(eerie music)
(male presenter, off) There is a fifth dimension
Beyond that Whichis known to man.
It is a dimension As vast as space
And as timeless as infinity.
It is the middle ground Between light and shadow.
Between science And superstition.
And it lies Between the pit of man's fears
And the summit Of his knowledge.
This is the dimension Of imagination.
It is an area which we call
The twilight zone.
[car braking And engine revving]
[horn biaring]
When you're F in ish ed, mister.
How about Some service?
When it's qu I et.
[sighs] I'm sorry.
F I ll it up, Will you?
Sure.
(male presenter, off) Martin sloan, age 36.
Occupation, vice president, Ad agency, in charge of media.
This is not just A sunday drive For martin sloan
He perhaps doesn't Know it at the time, But it's an exodus.
Somewhere up the road, He's looking for sanity
And somewhere up the road He'll find something else.
O I l chang e and lu be job. That what you want?
Yeah.
Take about an hour.
It's all right. I'm in no hurry.
That's hom ewood U p ahead, isn't it?
Yep. About a m I le And a half.
I used to live In hom ewood.
G rew up there, As a matter of fact.
Haven't been back In 20, 25 years.
20, 25 years.
Yesterday I just got In the car and drove.
I had to get out Of new york city.
One more board meeting Phone call, report, problem
I would have j u m ped Right out the win dow.
That's walking distance, Isn't it?
Yeah. About a M I le and a half.
Yeah, that's Walking distance.
Yeah? What'll it be?
I don't su ppose You still make
Those great Chocolate sodas, Do you? Three scoops?
How's that?
Well, I spent half my life In this drugstore.
G rew up here.
One thing I always Remember ordering
Was a chocolate soda With three scoops.
It was only a di me!
You look familiar to me.
Have I seen you before?
I got that kind of face.
Oh.
It's been a long time, 20 years to be exact.
Wish I had a buck
For every hour I sat at this fou ntai n--
G ram mar school right Th roug h third year high.
Town looks the same too.
Pretty amazing, you know?
20 years to look So exactly the sam e.
That'll be a di me.
A di me? Three scoops?
That's the way We make 'em.
Well, you're going To lose your sh I rt that way.
Nobody sells sodas For a di me anymore.
They don't?
Where you from?
New york.
M m m.
That's a good soda.
Taste okay?
M m m, won derfu l.
You know, it's fu n ny
How many memori es You con n ect with a place.
I always thought If I ever came back here
Everything would be All chang ed.
You know, Nothing recog n izable.
I nstead, it's just as I f,
Just as I f I'd left yesterday.
Just as I f I'd been away overnight.
I almost expect Mr. Wi lson to be In the stockroom sleeping
Just like he always did Before he died.
It's one Of the memori es I have
Old man wi lson--
May god rest his sou l.
Sleeping in his big Com fortable chair
In the other room.
Well,
Here you are.
Thanks a lot.
That's a buck.
Yeah.
It was worth it.
So long!
[suspense music]
(ciears throat)
Mr. Wi lson?
Yep, charlie?
We're going to need some More chocolate syru p, Mr. Wi lson.
I'll order some more Of it this afternoon.
[suspense music And dogs barking]
Pau l cox, m ichael bradbu ry
Van bu ren, bru n I.
(little boy) Hi.
Pretty good.
Magg I e's not bad.
[sighs] I used to play Marbles. We used To give them special names.
The steele kind We called those "Steeli es",
The clear kind That you could see th roug h We called those "Cleari es".
You still give Th em special names?
Sure.
I used to play H I de and seek Over there.
We'd all ci rcle Around the old Man's back
And we used to pu nch it.
See that house?
Right across the street? I used to live there.
Sloan house?
You still Call it that?
Still call it what?
Sloan house.
My name is sloan. Martin sloan. What's yours?
You're not marty sloan. I know marty sloan And you're not him!
Oh, I'm not? Well, let's just see.
What the driver's License says. Huh?
(woman) Bobby, come down From there. Bobby!
Bobby, listen to me.
Bobby?
Bobby, mind me.
Will you come down From that tree?
Come on, bobby.
Bobby, listen to me.
Come on, get down.
