Walking Distance

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“Walking Distance” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

[edit] Details

Episode number: 5
Season: 1
Production code: 173-3605
Original air date: October 30, 1959
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: Robert Stevens
Music: Original score by Bernard Herrmann

[edit] Cast

Martin Sloane: Gig Young
Martin's Father: Frank Overton
Martin's Mother: Irene Tedrow

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A middle-aged man, Martin Sloane, is driving cross-country when he stops his car. He walks toward his hometown, which appears exactly as it was when he was a boy. He sees himself as a boy, and following him home, meets his parents. Trying to convince his parents that he is their son from the future, he succeeds only in proving his insanity. Martin tries to warn his younger self to enjoy his childhood before it is too late, but his advances scare young Martin, who falls off the merry-go-round and injures his leg. Finally, his father confronts him. Having seen the papers in Martin's wallet and now believing him to be who he says he is, he tells him to return to his own time. Martin finds himself back in his own time, walking with a new limp.

[edit] Trivia

Features a bit part by young Ron Howard.
The park in the episode is said to be inspired by Recreation Park in Rod Serling's hometown of Binghamton, New York. Like the park in "Walking Distance", Recreation Park has a carousel and a bandstand. There is a plaque in the Recreation Park bandstand commemorating the episode.[1][2]
The episode was filmed predominantly at sets built for the 1959 television movie remake of Meet Me in St. Louis. The carousel used in the episode was a rental.

[edit] Themes

Similar themes are explored in “The Incredible World of Horace Ford” and, to a lesser extent, “Young Man's Fancy”. The episode also deals with the relentless pressures of the business world, which also serve as the basis for “A Stop at Willoughby”, “The Brain Center at Whipple's” and two Serling teleplays from before and after The Twilight Zone: Patterns and the Night Gallery episode “They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar”.

[edit] Critical response

"It's been three decades since he made that journey but the experience still tingles the flesh and waters the eye. This was "Walking Distance,” Episode Five of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone. Originally aired on October 30, 1959, it was the most personal story Serling ever wrote, and easily the most sensitive dramatic fantasy in the history of television. The yearning to recapture one's youth is an inescapable part of the human condition, and to discover, in the end, that the past is irrevocably behind you can be heartbreaking and sobering. With mesmerizing performances by Gig Young and Frank Overton, Serling played out this theme of ice cream and irony, of band concerts and broken dreams, and allowed us to take a better look at ourselves in the process. Devoid of the gimmickry that pervaded other episodes, "Walking Distance" stands alone in its simplicity and maturity. It captured the essence of Serling's poignant pen. Moreover, it's a fine example of how inventive cinematography and inspired direction could propel a half-hour teleplay forward—a rarity in the "golden days" of harried, grind-'em-out production schedules." —Paul Mandell, excerpt from "'Walking Distance' from The Twilight Zone", first published in the June 1988 of the American Cinematographer magazine.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

Father: "Martin."

Martin: "Yes, Pop."

Father: "You have to leave here. There's no room, there's no place. Do you understand that?"

Martin: "I see that now, but I don't understand. Why not?"

Father: "I guess because we only get one chance. Maybe there's only one summer to every customer. That little boy, the one I know—the one who belongs here— this is his summer, just as it was yours once. Don't make him share it."

Martin: "Alright."

Father: "Martin, is it so bad where you're from?"

Martin: "I thought so, Pop. I've been living in a dead run and I was tired. And one day I knew I had to come back here. I had to get on the merry-go-round and listen to a band concert. I had to stop and breathe, and close my eyes and smell, and listen."

Father: "I guess we all want that. Maybe when you go back, Martin, you'll find that there are merry-go-rounds and band concerts where you are. Maybe you haven't been looking in the right place. You've been looking behind you, Martin. Try looking ahead."