
going to tell you something.

There isn't a machine made

that can beat a man.

Isn't one ma… I'll prove it to you!

I'm going over there right now
and I'm gonna prove it to you.

I'm gonna take that
new machine of Whipple's

and I'm gonna turn
it into nuts and bolts.

And if that slob with the
key chain gets in my way,

I'm gonna strangle him with it.

Dickerson! I just got a call from
the watchman. He said you're drunk

and barged right past him
without paying any attention.

And he's right, Mr. Whipple.

I am drunk.

And I did barge right in.

I've worked here for 30 years!

And I've been foreman for 17 of them.

In my book, that gives me
some rights, Mr. Whipple.

Well, you've got the
wrong book, Dickerson.

My book reads as follows:
You're drunk, disorderly

and trespassing on private property
and therefore subject to arrest.

Tell me something, Mr. Whipple.

When you're dead and buried,
who do you get to mourn for you?

Shall I tell you the difference,
Mr. Dickerson, between you and it?

That machine costs two cents an
hour for current. It lasts indefinitely.

It gets no wrinkles, no arthritis,
no hardening of the arteries.

That one machine is a lathe
operator, a press operator.

Two of those machines replace 114 men

that take no coffee breaks, no
sick leaves, no vacations with pay.

And that, in my book, Mr. Dickerson,

is worth considerably more than you are.

They should have stopped you a year ago!

Somebody ought to held you down

and put a bit in your head

and poured in some reminders

that men have to eat and work.

And you can't pack them in
Cosmoline like surplus tanks!

Or put them out to
pasture like old bulls!

I'm a man, Mr. Whipple!

You hear me? I'm a man!

And that makes me better than that

hunk of metal, you hear me?

Better!

What should I do Mr. Whipple?

Stop him, stop him!

He has a crow bar!

I don't care!

No, you can't do that, Mr. Whipple.

[TWO GUNSHOTS]

You see, machine?

It… took more than you to beat me.

It… It took a man.

Oh, Hanley, I've been expecting you.

No doubt.

They told me you were at the hospital.

I just came from the hospital.

Fortunately for you, Mr. Whipple,
Dickerson's gonna live.

Fortunately for me
other than protecting my

property I have no
involvement in that at all.

Are the, uh, technicians downstairs?

Henley, I asked you a question. Are the

technicians repairing
that machine downstairs?

It appears so.

Ah, good. Good. Oh, Hanley,
this should interest you.

This is a tape-controlled seven
axis. What do they call it? A sentry.

You know what it does? It keeps an eye
on every operation in the entire plant.

It keeps absolutely accurate data

on man hours, cost hours,
product rejects, just everything!

It's the most sophisticated machine
I've ever seen. I… I just bought it.

And how many men does it replace?

Oh, well, this should please
you. Only one, just one!

As a matter of fact,
Hanley, it replaces you.

Well, that's only right, Mr. Whipple,

since the point of my coming here
today was to give you my notice.

Oh, good, good. I, uh,
I suspected as much.

You're a sensible man, Hanley,

and I'm sure you know that an industrial
team has to be a compatible team.

And when two men, well, when
they rub each other the wrong way,

well, it's unrealistic and impractical
that they try to stay on the same team.

In spite of the fact you
think I'm kind of an ogre,

some sort of a heartless Scrooge,

I'm not going to forget the
many years of hard work

you put in here for me and my father.

I'm going to see that you get an
extremely liberal severance pay

and what I'm sure you'll agree is
a far better than average pension.

That's very generous of you, Mr. Whipple.

There's something I'd like
to give you, if you don't mind.

No, what is that?

That's for you, Mr. Whipple, from me.

For your lack of sensitivity,
your lack of compassion.

Your heartless manipulation
of men and metals.

You can take my
severance pay, my pension,

and your goodbye speeches
and feed them into your machine.

Because when I walk away
from you, I walk away clean.

And that, Mr. Whipple,
is one hell of a trick!

A new watchman device.

Take out your ID card and
hold it in front of the door.

There are built-in electric eyes.

Yes, Mr. Whipple?

Oh, run a control check, please.

I've already done it,
Mr. Whipple, two hours ago.

I did it right after lunch,
too. And if you recall, sir,

I did it just after you came
in this morning as well.

Have you never heard of
preventative maintenance?

It's my job, Mr. Whipple. But what
you're asking me to do isn't maintenance.

It's not preventing a thing.

Indeed. I suppose you know what's needed
in this plant and what isn't needed.

I know that running equipment checks
ten times a day is a waste of time,

a waste of effort, and it's getting
to be an idiotic ritual around here.

Young man, your presence
here is a necessity of the moment.

Notice I stress "of the moment."

Uh, a case in point. Case in point.

Now, stay here, observe this.

Dear sir, yours of the 14th
received and acknowledged.

Now is the time for all good men
to come to the aid of their country.

Et cetera, et cetera
et cetera, et cetera.

[MACHINE TYPING]

A perfect letter. Not
one error or erasure.

