Perchance to Dream (The Twilight Zone)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Perchance to Dream
Series = The Twilight Zone


Caption = Richard Conte in Perchance to Dream
Season = 1
Episode = 9
Music =Van Cleave
Airdate = November 27, 1959
Production = 173-3616
Writer = Charles Beaumont based on his story of the same name, published in the November 1958 issue of "Playboy"
Director =Robert Florey
Guests = Richard Conte : Edward Hall
John Larch : Dr. Rathmann
Suzanne Lloyd : Maya/Miss Thomas
Episode list = List of Twilight Zone episodes
Prev = Time Enough at Last
Next = Judgment Night

"Perchance to Dream" is an episode of the American television anthology series "The Twilight Zone".

Opening narration

ynopsis

Edward Hall (Conte), a man with a heart condition, believes that if he falls asleep, he'll die. On the other hand, keeping himself awake will put too much of a strain on his heart. He seeks out the aid of psychiatrist Rathmann and explains that he has been dreaming in chapters, as if in a movie serial. In his dreams, Maya, a carnival dancer, lures him onto a roller coaster in a funhouse in an attempt to scare him to death. Realizing that Rathmann cannot help him, Hall starts to go, but stops when he realizes that Rathmann's receptionist looks exactly like Maya. Terrified, he runs back into Rathmann's office and jumps out of the window. In reality, the Doctor calls his receptionist into his office - where Hall lies on the couch, his eyes closed. Rathmann tells the receptionist that Hall came in, lay down, immediately fell asleep-and then a few moments later let out a scream and died.

Closing narration

Preview for Next Week's Story

Trivia

*This was the first episode aired that was written by Charles Beaumont (and also the first that was not written by Rod Serling).
*The title of the episode, and the Beaumont-written short story that inspired it, is taken from "Hamlet"'s "to be or not to be" speech.

Episode notes

"Throughout the TV filming, Florey strove for quality. It might have been the most expensive MGM feature. He rooted out the meanings of certain lines, frequently surprising me with symbols and shadings I'd neither planned nor suspected. The set was truly impressionistic, recalling the days of "Caligari" and "Liliom". The costumes were generally perfect. And in the starring role, Richard Conte gave a performance which displays both intensity and subtlety." —"Charles Beaumont writing in "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science-Fiction", December 1959.

References

*Zicree, Marc Scott: "The Twilight Zone Companion". Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
*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

*
* [http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-237/epid-12593 TV Tome episode page]
* [http://www.cbs.com/classics/the_twilight_zone/video/video.php?cid=621774886&pid=TanDDjFaH_pguDYDrxirmCyW8G2ueN6I&play=true&cc=0 Full video of the episode at CBS.com]