Original subtitles

You're traveling through another dimension

a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind

a journey into a wondrous land

whose boundaries are that of imagination.

That's the signpost up ahead.

Your next stop, the twilight zone.

Well, i can tell you gentlemen

the most idiotic thing occurred in the market today.

Just idiotic. I've been dabbling in the syndicate.

It has some oil holdings in texas.

Jack brewer handles our new york operation.

He came on the floor today- i just happened to be there.

This was about 10:30 this morning.

He has a sheaf of papers in his hand

he waves to me.

Now, if there is anybody that i don't want

to see before noon on any given day

it is jack brewer.

He's a raucous sort, a little crude, nouveau riche-

you know the type.

Charlie, old man, you don't mind if i sit here, do you, boy?

Well, where was i?

Oh, yes, jack brewer.

He, uh, walks across the floor to me

and with an intense voice-

a voice absolutely shaking with intensity-

he sidles up to me and he whispers...

he's got the most miserable habit of whispering-

sotto voce- so that everyone in the world can hear him.

Anyway, he says to me "jim,

"i must scrape up a quarter of a million

and you're the only one that can handle it for me."

Now, this is brewer speaking to me.

A quarter of a million dollars!

And i am supposed to scrape it up for him.

I mean, i am supposed to scrape it up

as though it were some kind of residue

that could be literally scooped up off a floor!

To make a long story short

he arrives at the busiest time of the morning

absolutely the busiest time

and he says to me

"jim, i've got an opportunity to corner..."

i just got your letter.

Shh! Our young friend is discoursing again.

Well, of course i looked a little askance at him

because the boor wouldn't know a corner of the market

from a railroad roundhouse!

The only thing worse than his talking so much

is his transparency.

In about 30 seconds, alfred, he will very nonchalantly ask

for a loan from anybody within earshot.

Just last week he asked me

for the loan of a quarter of a million dollars.

The letter you sent me

is the most incredible thing i have ever read.

Archie, we're old friends.

I must tell you...

my communication to you

was not as an old friend, but as my lawyer.

Is the wager i have in mind legal?

No wager is legal in this state.

Well, is it against the law, then?

Anything criminal in it?

I don't see anything criminal in it, no.

Alfred, that is exactly what i wanted to hear from you.

Franklin, would you take this note across the room

to young mr. Tennyson over there.

Archie...

you tell him it's from me.

Ask him to read it immediately.

Why, yes, sir.

The note that this man is carrying across a club room

is in the form of a proposed wager

but it's the kind of wager that comes without precedent.

It stands alone in the annals of bet making

as the strangest game of chance ever offered

by one man to another.

In just a moment, we'll see the terms of the wager

and what young mr. Tennyson does about it.

And in the process

we'll witness all parties spin a wheel of chance

in a very bizarre casino called the twilight zone.

Do you know whaticould do

with a quarter of a million dollars in a deal like this?

Well, i can tell you this- i could treble it, quadruple it.

Why, with an initial investment

of a quarter of a million dollars...

i could take this plastics thing...

excuse me, mr. Tennyson.

A note for you from colonel taylor.

Just put it down somewhere, franklin.

Excuse me, mr. Tennyson, his instructions are

that you read it immediately.

I beg your pardon.

Acts like he had seen a ghost.

This is... this is absolute nonsense.

What about it, tennyson?

Is this some kind of a joke?

I mean, really, colonel, if it is a joke,

it suggests a sense of humor quite beyond me.

It isnota joke.

You know me reasonably well, tennyson.

You know that humor is perhaps

the least developed aspect of my character.

I am quite serious.

Would you mind terribly, tennyson

if i acquainted the members with my proposition?

Well, that's your business, colonel, quite your business.

But i do believe that you will

make yourself highly suspect.

I'll take that risk.

I propose a wager to mr. Tennyson here.

The wager is to take the following form.

I will bet him $500,000...

that he cannot remain silent for one year.

The wager carries with it the following conditions:

He will be placed in a room for observation

by me or by any one of us, at our discretion.

He will be furnished with anything he desires

by way of diversion.

But he will not be able to speak one single word for 12 months

not one single word.

He will make his wants known

in writing, not by voice.

What about it, tennyson?

Well, may i ask what is the reason for this wager?

What i'm about to say might horrify the average person

but to someone as insensitive as you

it probably won't mean a thing.

I dislike you intensely, tennyson.

It goes much beyond the ordinary distaste

i feel for someone without breeding

without principles, without manners.

Your voice has become intolerable.

I sit here each night and the sound of it makes me wince!

I cannot ask you to resign from the club.

I haven't got that right.

