The Twilight Zone (1959) s04e03 Episode Script
In His Image
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.
Oh, i didn't hear you.
Are you sick, young man? No.
You look sick.
My husband looked like that just before he died- all white and pasty.
No, no, i'm all right.
Just what he said, just those words- "i'm all right.
" Went to bed.
Next morning, went to wake him- there he was sprawled out dead.
You don't drink, do you? No.
Well, that's what killed my jack.
I told him it was the devil's work, but he wouldn't listen to me.
And you can see where he is now.
Oh, the devil's all around us, mister, all around us, everywhere we go.
If we don't fight him, if we don't stand up to him, we suffer eternal torment.
Yeah, i'm sure you're right.
I know i'm right, and i'll tell you how i know.
It was on a sunday.
I was ironing, if you please, and that's when it came out of a clear blue sky.
Oh, the dear good lord's own sweet breath and his voice like an electric shock- i was revelated! Oh, praise him, mister, and praise his good works! Do you read the book? What book is that? Why, the good book! Oh, yes, all the time.
You sure you're telling the truth, now? We may be a mile underground, but he hears every word.
Yes, it's the truth! All right, leviticus, chapter five, verse two.
Perfect, you're perfect.
Well? Lady, please! "Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, "whether it be a carcass of an unclean beast, "or a carcass of unclean cattle, "or a carcass of unclean creeping things, and if it be "hidden from him, he shall also be unclean and guilty.
" Lady, go away! Don't you want to be saved? No, i just want to be left alone! We're never alone, young man- don't you know that? He's always with us, and he'll help us if we only let him, but we've got to be saved first.
Here, read this.
Take it, read it! It'll change your life.
Oh, the devil means to have you, mister, but i won't let him.
I'll fight with you, and we'll win.
Listen to me, mister, it's salvation i'm talking about! No, no, no! What you have just witnessed could be the end of a particularly terrifying nightmare.
It isn't.
It's the beginning.
Although alan talbot doesn't know it, he's about to enter a strange new world too incredible to be real, too real to be a dream.
It's called the twilight zone.
I'm sorry to bother you, ma'am, but, like, i belong to the junior woodchucks, and if you buy a ten-year subscription to theladies' home companion, i get a genuine toy typewriter free.
Now, what do you say? No, thank you very much.
Hi.
You ready? And willing.
You disappointed? I'm a little surprised.
I told you that there were lines that i did not cross.
I know.
I was going to wait till after we got married, but something came over me.
I lost my self-control.
Well, you look around for it.
And i'll get you some coffee.
How come so late? Who's late? Who's late? You're late.
What, five minutes? No, 45 minutes.
Honey, i keep telling you, get rid of that sundial.
Okay, so you overslept.
Just remember, it wasn't my idea to leave at 5:00 in the morning.
Look, i did notoversleep.
I left the hotel at 4:30 a.
m.
I got on the subway, i got off the subway, i came here- therefore therefore you must have stopped someplace and had a few short beers, because now it's almost 6:00.
See? Yeah, i see, but i don't understand.
Alan, you're going to be very proud of me.
Why? You wanted to take a lunch, huh? So i roasted us a chicken.
Oh, great! Jess yeah? Are you sure? What do you mean? I mean, do you know what you're doing? Yes, i do.
I am a spinster well over 20 years old and i am sound of mind and sound of body.
I'm going to visit a town i have never seen before for the purpose of meeting and impressing a woman i've never heard of before for the purpose of marrying a guy i've known for exactly four days.
What's so odd about that? No, i'm serious.
Well, so am i.
Shouldn't you shouldn't you know more about me or something? Like what? I know your name is alan talbot.
I know that you come from coeurville, new york, that you live in a big white house surrounded by rosebushes and trees and that you do scientific research on a bomb.
Not a bomb, a computer, electronics.
Now, you see, you're romanticizing me already.
Don't interrupt.
You're visiting new york city for the pure morbid pleasure of it.
You make $600 a month.
You're very kind to small animals and very nice to old chestnut vendors.
And now you're very lonely.
And you're desperately in need of a woman who's five foot three who answers to the name of jessica connelly, right? Right.
And youaresingle.
At the present.
Alan do you think i'm going to like coeurville? Only if you happen to like great little towns full of warm, friendly people.
You've only been gone a week, and already you're homesick.
Well, i better like it.
You will, and you'll love aunt mildred.
Now, come on, quit stalling! Walter! Walter, no! No, it isn't right.
Send me back.
Walter alan alan.
Alan.
You were having a nightmare.
What, in the middle of the morning? Who's walter? Who's who? You kept saying "walter.
" Oh, well, this is a poor time to tell you, but he happens to be my brother.
Oh? Yes, it's a tragic situation.
We keep him locked in the cellar.
I don't like to think about it.
Oh, alan, you idiot! I don't know any walter.
Well, maybe awake, you don't know any walter, but asleep, you're scared to death of him! I said i don't know any walter.
Okay okay, you big grouch.
You want me to drive? Sure, but just be careful.
It's not paid for yet.
Ooh, changing of the guard.
Hey, you see that? Yeah.
I used to play here when i was a kid.
Every time i ran away from home, i got just about this far.
Hey, you see that road? Uh-huh.
Love alley, we used to call it.
Great place for sparking the girlies.
And how would you know? Well, my love, in sparking circles, i was known as the human electrode.
The human electrode.
What am i getting into? Oh, alan, it's lovely.
There's the new brunswick hotel over there.
They got an ice cream parlor and a magazine store.
You can also buy cigarettes in there if you can prove you're over 21.
Mr.
Van brooks isverystrict about that.
Do you think i could get by? Well, maybe maybe not.
