The Twilight Zone (1959) s05e23 Episode Script
Queen of the Nile
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.
I'm jordan herrick.
I have an appointment with miss morris.
Come in, please.
Thank you.
This way, please.
Thank you.
I'll tell miss morris you're here.
I thought i told you to stay in your room.
I'm not going to stand by and watch it happen this time.
You will because i say you will.
Jordan herrick, syndicated columnist whose work appears in more than a hundred newspapers.
By nature a cynic, a disbeliever caught for the moment by a lovely vision.
He knows the vision he's seen is no dream.
She is pamela morris, renowned movie star, whose name is a household word and whose face is known to millions.
What mr.
Herrick does not know is that he has also just looked into the face of the twilight zone.
Mr.
Herrick? Miss morris hello.
I've kept you waiting.
Oh, no, it really doesn't matter.
It does matter, and i am sorry.
Oh, but i do so love the pool.
Am i forgiven? Of course, i i should be asking your forgiveness for this intrusion.
Please relax.
Thank you.
I think you're very nice.
Miss morris, how old are you? I must say, mr.
Herrick, you are a very direct man.
You're not offended? Why should i be? I have producers, directors; you have editors- all very demanding people.
Besides, a woman in my position can't afford to have secrets.
I'm certainly relieved to hear that.
I was afraid you'd be offended.
You have nothing to be afraid of here.
There, that's better.
Now, why don't you tell me how old you think i am? Oh, now, that's hardly fair.
Oh, do, come on, now.
Well? You're very beautiful.
That wasn't the question.
You don't look any older now than you did in that painting.
I was only a child when i posed for bersonne.
I was so frightened of him.
The world was so bright and new to me, and he was so wild and creative.
I've never met anyone like him.
His genius enabled him to project the "flowering of a fragile blossom," as he put it.
Would you like some coffee? Yes, coffee, thank you.
Would you like something in it? Cognac? Whiskey? No, thanks, i'll take it black.
I thought newspaper people were heavy drinkers.
That's a myth.
My mother, mrs.
Draper.
Jordan herrick.
How do you do? He's a newspaper man, mother.
How do you do? Sit down and have some tea.
With my mother it is tea this precise time every afternoon.
Me, it's coffee.
Mrs.
Draper, you must feel very proud to have a daughter as famous as pamela morris.
Mother never did wholly approve of my career.
Believe me, mr.
Herrick, i had little choice in the matter.
She thinks i'm too headstrong.
Dedicated is the word.
You still are, pamela.
Was she always as beautiful as she is now? Always.
A mother's loyalty.
As a matter of fact, mr.
Herrick, it is the truth.
Perhaps from the mother, i'll learn the real age of the daughter.
Isn't age relative? Besides, didn't i promise to reveal all to you, mr.
Herrick? Mr.
Herrick! Mother, would you mind seeing if charlotte has things under control in the kitchen? Pleased to have met you, mrs.
Draper.
Good-bye, mr.
Herrick.
Forgive her, but she's getting old.
I was hoping she'd give me some ideas for my article.
No, her mind wanders.
Her memory becomes increasingly distorted.
Shall we finish our coffee on the terrace? I'm sure there's a breeze out there.
Isn't it lovely out here? I often sit here by the hour, watching the clouds and the birds.
At night, i watch the stars.
Yes, it is lovely.
Oh, but that isn't what interests you, is it- my nocturnal habits, how i dream out here? I could work it into my story the question of age is the big thing, isn't it? I'm 38, jordan.
May i call you jordan? Yes, of course, please.
Is 38 terribly old? The years have never been kinder to anyone.
What a nice thing to say.
I mean it.
What have you got there? Some notes- dates, mostly.
Do they concern me? Yes.
According to this i know, you read a column by one of those stupid, jealous women.
If you are 38, how could you have starred in a movie made in 1935? I can't believe it- jordan herrick taken in by the printed word.
Tell me, do you believe everything you read? The movie wastrails west.
Darling, it couldn't have been me.
I would've been ten years old.
Don't you see? It's an old mistake i've run across before.
According to our files, your costar was john bradley.
You were in love with him.
I never even met him.
Your files are in error, and it does happen, you know.
In 1935, you know, i don't think i'd even seen a movie yet.
We were poor, living in iowa.
My father's business was failing.
