Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room
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“Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
[edit] Details
- Episode number: 39
- Season: 2
- Original air date: October 14, 1960
- Writer: Rod Serling
- Director: Douglas Heyes
- Music: Original score by Jerry Goldsmith
[edit] Cast
- Jackie Rhoades: Joe Mantell
- George: William D. Gordon.
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Opening Narration
"This is Mr. Jackie Rhoades, age thirty-four, and where some men leave a mark of their lives as a record of their fragmentary existence on Earth, this man leaves a blot, a dirty, discolored blemish to document a cheap and undistinguished sojourn amongst his betters. What you are about to watch in this room is a strange, mortal combat between a man and himself, for in just a moment Mr. Jackie Rhoades, whose life has been given over to fighting adversaries, will find his most formidible opponent in a cheap motel room that is in reality the outskirts of the Twilight Zone."
An insecure, unsuccessful gangster named Jackie waits in a cheap, dirty hotel room for his boss, George. George orders Jackie to shoot a barkeeper, or else he will kill Jackie on his return. George then leaves, leaving Jackie wrestling with his conscience. He puts a cigarette in his lips, but finds no match.
A puff of smoke comes out from the other side of the mirror and he sees a different version of himself in the reflection -- a strong, self-assured, confident Jackie Rhodes. Jackie and his reflection argue about how badly his life has turned out as a result of him listening to others and never himself.
George returns, furious that Jackie hasn't done his job. Jackie responds, "I resign" and kicks a surprised George out of the room, along with the gun. Ringing the room clerk to check out, he addresses himself as John Rhoades. He then tells the nervous Jackie, now the one in the mirror, that they're going to make something of their life.
[edit] Closing Narration
"Exit Mr. John Rhoades, formerly a reflection in a mirror, a fragment of someone else's conscience, a wishful thinker made out of glass, but now made of flesh and on his way to join the company of men. Mr. John Rhoades, with one foot through the door and one foot out of the Twilight Zone."
[edit] Trivia
- Similarly, the episode The Last Night of a Jockey featured a man grappling with his identity and also took place entirely in one room.
- Bruce Willis starred in a similarly themed episode in the 1985 version of The Twilight Zone, "Shatterday."
- An episode of Married… with Children also centered around the premise of Bud Bundy meeting his cooler mirror image who subsequently takes over his life.
