One More Pallbearer

"One More Pallbearer"
The Twilight Zone episode
Joseph Wiseman emerging from the shelter after the bomb detonates.
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 82
Directed by	Lamont Johnson
Written by	Rod Serling
Featured music	Stock from "The Invaders" by Jerry Goldsmith
Production code	4823
Original air date	January 12, 1962
Guest stars
Joseph Wiseman: Paul Radin Gage Clark: Mr. Hughes Katherine Squire: Mrs. Langford Trevor Bardette: Col. Hawthorne Ray Galvin: Police Officer Joseph Elic: Electrician #1 Robert Snyder: Electrician #2
Episode chronology
← Previous "Nothing in the Dark" Next → "Dead Man's Shoes"
List of Twilight Zone episodes

"One More Pallbearer" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Synopsis

Millionaire Paul Radin invites three people to the bomb shelter that he has built. One is a high school teacher (Mrs. Langford), who failed him; the second is Colonel Hawthorne, who had him court-martialed; and the third is Rev. Hughes, who made a public scandal out of a woman who committed suicide over him.

Radin (with the aid of sound effects and fake radio messages) convinces the trio that an apocalyptic nuclear war will occur in just moments. He offers them refuge in the shelter if they do one thing: apologize for their actions. All refuse, valuing honor above life, and exit.

Suddenly, the sound of a bomb detonation shakes Radin's shelter. He takes the elevator to the surface and sees that a nuclear war really has occurred, and the world is in ruins (The background is similar to Time Enough at Last). This twist ending is given another twist, however, when we learn that Radin, devastated by his hoax's failure, has lost his mind and is only imagining that the world has ended. Radin sobs helplessly at the foot of an "art" fountain outside his intact building.

References

• Zicree, Marc Scott. The Twilight Zone Companion, Bantam Books, 1982. ISBN 0-553-01416-1
• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

External links

• "One More Pallbearer" at the Internet Movie Database