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| Joseph Schildkraut and Alma Platt as Mr. and Mrs. John Holt |
“The Trade-Ins”
Season Three, Episode 96
Original
Air Date: April 20, 1962
Cast:
John
Holt: Joseph Schildkraut
Mr.
Vance: Noah Keen
Marie
Holt: Alma Platt
Mr.
Farraday: Theodore (Ted) Marcuse
Young
John Holt: Edson Stroll
Gambler
#1: Terrence deMarney
Gambler
#2: Billy Vincent
Receptionist:
Mary McMahon
Surgeon:
David Armstrong
Crew:
Writer:
Rod Serling (original teleplay)
Director:
Elliot Silverstein
Producer:
Buck Houghton
Production
Manager: Ralph W. Nelson
Director
of Photography: George T. Clemens
Art
Direction: George W. Davis and
Merrill Pye
Set
Decoration: Keogh Gleason
Assistant
Director: E. Darrell Hallenbeck
Casting:
Robert Walker
Special
Makeup: William Tuttle
Editor:
Bill Mosher
Sound:
Franklin Milton and Bill Edmondson
Music:
stock
Optical
FX: Pacific Title
Rod
Serling’s Wardrobe: Eagle Clothes
Filmed
at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios
And Now, Mr. Serling:
“We
have a return visit next week from a most eminent performer, Joseph
Schildkraut, and his vehicle is called ‘The Trade-Ins.’ It’s a story of a
future society in which new bodies may be traded for old. It’s my own personal
feeling that of all the various story areas we’ve tackled on The Twilight Zone, this
has the most import and carries with it the most poignance. I hope you’ll be
able to be with us next week.
"Here,
in one cigarette, a Chesterfield, is all the flavor and taste of twenty-one of
the world’s finest tobaccos, aged mild and then blended mild. The end result:
tobacco too mild to filter, pleasure too good to miss. Smoke for pleasure.
Smoke Chesterfield.”
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
“Mr.
and Mrs. John Holt, aging people who slowly and with trembling fingers turn the
last pages of a book of life and hope against logic and the preordained that
some magic printing press will add to this book another limited edition. But
these two senior citizens happen to live in a time of the future where nothing
is impossible, even the trading of old bodies for new. Mr. and Mrs. John Holt,
in their twilight years, who are about to find that there happens to be a zone
with the same name.”
Summary:
At
an unspecified time in the future, Mr. and Mrs. John Holt, an elderly couple,
arrive at the New Life Corporation, which specializes in designing young, state
of the art bodies into which one’s consciousness can be placed in order to alleviate
illness and extend life. After establishing that the Holts are still very much
in love and that John is in near constant pain, they are given the grand tour
by Mr. Vance, a salesman with the company, who shows them the many human models
which they can inhabit. When the issue of cost comes up, the Holts realize they
have a problem. They have only enough money to purchase one New Life body.
Restricted by law and unable to extend the Holts any credit, Mr. Vance
apologizes profusely but explains that there is no way both of the Holts can
receive New Life bodies unless the additional money is presented at the time of
purchase. Dejected, the Holts leave.
John
decides to take their life savings and attempt to double it in order to buy New
Life bodies. He happens upon a poker game in the back room a bar owned by a
prominent criminal, Mr. Farraday. It becomes apparent to Farraday that Holt is
desperate for something and coaxes the truth out of the older man. When
Farraday realizes that he is about to win the final hand of the game that will
clean Holt out of all his money, he folds so that Holt can win the hand and
leave with exactly the amount he brought to the game.
The
Holts return to the New Life Corporation having decided that John must go
through with the operation to alleviate his terrible pain. He comes out of the
operation in the body of a handsome younger man. John is ecstatic with his new
body until he realizes that Marie will remain old and will be unable to share
in his newfound youth and happiness. John decides to return to his old body and
together, hand-in-hand, the Holts leave the New Life Corporation, determined to
make the most out of their remaining time together.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
“From
Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet: ‘Love gives naught but itself and takes
naught from itself, love possess not nor would it be possessed: For love is
sufficient unto love.’ Not a lesson, just a reminder from all the
sentimentalists in The Twilight Zone.”
