Valley of the Shadow

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This page is about the episode of The Twilight Zone. For the American Civil War project, see The Valley of the Shadow.

“Valley of the Shadow”

The Twilight Zone episode

Scene from "Valley of the Shadow"

Episode no.

Season 4
Episode 105

Written by

Charles Beaumont

Directed by

Perry Lafferty

Guest stars

Ed Nelson : Philip Redfield
Natalie Trundy : Ellen Marshall
David Opatoshu : Dorn
Dabbs Greer : Evans
Jacques Aubuchon : Connelly
James Doohan : Johnson
Morgan Brittany : Girl

Production no.

4861

Original airdate

January 17, 1963

Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
"The Thirty-Fathom Grave"	"He's Alive"

List of Twilight Zone episodes

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

1 Opening narration
2 Synopsis
3 Closing narration
4 Twilight Zone links
5 External links

[edit] Opening narration

“

You've seen them. Little towns, tucked away far from the main roads. You've seen them, but have you thought about them? What do the people in these places do? Why do the stay? Philip Redfield never thought about them. If his dog hadn't gone after that cat, he would have driven through Peaceful Valley and put it out of his mind forever. But he can't do that now, because whether he knows it or not his friend's shortcut has led him right into the capital of the Twilight Zone.

”

[edit] Synopsis

A reporter named Philip Redfield (Ed Nelson) finds himself unable to leave a small town when he learns too much about a secret mechanical device which can control and rearrange atoms, making things appear and disappear, assemble and reassemble. The town refuses to share this and other amazing technology until "men learn the ways of peace."

Redfield becomes romantically involved with (what appears to be the only) female member of the town his age, and she convinces him that she wants to leave the sleepy village. The backwater confinement chafes, and Redfield decides to make a break for it one evening. The lure of saving the world becomes too much for him, and he uses the technology to make a gun.

He steals the book of formulas, shooting the three town elders on the way out. However, the joke is on him. Once he and the girl are just outside the town limits (and the force field), he looks at the book to see it full of blank pages. The town elders, including the mayor Redfield supposedly shot and killed, reveal that the girl was a plant and that Redfield has failed their test spectacularly. The girl tearfully confesses that it wasn't all a lie, implying her love for him was real, but Redfield will have none of it and approaches what he believes to be his imminent death in the surly, combative manner that has characterized him throughout the episode.

Since the society cannot break its own laws and execute him, they erase his memory, and he returns to where he was at the opening of the episode. The car is gassed up, and Redfield drives out of town none the wiser.

[edit] Closing narration

“

You've seen them. Little towns, tucked away far from the main roads. You've seen them, but have you thought about them? Have you wondered what the people do in such places, why they stay? Philip Redfield thinks about them now and he wonders, but only very late at night, when he's between wakefulness and sleep--in the Twilight Zone.

”