Typed at the moment of conception.
Am I getting through to you, young man?

I presume you mean that
secretaries are obsolete now.

Precisely, obsolete. And do
you know what else it means?

It means there'll be no more
powder rooms, no more coffee breaks.

No more work stoppages
due to sundry inconveniences

such as maternity and that sort of thing.

Inconveniences like maternity?
You'll have to forgive me, Mr. Whipple,

but if we keep up with this sort of thing,
we're gonna have wonderful products

but mighty few people to buy them.

Happily that is not my concern.

I am here to provide efficiency.
That is my only concern.

Mr. Whipple? Have you
looked around this place lately?

Looked around?

The cafeteria, for example.

It's like a cave. Not a soul in there.

Just a few vending machines and
music coming through a loudspeaker.

Have you walked around the parking lot?

It's a desert. No cars, no people.

How very enlightening.

This place has everything
now in the way of efficiency.

But do you know what it lacks?

No, tell me.

Voices. Laughter. Just whatever it
is that make people feel for people.

That's what it lacks. This is a
lousy place to work in, Mr. Whipple.

Then I'll spare you any further
suffering. You're discharged.

I've been expecting that. As a
matter of fact, I've been wanting it.

No, I can't work here anymore.

It's too darn lonely.

And another thing, Mr. Whipple.

Having to do with equipment
checks and preventive maintenance,

I think it might be a good idea

if you ran an equipment
check on yourself!

[MUTTERING] Equipment check on myself!

What insufferable rot!

Equipment check on myself!

HANLEY'S VOICE: Did it ever occur to you

you might be trading
efficiency for pride?

DICKERSON'S VOICE:
When you're dead and buried,

who do you get to mourn for you?

TECHNICIAN'S VOICE:
I think it might be a good idea

if you ran an equipment
check on yourself!

[MACHINE BUZZES, BEEPS]

Did it ever occur to you you
might be trading efficiency for pride?

When you're dead and buried,

who do you get to mourn for you?

I think it might be a good idea

if you ran an equipment
check on yourself!

[DISTORTED] I think
it might be a good idea

if you ran an equipment
check on yourself!

Did it ever occur to you you
might be trading efficiency for pride?

When you're dead and buried,
who do you get to mourn for you?

[RECORDINGS SPEED UP]

[MACHINE BUZZES, BEEPS]

[DISTORTED RECORDINGS CONTINUE]

What'll it be Mr. Whipple?

Beer, please.

To other days, Mr. Hanley.

And, uh, to other toasts.

I'll drink to that, Mr. Whipple.

How are you finding retirement?

Oh, tolerable, Mr. Whipple, tolerable.

I manage to… I manage to keep
busy. Not as much as I'd like.

My wife says I'm underfoot,
but, uh, I do all right.

But you know, it's kind of nice
to sleep late in the mornings.

It's important. Uh,
this retirement, I mean.

Very important.

A man should have time for
leisure when he grows older.

It's important he have time for leisure.

That's so, Mr. Whipple.

You know, when the, uh,
when the board of directors, uh,

first indicated to me that they
thought I was uh, somewhat overtired,

should relinquish some
of my responsibilities,

well, if the truth were
known, Mr. Hanley, I, uh,

I did feel some sort of antipathy
for them, but, uh, they were right.

They were… They were
quite right, you know.

But with the perspective of time, I…

I realized they'd moved me out of there.

I'm not… I'm not married, you know,

and, well, things get a little dull.

Well, no, not, not dull, really.

I, uh, I manage to keep myself busy,

but there are times
when I wish th… when I…

It's not right, Hanley.
It's… It's not right.

Cold, dispassionate, impersonal, they…

They chuck a man out right in his prime.

Chuck him out like he was
some… some kind of a… of a part.

Said I was neurotic about things.

Said that being alone with
the machines had warped me.

That was the expression
they used. "Warped."

It's not fair, Hanley. It's not fair.

A man has value. A man has worth.

They just snap their fingers, and
they… they bring in a replacement.

They just bring in a
replacement. It… It isn't fair, Hanley.

It… It isn't fair, the way
they… the way they diminish us.

NARRATOR: There are
many bromides applicable here.

Too much of a good thing, tiger by
the tail, as you sow, so shall ye reap.

The point is that too often man
becomes clever instead of becoming wise,

he becomes inventive, but not thoughtful.

And sometimes, as in
the case of Mr. Whipple,

he can create himself
right out of existence.

Tonight's tale of oddness
and obsolescence

from the Twilight Zone.

PRESENTER: And now, Mr. Serling.

On The Twilight Zone next trip,

we move into the area
of authentic folk singing.

But this is folk singing like you've
probably never heard before.

The words and the music in
this item are haunting indeed

and this one provides one of the more
odd excursions into the places of shadow.

Gary Crosby and Bonnie Beecher

star in a most unusual
tale by Anthony Wilson.

It's called "Come Wander with Me."

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]