[Theme music playing]
(Narrator) You're tra vel/ng through another dimension.
A dimension not onl y of sightand sound, but of mind,
a journey into a wondrous land
whose boundaries are tha t of ima Gina t/on.
Your next stop, the twilight zone.
[Horns honking and street sounds]
[Suspense music]
She's all set, Mr. Radin.
How about the sound system?
You check that out?
She's all ready to go.
I don't know where you got your sound effects
but you'd sweara bomb was exploding.
I mean a big bomb.
That's precisely the way it's supposed to sound.
[Loud explosion]
[Explosion sound stops]
That about do it, Mr. Radin?
That about does it.
You got quite a setup here.
This part of the illusion too?
No, this room is not an illusion.
I venture to guess
that it's the best designed bomb shelter
on the face of the earth... who knows?
The hydrogen bomb is not an illusion.
But tonight it's for gags, huh?
Something of the sort.
A practical joke, let's say.
You can say that again.
When they start those sound effects
and that stuff on the screen
you'd swear the world was getting blasted.
That's the idea.
I have three guests coming this evening
ra ther spec/al guests.
You did this to fool three of your friends?
Must be kind of special friends.
They are, they are, indeed... very special friends.
[Suspense music]
What you have just looked at
takes place 300 feet underground,
beneath the basement of a New York City skyscraper.
It's 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.
[Suspense music]
(Rad/n over speakers) Good evening, friends.
Just step across the hall to the door straight ahead of you.
[Whirring]
(Rad/n, over speakers) Please, come in if you will.
Sit down, make yoursel ves comfortable.
[Whirring]
Please sit down.
[Suspense music]
How good of you to come.
Colonel hawthorne, Mr. Hughes,
Mrs. Langsford.
It's radin, isn't it?
Aren't you Paul radin?
You have an excellent memory, reverend.
And you, colonel, do you recognize me?
I believe I do.
Served under me once, didn't you, radin?
I did indeed, second lieutenant, infantry regiment
under your command, afr/ca, 1.942.
I recall it vaguely.
I seem to recall something else too.
It's not surprising it doesn't flood back to you.
You had a few thousand men under you.
I was onl y one.
But then again, you didn't court-martial all of them.
That distinction you reserved for me.
Ah, yes, I do recall.
You refused to lead an assault on a hill.
Refused in the face of a direct order.
The delay cost us almost a company of men.
That was your contention to the court-martial board,
I was stripped of rank, dishonorably discharged.
You were fortunate,
were I to have dictated the sentence
I would have had you shot.
I'm sure you would have, colonel.
I'm sure you would have.
But what a wretched host I am
to neglect the lady present.
Mrs. Langsford.
Do you recall who I am?
Of course, I do, Paul.
Itaught you in high school.
I don't forget my students.
Oh, sometimes the names and the faces get confused
but if I prod my memory
I usually can connect a name and a face...
And, in your case, a character.
You flunked me, Mrs. Langsford;
dressed me down before an entire class.
Called me names, humiliated me.
Well, let me say again,
how good of you to come.
I'm delighted
you accepted the invitation.
(Hawthorne) In vi ta t/on?
The request tha t I come here was an ul tima tum.
Your chauffeur, whoever it was, said it was a matter
of life and death.
Well, yes, yes, indeed.
That's the way it was broached to me.
I was ha ving my dinner
and my wife Mary went to answer the door,
and when she came back,
she had such a strange expression on her face.
Ah, Mr. Hughes, you've never ceased
to be a bit on the wordy side, now, have you?
It's odd, really, how changeless we remain over the years.
But I suppose certain lifetime habits
are not easily put aside.
Paul, perhaps you'd be good enough to tell us
why we've been asked to come here.
I'd be delighted to.
But first, can I get you something?
A highball, perhaps,
or a cup of coffee?
Reverend, how do you take your coffee?
Habits, Mrs. Langsford...
The incredible persistence of habits.
You call me Paul, as if I were still sitting
in the front row in your classroom. [Chuckles]
But what about you, Mrs. Langsford?