It wasn't until 1940 that i set out for hollywood a starstruck girl in my teens following the trail blazed by so many other hopefuls.
But i was lucky.
You must have been.
You madequeen of the nile with charles danforth in 1940.
You were 15.
Darling, juliet was 12.
But 15? Now, is that so much harder to believe than my being 38 today? No one knew i was 15.
I matured very early.
I suppose that picture inspired the decor? I call it early egyptian, though i suppose it is rather silly, but it was my first big break.
Well, i'm just glad that it wasn't a horror picture, or i just might have the place full of caskets.
Do you know the fact is that i i still do feel just about 15.
I really do.
No? With you sitting there, i feel new and breathless and just 21.
Oh, i want to savor all there is in this life, jordan.
Is it wrong to feel that way? No, no, it's not wrong.
I'm being foolish, saying these things.
And you're not being foolish.
I so seldom get a chance to speak my mind or air my dreams.
And yours what must you think of me? I wanted to do that.
And you wanted me to do it, too.
You're sweet and very real.
But you must go now.
Why? Because i say so.
We'll see each other again if you'd like.
What about tonight? Dinner, hmm? All right.
Why don't we say 8:00? Why don't we say 8:00? Mr.
Herrick! Hello, mrs.
Draper.
Mr.
Herrick yes? You are a fine young man.
Well, thank you, mrs.
Draper.
It is not an idle compliment.
Are you going to see her again? Yes, tonight.
We're having dinner.
No, you must not do that.
You must never see her again.
Why not? She's older than you think.
Yes, she told me how old she was.
Yes, i know.
Thirty-eight.
Well, isn't that true? Mr.
Herrick, you wouldn't believe me if i told you how old ithinkshe is.
You think? Don't you know? No not really.
But you're her mother.
No.
I'm not her mother.
I am her daughter! I don't know when i've had such a wonderful time.
You've been so quiet all evening.
What is it? Oh, it's something your mother said.
Now, i don't believe it, but just just sticks in my mind.
Well, tell me.
She said that you are her mother.
Her mother? Her mother.
Jordan, darling, you must believe me.
My mother is disturbed.
I'm sure it's because she feels responsible for my father's death.
You see, they were returning home from a party ten years ago.
She was driving the car, and it went off the road, and my father was killed.
I'm sorry.
Ever since then, she's been furtive, suspicious, imagining all kinds of terrible things.
I've tried to help her- really, i have- but the doctors say it's hopeless.
She really should be put away, but i haven't had i never should've brought it up.
Now, let's forget about it.
All right.
We'll talk about something else.
After all, we've been talking about me, and now you know about my mother.
What about your life? Very dull up until now.
All right, then tell me where you're from.
Chicago.
I still live there.
I've played chicago.
The wells theater.
Have you really? I've loved every moment of it.
I really have.
Shall i see you tomorrow? Tomorrow.
Krueger.
Jordan herrick in hollywood? Yeah, put him on.
Hi, jordy, glad you called.
Got another job for you if you're through playing with that little femme fatale.
Not yet.
Not for a while, krueg.
I want you to do something.
Get out the file on a picture calledqueen of the nile.
Which one? What do you mean, which one? You're a little young for this.
They made two of them.
The first one, a silent, i think.
Around 1920, maybe a little later.
All right, get them both.
I'll hang on.
Right.
Hey, you there? Yeah.
What was the name of the girl who starred in the original? Constance taylor.
Anyway, she starred in most of it.
There was an accident during the last day of shooting.
Cave-in in a tomb in egypt.
They never found her.
Never found her? No, it was the end of a very promising career.
As a matter of fact, i met constance taylor when i was about your age.
Extraordinary woman.
How do you mean, "extraordinary"? Well, she was ageless.
She'd been a reigning beauty in the days of the flora dora girls.
That was before your time.
She was arealfemme fatale.
She'd been married half a dozen times before the accident in egypt.
Sounds like pamela morris, the same history.
Very much the same, as a matter of fact.
You got a picture of this taylor girl? Yeah.
Compare it to a picture of pamela morris.
Yeah, jordy? Well? They look alike, but then, they played the same kind of parts.
Same makeup, same type costume.
Krueger, the wells theater, the old wells theater- what year did they tear that down? Oh, sometime back in the '20s.
Why, jordy? Oh, never mind.
Not until i'm real sure.
