WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.240 --> 00:00:10.720 You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond 2 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:15.320 it is another dimension, a dimension of sun, a dimension 3 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:19.760 of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a 4 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:23.480 land of both shadow and substance of things and ideas. 5 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:41.679 You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone. 6 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:49.679 In an interview that was conducted during the third season 7 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:54.640 of The Twilight Zone, Road Sailing expressed his fatigue with 8 00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:58.840 the show. He said, I'm tired of it, as most 9 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:01.520 people are when they do a series for three years. 10 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:05.359 I was tired after the fourth show. It's been a 11 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:09.519 good series. It's not been consistently good, but I don't 12 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:13.359 know any one series that is consistently good when you 13 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:18.439 shoot each episode in three days. We've been trying gradually 14 00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:21.799 to get away from the necessity of a gimmick, but 15 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:24.799 the show has the stamp of the gimmick and it's 16 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:27.799 hooked for now. It's tough to come up with them 17 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:31.439 week after week. And this wasn't the only time that 18 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:35.879 Rod Sailing spoke about his growing exhaustion. As the series 19 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:40.719 progressed by the fifth season, his fatigue must have been 20 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:44.480 even more pronounced, and if he felt that the show 21 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:47.599 was relying too heavily on the twist ending gimmick, as 22 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:51.879 he called it. Perhaps in its fifth year, it needed 23 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:56.000 to evolve, with other writers taking on the line's share 24 00:01:56.040 --> 00:02:02.400 of writing duties. In season five, wrote only six episodes. 25 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:08.599 It was clear that times where changing and new themes emerging, 26 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:13.360 and this evolution of the show occurred against the backdrop 27 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:18.199 of nineteen sixty four, a pivotal year in American history 28 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:23.840 marked by social and cultural changes. The civil rights movement 29 00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:27.280 reached a milestone with the signing of the Civil Rights 30 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:31.599 Act of nineteen sixty four by President Lyndon B. Johnson, 31 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:38.240 outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 32 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:42.919 The arrival of the Beatles in America sparked a British invasion, 33 00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:49.400 influencing music and fashion. The Vietnam War was escalating, leading 34 00:02:49.479 --> 00:02:55.439 to growing anti war sentiment and protests. Culturally, new forms 35 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:59.759 of expression in art, music, and literature were emerging in 36 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:04.680 fluenced by the beat generation and the burgeoning counterculture movement. 37 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:10.000 This period of transformation set the stage for the social 38 00:03:10.120 --> 00:03:14.960 and political upevils that would define the rest of the decade. 39 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.599 So if counterculture was leaving its mark on the arts, 40 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:23.599 perhaps it was time for the Twilight Zone to address 41 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:24.719 that counterculture. 42 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.120 You know who they are, no, I don't know. 43 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:35.159 Strange type of this neighborhood and you stay away from 44 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:35.879 a young lady. 45 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:39.919 Traditionally the Twilight Zone was the domain of men in 46 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.120 suits and ties. But as three men ride their motorcycles 47 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:48.000 into a white pickard fence neighborhood, the type that we've 48 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:52.439 seen over and over in episodes like Walking Distance, maybe 49 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:57.000 the show was ready to address the counterculture and leave 50 00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:01.639 the suits and ties in the closet of instead for 51 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:03.520 some black leather jackets. 52 00:04:06.599 --> 00:04:10.120 Three strangers arrive in a small town, three men in 53 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:15.560 black leather jackets and an empty rented house. We'll call 54 00:04:15.639 --> 00:04:18.240 them Steve and Scott and Fred, but their names are 55 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:22.199 not important. Their mission is as three men on motorcycles 56 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:24.360 lead us into the twilight'sign. 57 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:31.319 First broadcast on January thirty first, nineteen sixty four, written 58 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:34.800 by el Hamner Junior and directed by Joseph F. 59 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:35.319 Newman. 