Plot

Barbara Jean Trenton is a faded film star who lives in the past by constantly re-watching her old movies instead of moving on with her life, so her associates try to lure her out of her self-imposed isolation.

Barbara Trenton was a famous actress, long ago, but time's passed her by. Her agent, Danny Weiss, tries to convince her she's no longer the young woman who was featured in those love stories decades earlier. She spends her time in her study, watching prints of her old films. When Weiss arranges a small part for her in a new film being shot, she storms out, shouting, she 'doesn't do small parts,' and retreats once again. If Barbara refuses to live in the present day, she can't live in the long-gone past - or can she?—garykmcd

Opening narration:

"Picture of a woman looking at a picture. Movie great of another time, once-brilliant star in a firmnament no longer a part of the sky, eclipsed by the movement of earth and time. Barbara Jean Trenton, whose world is a projection room, whose dreams are made out of celluloid. Barbara Jean Trenton, struck down by hit-and-run years and lying on the unhappy pavement, trying desperately to get the license number of fleeting fame."

Aging actress Barbara Jean Trenton (Ida Lupino) secludes herself in a private screening room, where she watches her old films. Gently but desperately, her agent (Martin Balsam) tries to coax her out into the real world by arranging a part for her in a film and by bringing a former leading man (Jerome Cowan) to visit her. But these acts only drive her further into the past. Bringing her a meal, the maid finds the screening room empty--and is horrified by what she sees on the screen. She summons the agent, who turns the projector back on. On the screen he sees the living room of the house, filled with stars as they appeared in the old films. Barbara Jean is the center of attention. He pleads with her to come back, but she only throws her scarf toward the camera and departs. The film runs out. In the living room, the agent finds Barbara Jean's scarf. "To wishes, Barbie," he says. "To the ones that come true."

Closing narration:

"To the wishes that come true, to the strange, mystic strength of the human animal, who can take a wishful dream and give it a dimension of its own. To Barbara Jean Trenton, movie queen of another era, who has changed the blank tomb of an empty projection screen into a private world. It can happen--in the Twilight Zone."