Bobby!
That's a boy.
Come on. Right here.
What am I ever Going to do with you?
Ah, it's won derfu l, Isn't it?
The park?
Certain ly is.
All right, bobby.
That's part of summer, too.
Music from The merry-go-rou n d, The calliope.
And the cotton can dy, The ice cream,
And the band concert.
Nothing qu ite As good ever.
Nothing qu ite as good As summer and being a ki d.
Are you from Around here?
No. Oh, what I mean is I Used to be a long time ago.
Lived a couple blocks away.
I played baseball On that field over there
And that merry-go-rou n d-- Oh, my goodn ess.
I grew up With that merry-go-rou n d.
I carved my name on that post On the ban dstand one summer.
I was 1 1 years old And I carved my--
(martin) Martin sloan.
You're martin sloan?
Yes, s I r, but I Di dn't mean nothing. Hon est.
Lots of kids Carve their name here.
No kidding.
I'm not the first.
You are martin sloan.
Of course you are.
That's the way I looked.
[suspense music]
Marti n!
[rings doorbeii]
Yes?
Yes? Whom do you Want to see?
Pop.
Woman: Who is it, robert?
Mom.
Is that mom?
Who are you?
What do you want?
Who is it?
You're both here.
How can You be here?
What do you want, You ng man?
Mom, don't you know me?
I'm marti n!
Marti n?
M ust be a lu natic Or something.
You m ustn't be frighten ed.
I grew up here, mom. Don't you know Your own son?
[bangs door]
(young man) Hi.
Like it?
It's got a ru m ble seat.
It's been a long time s I nce I've seen a ru m ble seat.
Where you been, Mister? S I beria?
Pop just bought me this.
First bran d-n ew car I've ever own ed.
Th is? Bran d-n ew?
First of its kind In the whole town.
Right out of detroit Yesterday morning.
Brand n ew? 34 roadster?
Right out of detro it?
Brand n ew?
[music intensifies]
[distant bell tolling]
(male presenter, off) A man can think A lot of thoughts
And walk a lot of pavements Between afternoon and night,
And to a man Like martin sloan,
To whom memory Has suddenly become reality,
A resolve can come just As clearly and inexorably
As stars in the summer night.
Martin sloan Is now back in town
And his resolve is to put A claim to his past.
Back again, huh?
I had to come Back, pop.
This is my house And this is my glove.
You gave it to me On my 1 1 th b I rth day.
And the baseball Autographed by lou gehrig.
Who are you?
What do you want here?
I don't know.
I just want to rest. I want to stop ru n ning.
I-- I belong here.
Don't you u n derstand that? I belong here.
Now, look, You're probably s ick.
You're having Delus ions.
I don't want to h u rt you.
I don't want you To get into trou ble.
But if you hang around here, There may be trou ble.
(woman) Robert?
(woman) Who were you Talking to?
Mom! Look at me.
You have A son named marti n, Haven't you?
He goes to em erson Pu blic school.
In the month Of aug ust he spen ds
At his au nt's farm N ear bu ffalo.
A couple of summers
You've gon e To saratoga lake,
Rented a cottag e there.
Once I had a s ister.
She died when sh e Was a year old.
Where is marti n?
I'm marti n!
You've got To believe me.
I'm marti n. You've got to believe me!
Look, here are My I dentif ication,
All my cards.
They'll tell you Who I am.
Look at them. Go on, They'll tell you.
[distant merry Go round music]
Marti n.
Marti n, I've got To talk to you.
Marti n.
Marti n!
Martin.
[merry go round music]
Marti n.
Marti n!
Martin!
Let me talk to you!
Let me tell you Something.
I don't want To h u rt you, son.
I won't h u rt you.
(martin) I won't hurt you, son.
Marti n!
Martin!
Marti n!
Ow! My leg! My leg!
Marti n!
Marti n.
I only wanted To tell you
That this is a won derfu l Time of life for you.
Don't let any of it Go by without enjoying it.
There won't be Any more merry-go-rou n ds.
No more cotton can dy.
No more band concerts.
I only wanted to tell you
That this is A won derfu l time for you.
Now. Here.
That's all, marti n.