That's where we buy our groceries.
That's a fine old store.
Around the corner is the depot.
You can't see that from here.
And the library's down on oak street.
And over there is well, don't stop now.
Alan, what is it? Well, either i've got the worst memory in the world, or they put up a new building.
In one week? Well, it's pre-fab.
I tell you, young lady, they don't build buildings the way they used to.
Alan, do me a little favor, huh? Sure.
Could we stop and have a little quick one before we meet the gang? Just a wee little one.
In the first place, there's no gang to meet.
There's just aunt mildred.
And in the second place, there's not one bar in coeurville.
Really? I thought i saw one.
Nope, nearest one's temple, I'll take you in the hotel and buy you a cup of coffee.
That's fine.
Something i can do for you folks? Where's the restaurant? Four doors down, kelsey's cafe.
No, i mean the one here.
What happened? Did you close? Never had one here.
Just a hotel.
This is the new brunswick? Yes, sir.
I see.
I know how absent-minded you scientific men are, so i know you won't mind my asking- are you sure this is the right town? Course i'm sure.
Well, alan, don't snap at me.
I'm sorry, i guess i'm just nervous.
Look, jess, let's go home and get something there, all right? Sure, fine.
Is that your mr.
Van brooks? No.
I don't know who he is.
It's as though 20 years have gone by.
Everything's different.
I think you're just looking at things for the first time.
I've lived near times square all my life, but i don't remember seeing it, really, for years.
They could've put up half a dozen new buildings- i'd never notice because i just don't look.
Yeah, that's probably it.
Now, thati would recognize anywhere.
You like it? What if i didn't? Of course i do.
It's charming.
Come on! The first thing we're going to do is paint it- pink.
Why not purple? Oh, she must have it locked from the inside.
Aunt mildred? Aunt mildred! Alan, you're going to shake up the whole neighborhood.
Well, i have to.
She's hard-of-hearing.
Aunt mildred? What do you want? I'm alan talbot.
So? So i happen to live here.
Now, would you mind telling me who you are and what you're doing in my house? Are you crazy or something? Wait a minute.
Where's aunt mildred? Who? Mildred talbot.
Now, listen, mister, let me tell you something.
You've made some kind of a mistake.
I live here.
I've lived here for nine years.
I bought this place from gerald butler, and i've got the deed to prove it.
I don't know anybody named mildred, and i don't know you, either.
Now, you get off my property, or i'll call the sheriff! Wait! Alan, what are you going to do? What would you do if you found some stranger living in your house? Call the police! Hi.
Who'd you want to see? Would you tell mrs.
Cook i'd like to use the phone, please? Mrs.
Cook? Yes.
Please hurry.
I'm sorry.
Mrs.
Cook doesn't live here.
She died.
What?! About three three years ago, i think.
You aren't her cousin from sweden, are you? No, i'm not her cousin from sweden! I'm alan talbot, and i live next door, and i had lunch with mrs.
Cook a week ago! Thank you very much.
Come on, alan.
I had lunch with agatha cook a week ago, just before i left for new york.
I know you did.
You mentioned it.
Jess, i don't know what's going on but i'm going to find out.
Well, that's it.
That's where i work.
The university of coeurville, established 1912.
Over there- that four-story building- you see it? My office is on the second floor.
Well, what do you think of it? I don't know what to think.
Well, maybe they moved it.
Sure.
In the week i've been gone, they took it apart brick by brick and moved it somewhere else.
For pete's sake, i've made this drive twice a day for over ten years.
You'd think i'd forget? I'm sorry.
It's okay.
Did you get everything all straightened out? Sure.
I'm out of my mind.
Oh, alan i don't know what else to think.
What else can i think? Somebody i never saw before living in my house? Woman i had lunch with a week ago dead three years? New buildings in the town? This is going to sound crazy, i know, but do you remember what you said when we tried to get coffee at that hotel? The one that didn't have the coffee shop? You said it was as though coeurville had aged 20 years.
Do you remember? Well, maybe not in one week.
What do you mean? I'm not sure.
But what if it's true? What if 20 years have gone by? I'm rip van winkle? Well, why not? Alan, it's a possibility, isn't it? No, i thought about that.
That doesn't hold up for a lot of reasons.
For one thing, it would make me at least 45 years old, unless i left town when i was ten, and that couldn't be, because i went to high school and college here! Except there aren't any records showing i ever went to coeurville high.
And the university i work for, dear old coeurville u.
, doesn't even exist! It never existed! Well what about your aunt? I just checked.
There's not a trace of evidence that a mildred talbot ever lived here.
It was an idea.
Come on.
Where to now? The cemetery.
Alan, why are you doing this? To find out if the world's gone crazy or if i have.
My parents are buried here.
If i can just find their graves over there- talbots have been buried in that plot for over 50 years.
Oh! Those the ones? That's them, all right.
I'm sorry.
This man says you caused a disturbance at his house.
Do you admit it? Yes, i made a mistake.
Said you claimed it was your house.
Well, i thought it was.
I'm sorry.
Are you satisfied? Well, as long as he owns up to it.
But you better not come pestering me again, young fellow! I won't! Go on back to the car.
I'll be along in a minute.
What's your name, son? Alan talbot.
Is this your wife? No we're just friends.
Well, mr.
Talbot, do you want to tell me what you're doing in coeurville? You the sheriff? That's right.
What happened to carl jasperson? He's the man i replaced.
Do you know him? He's my godfather.
Where can i find him? Over there.
Oh, miss i can't force you to do anything, because you haven't broken any laws, but i'd like to suggest that you take your friend to see a doctor.
He looks sick.
And the way he was staring at that grave is he kin to walter ryder? I don't know.