In the meantime, get me a list of all the men who were ever involved with pamela morris.
Get me every press release, every clipping you have on her, got it? Sounds interesting.
May sound fantastic.
Well? It's all true, mr.
Herrick.
It'salltrue.
But don't show it to her.
Leave here at once.
Is this pamela? Yes, yes.
Please, mr.
Herrick, you don't know how it is.
She had many different names.
But she hasn't changed in 40 years.
At least70years- the total sum of my life.
Can you imagine what it was like to see her always so fresh and beautiful while my mirrored image grew seared and yellowed with age? How old is she, really? She's ageless.
Perhaps she's eternal.
What is the secret? What woman would not sell her soul to know? It has something to do with this beetle with egypt.
The scarabael beetle.
Egyptian symbol of everlasting life.
Tell me, if you hate her so much why do i stay? What else could i do? After pamela and my husb go on, tell me the rest.
No, i cannot.
You must go now! What about the other men, john bradley, charles danforth? Don't ask about them! Mrs.
Draper, listen to me mr.
Herrick! How nice you dropped in.
Has my mother entertained you? What wild tales did you spin? I don't think they're wild tales at all.
For example, the wells theater, where you played was torn down in the '20s.
You may leave us, mother.
Charlotte will prepare your tea in your room.
Pamela, please! I wish to speak to mr.
Herrick alone.
Your coffee.
You were saying don't you think it's time we had anhonesttalk? What do you want? Money? No.
Just the truth.
And you shall have it.
What? What is that? The rare egyptian scarab.
The secret of eternity.
Where did you get it? From the pharaohs who understood its power.
Pharaohs? Hmm? I told you, mr.
Herrick, i was once queen of the nile.
You, uh i told you never to come in until i called you, viola ifyou want to live another day.
Get rid of it, quickly.
You must be mr.
Jackson.
Yes, i called the other day.
And i told you to come out when you could.
Did you think i'd forget? We'll have coffee in the living room.
Everybody knows pamela morris, the beautiful and eternally young movie star.
Or does she have another name even more famous, an egyptian name from centuries past? It's best not to be too curious, lest you wind up like jordan herrick- a pile of dust and old clothing discarded in the endless eternity of the twilight zone.
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.
I'm jordan herrick.
I have an appointment with miss morris.
Come in, please.
Thank you.
This way, please.
Thank you.
I'll tell miss morris you're here.
I thought i told you to stay in your room.
I'm not going to stand by and watch it happen this time.
You will because i say you will.
Jordan herrick, syndicated columnist whose work appears in more than a hundred newspapers.
By nature a cynic, a disbeliever caught for the moment by a lovely vision.
He knows the vision he's seen is no dream.
She is pamela morris, renowned movie star, whose name is a household word and whose face is known to millions.
What mr.
Herrick does not know is that he has also just looked into the face of the twilight zone.
Mr.
Herrick? Miss morris hello.
I've kept you waiting.
Oh, no, it really doesn't matter.
It does matter, and i am sorry.
Oh, but i do so love the pool.
Am i forgiven? Of course, i i should be asking your forgiveness for this intrusion.
Please relax.
Thank you.
I think you're very nice.
Miss morris, how old are you? I must say, mr.
Herrick, you are a very direct man.
You're not offended? Why should i be? I have producers, directors; you have editors- all very demanding people.
Besides, a woman in my position can't afford to have secrets.
I'm certainly relieved to hear that.
I was afraid you'd be offended.
You have nothing to be afraid of here.
There, that's better.
Now, why don't you tell me how old you think i am? Oh, now, that's hardly fair.
Oh, do, come on, now.
Well? You're very beautiful.
That wasn't the question.
You don't look any older now than you did in that painting.
I was only a child when i posed for bersonne.
I was so frightened of him.
The world was so bright and new to me, and he was so wild and creative.
I've never met anyone like him.
His genius enabled him to project the "flowering of a fragile blossom," as he put it.
Would you like some coffee? Yes, coffee, thank you.
Would you like something in it? Cognac? Whiskey? No, thanks, i'll take it black.
I thought newspaper people were heavy drinkers.
That's a myth.
My mother, mrs.
Draper.
Jordan herrick.
How do you do? He's a newspaper man, mother.
How do you do? Sit down and have some tea.
With my mother it is tea this precise time every afternoon.
