Twilight Zone Companion (60 page)

When Agnes breaks down, Elwood is called in to replace Fred Danziger, a programmer whose mind has cracked trying to deal with Agnes. All goes smoothly until Elwood asks Millie, a pretty secretary, for a dateand Agnes begins to make suggestions. On the machines advice, he takes Millie to his apartment, which ends in Millie storming out. Then again on Agness advice he introduces her to Walter Holmes, a dashing coworker who sweeps her off her feet. Elwood demands to know why Agnes has sabotaged his relationship with Millie. He gets a shocking answer: Agnes is in love with him! Elwood cant accept this; his mind snaps. Next morning, Walter Holmes is brought in as his replacement. Laughing insanely, Elwood tells him he doesnt stand a chance against Agnes, the computerized femme fatale.

Advice to all future male scientists: be sure you understand the opposite sex, especially if you intend being a computer expert. Otherwise, you may find yourself, like poor Elwood, defeated by a jealous machine, a most dangerous sort of female, whose victims are forever banishedto the Twilight Zone.

The problem in From Agnes With Love lies with the main character. James Elwood is enormously inept and unforgivably dense. When he takes his date back to his apartment, he reads to her from a book of Einstein. When she turns off the light he says, Millie, I cant read this chapter to you without proper lighting. Upon the advice of Agnes, he introduces her to a handsome playboy and then is amazed when he barges in on them and finds theyve become romantically involved. Elwood doesnt need a computer to ruin his life; clearly, hes capable of doing it on his own.

WHATS IN THE BOX (3/13/64)

Written by Martin M. Goldsmith

Producer: William Froug

Director: Richard L. Bare

Director of Photography: George T. Clemens

Music: stock

Cast: Joe Britt: William Demarest Phyllis Britt: Joan Blondell TV Repairman: Sterling Holloway Dr. Saltman: Herbert Lytton Woman: Sandra Gould Judge: Howard Wright Russian Duke: John L. Sullivan Panther Man: Ted Christy Car Salesman: Ron Stokes Prosecutor: Douglas Bank Announcer: Tony Miller

Portrait of a TV fan. Name: Joe Britt. Occupation: cab driver. Tonight, Mr. Britt is going to watch a really big show, something special for the cabbie whos seen everything. Joe Britt doesnt know it, but his flag is down and his meters running and hes in high gearon his way to the Twilight Zone.

After loudmouth Britt insults a TV repairman working on his set, the man abruptly closes up the television and says that its fixedfor free. Britt thinks nothing of this until he sees that the set is able to pick up channel tensomething its never done beforeand that the screen shows Joe in the company of his mistress! Joe is desperate that his shrewish wife Phyllis not see this. Things rapidly get worse, however; the TV now shows a scene in which Joe argues with Phyllis and punches her through their apartment window to her deatha scene which only Joe seems able to see and hear. Frantic to avoid this tragedy, Joe admits his past adultery and begs Phyllis to forgive him. This only serves to infuriate her; the two argue and Joe, enraged, punches Phyllis through the window. As the police lead him

away, the repairman appears. Fix your set okay, mister? he asks Joe. You will recommend my service, wont you?

The next time your TV set is on the blink, when youre in the need of a first-rate repairman, may we suggest our own specialist? Factory-trained, prompt, honest, twenty-four-hour service. You wont find him in the phone book, but his office is conveniently locatedin the Twilight Zone.

Marty Goldsmith had written a Playhouse 90 for me years before, says William Froug, so I sought him out. He had written a number of movies and wasnt that anxious to workstill isnt, really. But I knew he was just a wonderful writer and I said, Please, write a Twilight Zone.’ And he came up with this notion of the guy looking at the boob tube and seeing his own extramarital activities and trying to turn it off before his wife could see it.

Martin M. Goldsmiths Whats in the Box has a marvelous cast of old-time actors (William Demarest, Joan Blondell, Sterling Holloway), but thats not enough to carry the show. The problem lies with the two main characters.

Britt and his wife are a loudmouthed, bickering couple, but neither of them deserves to die. Had Britts wife forgiven him, then the show would have had some moral to it. The fantasy element would have allowed an unhappy couple a second chance, it would have been there for a reason. As it is, one is left with a tremendous sense of purposelessness, of things happening with no object in mind.

