The Twilight Zone (1959) s03e34 Episode Script
Young Man's Fancy
You're traveling through another dimension- a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind, a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination.
Your next stop, the twilight zone.
You're looking at the house of the late mrs.
Henrietta walker.
This is mrs.
Walker herself, as she appeared 25 years ago.
And this, except for isolated objects, is the living room of mrs.
Walker's house as it appeared in that same year.
The other rooms upstairs and down are much the same.
The time, however, is not 25 years ago, but now.
The house of the late mrs.
Henrietta walker is, you see, a house which belongs almost entirely to the past; a house which, like mrs.
Walker's clock here, has ceased to recognize the passage of time.
Only one element is missing now- one remaining item in the estate of the late mrs.
Walker: Her son alex, 34 years of age, and up till 20 minutes ago, the so-called perennial bachelor.
With him is his bride, the former miss virginia lane.
They're returning from the city hall in order to get mr.
Walker's clothes packed, make final arrangements for the sale of the house, lock it up and depart on their honeymoon.
Not a complicated set of tasks, it would appear, and yet the newlywed mrs.
Walker is about to discover that the old adage "you can't go home again" has little meaning in the twilight zone.
Thank you, darling.
Well well, shall we get started? Darling? Yes, of course.
Did you call mr.
Wilkinson and tell him when we'd be back? Oh, no, i forgot.
Well, you'd better call him now, then.
You have to sign the papers before we leave.
Yes, of course.
I thought i'd clean the place up a little before we left.
I'll get it out of here.
Uh-uh.
You go call mr.
Wilkinson.
I thought i left his card right here.
I can't seem to find it.
Well, get the number from information.
Oh, of course.
Look i'll tell you what.
You go on up and pack, and i'll call mr.
Wilkinson, all right? Oh, darling, everything's going to be all right.
I'm so happy to be mrs.
Walker at last, after all these years.
Come on, go on up and pack.
All right.
Oh, would you give me the number of wilkinson realty, please? On main street.
Thank you.
Mr.
Wilkinson? Virginia lane.
I mean, virginia walker.
Yes, yes, just now.
Oh, thank you, mr.
Wilkinson.
Oh, yes, i am very happy.
Yes, we're back now.
If you'd bring the papers over so mr.
Walker can sign them, you can show the house while we're gone.
Oh, right away.
Fine.
We'll see you in a few minutes.
Thank you.
Alex, i thought you were going to oh, there's plenty of time.
What do you think we should take out of here when we move? The television set, i guess, huh? And, uh, the electric clock.
It's only a few years old.
Darling, i thought we decided to discuss all that after the house was sold.
Sold? I know, but i just thought that maybe we should decide now.
I mean, like, in the kitchen, for instance.
We'll take the refrigerator and the stove.
They're pretty new.
I just bought them for mother a few months a few months before she died.
All right, alex, fine.
We'll discuss it later, but we've really got to leave.
Of course.
Well? What about the radio? It's pretty old, but we could have it fixed.
Maybe it works now.
Look at it.
It weighs a ton, i bet.
Look at all this carving- all the work they put into it, the craft the programs we used to hear on this.
Major bowes, fred allen and all the music.
We used to sit in here all the time listening to music.
Mother's favorite was eddy duchin.
I just remembered she used to be crazy about a record of his called "the lady in red.
" You remember that? Uh-huh.
? the lady in red? ? all the fellows are crazy for the lady in red? Broken.
I knew it was.
She used to sit in this chair and look at the movie magazine.
Funny i should remember that, too.
She gave it up a long time ago.
Sometimes, she'd make a pan of fudge for us, and we'd sit here alex, darling, come on.
We have to leave when mr.
Wilkinson comes.
Maybe we could get this fixed.
Used to be a real good clock.
We'll discuss that later, huh? He's mine now! You'll never get your claws on him again.
Alex? Alex! Oh, i, uh i was just looking at some of my old things that mother kept.