A nice cup of tea?
Thank you, no.
Oh?
How about you, colonel? A tot of rum?
I would apprecia te
if you made your point and let us leave.
You've obviously called us here for something
and I would welcome hearing whatever it is.
How staunchly military, colonel.
Drive, drive, drive!
Get up against that objective and wipe it out.
Red flag in the map
and troops out of the sun.
The nerves of steel and a concrete head.
That will be all, radin!
Colonel, you are no longer in command.
I'm in command here
and what I command is your attention.
I called you three here
for a very specific purpose.
I want to settle three old scores
but will do it in chronology.
My dear old schoolmarm shall begin.
That staunch and intrepid educator
that looks so out of place
without her severe specta cles
co ver/ng severe eyes
looking out of a severe face
and possess/ng
that vast prerogative that comes
from the school board, and the vast courage
that comes with pitting all her wits and instinct and knowledge
against captive children.
Are you finished, Paul?
My dear schoolmarm, I've hardly begun.
Well, then, may I make an observation?
Justa comment
on how incredible th/s whole thing ls
that a man like you, a millionaire three times over,
an important man who walks with kings and heads of state
and industrial tycoons...
That sucha man should ha vea mind so tiny
tha t it could brood
over a high school incident of 20 years ago
and let it fester inside you as you seem to have done.
I have never liked humiliation,
whether it happened 20 years ago or in the past ten minutes.
Humiliation?
All right, Paul, let's talk about humiliation.
Let's talk about your humiliation.
Mr. Radin was caught
cheating in an examination.
Nota crime, of course,
but perhaps a bit indicative of the character
of the person who does it.
And when he was accused of this act,
this cocoon, soon to become tycoon,
tried to plant his crib sheets on an innocent student.
How right you are,
Mr. Radin, tha t I stood you up on your feet
and in front of the entire class
I told you exactly what you were.
But no room was there then, Mrs. Langsford,
for a moment of compassion,
for an iota of sympathy
for a poor, frightened, desperate boy.
Mr. Radin, I've dealt
with frightened and desperate children all my life.
And it may surprise you to know
tha t I've lent them more of s ympa thy
and of compass/on
than I have lent them of knowledge.
But neither sympathy nor compassion can be handed out
wholesale, like cheap bubble gum.
The recipient must be worthy of them
and you never were.
You werea devious, dishonest troublemaker.
And in spite of all your millions,
it's my guess you are still devious,
you are still dishonest.
And I've no doubt, even now,
you're a troubl emaker.
You haven't changed, Mrs. Langsford.
(Hughes) Mr. Rad/n, ob v/ousl y many years ha ve passed
between now and the time you felt you'd suffered indignities
at our hands, but what's to be gained by...
(Rad/n) A grea t deal can be gained,
a very great deal.
You, for example, accused me of a lack of character,
put a scandal over my head, destroyed my reputation.
Yes, I remember.
A girl, Mr. Radin, a girl you drove to suicide.
Because even a t tha t Earl y stage
you were not a man who held honor in very high regard.
[Suspense music] You can go to the devil, reverend!
Radin!
And you, too, colonel.
Tonight, my friends,
you will all go to the devil,
and that/s not a figure of speech!
(Rad/n) Do you know why/ buil t this room down here?
Those walls are 18 inches concrete w/th reinforced steel.
And around them, six inches of lead.
I ha ve my own genera Tor system, my own air system.
Yes, and out there, beyond tha t door,
a storeroom the size of a warehouse.
You understand logistics, colonel.
Does it occur to you why I should have gone
to all this trouble and expense?
[Suspense music]
To begin a vigil, my friends.
The long wait and the countdown.
Yes. I have walked with kings and tycoons,
as you perceive, Mrs. Langsford.
I have walked with them, and I have listened to them.
I keep abreast of the times, and usually well ahead of them.
I know things that are going to happen.
I pay for the service.
48 hours ago
I received a most interesting bit of news,
something that perhaps only six men
in the world know of.