Let's go, alan.
How do you feel? Alan? Darling, i know how upset you are, but there's a rational explanation for all this.
There has to be.
A friend of mine, dr.
Matthews he had a patient once who couldn't even remember her own name.
She was on a plane suddenly, she couldn't remember where she was going, or why, or anything.
When he first talked to her, she couldn't remember a thing about her life.
But after two weeks, she was just fine.
It was a form of amnesia.
I think you should see him, alan.
You'll like dr.
Matthews.
Put it down, alan! Get away! Run, walter, run! Stop the car! Are you going to be sick? Yes! Hurry, stop the car! Look out, you'll kill me with that kill me with that kill me kill me kill kill jess, can you give me a hand? I'm coming, alan! Hurry! No! Jess, get away from me! Get away from me! Get in the car and drive away as quick as you can! Alan, let me help you! No! I'll see you later at your apartment.
How are you going to get back there? Never mind, just go! Go now, jess! Run! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Mister, are you all right? Are you all right, mister? I didn't see you, honest! I came around the turn.
I didn't see you.
Is it bad? I don't know.
Twilight zonewill continue after station identification.
Thank you.
You sure you're all right, mister? Yes, i'm fine now.
I still think you ought to see a doctor.
No, i'm all right, see? I'm not even bleeding.
Not on the outside, maybe, but what about on the inside? I mean, i've heard of accidents where guys are hurt really bad and they don't even know it.
Look, i'm fine.
Well, sure.
All i'm trying to say is i'd hate to be responsible if you started a hemorrhage or something.
It wasn't my fault.
I mean, you admitted that yourself, but even so look, i signed a paper absolving you of any blame.
Isn't that enough? Yeah.
Don't get sore, mister.
I'm just worried about you is all.
Uh, mister? It's none of my business, but how come you were wandering around out there in the middle of nowhere? I don't know.
Thank you.
I'm sorry i've caused you any trouble.
Mister, i'm just glad you're alive.
Yes? Alan? Darling, i've been calling every 15 minutes.
I've been so worried.
What happened? I'm not sure.
Are you all right? I don't know.
Alan look, jess, why don't you just forget about me? I don't know what's going on.
Listen to me.
I called dr.
Matthews and i made an appointment for you for tomorrow morning.
I'll be at the hotel to pick you up at 9:30.
You'd do that after everything that's happened? Yes, i would.
Mr.
Talbot, i i didn't plan on falling in love with you, but i did and i'm stuck with it, for better or for worse.
Well, thank you.
Would you like me to come over now? No, uh uh i'll see you tomorrow morning.
Good night, jess.
Try not to worry, please.
Good night.
Hello, alan.
I've been waiting for you.
You real? Well, that's a matter of opinion.
I used to think so, years ago.
Now i'm not so sure.
Sit down, alan, over there.
I'll pour us a drink.
Go on, sit down.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
By the way, you almost killed me with those scissors.
Did you know that? It's a shame you didn't.
But then nothing ever works out right for me.
See how close it was? Who are you? You already know that.
You must.
How else could you have found me? I looked you up in the phone book.
Yeah, but how oh, i see.
You've been to coeurville, haven't you? Yes! And you know what? Your name.
That's all? That's all.
In that case, you better have some of that drink.
Exactly eight days ago, you were born here in this house.
What?! I made the delivery myself.
You're drunk! A little bit but not drunk enough.
Will you join me? I guarantee no hangover.
Wasn't that thoughtful of me? Look, i'm in no mood for jokes, mister.
Well, that's a pity, because this whole thing is a joke.
Yeah, well, i'm not laughing.
You will, because the joke's on me.
Would you get to the point? Well, you've been to coeurville.
You know that alan talbot never lived there.
You know you've been behaving oddly of late.
Judging from that handkerchief on your arm, i'd say you know about that, too.
So, with all this information, what do i need to tell you? Who am i?! You're nobody, alan, nobody at all.
Stop it, walter! Well, whois this watch i'm wearing? Ask me that! Whois the refrigerator in the kitchen? Don't you understand? No.
You're a machine, alan, a mechanical device.
I don't believe it! I don't blame you.
I wouldn't believe it, either.
But it's true.
The fact is, you were born a long time ago, inside my head.
All kids have dreams, don't they? Well, you were mine.
The others thought about joining the army or flying to mars.
They finally grew up and they forgot their dreams.
I didn't.
I thought about one thing and longed for one thing always.
Just one.
A perfect artificial man.
Not a robot- a duplicate of a human being.
Well, it was harmless.
Not even very imaginative for a child.
But then i became an adult.
Only somewhere along the line, i forgot to grow up- like most geniuses.
I kept my dream.
I created you, alan.
Is that straight enough for you? You're not only drunk, you're crazy! How would you explain that? Why, it's an artificial arm.
I don't know! You expect me to believe i'm a machine when i know i'm not? That's ridiculous! I eat, i drink, i sleep! Didn't i tell you i wanted a perfect creation? Alan alan, i want you to come with me.
Where? Well, let's call it the, uh, delivery room.
Don't you want to see where you were born? Your birthplace.
Come on.
Turn it off! Over here, alan.
Your brothers.
Alan talbot i alan talbot ii.
Factory rejects.
Any questions? Where did you get the money for all this? I told you, i'm a genius! When i found out how much i'd need for my work, i developed an improved calculator.
Try electronics turns out I get the royalties.
The money was the least of it.
The failures, though, they were bad.
I can't tell you how many times i've failed and had to start over again.
You did this all by yourself? No, that wouldn't have been possible.
I'm afraid the day of the lone inventor has passed.
I had some of the best scientific minds in the world assisting me.