Me, it's coffee.
Mrs.
Draper, you must feel very proud to have a daughter as famous as pamela morris.
Mother never did wholly approve of my career.
Believe me, mr.
Herrick, i had little choice in the matter.
She thinks i'm too headstrong.
Dedicated is the word.
You still are, pamela.
Was she always as beautiful as she is now? Always.
A mother's loyalty.
As a matter of fact, mr.
Herrick, it is the truth.
Perhaps from the mother, i'll learn the real age of the daughter.
Isn't age relative? Besides, didn't i promise to reveal all to you, mr.
Herrick? Mr.
Herrick! Mother, would you mind seeing if charlotte has things under control in the kitchen? Pleased to have met you, mrs.
Draper.
Good-bye, mr.
Herrick.
Forgive her, but she's getting old.
I was hoping she'd give me some ideas for my article.
No, her mind wanders.
Her memory becomes increasingly distorted.
Shall we finish our coffee on the terrace? I'm sure there's a breeze out there.
Isn't it lovely out here? I often sit here by the hour, watching the clouds and the birds.
At night, i watch the stars.
Yes, it is lovely.
Oh, but that isn't what interests you, is it- my nocturnal habits, how i dream out here? I could work it into my story the question of age is the big thing, isn't it? I'm 38, jordan.
May i call you jordan? Yes, of course, please.
Is 38 terribly old? The years have never been kinder to anyone.
What a nice thing to say.
I mean it.
What have you got there? Some notes- dates, mostly.
Do they concern me? Yes.
According to this i know, you read a column by one of those stupid, jealous women.
If you are 38, how could you have starred in a movie made in 1935? I can't believe it- jordan herrick taken in by the printed word.
Tell me, do you believe everything you read? The movie wastrails west.
Darling, it couldn't have been me.
I would've been ten years old.
Don't you see? It's an old mistake i've run across before.
According to our files, your costar was john bradley.
You were in love with him.
I never even met him.
Your files are in error, and it does happen, you know.
In 1935, you know, i don't think i'd even seen a movie yet.
We were poor, living in iowa.
My father's business was failing.
It wasn't until 1940 that i set out for hollywood a starstruck girl in my teens following the trail blazed by so many other hopefuls.
But i was lucky.
You must have been.
You madequeen of the nile with charles danforth in 1940.
You were 15.
Darling, juliet was 12.
But 15? Now, is that so much harder to believe than my being 38 today? No one knew i was 15.
I matured very early.
I suppose that picture inspired the decor? I call it early egyptian, though i suppose it is rather silly, but it was my first big break.
Well, i'm just glad that it wasn't a horror picture, or i just might have the place full of caskets.
Do you know the fact is that i i still do feel just about 15.
I really do.
No? With you sitting there, i feel new and breathless and just 21.
Oh, i want to savor all there is in this life, jordan.
Is it wrong to feel that way? No, no, it's not wrong.
I'm being foolish, saying these things.
And you're not being foolish.
I so seldom get a chance to speak my mind or air my dreams.
And yours what must you think of me? I wanted to do that.
And you wanted me to do it, too.
You're sweet and very real.
But you must go now.
Why? Because i say so.
We'll see each other again if you'd like.
What about tonight? Dinner, hmm? All right.
Why don't we say 8:00? Why don't we say 8:00? Mr.
Herrick! Hello, mrs.
Draper.
Mr.
Herrick yes? You are a fine young man.
Well, thank you, mrs.
Draper.
It is not an idle compliment.
Are you going to see her again? Yes, tonight.
We're having dinner.
No, you must not do that.
You must never see her again.
Why not? She's older than you think.
Yes, she told me how old she was.
Yes, i know.
Thirty-eight.
Well, isn't that true? Mr.
Herrick, you wouldn't believe me if i told you how old ithinkshe is.
You think? Don't you know? No not really.
But you're her mother.
No.
I'm not her mother.
I am her daughter! I don't know when i've had such a wonderful time.
You've been so quiet all evening.
What is it? Oh, it's something your mother said.
Now, i don't believe it, but just just sticks in my mind.
Well, tell me.
She said that you are her mother.
Her mother? Her mother.
Jordan, darling, you must believe me.
My mother is disturbed.
I'm sure it's because she feels responsible for my father's death.
You see, they were returning home from a party ten years ago.
