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IMDb > "The Twilight Zone" What You Need (1959)
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"The Twilight Zone" What You Need (1959)



Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   303 votes
Director:
Writers:
Henry Kuttner (short story)
C.L. Moore (short story)
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Contact:
View company contact information for What You Need on IMDbPro.
Original Air Date:
25 December 1959 (Season 1, Episode 12)
Plot:
A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny knack of selling people exactly what they will shortly need. | add synopsis
User Reviews:
It's Those Shoes more (8 total)

Cast

  (Episode Complete credited cast)
Steve Cochran ... Fred Renard
Ernest Truex ... Pedott
Read Morgan ... Lefty
Arlene Martel ... Girl in Bar (as Arline Sax)
William Edmonson ... Bartender
Doris Karnes ... Woman
Fred Kruger ... Man on Street
Norman Sturgis ... Hotel Clerk
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Additional Details

Runtime:
25 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Original story featured a machine that could foretell an individual's probable future. Rod Serling replaced this science-fiction element with a street peddler who could magically perform the same function. more
Goofs:
Plot holes: Pedott (Truex) is shown in the opening scene going from person to person selling odds-and-ends in a bar. He approaches Lefty, who does not know him, whereupon the bartender tells Lefty that "the old coot is in here every night". The bartender later says that Lefty is in the bar "seven nights a week." Since both men are in the bar every night and Pedott tries to sell to everyone, Lefty should have already have been familiar with Pedott. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Bartender: You ready for another?
Fred Renard: I'm fine.
Bartender: You've been fine for an hour. We sell booze here, mister. We don't just rent space.
Fred Renard: Is that a fact?
Bartender: That's a fact, buddy.
Fred Renard: How would you like to take a flying jump at the moon.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) more

FAQ

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1 out of 2 people found the following review useful.
It's Those Shoes, 26 September 2008
8/10
Author: Hitchcoc from United States

I have always enjoyed this episode. People over analyze it. The "bad guy" is just that. There are bad people and given a situation where they can take, will do so. This is not a religious allegory. This is about a situation where we must suspend our disbelief (as we often do in The Twilight Zone) and accept the gifts the man has. Why do people automatically believe that a writer needs to put a religious spin on it. If you want to put a spin on it, it is more fairy tale (The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg and The Fisherman's Wife). These people are dissatisfied with what they have and try to destroy the source of their gifts. It is really about Kismet, not theology.

This episode works well because it has a magical quality and some great characters. We create our destinies, and the supernatural aside, the man went too far.

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Related Links

Main series Episode guide Full cast and crew
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