But, of course, they didn't take the project seriously.
To them, it was just a game- a lot of theoretical wool-gathering.
How would it be possible to create an entire nervous system that worked like a real one? How could the brain be duplicated with all its subtleties? You see, i was after real intelligence.
Mere reactions weren't enough.
Those mannequins can react.
My creation had to have a memory.
He had to have abstract reasoning power, a past, a personality.
Millions of intricate facets multiplied by millions to make true intelligence.
Now to accomplish this from the beginning would have been impossible.
I don't know what you're talking about.
What do you mean, you decided to use yourself? Just that.
In certain of your cells, i made certain impressions.
My own memories went into the cells.
Some of my talents, some of my knowledge- bits and pieces of myself.
So now you're telling me that i'm you? That's right.
Well, that's impossible.
I'm me! This is my flesh! Nonconductive plastic.
I admit, it feels like flesh but then, that was the idea.
You see, i cushioned the mechanical parts with a foam layer, and then i worked out a but that's not what you want to hear, is it? You lived in coeurville? Yes.
For your past, i gave you my memories of the town.
Some of them must have been inaccurate and incomplete.
I left coeurville 20 years ago.
Going there must have been quite an experience.
Yeah, it was.
What about the university? Fictitious.
I had to give you a job.
Well, aunt mildred! All the old ladies i've ever known rolled into one.
After my parents died, i lived alone.
The reputation as a don juan is, i regret to say, imaginary.
Well, that's about it, alan.
The rest you can fill in, up to last week, anyway.
What about last week? I wish i knew.
Something went wrong.
I couldn't understand.
You suddenly attacked me with a pair of scissors and then ran away.
As you know, i've been unable to find you since.
What's wrong with me? I'm not sure.
Whatever it is, it's wrong with me, too.
We're all potential murderers, alan, all of us.
But if we're normal, we're protected by our inhibitions.
You've wanted to kill? Of course.
Everybody has.
But my own inhibitions have held my impulses in check.
I couldn't kill, no matter how much i might want to.
So what are you saying? With you, something went wrong.
To put it even clearer, alan, you're insane.
Can i be treated? Repaired, you mean? I don't know.
Why not? Well, as much as i hate to admit it, luck had a great deal to do with your creation.
Skill alone wasn't enough.
You saying i'm an accident? I'm afraid so.
You see, alan, i was like a blind man with a machine gun.
I kept firing and reloading and firing, and finally i hit the target, but it was off-center.
I don't even know if i could come close again.
That's the story of my life, right down the line.
Success in the little things.
Failure in the big ones.
I told myself i wanted to make an artificial man, but i think what i really wanted was to build another walter ryder- only without the drawbacks.
Sort of a reverse jekyll and hyde.
Everything i wished i was, my creation would be.
Where i was shy, he would be aggressive.
Where i was cold and withdrawn, he would be warm and outgoing.
Loneliness would be unknown to him.
Disease and pain and death- all unknown.
He would be unselfish.
He would be ambitious but not fanatical.
And, oh, alan, he would be perfect! That was my dream: A perfect version of myself.
I ought to kill you.
That's right.
You should.
There's somebody else, walter- a girl.
We were going to be married next week.
Is she pretty? Pretty, intelligent and lonely- something you ought to be able to understand.
I'm sorry, alan.
Well, that's a great consolation.
You sure you can't fix me? Even if i could, it wouldn't solve your problems.
The girl would find out eventually.
How? Well, for one thing, she would grow old and you wouldn't.
For another, being a machine, you would suffer a breakdown someday.
All of these things never occurred to you? I guess i didn't really think i'd succeed as well as i did.
What does it matter anyway? There's nothing that can be done.
Yes, there is.
You're going to create another alan talbot.
No, i just told you! You heard me- another alan talbot! Only this one's going to be right.
And he's going to walk out of here tonight, and he's going to marry a girl named jess, and for the first time in his miserable life, he's going to be happy.
Well, i don't understand.
You give me a pencil.
Now, this is her name and address.
She said she would meet me at 9:30 in the morning, but she'll be home now.
What's the matter, alan? What is it? Now, you take it.
Take it and get out now.
And hurry! Alan alan? Just a minute.
Who is it? I'm sorry to bother you, ma'am, but, uh, see, like, i belong to the junior woodchucks, and, uh come in, alan.
Why are you looking at me like that? I don't know.
I've been so worried.
After yesterday, i didn't- forget yesterday.
Whatever happened, forget that.
Oh, but, alan please? We just had a rotten nightmare, that's all.
Now we're awake, and everything's going to be fine.
Will you try to believe that? Do you? Yes.
Okay.
Then so do i.
If you promise to tell me about it someday.
I promise, someday.
Now, will you fix me a cup of coffee? Sure.
Would you like something to eat? How about a couple of mother connelly's hand-fried eggs? They're guaranteed to make a new man out of you.
Thank you.
In a way it can be said that walter ryder succeeded in his life's ambition, even though the man he created was, after all, himself.
There may be easier ways to self-improvement, but sometimes it happens that the shortest distance between two points is a crooked line through the twilight zone.
The ingredients: An american destroyer, the pacific ocean, and a ghostly sound of hammering from 30 fathoms below.
They add up to a strange tale of the bizarre and nightmarish.
Mike kellin and simon oakland star in a very different kind oftwilight zone which we call "the thirty fathom grave.
Ain't that a kick in the head.
What do you suppose it is? Ghosts, man, ghosts.
Here it is, "Commissioned december, 1941.
"Sunk in action "first battle of the solomons, august 7, 1942.
" Well, that was 20 years ago.
Captain beecham, who's down there? Who's inside that sub?