60 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:40.519 So pretty basic opening narration from Rod Sailing where he 61 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:44.639 introduces the characters even by name, and says they have 62 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.000 a mission. So not much to comment on here. And 63 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:51.120 our writer tonight is Earl Hamner Junior, who is on 64 00:04:51.319 --> 00:04:55.319 episode six of his eight episode run, and he shares 65 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.720 something in common with our director tonight, who is Joseph f. 66 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:03.720 New who we have spoken about before, because he is 67 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:06.800 one of that new crop of directors who came to 68 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.160 the show in season five, and he actually has the 69 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:14.959 distinction of bookending this season by starting it with in 70 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:17.959 praise of Pip. And the thing he has in common 71 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:22.279 with al Hamner is they both ended with the Bewitching Pool. 72 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:25.639 So I won't go into his bio now, as we 73 00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:29.240 will have done it before in this season, apart from 74 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:32.639 to say that after this episode he only has one 75 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:36.959 more credit, one episode of a Western show called The 76 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:41.800 Big Valley. So our scene is set. Three bikers come 77 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:45.639 to this quiet suburb, attracting suspicious looks from one of 78 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:50.040 the residents, Stuugh Tillman, but admiring looks from his daughter 79 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:53.959 Ellen Tillman, and the Tilmans settled down for the evening 80 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:56.920 in their living room, which is a set that gets 81 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.199 a lot of use here in season five because as 82 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:03.920 we've seen it in ninety years without slumbering and ringed 83 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.560 in girls so far. But when they do sit down, 84 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:12.839 the television loses its picture. The lights flicker, on and off. 85 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:17.560 Ellen's radio is picking up strange voices, and Stu Tillman 86 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:20.600 notices a new aerial on the roof of the house 87 00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:26.120 where the three bikers moved in, so Stu goes to investigate. 88 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:33.439 Billy, I'm Stu Tillman live over next door. I've been 89 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:35.439 having a little trouble over there with my electricity. 90 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:40.519 It fades on and off. Are you boys? Don't happen 91 00:06:40.600 --> 00:06:46.439 to be Ham radio operators? Do you? What's so funny? 92 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:48.839 Big Daddy wants to know what's so funny? 93 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:53.560 Who are you boys? Anyway? We are Master's Daddyo. 94 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:55.560 We came from out of space. 95 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:56.759 Take us to your. 96 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:02.240 Leader just a minute, or I'll just syntegrated with my 97 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:02.800 rag gun. 98 00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:07.879 Now you wait. 99 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:15.480 So, after being pushed around by the bikers, ste does 100 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:19.120 forget it after one of the bikers uses powers of 101 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:22.000 suggestion to remove it from his mind. 102 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:31.319 Still, what is it? What's happened to you? Do? Those men? 103 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:32.040 What they've done to you? 104 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:36.319 M nothing, They didn't do anything. 105 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:40.279 Well, you were you were going to ask them about 106 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:41.360 the television interference. 107 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:45.399 Oh it wasn't them. There the nice boys. There three 108 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:46.519 very nice boys. 109 00:07:47.800 --> 00:07:51.720 So who are these three very nice boys. Now, I 110 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:54.839 won't go too deep into bios on our three Bikers, 111 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:59.439 because otherwise this episode will be nothing but bios. But 112 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:03.959 let's just briefly go over their careers. Steve has played 113 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:06.439 by Michael Frost, who I believe is still with us 114 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:10.600 today and has been working as recently as twenty twenty, 115 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:14.639 and in contrast to his rugged screen persona, he was 116 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:19.040 also an accomplished Shakespearean actor and in Unlocking the Door 117 00:08:19.079 --> 00:08:23.120 to a Television classic, Martin Graham's junior prints part of 118 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:26.879 an interview that he did with Tom Weaver, and Michael says, 119 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:30.839 we played aliens on motorcycles in there, and I used 120 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:34.120 to ride motorcycles. They gave me a bike that had 121 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:37.519 a regular foot clutch, which was the old fashioned kind 122 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:40.360 that I was used to riding. So they gave me 123 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:43.879 this nineteen thirty nine Harley frame with a brand new 124 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:48.000 engine and a foot clutch. They call it a suicide clutch. 