The world is coming to an end this evening,
ladies and gentlemen.
At 11:45, there will be no more city, no more country.
At 30 minutes after midnight, there will be no more world.
They are going to bomb us,
and we are going to bomb them.
By dawn, there will be nothing left but rubble and bodies.
And ina few moments it will all begin.
You'll be hearing sirens very shortly.
That's the red alert.
That means their missiles are on their way.
Ours will follow soon after.
And you are to survive, Mr. Radin?
Is that the idea?
I am to survive, Mr. Hughes.
I am 300 feet underground.
And what about you, reverend?
Do you wish to survive?
Do the rest of you wish to survive?
Or am I to be the only pallbearer?
[High-pitched tone]
(Man over speakers) This is your civil defense announcer.
Repea ting. The air defense command has just declared
a take-co ver signal.
This is nota practice warning, nota drill.
Anattack byenemy forces is expected atany moment.
You must seek the nearest shel ter immedia tel y.
If you are in your home,
go to your prepared shel ter or to the basement.
If you ha ve no shel ter or basement,
go toward the center of the house, to the first room
or hall that will put as many walls
as possible between you and the outside of the house.
Take your rad/o with you.
If you are in any other type of building, go to the basement
or lowest floor and getas close to the center of the building
as possible.
(Announcer) ...Your shel ter until told it is safe to do so.
This is nota test.
This is a real take-co ver... [Broadcast sz'ops]
Comments?
Perhaps a little military sophistry now, colonel.
A quote from general Grant.
Or you, reverend,
something enriching from the gospel.
Such silence, Mrs. Langsford?
Nothing in that vast repertoire,
that pilgrim's progress mind of yours,
to handle the situa tion?
A mental eraser to wipe out reality?
I've got to get to my wife.
By all means, reverend, get to your wife.
Hold hands and die together.
You turn my stomach, Mr. Hughes.
"Get to your wife."
That's not what's on your mind.
What's on your mind is what's on the colonel's mind
and the schoolmarm's mind.
Your precious hide, your sanctified flesh.
That's what preoccupies you at the moment.
If I'm to die tonight
I want to be with someone I love.
"Somebody I love..." How theatrical! Ha!
But more burlesque than legitimate.
Have the decency, reverend, to depart this earth
with just a fragment of the truth in your mouth.
Tell me to my face that you're so scared,
so miserably frightened,
that you'd sell your wife by the pound
if it meant your own survival.
If those were the last words I spoke before I died,
they would also be the worst falsehood
I ever uttered on earth.
Now, will you open this door?
Will you let me leave now?
[Sirens blaring]
How did you know, radin?
How could you possibly have known?
What difference does it make,
if he'll let us leave now
perhaps we can reach our homes before it happens.
Shall we drop the pretenses now?
Shall we, all of us now, tell the truth?
I told you how th/s room was constructed...
Steel, concrete and lead.
It may be the only place on earth where you can survive.
Now, what is this nonsense about going back to your homes?
Do you mean to say that you would walk out of here and die
when by simply sitting here you could live?
Are we to understand, Mr. Radin,
that you will permit us this luxury?
You will allow us to stay?
Of course, colonel. As a matter of fact,
it's precisely why I've asked you to come.
Each of you in his own way has tried to destroy me.
But I'll not repay the compliment.
That is to say, I will not require an eye for an eye,
nothing as primitive or as naked as that.
What is your price, Mr. Radin?
I'd be interested. [Suspense music]
The colonel would be interested.
I presume the reverend and the schoolmarm
would be interested.
I submit, dear friends,
you're not just interested.
It's probably the only thing in god's earth
that has any meaning left at all.
But the price, colonel,
you will beg my pardon,
you will ask my forgiveness,
and, if need be, will get down on your hands and knees
to perform the function.
"Pretty please with sugar on it."
How's that? Speak up, teacher.
"Pretty please with sugar on it."
It's what children say to exact a favor.
I don't want your favor, Mr. Radin!
Let me out of here!