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.
Oh, i didn't hear you.
Are you sick, young man? No.
You look sick.
My husband looked like that just before he died- all white and pasty.
No, no, i'm all right.
Just what he said, just those words- "i'm all right.
" Went to bed.
Next morning, went to wake him- there he was sprawled out dead.
You don't drink, do you? No.
Well, that's what killed my jack.
I told him it was the devil's work, but he wouldn't listen to me.
And you can see where he is now.
Oh, the devil's all around us, mister, all around us, everywhere we go.
If we don't fight him, if we don't stand up to him, we suffer eternal torment.
Yeah, i'm sure you're right.
I know i'm right, and i'll tell you how i know.
It was on a sunday.
I was ironing, if you please, and that's when it came out of a clear blue sky.
Oh, the dear good lord's own sweet breath and his voice like an electric shock- i was revelated! Oh, praise him, mister, and praise his good works! Do you read the book? What book is that? Why, the good book! Oh, yes, all the time.
You sure you're telling the truth, now? We may be a mile underground, but he hears every word.
Yes, it's the truth! All right, leviticus, chapter five, verse two.
Perfect, you're perfect.
Well? Lady, please! "Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, "whether it be a carcass of an unclean beast, "or a carcass of unclean cattle, "or a carcass of unclean creeping things, and if it be "hidden from him, he shall also be unclean and guilty.
" Lady, go away! Don't you want to be saved? No, i just want to be left alone! We're never alone, young man- don't you know that? He's always with us, and he'll help us if we only let him, but we've got to be saved first.
Here, read this.
Take it, read it! It'll change your life.
Oh, the devil means to have you, mister, but i won't let him.
I'll fight with you, and we'll win.
Listen to me, mister, it's salvation i'm talking about! No, no, no! What you have just witnessed could be the end of a particularly terrifying nightmare.
It isn't.
It's the beginning.
Although alan talbot doesn't know it, he's about to enter a strange new world too incredible to be real, too real to be a dream.
It's called the twilight zone.
I'm sorry to bother you, ma'am, but, like, i belong to the junior woodchucks, and if you buy a ten-year subscription to theladies' home companion, i get a genuine toy typewriter free.
Now, what do you say? No, thank you very much.
Hi.
You ready? And willing.
You disappointed? I'm a little surprised.
I told you that there were lines that i did not cross.
I know.
I was going to wait till after we got married, but something came over me.
I lost my self-control.
Well, you look around for it.
And i'll get you some coffee.
How come so late? Who's late? Who's late? You're late.
What, five minutes? No, 45 minutes.
Honey, i keep telling you, get rid of that sundial.
Okay, so you overslept.
Just remember, it wasn't my idea to leave at 5:00 in the morning.
Look, i did notoversleep.
I left the hotel at 4:30 a.
m.
I got on the subway, i got off the subway, i came here- therefore therefore you must have stopped someplace and had a few short beers, because now it's almost 6:00.
See? Yeah, i see, but i don't understand.
Alan, you're going to be very proud of me.
Why? You wanted to take a lunch, huh? So i roasted us a chicken.
Oh, great! Jess yeah? Are you sure? What do you mean? I mean, do you know what you're doing? Yes, i do.
I am a spinster well over 20 years old and i am sound of mind and sound of body.
I'm going to visit a town i have never seen before for the purpose of meeting and impressing a woman i've never heard of before for the purpose of marrying a guy i've known for exactly four days.
What's so odd about that? No, i'm serious.
Well, so am i.
Shouldn't you shouldn't you know more about me or something? Like what? I know your name is alan talbot.
I know that you come from coeurville, new york, that you live in a big white house surrounded by rosebushes and trees and that you do scientific research on a bomb.
Not a bomb, a computer, electronics.
Now, you see, you're romanticizing me already.
Don't interrupt.
You're visiting new york city for the pure morbid pleasure of it.
You make $600 a month.
You're very kind to small animals and very nice to old chestnut vendors.
And now you're very lonely.
And you're desperately in need of a woman who's five foot three who answers to the name of jessica connelly, right? Right.
And youaresingle.
At the present.
Alan do you think i'm going to like coeurville? Only if you happen to like great little towns full of warm, friendly people.
You've only been gone a week, and already you're homesick.
Well, i better like it.
You will, and you'll love aunt mildred.
Now, come on, quit stalling! Walter! Walter, no! No, it isn't right.
Send me back.
Walter alan alan.
Alan.
You were having a nightmare.
What, in the middle of the morning? Who's walter? Who's who? You kept saying "walter.
" Oh, well, this is a poor time to tell you, but he happens to be my brother.
Oh? Yes, it's a tragic situation.
We keep him locked in the cellar.
I don't like to think about it.
Oh, alan, you idiot! I don't know any walter.
Well, maybe awake, you don't know any walter, but asleep, you're scared to death of him! I said i don't know any walter.
Okay okay, you big grouch.
You want me to drive? Sure, but just be careful.
It's not paid for yet.
Ooh, changing of the guard.
Hey, you see that? Yeah.
I used to play here when i was a kid.
Every time i ran away from home, i got just about this far.
Hey, you see that road? Uh-huh.
Love alley, we used to call it.
Great place for sparking the girlies.
And how would you know? Well, my love, in sparking circles, i was known as the human electrode.
The human electrode.
What am i getting into? Oh, alan, it's lovely.
There's the new brunswick hotel over there.
They got an ice cream parlor and a magazine store.
You can also buy cigarettes in there if you can prove you're over 21.
Mr.
Van brooks isverystrict about that.
Do you think i could get by? Well, maybe maybe not.
That's where we buy our groceries.
That's a fine old store.