125 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:51.759 The other bikes had the hand clutch, which of course 126 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:55.600 all bikes have now. It was fun because they were 127 00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:59.120 very hot bikes, and we did wheelies a couple of times, 128 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.080 which weren't supposed to do, but we got fooling around 129 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:05.080 and it was a fun episode to do. 130 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:06.000 So. 131 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:09.279 The next of our trio is Fred, played by Tom 132 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:12.519 gilleran an actor with so few credits to his name 133 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:15.039 that I can reel them off for you right now. 134 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:20.240 He was in Riverboat in nineteen sixty Alfred Hitchcock Presents 135 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:23.840 in nineteen sixty one to nineteen sixty two, four episodes 136 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:27.080 in total, an episode of The Donna Reed Show in 137 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:30.960 nineteen sixty two, this episode of the Twilight Zone in 138 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:35.120 nineteen sixty four, one episode of the TV show Gidget 139 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:38.840 in nineteen sixty six, an episode of the FBI in 140 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:43.240 nineteen seventy two, one episode of Dallas in nineteen eighty one, 141 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:47.279 and two episodes of night Rider in nineteen eighty four. 142 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:51.519 So not particularly prolific in acting, and it does suggest 143 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:54.480 that maybe he decided that the business wasn't for him, 144 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.200 and I believe that he left acting and worked in 145 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:01.799 real estate for many years. Then finally, Scott is played 146 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:05.759 by Leakinsolving and he was born in nineteen thirty eight 147 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:10.720 in Boston, Massachusetts. Initially he was a Broadway actor and 148 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:13.519 was signed by the same agents who had brought success 149 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:17.440 to James Dean and Tad Hunter. He hit television screens 150 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:20.799 in nineteen fifty eight and started to do the rounds 151 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:25.639 on anthologies like Playhouse ninety and The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. 152 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:29.440 So things were looking bright. But as he approached the 153 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:34.080 mid sixties, although he was working steadily, he hadn't found 154 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:37.639 that breakout part that would take him to the next level, so, 155 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:42.960 after becoming frustrated, he too quit the business. After that, 156 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:45.759 he ran a bar for a couple of years, managed 157 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:49.480 Dark Galleries, and then in nineteen seventy two decided to 158 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:54.039 spend most of his time on his boat exploring exotic locations. 159 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:58.039 But sadly, in nineteen seventy four, at the age of 160 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:03.639 thirty six, he died of a mysterious respiratory illness. So 161 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:06.559 back to our episode. While Stu Tillman didn't have a 162 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:10.840 particularly good running with the bikers, his daughter has quite 163 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:14.159 a different experience when the bus that she wants it 164 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:18.679 to catch drives away and biker Scott approaches her on 165 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:19.679 his motorcycle. 166 00:11:19.799 --> 00:11:21.039 Did you see that bus? 167 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:22.159 It pulled right away? 168 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:23.679 It's like a game with them. They just like to 169 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:24.519 make people suffer. 170 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:25.879 Why do they do that? 171 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:26.480 Oh? 172 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:28.799 It beats me? Just thank you're lucky stars. 173 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:30.720 You don't have to depend on buses to get around. 174 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:32.720 Stars are lucky? 175 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:34.679 Well, you know that old expression. 176 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:37.480 Well, I understand a great deal about the constellations, that 177 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:39.240 is the nature of the galactic structure. 178 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:42.120 But I mean I dig stars. 179 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:42.960 But so they're lucky. 180 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:44.440 That's a gas. 181 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:47.519 Yes, So are you? One minute you sound like a professor. 182 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:48.399 In the next minute you're. 183 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:49.159 Talking like a beatnik. 184 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:50.679 You need a ride? 185 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:53.759 Well, you're not going by the library by any chance, 186 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:56.639 are you? I could with me on the back seat? 187 00:11:57.000 --> 00:11:57.360 Why not? 188 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:01.000 So we hear that, Scott and Nish. He doesn't grasp 189 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:04.399 that figure of speech that Ellen says. But then it's 190 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:07.559 like he remembers that he's supposed to talk a particular 191 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:11.679 way and starts to use slang again, and Ellen says 192 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:13.360 that he talks like a beatnik. 193 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:14.360 Now. 194 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:16.919 One of the things that sticks out about this episode 195 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:21.399 is the language, the use of words like daddio and cool, 196 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:25.679 and in Rod Selling's closing narration on the previous episode, 197 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:27.759 he says this, and. 198 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:31.480 Now mister Surling Earl Hamnrid Junior brings his typebreter in 199 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:33.679 his ferutile mind back into the twilight. So next time 200 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:36.639 with a program about visitors on the service. They're beatniks. 