Goldsmith himself is no fan of the episode. I didnt like it, he says. It lacked all subtlety the way it was done. I think Joan Blondell and William Demarest overplayed it. It was just too broad.

THE ENCOUNTER (5/1/64)

Written by Martin M. Goldsmith

Producer: William Froug

Director: Robert Butler

Director of Photography: George T. Clemens

Music: stock

Cast: Fenton: Neville Brand Neville Brand Taro: George Takei

Two men alone in an attic: a young Japanese-American and a seasoned veteran of yesterdays war. Its twenty-odd years since Pearl Harbor, but two ancient opponents are moving into position for a battle in an attic crammed with skeletons souvenirs, mementoes, old uniforms and rusted medals ghosts from the dim reaches of the past that will lead us into … the Twilight Zone

Fenton, a middle-aged World War II veteran, is rummaging around in his cluttered attic when young gardener Arthur Takamuri appears, saying hed heard from a neighbor that Fenton needs his lawn trimmed. Fenton offers him a beer, then says hell pay him to help clean up the attic. Arthur, whose real name is Taro, is extremely sensitive about his Japanese-American heritage, and Fenton, a bigot, enjoys needling him with racist slurs. Alone in the attic for a moment, Taro picks up a samurai sword Fenton claims to have taken off a Japanese officer in battle, a weapon bearing the inscription The Sword Will Avenge Me and is astounded to hear himself say hes going to kill Fenton! After some strained conversation, Fenton begins to reminisce about the war, reliving it as he tells it. Taro is drawn into the fantasy and believing himself a Japanese soldier raises the sword to decapitate Fenton. Just in time, he comes to his senses. He then has a sudden realization: Fenton lied about the sword; he murdered a surrendering enemy officer, then took the sword off the body. Made uncomfortable by this knowledge, Taro tries to leave, but finds the attic door which has no lock inexplicably stuck; the two of them are trapped together. Taro then tells of his past, at first saying that his American-born father, a construction worker who built the docks at Pearl Harbor, was a hero who died trying to warn sailors during the Japanese attack. But soon the truth comes out: his father was actually a traitor who signalled the enemy planes where to drop their bombs. Fenton then makes a revelation of his own: in the last week, hes lost both his job and his wife as a result of his heavy drinking; he has nothing left in him but hatred and he wants Taro to kill him. He lunges at Taro. Theres a scuffle, and Fenton falls on the sword and dies. Overwhelmed by his tremendous guilt, Taro grabs up the sword, yells Banzai! and leaps out the attic window to his death … after which the attic door gently slides open.

 Two men in an attic, locked in mortal embrace. Their common bond and their common enemy: guilt. A disease all too prevalent among men, both in and out of the Twilight Zone.

Pleased with Whats in the Box, William Froug again contacted Martin Goldsmith. He asked me to do another one, and I had an idea but it wasnt really a Twilight Zone idea, says Goldsmith. I had been playing with the idea of two people confronting each other over an issue thats long dead and really has nothing to do with either one of them. In this

particular thing theres this aging Marine and this young Japanese gardener. I didnt know quite what I was going to do with this whole idea until Froug mentioned Twilight Zone and I said, Well, why not?

Cast in The Encounter were Neville Brand, the fourth-most- decorated U.S. Army soldier of World War II, and George Takei, later to play Lt. Sulu in Star Trek.

Goldsmith recalls that troubles began when the director read the script. He was a young guy and he was quite unhappy about the whole thing. He didnt like it, he didnt understand it. He told Froug that he would have great difficulty directing it. So I said to Froug, Look, youre going to need a director. Til direct it. He said, No, no, we have to pay this guy whether he does the job or not. Serling wouldnt hear of it.

Goldsmith was out of the country when The Encounter aired, so he never saw it. But he notes, I started getting strange letters from people who had seen it. They saw a lot of existentialism in it and things of that nature.

Like Miniature, A Short Drink From a Certain Fountain and Sounds and Silences, The Encounter is not in syndication. The reasons for this are not clear. Very possibly, CBS received a number of protests from Japanese-Americans. The ex-Marine mouths a number of tirades against the Japanese and Japanese-Americans, filled with a variety of racial epithets. Also, theres the matter of the private guilts the characters carry. The Marine killed a Japanese officer who had already surrendered. But the young gardeners guilt stems, not from an action of his, but from one of his father: I grew up in Honolulu… . My father and mother lived in Hawaii all their lives. My father worked for the Navy as a civilian. … He helped build the docks at Pearl. He was foreman of a construction gang. … He signalled the planes. He showed them where to drop the bombs! … My old man was a traitor!