That's all I wanted to tell you.
God h elp me.
That's all I wanted to tell you.
I thought you'd like to know
The boy Will be all right.
Doctor says he'll li m p some,
But he'll be all right.
Oh, thank god for that.
You dropped this At the house.
I looked I nside it.
It tells a great Many things about you.
Your driver's license, The cards, the money in it.
It seems You are martin sloan.
You're 36 years old
And have an apartment In new york city.
It says Your driver's license Exp I res in 1 960.
That's 25 years from now.
And the dates on the b I lls
Those dates haven't Happened yet either.
Then you-- You know, pop?
Yes, I know.
I know who you are.
I know you've come From a long way from here.
A long way and a long time.
But I don't u n derstand How or why.
Do you?
No.
But you do Know other things, Don't you, marti n?
Things that will happen.
Yes, I do.
Marti n.
Yes, pop?
You have to leave here.
There's no room, There's no place.
Do you u n derstand that?
I see that now, But I don't understand.
Why not?
I gu ess because we Only get one chance.
Maybe there's only one summer To every custom er.
That little boy,
The one I know, The one who belongs here,
This is his summer, Just as it was yours once.
Don't make him share it.
All right.
Martin.
Is it so bad Where you're from?
I thought so, pop.
I've been living At a dead ru n, And I was tired.
Then one day, I knew I had to come back here.
I had to come back And get on the merry-go-rou n d
And eat cotton can dy And listen to a band concert.
And to stop and breath e
And close my eyes And smell and listen.
I gu ess we all want that.
Maybe when you go back, Marti n, you'll f in d
That there are M erry-go-rou n ds and band Concerts where you are.
Maybe you Haven't been looking In the right place.
You've been looking Beh in d you, marti n.
Try looking ahead.
Maybe.
Goodbye, son.
Goodbye, pop.
[cheerfui music]
Hi.
Oh.
Something for you?
U h.
How about a chocolate Ice cream soda
With three scoops?
Three scoops? Sure I can make One for you
With three scoops, But it will be extra. 35 cents, okay?
Oh, 35 cents, huh?
How about old ben wi lson Who used to own this place?
Oh, he died About 1 5, 20 years ago.
What kind of ice cream Do you want?
Chocolate? Vanilla?
Van I lla?
Oh, I-I've chang ed my mind About the soda
If you don't mind.
[groans]
These stools aren't made For bum legs, are they?
Hey. Did you get that Du ring the war?
No.
Matter of fact, I got it Falling off a merry-go-rou n d
When I was a ki d, here.
And the freak thing--
Oh, a merry-go-round.
Hey, I remember.
They tore that down A few years ago.
Condemned it.
A little late, I guess, huh?
Huh?
A little late For you, I mean.
Yeah, very late.
Very late for me.
(male presenter) Martin sloan, age 36
Vice-president In charge of media.
Successful in most things But not in the one effort
That all men try At some time in their lives.
Trying to go home again.
And also Like all men, perhaps There will be an occasion,
Maybe a summer Night sometime,
When he'll look up From what he's doing
And listen to the distant Music of a calliope
And hear the voices And the laughter
Of the people And the places Of his past.
And perhaps across his m ind
There will flit A little errant wish
That a man m ight not Have to become old
Never outgrow the parks
And the merry-go-rounds Of his youth.
And he'll smile then too
Because he'll know It is just an errant wish
Some wisp of memory Not too important really.
Some laughing ghost
That cross a man's m ind.
That are a part Of the twilight zone.
(male presenter, off) Rod serling, the creator Of the twilight zone
Will tell you about Next week's story after This word from our sponsor
And now, mr. Serling.
An excu rs ion into fantasy On the twilight zone next week
As two disting u ish ed Actors, mr. Davi d wayn e And mr. Thomas gom ez
Appear in "Escape clause."
The story Of a strang e contract Between a mortal man
And his satan ic maj esty.
A contract that en ds Most su rprising ly.
We hope you'll be Around to see what That surprise is.
Thank you and good night.
(male presenter, off) Be sure to see The fun filled family life
One of america's Greatest entertainers.
Danny thomas show, Monday nights, over Most of these stations.