201 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:39.120 A few ranchy looking characters and motorcycles draw in a 202 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:41.159 tone one day, but once you meet them, you won't 203 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.200 forget them. They're quite different from what they appear. 204 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:43.639 Now. 205 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:46.879 I'm no expert on American history, and I'm not sure 206 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:49.840 whether the term beatnick could be used in different ways, 207 00:12:49.960 --> 00:12:53.679 kind of like how someone might call another person a punk. 208 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:56.600 They're not saying that a punk in the context of 209 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:00.279 punk music, but they're saying that they're a troublemaker or 210 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:04.240 immature or disruptive. So I don't know whether they're called 211 00:13:04.279 --> 00:13:08.559 beatnicks in that sense, because to me, the three bikers 212 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:12.799 who we see here aren't beatnicks. Beatnicks were a kind 213 00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.519 of social and literary movement that took place in the 214 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:19.360 nineteen fifties and sixties, and their whole thing was to 215 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:23.840 reject societal norms and they embraced the more liberated and 216 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:30.240 bohemian lifestyle. Poetry, readings, jazz music, and comfortable clothes were 217 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:33.240 the order of the day. But while the gang in 218 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:36.960 black leather jackets talk, the beatnick talk, the more in 219 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:41.200 line with Marlon Brando's character Johnny Strabler, In the nineteen 220 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:45.120 fifty three movie The Wild One, he's the leader of 221 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:49.320 a motorcycle gang called the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club. And 222 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:53.360 while Johnny does embody a rebellious and anti establishment attitude, 223 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:57.480 which is somewhat in line with the Beatnick ethos, he 224 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:02.080 isn't really a beatnick either, like I said beat next 225 00:14:02.120 --> 00:14:05.919 to or more associated with the literary and artistic counterculture 226 00:14:06.519 --> 00:14:11.200 of the nineteen fifties, focusing on poetry, jazz, and the 227 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:15.399 bohemia lifestyle. Johnny, on the other hand, is more of 228 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:20.639 an outlaw biker, representing a different kind of rebellion against 229 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:21.840 societal norms. 230 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:24.440 Hey, where you been? 231 00:14:25.879 --> 00:14:26.080 Hey? 232 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:28.279 Listen, what's happening later? 233 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:29.120 What are you gonna do later? 234 00:14:29.480 --> 00:14:33.200 I work? You gotta go forth, don't you Well? You're 235 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.080 not gonna work forever? Are you? It looks like it sometimes. 236 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:41.879 What I'm talking about tonight after finish up my ten 237 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:45.519 years long we're busy, sounds like we're going to be 238 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:46.639 busy until you leave here? 239 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:51.120 Where are you going when you leave here? 240 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:58.200 Don't you know? Hm? Man, We're just gonna go. 241 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:01.279 Just trying to make conversation that means nothing to me. 242 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.919 Well, on the weekends, we go out and have a ball. 243 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:07.240 And what do you do? 244 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:09.559 I mean, do you just ride around or do you 245 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:11.039 go on some sort of a picnic or something? 246 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:14.080 A picnic? 247 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:15.720 Man, you are too square. 248 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:16.200 I'm ya. 249 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:17.600 I have to straighten you out. 250 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:19.120 Now. 251 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:19.480 Listen. 252 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:21.200 You don't go any one special place. 253 00:15:21.240 --> 00:15:22.480 That's cornball style. 254 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:26.600 You just go a bunch gets together after all week, 255 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:27.639 it builds up you. 256 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:29.360 Just the idea is to have a ball. 257 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:31.480 Now, if you're gonna stay cool, you. 258 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:32.080 Got to whale. 259 00:15:32.919 --> 00:15:34.840 You got to put something down. You got to make 260 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:35.360 some jive. 261 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:36.799 Don't you know what I'm talking about? 262 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:38.519 Yeah, yeah, I know. 263 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:38.960 What you mean. 264 00:15:39.080 --> 00:15:40.240 Well, that's all I'm saying. 265 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:42.879 My father was going to take me on a fishing 266 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:43.840 trip to Canada once. 267 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:49.679 Yeah, we didn't go crazy. 