In reality, there was no Japanese-American traitor at Pearl Harbor guiding the enemy planes. In fact, there is no case of sabotage by a Japanese-American during all of World War II. The suggestion of such an action even in a fictional context could easily have brought down an avalanche of protest.

Come Wander With Me,

Written by Anthony Wilson

Producer: William Froug

Director: Richard Donner

Director of Photography: Fred Mandi

Music: Jeff Alexander

Cast: Floyd Burney: Gary Crosby Mary Rachel: Bonnie Beecher Billy Rayford: John Bolt Old Man: Hank Patterson

Mr. Floyd Burney, a gentleman songster in search of song, is about to answer the age-old question of whether a man can be in two places at the same time. As far as his folk song is concerned, we can assure Mr. Burney hell find everything hes looking for, although the lyrics may not be all to his liking. But thats sometimes the case when the words and music are recorded in the Twilight Zone.

Floyd Burney, the Rockabilly Boy, journeys to the backwoods in search of authentic folk songs to appropriate. Questioning an old man in a store filled with musical instruments, he hears someone humming a haunting ballad. Searching outside, he fails to notice a tombstone with his name on it, but he does notice the singer: shy but lovely Mary Rachel. Although she is betrothed to Billy Rayford, Floyd romances her in order to convince her to sing her song into his tape recorder. Suddenly, Billy appears, carrying a rifle and telling Floyd that he and his brothers know what to do with him. But when Billy is momentarily distracted, Floyd hits him with a guitar, killing him. The tape recorder begins to play back Mary Rachels song but now theres a lyric about Floyds murder of Billy! Mary Rachel pleads with Floyd not to run, that the Rayford Brothers will catch him again, as they always have before. Floyd doesnt know what shes talking about, and hes horrified to see that she is now inexplicably dressed in mourning garb. Hysterical, he rushes back to the music store. There, the old man refuses to help him; Floyd strikes him down. But by then the Rayford Brothers have arrived and they do know what to do with him.

In retrospect, it may be said of Mr. Floyd Burney that he achieved that final dream of the performer: eternal top-name billing, not on the fleeting billboards of the entertainment world, but forever recorded among the folk songs of the Twilight Zone.

Come Wander With Me, by Anthony Wilson (creator of Land of the Giants and The Invaders, and the man who developed Planet of the Apes for television), has various twists and turns that render it virtually incoherent. At the beginning, Burney walks past a grave reading Floyd Burney/The Wandering Man we see it again at the end of the show. There are two Mary Rachels seen throughout: one dressed in everyday clothes, the other in black mourning garb. The song she sings to Burney predicts events to come. Repeatedly, when events occur, Mary Rachel explains that they happen in that way because they always happen that way. And when Burney contemplates flight in order to avoid the Rayfords vengeance, she pleads, If you run theyll catch you. You know that… . Maybe if you didnt run this time, if I hid you, maybe it could be different. Naturally, Burney disregards this, and flees to his death.

Obviously, what all these obscure clues are meant to indicate is that this story is an eternal cycle. Whats more, Mary Rachel understands what is going on unlike Burney she remembers going through all of it before but she is unable to alter events.

What is not at all clear is why this is a cycle. What exactly are we witnessing? Indeed, is there any point to it?

Come Wander With Me was too soft, and Dick Donner and I knew it, says William Froug. It was a script that read good but, Jesus, it just didnt work. I wouldnt do it today.

Frougs choice of script wasnt the only curiosity to be found in the show. He recalls an incident during the casting of Mary Rachel: One of the people I interviewed was this nervous, frightened little girl whose hands shook and who was covered with sweat, and I said, Shell never make it. Her name was Liza Minnelli. And I chose Bonnie Beecher, and we all know what became of Bonnie Beecher!

Ill never forget Liza Minnelli sitting there and her agent saying, This girl can really sing. I said, Im sure she can, but I thought, Oh, she is so nervous! Shes scared out of her mind. To picture her as a hillbilly singer: no way. And I must tell youand this is the truthat the time, I sat there thinking, Well, Ill probably kick myself for this but I cant see this girl playing the partbut shell probably be a big star. I still dont regret it, but it was really classic stupidity.