Five Characters in Search of an Exit

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“Five Characters in Search of an Exit”
The Twilight Zone episode

Susan Harrison as the Ballerina in Five Characters In Search Of An Exit
Episode no. Season 3
Episode 79
Written by Rod Serling from the story “The Depository” by Marvin Petal
Directed by Lamont Johnson
Guest stars William Windom : Major
Murray Matheson : Clown
Susan Harrison : Ballerina
Kelton Garwood : Tramp
Clark Allen : Bagpiper
Featured music Stock
Production no. 4805
Original airdate December 22, 1961
Episode chronology
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"Once Upon a Time" "A Quality of Mercy"
List of Twilight Zone episodes

"Five Characters in Search of an Exit" is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Contents

[edit] Opening Narration

Opening narration (help·info):

“ Clown. Hobo. Ballet Dancer. Bagpiper. And an Army Major. A collection of question marks. Five improbable entities stuck together into a pit of darkness. No logic, no reason, no explanation. Just a prolonged nightmare in which fear, loneliness, and the unexplainable walk hand in hand through the shadows. In a moment, we'll start collecting clues as to the whys, the whats, and the wheres. We will not end the nightmare, we'll only explain it, because this is the Twilight Zone. ”

[edit] Synopsis

An Army Major in dress uniform, a clown, a hobo, a ballet dancer and a bagpiper find themselves in a giant cylinder with no memory of who they are or how they got there. The Major is the newest arrival, and is the most determined to escape. The others point out that they have a very odd existence: They do not ever need or desire food and drink; in fact, they seem to be totally devoid of feeling. Many guesses are made about where they could be. The ballet dancer speculates that they might be on a spaceship, while the Major thinks that they are in Hell.

Finally, the ballet dancer suggests forming a tall tower on each other's shoulders to escape. The plan almost works, but a loud sound and vibration shakes the cylinder and sends the five tumbling to the ground. Now even more determined, the Major fashions a sort of grappling hook by tying together loose bits of clothing and attaching the links to his sword. By reforming the tower, he manages to escape, but tumbles to the ground....

The scene then cuts to a little girl picking up a doll in the snow- a doll in the dress of an Army Major. A kindly woman tells her to "put it back in the barrel with the rest of them." It is revealed that the cylinder is a toy collection bin for a girls' orphans home, and that all five characters are nothing more than dolls. The loud noise was the kindly woman shaking her bell to attract people to give more toys.

The final shot is one of the five characters, now seen as dolls with painted faces and glass eyes. The ballet dancer, though, moves her hand and cries.

[edit] Closing Narration

Closing narration (help·info):

“ Just a barrel, a dark depository where are kept the counterfeit, make-believe pieces of plaster and cloth, wrought in the distorted image of human life. But this added, hopeful note: perhaps they are unloved only for the moment. In the arms of children there can be nothing but love. A clown, a tramp, a bagpipe player, a ballet dancer and a major. Tonight's cast of players on the odd stage known as the Twilight Zone. ”

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • This episode was remade as Child's Play, a 1986 episode of Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense directed by Val Guest. The story was updated with a science fiction theme, featuring robot dolls trapped inside a futuristic doll house.
  • Vincenzo Natali named this episode as an inspiration for his film Cube. Additionally, it has been stated that Toy Story was inspired by it.[citation needed]
  • The last shot of the episode, in which the five characters are seen in doll form, does not feature the actors; rather, specially made dolls were crafted that closely resembled the five actors who played the parts are shown.
  • One of the short films made for On the Lot titled "Army Guy" is about an Army man who wakes up wearing a dress and is surrounded by many copies of the same people, complete with fake drinks and furniture. We later find that he is an action figure loaned by a boy to his young sister.
  • The little girl who appears at the end of this episode was portrayed by the daughter of longtime Twilight Zone producer Buck Houghton.

[edit] References

  • Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
  • Felicity in a tribute to The Twilight Zone season 2 chapter 12 "Help for the Lovelorn".

[edit] External links

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