Around the corner is the depot.
You can't see that from here.
And the library's down on oak street.
And over there is well, don't stop now.
Alan, what is it? Well, either i've got the worst memory in the world, or they put up a new building.
In one week? Well, it's pre-fab.
I tell you, young lady, they don't build buildings the way they used to.
Alan, do me a little favor, huh? Sure.
Could we stop and have a little quick one before we meet the gang? Just a wee little one.
In the first place, there's no gang to meet.
There's just aunt mildred.
And in the second place, there's not one bar in coeurville.
Really? I thought i saw one.
Nope, nearest one's temple, I'll take you in the hotel and buy you a cup of coffee.
That's fine.
Something i can do for you folks? Where's the restaurant? Four doors down, kelsey's cafe.
No, i mean the one here.
What happened? Did you close? Never had one here.
Just a hotel.
This is the new brunswick? Yes, sir.
I see.
I know how absent-minded you scientific men are, so i know you won't mind my asking- are you sure this is the right town? Course i'm sure.
Well, alan, don't snap at me.
I'm sorry, i guess i'm just nervous.
Look, jess, let's go home and get something there, all right? Sure, fine.
Is that your mr.
Van brooks? No.
I don't know who he is.
It's as though 20 years have gone by.
Everything's different.
I think you're just looking at things for the first time.
I've lived near times square all my life, but i don't remember seeing it, really, for years.
They could've put up half a dozen new buildings- i'd never notice because i just don't look.
Yeah, that's probably it.
Now, thati would recognize anywhere.
You like it? What if i didn't? Of course i do.
It's charming.
Come on! The first thing we're going to do is paint it- pink.
Why not purple? Oh, she must have it locked from the inside.
Aunt mildred? Aunt mildred! Alan, you're going to shake up the whole neighborhood.
Well, i have to.
She's hard-of-hearing.
Aunt mildred? What do you want? I'm alan talbot.
So? So i happen to live here.
Now, would you mind telling me who you are and what you're doing in my house? Are you crazy or something? Wait a minute.
Where's aunt mildred? Who? Mildred talbot.
Now, listen, mister, let me tell you something.
You've made some kind of a mistake.
I live here.
I've lived here for nine years.
I bought this place from gerald butler, and i've got the deed to prove it.
I don't know anybody named mildred, and i don't know you, either.
Now, you get off my property, or i'll call the sheriff! Wait! Alan, what are you going to do? What would you do if you found some stranger living in your house? Call the police! Hi.
Who'd you want to see? Would you tell mrs.
Cook i'd like to use the phone, please? Mrs.
Cook? Yes.
Please hurry.
I'm sorry.
Mrs.
Cook doesn't live here.
She died.
What?! About three three years ago, i think.
You aren't her cousin from sweden, are you? No, i'm not her cousin from sweden! I'm alan talbot, and i live next door, and i had lunch with mrs.
Cook a week ago! Thank you very much.
Come on, alan.
I had lunch with agatha cook a week ago, just before i left for new york.
I know you did.
You mentioned it.
Jess, i don't know what's going on but i'm going to find out.
Well, that's it.
That's where i work.
The university of coeurville, established 1912.
Over there- that four-story building- you see it? My office is on the second floor.
Well, what do you think of it? I don't know what to think.
Well, maybe they moved it.
Sure.
In the week i've been gone, they took it apart brick by brick and moved it somewhere else.
For pete's sake, i've made this drive twice a day for over ten years.
You'd think i'd forget? I'm sorry.
It's okay.
Did you get everything all straightened out? Sure.
I'm out of my mind.
Oh, alan i don't know what else to think.
What else can i think? Somebody i never saw before living in my house? Woman i had lunch with a week ago dead three years? New buildings in the town? This is going to sound crazy, i know, but do you remember what you said when we tried to get coffee at that hotel? The one that didn't have the coffee shop? You said it was as though coeurville had aged 20 years.
Do you remember? Well, maybe not in one week.
What do you mean? I'm not sure.
But what if it's true? What if 20 years have gone by? I'm rip van winkle? Well, why not? Alan, it's a possibility, isn't it? No, i thought about that.
That doesn't hold up for a lot of reasons.
For one thing, it would make me at least 45 years old, unless i left town when i was ten, and that couldn't be, because i went to high school and college here! Except there aren't any records showing i ever went to coeurville high.
And the university i work for, dear old coeurville u.
, doesn't even exist! It never existed! Well what about your aunt? I just checked.
There's not a trace of evidence that a mildred talbot ever lived here.
It was an idea.
Come on.
Where to now? The cemetery.
Alan, why are you doing this? To find out if the world's gone crazy or if i have.
My parents are buried here.
If i can just find their graves over there- talbots have been buried in that plot for over 50 years.
Oh! Those the ones? That's them, all right.
I'm sorry.
This man says you caused a disturbance at his house.
Do you admit it? Yes, i made a mistake.
Said you claimed it was your house.
Well, i thought it was.
I'm sorry.
Are you satisfied? Well, as long as he owns up to it.
But you better not come pestering me again, young fellow! I won't! Go on back to the car.
I'll be along in a minute.
What's your name, son? Alan talbot.
Is this your wife? No we're just friends.
Well, mr.
Talbot, do you want to tell me what you're doing in coeurville? You the sheriff? That's right.
What happened to carl jasperson? He's the man i replaced.
Do you know him? He's my godfather.
Where can i find him? Over there.
Oh, miss i can't force you to do anything, because you haven't broken any laws, but i'd like to suggest that you take your friend to see a doctor.
He looks sick.
And the way he was staring at that grave is he kin to walter ryder? I don't know.
Let's go, alan.