Commentary:
It
has been said before, most often by author Marc Scott Zicree (in his book, The Twilight Zone Companion), but it
bears repeating that the writers on The
Twilight Zone, all of whom were in their early to middle thirties at the
time of the series, frequently wrote about aging and dying from a sympathetic
and often heartbreaking perspective.
It is interesting to
consider that these men, all in the prime of life, dwelt so frequently on the
subject of aging and dying that each of the core writers for the series
approached the material at least once. Here, Rod Serling presents perhaps his
finest rumination on the subject, but he also covered similar ground in “One
for the Angels” and “The Changing of the Guard.” Charles Beaumont wrote such
powerful episodes on the subject as “Long Live Walter Jameson” and “Passage on
the Lady Anne.” George Clayton Johnson wrote perhaps the two finest
examinations of the theme in “Nothing in the Dark” and “Kick the Can,” along
with providing the story for the underrated fifth season episode “Ninety Years
Without Slumbering.” Richard Matheson gave us “Night Call” and Earl Hamner, Jr.
gave us “The Hunt” along the same lines. As evidenced from the titles listed
above, the subject and theme of aging and dying resulted in some of the most
haunting, beautiful, and well-regarded episodes of the series.
Perhaps it is the idea
that the passage beyond life into the vast unknown is the ultimate embodiment
of The Twilight Zone and the writers
on the series found pliable material in the theme. Whatever the case, Rod
Serling was certainly in the mood to tackle the subject head on at the end of
the third season, as “The Trade-Ins” is followed closely by “The Changing of
the Guard,” which closes out the season. Serling thought highly of the message
behind “The Trade-Ins,” as evidenced in his preview narration, and he was
clearly attempting to create the feeling of a fable or fairy tale with the
episode, a futuristic story which nevertheless examined the timelessness of
love and companionship. He generally succeeded in this regard though the
episode comes close to becoming too sentimental at times and the reliance upon
a simplistic style of story leaves some logical holes in the plot construction.
“The Trade-Ins”
presents an achingly romantic and optimistic view of everything from marriage,
the future, and humanity in general. An interesting aspect of Serling’s
characterizations is that he wrote two of the supporting characters against
type. Noah Keene, here playing the salesman Mr. Vance and last seen in the
third season opener “The Arrival,” could easily have been written as an
unsympathetic, pushy salesman. Serling opts to write him in a near saintly
manner as a man who takes an immediate and personal interest in his clients.
Vance’s role in the corporation remains unclear even by the end of the episode
as it is difficult to determine if he is only a salesman or if he perhaps owns
the company when considering Vance is seen as part of the operating team later
in the episode.
Another supporting
character who is written strongly against type is Mr. Farraday, played by
Theodore Marcuse, last seen in the earlier third season episode “To Serve Man.”
Farraday is clearly a criminal but is portrayed as curious, caring, and
ultimately willing to make a sacrifice for the interest of the aging John Holt.
Everyone in the episode seems to be on the side of the Holts and all character
interaction serves to underline the idea that people are generally kind and
good. Serling has occasionally been accused to having too bleak a view of
humanity in such episodes as “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” and “The
Shelter,” but Serling understood the basic dichotomy of human nature, that the
most outwardly sinister of us may in fact be a decent human being, and those
seeming kind and warm may hide a darker nature.
The character of the
sick and dying John Holt is brought wonderfully and sympathetically to life by
veteran actor Joseph Schildkraut, last seen in an equally powerful performance
in the earlier third season episode “Deaths-Head Revisited.” Here, aged by
William Tuttle’s makeup, Schildkraut provides the episode with a strikingly
believable portrayal of a man not only suffering from immense chronic pain but
also one terrified of facing a future without his loving wife. Unfortunately,
Schildkraut’s performance was informed by the fact that he lost his wife to
illness after the first day of filming “The Trade-Ins.” Schildkraut, a
consummate professional from a proud acting family, insisted on finishing the
episode before allowing himself to properly grieve. It is clear, however, that
Schildkraut’s grief made it into his performance and rendered it that much more
powerful.
Schildkraut is matched
by his on-screen wife played by Alma Platt, who is largely responsible for the
two most emotionally wrenching moments of the episode, the first being her
chant of “yes, yes, yes,” urging Schildkraut’s character to commit to the
operation in order to alleviate his pain and suffering. The second moment, of
course, is when both she and Schildkraut’s character, now inhabiting the young
body of actor Edson Stroll, come to the dawning realization that youth and age
will forever separate them. Though Platt never appeared in another Twilight Zone she did appear in an
episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery titled
“Since Aunt Ada Came to Stay,” based on A.E. van Vogt’s 1943 story “The Witch.”