So it occurred to me

that i'd be willing to offer a large sum of money

just to have some quiet.

You see, tennyson

you could not possibly remain silent for a year.

It's not in your nature.

You're a shallow, talkative, empty-headed ne'er-do-well

and to remain silent would destroy you.

So what i assume will happen

you will perhaps withstand the pressures

for three or four weeks, maybe a couple of months

and then you will succumb.

That's, again, your nature.

In the meantime, i will derive

oh, several months of exquisite silence.

Well, tennyson

does it appeal to your sporting blood?

Oddly enough, it does appeal to my sporting blood.

Now, that, too, is patently ridiculous.

There's nothing sporting about you, tennyson.

I happen to know you're delivering

your nightly financial folderol

because you're in desperate straits.

You've run through your inheritance

your debts are insurmountable

and you'd do practically anything for money.

Except, perhaps, to remain silent for a year.

If this were europe, or the company were more sophisticated

i should be forced to invite you out

for the things you've said to me.

The ground rules here, however

are different.

I can either ignore you or call your bluff.

Well, i choose to do the latter.

I accept your wager.

Uh, just a few questions.

Where am i to be incarcerated?

Well, in the old game room downstairs.

It isn't being used.

With the permission of the board of governors

i'll have some work done on it.

You'll be in a glass-enclosed living room and bedroom.

Microphones will be placed around the room

which you are to leave untouched.

Your every movement will be recorded

and so will your voice when you decide to give up.

You will permit me or any one of us

to observe you at any time.

When, uh, is this supposed to start?

Well, the room could be prepared by tomorrow night.

I've made all the necessary inquiries.

You could enter anytime after 10:00 p.m.

And so, at 10:00 p.m., june 3, 1962

you may leave the room.

At that time i will have

a check for $500,000 waiting for you

assuming, of course, that the impossible happens

and you're able to remain silent for those 12 months.

I'll be back tomorrow night.

Uh, colonel, i would like to have that check certified

and placed on deposit in my name

a photostat of it available

and witnessed by every member of this club.

That might be the usual procedure

in a fish market or a pawn shop

but not in this club and not with me.

My credit is well-known

so is my honor, as every member here will vouch for.

There will be no check placed on deposit.

You'll have to take my word.

I see.

It's my courage against your credit.

Well, a year from tomorrow night

both can be proved.

Franklin, get me my coat.

Yes, sir.

Tennyson, i've known colonel taylor for a long time.

This is not a capricious man.

I warn you, he is in deadly earnest.

Do you know my wife, sir?

Her name is doris.

She's a lovely thing- frail, beautiful, fragile.

Like a cameo brooch

but her tastes run to unfragile things-

sizable baubles to sizable price tags.

She shops at tiffany's the way other women enter a supermarket.

My miserable misfortune is

that i happen to be very much in love with her.

I am also desperate in need of money.

I may sound melodramatic, but it happens to be true.

Any time now, mr. Tennyson.

Any time.

Oh, mr. Tennyson's dinner, hmm?

Yes, sir.

Is he eating well, appetite good?

Not very much up to a week ago, sir

but he's eating very well now.

Well, that's nice.

And i hope he stays in perfect health.

I wouldn't want this experience

to damage him in any way.

Quite the contrary, sir.

He seems in excellent spirits

and it's nine weeks now, sir

nine weeks today that he's been in there.

Nine weeks?

Well, that's really quite incredible.

I gave him four weeks

possibly, to hold out, six at the outside.

Nine weeks!

There's a little bit more gristle there

than i gave him credit for.

Will there be anything else, sir?

Oh, hello, alfred.

Franklin told me you were waiting.

Only to pose this question to you.

Very succinct, archie, very brief.

How long?

How long what?

How long are you going to keep on

with this... this prolonged practical joke?

Well, not much longer.

Thank you, franklin.

You should see our boy down there.

Four and a half months, not a sound out of him.

It's incredible.

That fop won't take it for another month.

This i'll guarantee you.

For your sake, i hope that's the case.

Mysake?

You have the money, archie?

I find that insulting, alfred.

I'm sorry if it is.

I think he's going to beat you, archie.

I think that boy down there

is going to remain silent for the entire year.

And i think you're going to owe him $500,000.

I just hope you've got it.

You can hear me, tennyson, can't you?

I've been giving this considerable thought.

You fulfilled your part of the bargain admirably.

As a matter of fact

you have completely surprised me, tennyson.

But the fact is

i feel the whole thing has gone too far.

It's becoming inhuman.

I'm prepared to offer you a thousand dollars

and you may walk out today

right this moment, if you choose.