268 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:56.320 And his character in that movie became a cultural corner 269 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:01.519 of the nineteen fifties, symbolizing youthful defile and the spirit 270 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:05.600 of rebellion. So, while there are some overlapping themes of 271 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:10.600 nonconformity and rebellion, and also I guess similar youth speak, 272 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:15.480 Johnny Strabler is more accurately described as an outlaw biker 273 00:16:16.039 --> 00:16:19.200 rather than a beatnick. And I'd argue that our characters 274 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:23.159 here in black leather jackets would be too. So while 275 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.559 I think it's inaccurate to call them beat nicks, is 276 00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:29.799 that the point is that what el Hamner was getting 277 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:33.840 at was he showing us that these aliens are getting 278 00:16:33.879 --> 00:16:38.200 their countercultures mixed up. They dress like bikers, but they 279 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:42.120 talk like beatnicks. Or is it the case that Hamner 280 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:46.000 just wasn't up on his countercultures? Well, I think in 281 00:16:46.039 --> 00:16:49.399 Hamner's favor on that one, would Allen have said, you 282 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:53.080 talk like a beatnick if he'd have actually looked like 283 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:56.759 a beatnick, she'd have just taken that as red. So 284 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.039 she does have a bit of a sense of why 285 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:01.679 you talking like beating it? You don't look like one. 286 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:05.039 So I guess we'll give el Hamner the benefit of 287 00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:08.119 the doubt on that one. But it's not really drawn 288 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:12.400 attention to apart from nah the fact that these aliens 289 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:16.599 are getting their kind of cultural milestones mixed up and 290 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.759 melding together these styles. It kind of comes to nothing 291 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:23.559 in the episode, but as Scott and Allen rides away 292 00:17:23.599 --> 00:17:26.559 on Scott's bike, there's a nice shot where the other 293 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:30.200 two members of Scott's gang look out of the window disapprovingly, 294 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.440 and then we cut to Ellen's parents looking out of 295 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:39.000 their window disapprovingly too. So while Scott and Allen head 296 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:43.200 to the library, we can't help but notice that Ellen's dad, Stu, 297 00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:47.920 looks very familiar. And that's because Stu Tillman is played 298 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:50.839 by Denver Pyle and he was born in nineteen twenty 299 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:55.680 in Colorado. Now, depending on your viewing habits, you might 300 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:58.880 recall him mouse for the role where he sported a 301 00:17:58.920 --> 00:18:02.519 big white beard and dungarees and was the uncle of 302 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:05.920 those Duke boys in The Dukes of Hazard. But that 303 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:08.599 fame in the eighties really was just a tip of 304 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:12.720 the iceberg of a career that spanned two hundred and 305 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:17.279 sixty seven credits, making him truly one of the hardest 306 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:20.720 working actors of his day. As a young man, having 307 00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:23.839 grown up on a farm, he worked on everything from 308 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.160 oil fields to shrimp boats before serving in the Navy 309 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:31.440 in World War Two. But following the war he went 310 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:34.759 back to manual labor, but also took part in some 311 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:38.440 amateur dramatics, and it was here that he was spotted 312 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.640 by a talent scout, and he made his film debut 313 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:45.559 in nineteen forty seven in a film called The Guilt 314 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:49.599 of Janet Ames, and then the hard work ethic that 315 00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:52.559 he had as a younger man translated to the screen. 316 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:57.359 Often in his early career he would take uncredited sidekick roles, 317 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:01.000 but later on his association with John Wayne Will lead 318 00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:05.039 them to work on several of the Duke's movies like 319 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.920 The Horse Soldiers, The Man Who Shot Liberty, Balance, and 320 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:12.680 The Alamo, and he was often cast as older than 321 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:16.119 he was because of his prematurely white hair, but it 322 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:18.319 was not old age that beat him in the end. 323 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:22.359 Denver passed away in nineteen ninety seven of lung cancer, 324 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:26.480 but not before The Dukes of Hazard Reunion movie was 325 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:30.200 released that year, and he also received the honor of 326 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:33.759 a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, attending the 327 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:40.160 ceremony despite his weakness from his illness. So when Ellen 328 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.160 and Scott drive off into the night on Scott's motorbike, 329 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:46.759 we are coming up to halfway through the episode, and 330 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:49.519 while the language the bikers use is a bit goofy 331 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:53.519 and dated, it's not the only reason why this feels 332 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:57.640 a bit different from your usual Twilight Zone. Maybe in 333 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:00.720 the fifth season that's a good thing. So let's just 334 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:03.759 keep an eye on that for the moment. But when 335 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:06.000 Ellen and Scott decide to take a walk to the 336 00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:10.440 library through the park, this happens pretty. 