How do you feel? Alan? Darling, i know how upset you are, but there's a rational explanation for all this.
There has to be.
A friend of mine, dr.
Matthews he had a patient once who couldn't even remember her own name.
She was on a plane suddenly, she couldn't remember where she was going, or why, or anything.
When he first talked to her, she couldn't remember a thing about her life.
But after two weeks, she was just fine.
It was a form of amnesia.
I think you should see him, alan.
You'll like dr.
Matthews.
Put it down, alan! Get away! Run, walter, run! Stop the car! Are you going to be sick? Yes! Hurry, stop the car! Look out, you'll kill me with that kill me with that kill me kill me kill kill jess, can you give me a hand? I'm coming, alan! Hurry! No! Jess, get away from me! Get away from me! Get in the car and drive away as quick as you can! Alan, let me help you! No! I'll see you later at your apartment.
How are you going to get back there? Never mind, just go! Go now, jess! Run! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Mister, are you all right? Are you all right, mister? I didn't see you, honest! I came around the turn.
I didn't see you.
Is it bad? I don't know.
Twilight zonewill continue after station identification.
Thank you.
You sure you're all right, mister? Yes, i'm fine now.
I still think you ought to see a doctor.
No, i'm all right, see? I'm not even bleeding.
Not on the outside, maybe, but what about on the inside? I mean, i've heard of accidents where guys are hurt really bad and they don't even know it.
Look, i'm fine.
Well, sure.
All i'm trying to say is i'd hate to be responsible if you started a hemorrhage or something.
It wasn't my fault.
I mean, you admitted that yourself, but even so look, i signed a paper absolving you of any blame.
Isn't that enough? Yeah.
Don't get sore, mister.
I'm just worried about you is all.
Uh, mister? It's none of my business, but how come you were wandering around out there in the middle of nowhere? I don't know.
Thank you.
I'm sorry i've caused you any trouble.
Mister, i'm just glad you're alive.
Yes? Alan? Darling, i've been calling every 15 minutes.
I've been so worried.
What happened? I'm not sure.
Are you all right? I don't know.
Alan look, jess, why don't you just forget about me? I don't know what's going on.
Listen to me.
I called dr.
Matthews and i made an appointment for you for tomorrow morning.
I'll be at the hotel to pick you up at 9:30.
You'd do that after everything that's happened? Yes, i would.
Mr.
Talbot, i i didn't plan on falling in love with you, but i did and i'm stuck with it, for better or for worse.
Well, thank you.
Would you like me to come over now? No, uh uh i'll see you tomorrow morning.
Good night, jess.
Try not to worry, please.
Good night.
Hello, alan.
I've been waiting for you.
You real? Well, that's a matter of opinion.
I used to think so, years ago.
Now i'm not so sure.
Sit down, alan, over there.
I'll pour us a drink.
Go on, sit down.
There's nothing to be afraid of.
By the way, you almost killed me with those scissors.
Did you know that? It's a shame you didn't.
But then nothing ever works out right for me.
See how close it was? Who are you? You already know that.
You must.
How else could you have found me? I looked you up in the phone book.
Yeah, but how oh, i see.
You've been to coeurville, haven't you? Yes! And you know what? Your name.
That's all? That's all.
In that case, you better have some of that drink.
Exactly eight days ago, you were born here in this house.
What?! I made the delivery myself.
You're drunk! A little bit but not drunk enough.
Will you join me? I guarantee no hangover.
Wasn't that thoughtful of me? Look, i'm in no mood for jokes, mister.
Well, that's a pity, because this whole thing is a joke.
Yeah, well, i'm not laughing.
You will, because the joke's on me.
Would you get to the point? Well, you've been to coeurville.
You know that alan talbot never lived there.
You know you've been behaving oddly of late.
Judging from that handkerchief on your arm, i'd say you know about that, too.
So, with all this information, what do i need to tell you? Who am i?! You're nobody, alan, nobody at all.
Stop it, walter! Well, whois this watch i'm wearing? Ask me that! Whois the refrigerator in the kitchen? Don't you understand? No.
You're a machine, alan, a mechanical device.
I don't believe it! I don't blame you.
I wouldn't believe it, either.
But it's true.
The fact is, you were born a long time ago, inside my head.
All kids have dreams, don't they? Well, you were mine.
The others thought about joining the army or flying to mars.
They finally grew up and they forgot their dreams.
I didn't.
I thought about one thing and longed for one thing always.
Just one.
A perfect artificial man.
Not a robot- a duplicate of a human being.
Well, it was harmless.
Not even very imaginative for a child.
But then i became an adult.
Only somewhere along the line, i forgot to grow up- like most geniuses.
I kept my dream.
I created you, alan.
Is that straight enough for you? You're not only drunk, you're crazy! How would you explain that? Why, it's an artificial arm.
I don't know! You expect me to believe i'm a machine when i know i'm not? That's ridiculous! I eat, i drink, i sleep! Didn't i tell you i wanted a perfect creation? Alan alan, i want you to come with me.
Where? Well, let's call it the, uh, delivery room.
Don't you want to see where you were born? Your birthplace.
Come on.
Turn it off! Over here, alan.
Your brothers.
Alan talbot i alan talbot ii.
Factory rejects.
Any questions? Where did you get the money for all this? I told you, i'm a genius! When i found out how much i'd need for my work, i developed an improved calculator.
Try electronics turns out I get the royalties.
The money was the least of it.
The failures, though, they were bad.
I can't tell you how many times i've failed and had to start over again.
You did this all by yourself? No, that wouldn't have been possible.
I'm afraid the day of the lone inventor has passed.
I had some of the best scientific minds in the world assisting me.