She was driving the car, and it went off the road, and my father was killed.
I'm sorry.
Ever since then, she's been furtive, suspicious, imagining all kinds of terrible things.
I've tried to help her- really, i have- but the doctors say it's hopeless.
She really should be put away, but i haven't had i never should've brought it up.
Now, let's forget about it.
All right.
We'll talk about something else.
After all, we've been talking about me, and now you know about my mother.
What about your life? Very dull up until now.
All right, then tell me where you're from.
Chicago.
I still live there.
I've played chicago.
The wells theater.
Have you really? I've loved every moment of it.
I really have.
Shall i see you tomorrow? Tomorrow.
Krueger.
Jordan herrick in hollywood? Yeah, put him on.
Hi, jordy, glad you called.
Got another job for you if you're through playing with that little femme fatale.
Not yet.
Not for a while, krueg.
I want you to do something.
Get out the file on a picture calledqueen of the nile.
Which one? What do you mean, which one? You're a little young for this.
They made two of them.
The first one, a silent, i think.
Around 1920, maybe a little later.
All right, get them both.
I'll hang on.
Right.
Hey, you there? Yeah.
What was the name of the girl who starred in the original? Constance taylor.
Anyway, she starred in most of it.
There was an accident during the last day of shooting.
Cave-in in a tomb in egypt.
They never found her.
Never found her? No, it was the end of a very promising career.
As a matter of fact, i met constance taylor when i was about your age.
Extraordinary woman.
How do you mean, "extraordinary"? Well, she was ageless.
She'd been a reigning beauty in the days of the flora dora girls.
That was before your time.
She was arealfemme fatale.
She'd been married half a dozen times before the accident in egypt.
Sounds like pamela morris, the same history.
Very much the same, as a matter of fact.
You got a picture of this taylor girl? Yeah.
Compare it to a picture of pamela morris.
Yeah, jordy? Well? They look alike, but then, they played the same kind of parts.
Same makeup, same type costume.
Krueger, the wells theater, the old wells theater- what year did they tear that down? Oh, sometime back in the '20s.
Why, jordy? Oh, never mind.
Not until i'm real sure.
In the meantime, get me a list of all the men who were ever involved with pamela morris.
Get me every press release, every clipping you have on her, got it? Sounds interesting.
May sound fantastic.
Well? It's all true, mr.
Herrick.
It'salltrue.
But don't show it to her.
Leave here at once.
Is this pamela? Yes, yes.
Please, mr.
Herrick, you don't know how it is.
She had many different names.
But she hasn't changed in 40 years.
At least70years- the total sum of my life.
Can you imagine what it was like to see her always so fresh and beautiful while my mirrored image grew seared and yellowed with age? How old is she, really? She's ageless.
Perhaps she's eternal.
What is the secret? What woman would not sell her soul to know? It has something to do with this beetle with egypt.
The scarabael beetle.
Egyptian symbol of everlasting life.
Tell me, if you hate her so much why do i stay? What else could i do? After pamela and my husb go on, tell me the rest.
No, i cannot.
You must go now! What about the other men, john bradley, charles danforth? Don't ask about them! Mrs.
Draper, listen to me mr.
Herrick! How nice you dropped in.
Has my mother entertained you? What wild tales did you spin? I don't think they're wild tales at all.
For example, the wells theater, where you played was torn down in the '20s.
You may leave us, mother.
Charlotte will prepare your tea in your room.
Pamela, please! I wish to speak to mr.
Herrick alone.
Your coffee.
You were saying don't you think it's time we had anhonesttalk? What do you want? Money? No.
Just the truth.
And you shall have it.
What? What is that? The rare egyptian scarab.
The secret of eternity.
Where did you get it? From the pharaohs who understood its power.
Pharaohs? Hmm? I told you, mr.
Herrick, i was once queen of the nile.
You, uh i told you never to come in until i called you, viola ifyou want to live another day.
Get rid of it, quickly.
You must be mr.
Jackson.
Yes, i called the other day.
And i told you to come out when you could.
Did you think i'd forget? We'll have coffee in the living room.
Everybody knows pamela morris, the beautiful and eternally young movie star.
Or does she have another name even more famous, an egyptian name from centuries past? It's best not to be too curious, lest you wind up like jordan herrick- a pile of dust and old clothing discarded in the endless eternity of the twilight zone.