It's going to be an early spring this year, tennyson.

You ought to see it.

In that time of the year

when a young man's fancy lightly turns...

well, you know that better than i do.

And young ladies, too.

For example

your wife.

She must be lonely for you, tennyson

desperately lonely.

As a matter of fact, she...

she has been seen with other young men.

It's odd

she hasn't paid you a visit, isn't it?

Don't you think it's odd?

I happen to know you've written her many notes

requesting a visit.

She hasn't responded, even to the notes.

You may lose your wife, tennyson.

I hope you're fully aware of that.

While you stay here behind glass

the very reason for all your agony

may be slipping away from you.

Why don't you leave, tennyson?

Why don't you leave right now?

It still might be possible to save your marriage.

Tennyson, i saw your wife again.

She was getting into a little european sports car.

There was a, you know, a nice young fellow driving it.

Your wife... wife... your wife... wife... wife... wife.

Today is april fools' day, tennyson.

You remember april fools' day.

I think it was named for you

for only a fool would stay in there as long as you have

knowing precisely what's happening on the outside.

Your wife, i mean, tennyson, your wife... wife... wife.

Tennyson, this nonsense must cease!

You've got to get out of there.

You really do.

Why i could tell you some stories about your wife.

How about it, tennyson?

I might see my way clear to giving you $5,000.

That would pay off a lot of your debts.

And a little bracelet for your wife.

Something to compensate for the months of loneliness.

How about it, tennyson?

$5,000.

$6,000, tennyson.

You're an idiot, you know that, tennyson?!

You're going out of your mind in there.

I know you are.

You're ready to crawl up the walls.

Listen, tennyson, you cannot stay in there one more hour.

Not another half hour.

I wouldn't have believed it.

A year in that room

and not one word out of him.

Two minutes is all the poor devil has got now-

two more minutes.

Look at archie.

Not the face of a happy man, would you say?

A rather monumental occasion, isn't it, archie?

12 months ago to the moment you destroyed yourself

much as i told you you would.

Your little reminders are gratuitous, alfred.

Besides, it's not yet 10:00.

Whether it is or whether it isn't

the destruction i'm talking about

has already taken place.

There have been ugly rumors, archie

things you've done to him

like little asides, innuendos

suggestions, gossip about his wife.

You place such a premium on honor, archie

but you haven't acted like an honorable man.

Please don't go to the trouble of denying it.

I'm sure much of it is true.

But the ugly affair has proved two things

hasn't it, archie?

That that boy down there is stronger

than you gave him credit for

and you are considerably weaker.

How could he have done it?

How could he have done it?

It's impossible!

You, uh, have me at a disadvantage, mr. Tennyson.

In a rather compromising situation.

You force me into a position of... rather distasteful candor.

The truth is i am a fraud.

I haven't any money.

I offered you a thousand dollars, then $5,000.

I would have had to go out into the street

to beg even that amount, let alone a half a million dollars.

It's true that i have pride

bearing, taste, exceptional breeding...

but i lost most of my money

some years ago.

Now you have forced me to uncover the situation

proving, mr. Tennyson, proving that, of the two of us

you are by far the more substantial.

And i will naturally resign.

I will not ask you to suffer my presence any longer.

Tennyson, you can talk, your time is up.

You can talk, gurgle, sing, chortle, anything you want.

What's he writing?

What is he doing?

Why doesn't he talk?

What does it say, archie?

What did he write?

Why didn't he say something?

"I knew i would not be able to keep

"my part of the bargain...

"so one year ago i had the nerves

to my vocal chords severed."

Mr. Jamie tennyson who almost won a bet

but who discovered somewhat belatedly

that gambling can be a most unproductive pursuit

even with loaded dice, marked cards

or, as in his case, some severed vocal chords.

For somewhere beyond him, a wheel was turned

and his number came up "black 13."

If you don't believe it, ask the croupier

the very special one who handles roulette

in the twilight zone.

Rod serling, creator ofthe twilight zone

will tell you about next week's story

after this word from our alternate sponsor.

And now, mr. Serling.

Next week onthe twilight zone

you'll sit in this courtroom and you'll watch what is apparently

the standard, everyday turning of the wheels of justice.

But because this is the twilight zone

don't be fooled by the readily apparent,

for when the judge enters, the jury rises,

the bailiff calls out the case, all of this

is the opening salvo to one of our wildest journeys yet.

Our program is called "shadow play"

and it's written by mr. Charles beaumont.

It comes well recommended.

Captioned by media access group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org

hi, this is ed sullivan,

reminding you that the colgate- palmolive company

also brings you star-studded entertainment on our show

on most of these same stations.