337 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:10.519 Isn't it. 338 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:11.480 Mm hm? 339 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:15.839 You know this is kind of a special place with me. 340 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:19.160 I come you sometimes and I just try to figure 341 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:25.200 things out, like what, Well, for one thing, did you 342 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:27.079 know that you have lived next door to me for 343 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:29.759 a week and you've never said hello, Hello? 344 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:33.279 My name is Ellen, my name is Scott. 345 00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:34.519 Where are you from? 346 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:36.680 I mean, where did you live before you move next door? 347 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:38.160 Long way from here? 348 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:41.160 Where I doubt you ever even heard of? 349 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:41.880 It? 350 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:44.440 Could be geography is one of my worst subjects. 351 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:48.759 Have you finished school? Yes? Ten years ago? 352 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:50.039 Ten years ago? 353 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:51.119 You're not that at old. 354 00:20:51.640 --> 00:20:52.799 I'm older than you'd think. 355 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:56.759 My people just don't show their age well by time. 356 00:20:56.839 --> 00:20:57.640 It's the same way. 357 00:20:57.920 --> 00:20:59.480 You know, my grandmother lived to be ninety and you 358 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:01.279 would have taken when he was sixty until we eh, 359 00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:01.680 she died. 360 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.799 I've never seen anything so beautiful now. 361 00:21:06.839 --> 00:21:11.599 When this episode was given a production number, Martin Graham's 362 00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:16.519 junior writes that it was originally titled Love Story, And 363 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:20.000 you could say that this is where the episode kind 364 00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:22.839 of screeches to a halt and we get thrown over 365 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:27.000 the handlebars. Scott and Allen start to fall for each other, 366 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:31.240 and Steve and Fred look on disapprovingly as they man 367 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:33.039 a huge computer bank. 368 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:37.079 Be at ease. Where is your brother? You no longer 369 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:39.319 trust our brother? What has he done? 370 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:41.839 Formed an attachment here with one of the people. 371 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:45.200 What kind of attachment? I'm not sure yet. 372 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:47.720 He's with a young girl in spite of our orders. 373 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:52.000 Proceed without him. Good. We've been in touch with all units. 374 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:55.680 The second wave has landed successfully and has concealed as planned. 375 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.359 The landing of a third wave, we will be in 376 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:01.119 key position us throughout the country. 377 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:05.319 Excellent. The people, are they suspicious? Not a bit? 378 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:09.680 They are stupid race, as our research stutus an inferior breed. 379 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:13.079 Given the killing, hatred, making war, greed and cruelly to 380 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:13.599 one another. 381 00:22:14.359 --> 00:22:15.559 The universe can well do with that. 382 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:18.839 Then you will receive your instructions for the final move 383 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:22.839 in a few days. 384 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:28.200 So these two aliens Shor did lose trust in their 385 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:32.240 brother quickly, and they informed their leader of that. And 386 00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:34.880 we discovered that this is a plot to take over 387 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:38.119 the world, and this is just one of several teams 388 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:41.039 who are doing it, so why did they choose the 389 00:22:41.160 --> 00:22:45.759 names Scott, Steve and Fred Well. In his book Dimensions 390 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:49.920 Behind the Twilight Zone, Stuart Staniard speaks to el Hamner 391 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:53.799 Junior and asks him black Leather Jacket seems to be 392 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:57.319 a precursor to biker films of the mid to late sixties, 393 00:22:58.359 --> 00:23:02.039 and el Hamner says, oh, yes, they stole that idea 394 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:02.480 from me. 395 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:03.440 No. 396 00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:06.440 The only similarity I can find to real life of 397 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:09.359 the guys in the Leather Jacket story with the fact 398 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:12.640 that there were kids in my neighborhood, my son Scott 399 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:16.319 and the Kooch's boy Steve and the next door neighbor 400 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:20.359 the hobblets on Fred all had mini bikes and they 401 00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:23.960