Look.
Looks as good as ever.
No alex i thought you were going look! The hardy boys in secret of the caves.
Bill bolton in hidden dangers.
Tarzan and the antmen.
Tarzan and the jewels of opar.
Alex, please.
Remember these? Funny old things.
Alex oh, and the stockings that went with them.
Stockings for a boy.
"It takes a real boy to know a real stocking.
" Funny i should remember that.
It's a quote from an ad in a mail-order catalogue of gosh, it must be 25 years ago.
I wonder why mother kept them.
Because she would have liked for you to stay exactly as you were when you first wore them.
I'm sorry, alex.
I didn't mean that.
You're not angry with me, are you? No.
It's just that i want us to be happy.
Alex, that's all i've ever wanted.
Do you, uh want me to help? I can manage.
You aren't angry with me, are you? No.
I'll make you happy, alex.
You'll see.
You won't be sorry.
Uh i'll wait for mr.
Wilkinson downstairs.
He should be here any moment now.
I don't want to sell the house.
I don't want to sell it, mother.
Afternoon, mrs.
Walker.
Oh, mr.
Wilkinson, won't you come in? Thank you kindly, ma'am.
Oh, won't you go in the living room? I'll get mr.
Walker.
Fine and dandy.
Alex.
Alex, darling.
Mr.
Wilkinson's here with the papers.
Uh, yes, of course.
Afternoon, mr.
Walker.
Congratulations to you, sir.
You have the papers? Right here, ma'am.
Oh, but first, i wonder if i could trouble you for the use of your telephone? You see, i forgot to tell my secretary where i'd be, and i'm expecting a pretty important call from out of town.
I'll call her for you.
Oh? Well, all right.
Well, in that case, mr.
Walker why don't you use the dining room table? Fine and dandy.
After you, sir.
Make it as soon as possible, darling.
We really have to leave.
Now, then as you can see right here, mr.
Walker well, i think i'd better do it myself.
I have to tell my secretary some things anyway.
You sign right here, mr.
Walker.
Maggie? Jim.
I'm at henrietta walker's house.
Would you put that call through to me here if it comes in in the next ten or 15 minutes or so? Fine, oh, and call mr.
Fisher and tell him that escrow has been approved for 60 days and we have the form ready for him to sign.
Right.
Fine and dandy.
I'll see you, maggie.
Bye.
No, sir, we won't have any trouble selling this house at all.
There something you don't understand, mr.
Walker? Uh, no, i, uh i think i'll wait.
Wait? Yes, until we return.
I want to think about it.
But darling i just want to think about it! Alex.
I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble, mr.
Wilkinson.
Sure, sure.
You're positive? I'm positive.
Well, all right.
I'll get in touch with you on your return.
Please.
Well, have a nice honeymoon.
Oh, never mind, miss lane mrs.
Walker.
I'll pack.
Alex, alex, you promised.
What do you mean? You know what i mean.
You promised to sell this house.
Oh, i'm not backing down, virg.
I just want a little time to think about it.
That's all.
What is there to think about? Well, i just don't like the idea of people tramping in and out that's just an excuse.
That's not the reason.
Oh, yes, it is, virg.
All right, never mind.
Just pack, and let's get out of here.
What is it? Couldn't i mean, couldn't we live here, virg? It's a pretty nice house oh, alex, no! Don't just say no without thinking about it.
We could redecorate.
I want to get out of here.
I want to leave right now.
Alex, you promised me when your mother died, you'd sell this house.
Well, she's dead.
Alex, dead! She's been dead for a year now, and i waited that year and all the years before- of waiting for you.
Well, now, i want my own home.
I have a right to that.
Don't look at me like that.
Don't look at me as if you don't even know me.
Alex, please.
Please, don't do this to me.
I love you.
I want to care for you and make a home for you, but our home, not hers.
We've waited so long, darling.
How? I know, you told me she was sick, and we couldn't shewassick, virg.
