The Silence (The Twilight Zone)

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Silence
Series = The Twilight Zone


Caption = Liam Sullivan in "The Silence"
Season = 2
Episode = 61
Airdate =April 28 1961
Production = 173-3658
Writer =Rod Serling
Director =Boris Sagal
Guests =Franchot Tone : Archie Taylor
Liam Sullivan : Jamie Tennyson
Jonathan Harris : George Alfred
Cyril Delevanti : Franklin
Music = uncredited (including a rarity: the Marius Constant "Twilight Zone" theme as incidental music; most of the rest is from Leonard Rosenman's score for "And When the Sky Was Opened")
Episode list = List of Twilight Zone episodes
Prev = The Rip Van Winkle Caper
Next = Shadow Play

"The Silence" is an episode of the American television anthology series "The Twilight Zone".

Opening narration

ynopsis

Colonel Archie Taylor, a member of an exclusive club, bets another member, a young talkative man named Jamie Tennyson, half a million dollars that he can’t stay quiet for an entire year. He dislikes Tennyson's breeding and manners, saying, "Your voice has become intolerable to me. I sit here each night and the sound of it makes me wince." He knows the young man needs the money, because he talks about it so often.

The challenge is for Tennyson to be enclosed in a small room and be monitored by microphones to ensure that he doesn't speak. Any communication will be made in writing and any member may come to visit him. Tennyson agrees to the bet, but requests that Taylor have a check on deposit made in his name and a copy available for the members of the club to view. Taylor tells the young man his word will have to be good enough.

Archie is surprised at Tennyson's endurance, and after nine months, he offers the man $1,000 to leave immediately under the ruse of concern for the young man's welfare. When Tennyson refuses, The Colonel counters by bringing up questions about his wife. Tennyson had sent several notes to her, requesting she visit him, but received no response. Taylor then tries to incite the man's ire by commenting that he had seen the young woman around town with other men. In spite of the continual gossip, and an offer of $5,000 to quit, Tennyson stays where he is.

On the evening the bet is to be finalized, Taylor admits to his friends that Tennyson is much stronger than they gave him credit for. Tennyson wins the bet, and all the members of the club congratulate him, but he cannot collect; Archie confesses he has long since gone bankrupt, and had been maintaining a charade before the other members.

Tennyson is distraught in victory, and furiously scribbles out a note. Colonel Taylor reads it aloud, "I knew I would not be able to keep my part of the bargain, so one year ago I had the nerves to my vocal cords severed." As he finishes speaking, Tennyson pulls open his collar to reveal the long scar across his throat.

Closing narration

Preview for Next Week's Story

Trivia

This episode was an unusual entry in the series as it contains no supernatural or science fiction elements. Other such episodes include “Where Is Everybody?”, “The Shelter”, and “The Jeopardy Room”.

The plot of this episode was based in part off of Anton Chekov's The Bet. [Twilight Zone, Laserdisc release ]

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

*imdb title|id=0734677|title=The Silence
* [http://www.tv.com/the-twilight-zone/the-silence/episode/12645/summary.html TV.com episode page]

Twilight Zone links

*The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
*Episode List
*Season 2