One More Pallbearer (12 Jan. 1962)
"The Twilight Zone" One More Pallbearer (original title)

Wealthy Paul Radin tries to get three people from his past to apologize to him by offering them shelter from a staged and phony nuclear war scenario.

Director:

Lamont Johnson

Writers:

Rod Serling (creator), Rod Serling

Stars:

Joseph Wiseman, Katherine Squire, Trevor Bardette

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Joseph Wiseman	...	Paul Radin
Katherine Squire	...	Mrs. Langsford
Trevor Bardette	...	Colonel Hawthorne
Gage Clarke	...	Reverend Hughes

Storyline

Successful businessman Paul Radin invites three people from his past to join him in the underground bunker he's built under his commercial office building. All three have had major influence on him though not the kind that made him what he is today. His former military commander had him court-martialed; his former teacher ridiculed and humiliated him in class after she caught him cheating; and his church Minister who ruined his reputation after he drove a girl to suicide. All he wants from them is one thing: a brief apology. The impact of what they've done is far greater than it appears.

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Plot Keywords:

arrogance | selfishness | teacher | blackmail | millionaire | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 1962 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cayuga Productions, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Narrator: [opening narration] What you have just looked at takes place three hundred feet underground, beneath the basement of a New York City skyscraper. It's owned and lived in by one Paul Radin. Mr. Radin is rich, eccentric and single-minded. How rich we can already perceive; how eccentric and single-minded we shall see in a moment, because all of you have just entered the Twilight Zone.

User Reviews

One of Serling's Memorable Masterpieces!

Joseph Wiseman -- using his trademark, smarmy elocution -- portrays revenge-seeking, multi-millionaire Paul Radin, an unscrupulous coward, who devises a bizarre setting in which he seeks to elicit an abject apology from a former grade school teacher, a priest, and an army officer, each of whom "humiliated" him (i.e., justifiably called him to account for his dishonorable ways) during the course of his deceitful life. So long as these erstwhile tormentors are willing to humble themselves by begging his forgiveness, the "beneficient" Mr. Radin will allow them to remain with him, safe and secure, in his underground bomb shelter -- free from the nuclear devastation about to occur hundreds of feet above them.

The script's trenchant dialogue bears a stylistic resemblance to that of the late, brilliant author Ayn Rand, who (with reservations) admired Rod Serling.

This Twilight Zone episode is an absolute must-see! Its haunting plot twist at the end is likely to remain with you forever!