She lost her health taking care of me and this house for more than 20 years.
My father deserted us when i was two months old, virg.
Two months old! All right, all right.
Let's go.
Let's get out of here.
Virg.
I'm not going to sell the house, virg.
We'll have it redecorated, maybe get some new furniture.
We'll talk about it later.
No, alex.
I won't let you.
We'll get out of here.
I'll get my purse.
I won't let you.
I won't let you! Alex! Alex! No.
No, you can't have him.
I won't let you have him.
He's mine now.
Mine! Yes, he is, because i'm right for him.
I won't try to destroy him like you did.
My love will make him strong, not weak, not dependent.
Yes, it's true.
You've always known it's true, and you hated me for it.
Well, your hatred isn't strong enough now.
Your desire to dominate him isn't strong enough.
He's not your little boy anymore.
Leave him be.
You will not have him back! This is not my doing.
Come back to me, mother.
I want you to.
Alex not you.
Oh! Can we go to the park and then to the zoo and have two ice cream cones? Oh, boy.
Go away, lady.
We don't need you anymore.
Exit miss virginia lane, formerly and most briefly mrs.
Alex walker.
She has just given up a battle and in a strange way retreated, but this has been a retreat back to reality.
Her opponent, alex walker, will now and forever hold a line that exists in the past.
He has put a claim on a moment in time and is not about to relinquish it.
Such things do happen in the twilight zone.
Rod serling, creator ofthe twilight zone, will tell you about next week's story after this message.
And now, mr.
Serling.
The name "ray bradbury" has become synonymous with a new horizon of american writing.
Next week onthe twilight zone, we present a typical bradbury tale.
It also has typical bradbury ingredients, including a grandmother built in a factory.
Now, if this doesn't intrigue you, then i'm simply not doing justice to a most intriguing tale.
I hope you'll join us next week for "i sing the body electric.
" This is james arness.
You know, it's only a short hop fromthe twilight zone to dodge city ingunsmoke.
Saturday nights over most of these stations.
Your next stop, the twilight zone.
You're looking at the house of the late mrs.
Henrietta walker.
This is mrs.
Walker herself, as she appeared 25 years ago.
And this, except for isolated objects, is the living room of mrs.
Walker's house as it appeared in that same year.
The other rooms upstairs and down are much the same.
The time, however, is not 25 years ago, but now.
The house of the late mrs.
Henrietta walker is, you see, a house which belongs almost entirely to the past; a house which, like mrs.
Walker's clock here, has ceased to recognize the passage of time.
Only one element is missing now- one remaining item in the estate of the late mrs.
Walker: Her son alex, 34 years of age, and up till 20 minutes ago, the so-called perennial bachelor.
With him is his bride, the former miss virginia lane.
They're returning from the city hall in order to get mr.
Walker's clothes packed, make final arrangements for the sale of the house, lock it up and depart on their honeymoon.
Not a complicated set of tasks, it would appear, and yet the newlywed mrs.
Walker is about to discover that the old adage "you can't go home again" has little meaning in the twilight zone.
Thank you, darling.
Well well, shall we get started? Darling? Yes, of course.
Did you call mr.
Wilkinson and tell him when we'd be back? Oh, no, i forgot.
Well, you'd better call him now, then.
You have to sign the papers before we leave.
Yes, of course.
I thought i'd clean the place up a little before we left.
I'll get it out of here.
Uh-uh.
You go call mr.
Wilkinson.
I thought i left his card right here.
I can't seem to find it.
Well, get the number from information.
Oh, of course.
Look i'll tell you what.
You go on up and pack, and i'll call mr.
Wilkinson, all right? Oh, darling, everything's going to be all right.
I'm so happy to be mrs.
Walker at last, after all these years.
Come on, go on up and pack.
All right.
Oh, would you give me the number of wilkinson realty, please? On main street.
Thank you.
Mr.