If I'm to spend my last quarter hour on earth
I'd rather spend it with a stray cat
or alone in central park
or in a city full of strangers
whose names I'll never know.
(Hughes) The door, ra din.
Will you open the door now?
(Hawthorne) Open up, rad/n.
[Suspense music]
You're too blind or you're too stupid,
because none of you seem to understand.
All you have to do...
Literally, all you have to do... is to say a sentence.
Just a string of silly, stupid words.
Like a command, colonel,
or like a lesson, teacher,
or like a prayer, reverend.
All you have to say is you're sorry.
All right, you want to die, fine.
But you'll be back inside five minutes.
There's the elevator! Take it!
Take the farce to its conclusion.
Go up into the street and see the panic
and the frenzy and the horror.
And come back to your salvation.
Or watch it all down here on that screen.
You can see it all happen, the whole thing.
Watch the world being sho veled into a gra ve.
It's your last chance.
It's your last chance, I mean it.
Tell me, reverend, is life so stinking cheap
that you can throw it down a drain?
Life is very dear, Mr. Radin, infinitely valuable.
But there are other things that come even higher.
Honor is one of them...
Perhaps the most expensive of them all.
Amen.
(Langsford) Try not to get too lonel y.
Use mirrors. They ma y help.
Put them all around the room.
Then you'll have the company of a world full of rad/ns.
It'll bea fantasy, of course,
but then your whole life has beena fantasy,
a parade of illusions...
Illusions about what people have done to you,
illusions about what justice is,
illusions about what is the dignity
of even the lowest of us.
A fantas y, Mr. Radin,
and now you can have itall to yourself.
No, it's not true, it's not a fantasy.
No, it's not a fantasy!
[Sirens blaring]
[O ver speakers] This is your civil defense announcer.
Our militaryauthorities ha ve just ordered a take-cover alert.
A tta ck b y enemy forces is imminent.
Take cover immedia tel y.
If you are in your car driving a way from your city, continue.
Keep on driving.
Do not stop.
When movement is no longer possible,
seek the best a vailable refuge.
That's enough!
If you are outdoors on foot,
hurry to the nearest shel ter,
[sirens continue]
[Explosion]
That's quite enough!
[Sirens stop]
[Suspense music]
[Whimpering]
[Tragic music]
[Sobbing]
[Sobbing continues]
[Car horn honking]
[Wailing]
Anybody?
Somebody.
Please.
Somebody...
(Man) Hey, ma c, ma c.
Had a little bit too much?
Hey, Mac.
I didn't want it this way.
Let me take you home, Mac.
I didn't want it this way.
No, somebody, please.
Anybody, won't somebody listen to me?
[Sobbing]
[Clamoring voices]
(Policeman) Go on now, move along. Move along, please.
Move along, please!
Please, move along, please, please. It's okay now,
we're gonna help you.
Isn't there anybody left?
Nobody?
You're gonna be all right.
Nobody!
Now, go on, break it up.
Go on, go on.
Nobody.
[Suspense music] N o b o dy...
Oh, god.
God.
(Narrator) Mr. Pa ul ra din, a dealer in fantasy
who s/ts in the rubble of his own making
and ima gines tha t he's the last man on earth,
doomed to a perdition of unutterable loneliness
becausea practical joke has turned into a nightmare.
Mr. Paul radin, pallbearer a ta funeral
tha t he manufactured himself in the twilight zone.
(Announcer) Rod serl/ng, creator of the twilight zone,
will tell you about next week's story
after th/s message.
And now, Mr. Serling.
Next week, through the good offices of Mr. Charles beaumont,
we take a walk in some dead man's shoes.
It's the story of a hobo who takes some shoes
off a recently-deceased hoodlum, and then discovers
that if the shoe fits, you have to wear it.
You have to do as the shoes do...
Go where they tell you to and then perform
some services above and beyond the norm.
I hope we see you next week for "dead man's shoes."
(Announcer) Sea t bel ts can reduce serious injury b y one-third.
Does your fam/I y have the security of sea t bel ts?