But, of course, they didn't take the project seriously.
To them, it was just a game- a lot of theoretical wool-gathering.
How would it be possible to create an entire nervous system that worked like a real one? How could the brain be duplicated with all its subtleties? You see, i was after real intelligence.
Mere reactions weren't enough.
Those mannequins can react.
My creation had to have a memory.
He had to have abstract reasoning power, a past, a personality.
Millions of intricate facets multiplied by millions to make true intelligence.
Now to accomplish this from the beginning would have been impossible.
I don't know what you're talking about.
What do you mean, you decided to use yourself? Just that.
In certain of your cells, i made certain impressions.
My own memories went into the cells.
Some of my talents, some of my knowledge- bits and pieces of myself.
So now you're telling me that i'm you? That's right.
Well, that's impossible.
I'm me! This is my flesh! Nonconductive plastic.
I admit, it feels like flesh but then, that was the idea.
You see, i cushioned the mechanical parts with a foam layer, and then i worked out a but that's not what you want to hear, is it? You lived in coeurville? Yes.
For your past, i gave you my memories of the town.
Some of them must have been inaccurate and incomplete.
I left coeurville 20 years ago.
Going there must have been quite an experience.
Yeah, it was.
What about the university? Fictitious.
I had to give you a job.
Well, aunt mildred! All the old ladies i've ever known rolled into one.
After my parents died, i lived alone.
The reputation as a don juan is, i regret to say, imaginary.
Well, that's about it, alan.
The rest you can fill in, up to last week, anyway.
What about last week? I wish i knew.
Something went wrong.
I couldn't understand.
You suddenly attacked me with a pair of scissors and then ran away.
As you know, i've been unable to find you since.
What's wrong with me? I'm not sure.
Whatever it is, it's wrong with me, too.
We're all potential murderers, alan, all of us.
But if we're normal, we're protected by our inhibitions.
You've wanted to kill? Of course.
Everybody has.
But my own inhibitions have held my impulses in check.
I couldn't kill, no matter how much i might want to.
So what are you saying? With you, something went wrong.
To put it even clearer, alan, you're insane.
Can i be treated? Repaired, you mean? I don't know.
Why not? Well, as much as i hate to admit it, luck had a great deal to do with your creation.
Skill alone wasn't enough.
You saying i'm an accident? I'm afraid so.
You see, alan, i was like a blind man with a machine gun.
I kept firing and reloading and firing, and finally i hit the target, but it was off-center.
I don't even know if i could come close again.
That's the story of my life, right down the line.
Success in the little things.
Failure in the big ones.
I told myself i wanted to make an artificial man, but i think what i really wanted was to build another walter ryder- only without the drawbacks.
Sort of a reverse jekyll and hyde.
Everything i wished i was, my creation would be.
Where i was shy, he would be aggressive.
Where i was cold and withdrawn, he would be warm and outgoing.
Loneliness would be unknown to him.
Disease and pain and death- all unknown.
He would be unselfish.
He would be ambitious but not fanatical.
And, oh, alan, he would be perfect! That was my dream: A perfect version of myself.
I ought to kill you.
That's right.
You should.
There's somebody else, walter- a girl.
We were going to be married next week.
Is she pretty? Pretty, intelligent and lonely- something you ought to be able to understand.
I'm sorry, alan.
Well, that's a great consolation.
You sure you can't fix me? Even if i could, it wouldn't solve your problems.
The girl would find out eventually.
How? Well, for one thing, she would grow old and you wouldn't.
For another, being a machine, you would suffer a breakdown someday.
All of these things never occurred to you? I guess i didn't really think i'd succeed as well as i did.
What does it matter anyway? There's nothing that can be done.
Yes, there is.
You're going to create another alan talbot.
No, i just told you! You heard me- another alan talbot! Only this one's going to be right.
And he's going to walk out of here tonight, and he's going to marry a girl named jess, and for the first time in his miserable life, he's going to be happy.
Well, i don't understand.
You give me a pencil.
Now, this is her name and address.
She said she would meet me at 9:30 in the morning, but she'll be home now.
What's the matter, alan? What is it? Now, you take it.
Take it and get out now.
And hurry! Alan alan? Just a minute.
Who is it? I'm sorry to bother you, ma'am, but, uh, see, like, i belong to the junior woodchucks, and, uh come in, alan.
Why are you looking at me like that? I don't know.
I've been so worried.
After yesterday, i didn't- forget yesterday.
Whatever happened, forget that.
Oh, but, alan please? We just had a rotten nightmare, that's all.
Now we're awake, and everything's going to be fine.
Will you try to believe that? Do you? Yes.
Okay.
Then so do i.
If you promise to tell me about it someday.
I promise, someday.
Now, will you fix me a cup of coffee? Sure.
Would you like something to eat? How about a couple of mother connelly's hand-fried eggs? They're guaranteed to make a new man out of you.
Thank you.
In a way it can be said that walter ryder succeeded in his life's ambition, even though the man he created was, after all, himself.
There may be easier ways to self-improvement, but sometimes it happens that the shortest distance between two points is a crooked line through the twilight zone.
The ingredients: An american destroyer, the pacific ocean, and a ghostly sound of hammering from 30 fathoms below.
They add up to a strange tale of the bizarre and nightmarish.
Mike kellin and simon oakland star in a very different kind oftwilight zone which we call "the thirty fathom grave.
Ain't that a kick in the head.
What do you suppose it is? Ghosts, man, ghosts.
Here it is, "Commissioned december, 1941.
"Sunk in action "first battle of the solomons, august 7, 1942.
" Well, that was 20 years ago.
Captain beecham, who's down there? Who's inside that sub?