Wilkinson? Virginia lane.
I mean, virginia walker.
Yes, yes, just now.
Oh, thank you, mr.
Wilkinson.
Oh, yes, i am very happy.
Yes, we're back now.
If you'd bring the papers over so mr.
Walker can sign them, you can show the house while we're gone.
Oh, right away.
Fine.
We'll see you in a few minutes.
Thank you.
Alex, i thought you were going to oh, there's plenty of time.
What do you think we should take out of here when we move? The television set, i guess, huh? And, uh, the electric clock.
It's only a few years old.
Darling, i thought we decided to discuss all that after the house was sold.
Sold? I know, but i just thought that maybe we should decide now.
I mean, like, in the kitchen, for instance.
We'll take the refrigerator and the stove.
They're pretty new.
I just bought them for mother a few months a few months before she died.
All right, alex, fine.
We'll discuss it later, but we've really got to leave.
Of course.
Well? What about the radio? It's pretty old, but we could have it fixed.
Maybe it works now.
Look at it.
It weighs a ton, i bet.
Look at all this carving- all the work they put into it, the craft the programs we used to hear on this.
Major bowes, fred allen and all the music.
We used to sit in here all the time listening to music.
Mother's favorite was eddy duchin.
I just remembered she used to be crazy about a record of his called "the lady in red.
" You remember that? Uh-huh.
? the lady in red? ? all the fellows are crazy for the lady in red? Broken.
I knew it was.
She used to sit in this chair and look at the movie magazine.
Funny i should remember that, too.
She gave it up a long time ago.
Sometimes, she'd make a pan of fudge for us, and we'd sit here alex, darling, come on.
We have to leave when mr.
Wilkinson comes.
Maybe we could get this fixed.
Used to be a real good clock.
We'll discuss that later, huh? He's mine now! You'll never get your claws on him again.
Alex? Alex! Oh, i, uh i was just looking at some of my old things that mother kept.
Look.
Looks as good as ever.
No alex i thought you were going look! The hardy boys in secret of the caves.
Bill bolton in hidden dangers.
Tarzan and the antmen.
Tarzan and the jewels of opar.
Alex, please.
Remember these? Funny old things.
Alex oh, and the stockings that went with them.
Stockings for a boy.
"It takes a real boy to know a real stocking.
" Funny i should remember that.
It's a quote from an ad in a mail-order catalogue of gosh, it must be 25 years ago.
I wonder why mother kept them.
Because she would have liked for you to stay exactly as you were when you first wore them.
I'm sorry, alex.
I didn't mean that.
You're not angry with me, are you? No.
It's just that i want us to be happy.
Alex, that's all i've ever wanted.
Do you, uh want me to help? I can manage.
You aren't angry with me, are you? No.
I'll make you happy, alex.
You'll see.
You won't be sorry.
Uh i'll wait for mr.
Wilkinson downstairs.
He should be here any moment now.
I don't want to sell the house.
I don't want to sell it, mother.
Afternoon, mrs.
Walker.
Oh, mr.
Wilkinson, won't you come in? Thank you kindly, ma'am.
Oh, won't you go in the living room? I'll get mr.
Walker.
Fine and dandy.
Alex.
Alex, darling.
Mr.
Wilkinson's here with the papers.
Uh, yes, of course.
Afternoon, mr.
Walker.
Congratulations to you, sir.
You have the papers? Right here, ma'am.
Oh, but first, i wonder if i could trouble you for the use of your telephone? You see, i forgot to tell my secretary where i'd be, and i'm expecting a pretty important call from out of town.
I'll call her for you.
Oh? Well, all right.
Well, in that case, mr.
Walker why don't you use the dining room table? Fine and dandy.
After you, sir.
Make it as soon as possible, darling.
We really have to leave.
Now, then as you can see right here, mr.
Walker well, i think i'd better do it myself.
I have to tell my secretary some things anyway.
You sign right here, mr.
Walker.