“The Trade-Ins” is
directed by Elliot Silverstein and he brings a highly artistic style of the
episode. Silverstein directed three additional episodes of the series and
always managed to convey a dream-like (or nightmare-like) quality in the
episodes he directed. “The Trade-Ins” is visually defined by the stark contrast
of light and shadow, as well as by the cavernous set design, particularly in
the case of the showroom floor at the New Life Corporation. In this way, the
episode resembles Silverstein’s earlier effort, “The Obsolete Man,” especially
in the contrast of a large Act One set with a smaller, more intimate Act Two
set. In the case of “The Trade-Ins,” Silverstein contrasts the large showroom
floor with the close interior setting of Farraday’s poker game. Furthermore,
the two sets offer a contrast of a different nature, this being the difference
between a clean, futuristic setting and that of a traditional noir design, the
latter represented by the back room poker game. This sort of contrast would
soon become fashionable, seeing perhaps its most effective merging just a few
years later in Godard’s 1965 film Alphaville.
The shortcomings of the episode are generally
two-fold. Continuing on from the future noir look of the episode, the story
does not feel as though it is set far enough into the future, considering the
type of operation offered by the New Life Corporation. We’ve talked before
about how the series, though often considered science fiction, was really a
fantasy series which occasionally used familiar concepts from the science
fiction genre. Serling is doing this here and wisely leaves any details about
how the New Life Corporation achieves its miraculous trading of bodies shrouded
in ambiguity and broad dialogue.
The more egregious
shortcoming which most viewers will notice is the fundamental flaw of the
ending. John is given a New Life body because he is in terrible and constant
pain. He needs the body or he will die very soon. It is intimated that his
wife, Marie, is not in as desperate a need for a new body. At one point in the
episode John suggests to Mr. Vance that he would be young enough to work again
and pay for the second New Life body in installments. Why, then, cannot John
continue on in his young body until he can work enough to save up the five
thousand dollars required to get his wife a New Life body? As it stands, this
relatively minor problem with the story hardly detracts from the effectiveness
of the episode.
A final mention should
be made about the excellent adaptation of “The Trade-Ins” on The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas. In the
title roles are H.M. Wynant as John Holt and Peggy Weber as Marie Holt. Wynant
is one of the most memorable faces from the original series of The Twilight Zone as he portrayed the
stranded traveler, David Ellington, who frees the Devil in the second season episode
“The Howling Man.” Peggy Weber did not appear on the original series but did
appear in two episodes of Rod Serling’s Night
Gallery, “I’ll Never Leave You – Ever” and “The Different Ones,” the latter
of which was written by Serling. Both Wynant and Weber are excellent in this
story which one might believe is best suited to a visual medium, but radio
drama has the appealing aspect of allowing the listener to visually build the
story in their own minds. This one comes recommended.
“The Trade-Ins” is Rod
Serling’s love letter to love and marriage and to the ultimate optimistic view
of fundamental human decency. Though it doesn’t quite strike the high notes of
Serling’s finest episodes, it remains a moving, effective, and uplifting
episode with memorable direction and outstanding performances.
Grade:
B
Notes:
--Elliot
Silverstein also directed “The Obsolete Man,” “The Passersby,” and “Spur of the
Moment.”
--Joseph
Schildkraut also appeared in the season three episode “Deaths-head Revisited.”
--Noah
Keen also appeared in the season three episode “The Arrival.”
--Alma
Platt also appeared in an episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, “Since Aunt
Ada Came to Stay.”
--Theodore
Marcuse also appeared in the season three episode “To Serve Man.”
--Edson
Stroll also appeared in the season two episode “Eye of the Beholder.”
--David
Armstrong appeared uncredited in the episodes “To Serve Man,” “I Sing the Body
Electric,” and “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.”
--“The
Trade-Ins” was adapted as a Twilight
Zone Radio Drama starring H.M. Wynant and
Peggy Webber.
--Serling
misquotes Gibran in his closing narration. The line should read: “Love gives
naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.”
-JP