Maggie? Jim.
I'm at henrietta walker's house.
Would you put that call through to me here if it comes in in the next ten or 15 minutes or so? Fine, oh, and call mr.
Fisher and tell him that escrow has been approved for 60 days and we have the form ready for him to sign.
Right.
Fine and dandy.
I'll see you, maggie.
Bye.
No, sir, we won't have any trouble selling this house at all.
There something you don't understand, mr.
Walker? Uh, no, i, uh i think i'll wait.
Wait? Yes, until we return.
I want to think about it.
But darling i just want to think about it! Alex.
I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble, mr.
Wilkinson.
Sure, sure.
You're positive? I'm positive.
Well, all right.
I'll get in touch with you on your return.
Please.
Well, have a nice honeymoon.
Oh, never mind, miss lane mrs.
Walker.
I'll pack.
Alex, alex, you promised.
What do you mean? You know what i mean.
You promised to sell this house.
Oh, i'm not backing down, virg.
I just want a little time to think about it.
That's all.
What is there to think about? Well, i just don't like the idea of people tramping in and out that's just an excuse.
That's not the reason.
Oh, yes, it is, virg.
All right, never mind.
Just pack, and let's get out of here.
What is it? Couldn't i mean, couldn't we live here, virg? It's a pretty nice house oh, alex, no! Don't just say no without thinking about it.
We could redecorate.
I want to get out of here.
I want to leave right now.
Alex, you promised me when your mother died, you'd sell this house.
Well, she's dead.
Alex, dead! She's been dead for a year now, and i waited that year and all the years before- of waiting for you.
Well, now, i want my own home.
I have a right to that.
Don't look at me like that.
Don't look at me as if you don't even know me.
Alex, please.
Please, don't do this to me.
I love you.
I want to care for you and make a home for you, but our home, not hers.
We've waited so long, darling.
How? I know, you told me she was sick, and we couldn't shewassick, virg.
She lost her health taking care of me and this house for more than 20 years.
My father deserted us when i was two months old, virg.
Two months old! All right, all right.
Let's go.
Let's get out of here.
Virg.
I'm not going to sell the house, virg.
We'll have it redecorated, maybe get some new furniture.
We'll talk about it later.
No, alex.
I won't let you.
We'll get out of here.
I'll get my purse.
I won't let you.
I won't let you! Alex! Alex! No.
No, you can't have him.
I won't let you have him.
He's mine now.
Mine! Yes, he is, because i'm right for him.
I won't try to destroy him like you did.
My love will make him strong, not weak, not dependent.
Yes, it's true.
You've always known it's true, and you hated me for it.
Well, your hatred isn't strong enough now.
Your desire to dominate him isn't strong enough.
He's not your little boy anymore.
Leave him be.
You will not have him back! This is not my doing.
Come back to me, mother.
I want you to.
Alex not you.
Oh! Can we go to the park and then to the zoo and have two ice cream cones? Oh, boy.
Go away, lady.
We don't need you anymore.
Exit miss virginia lane, formerly and most briefly mrs.
Alex walker.
She has just given up a battle and in a strange way retreated, but this has been a retreat back to reality.
Her opponent, alex walker, will now and forever hold a line that exists in the past.
He has put a claim on a moment in time and is not about to relinquish it.
Such things do happen in the twilight zone.
Rod serling, creator ofthe twilight zone, will tell you about next week's story after this message.
And now, mr.
Serling.
The name "ray bradbury" has become synonymous with a new horizon of american writing.
Next week onthe twilight zone, we present a typical bradbury tale.
It also has typical bradbury ingredients, including a grandmother built in a factory.
Now, if this doesn't intrigue you, then i'm simply not doing justice to a most intriguing tale.
I hope you'll join us next week for "i sing the body electric.
" This is james arness.
You know, it's only a short hop fromthe twilight zone to dodge city ingunsmoke.
Saturday nights over most of these stations.