S2.E27

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The Mind and the Matter

Episode aired May 12, 1961
TV-PG
25m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

2.6K

YOUR RATING

Shelley Berman in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Drama Fantasy Horror Mystery Sci-Fi Thriller

Using the power of mind over matter, Archibald Beechcroft remakes the world to his own specifications.Using the power of mind over matter, Archibald Beechcroft remakes the world to his own specifications.Using the power of mind over matter, Archibald Beechcroft remakes the world to his own specifications.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

2.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos17

+ 12

Top cast10

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Shelley Berman

Archibald Beechcroft

Jack Grinnage

Henry

Chet Stratton

Rogers

David Armstrong

Worker
(uncredited)

Ken Kane

Worker
(uncredited)

Robert McCord

Elevator Operator
(uncredited)

Rod Serling

Narrator
(uncredited)
…

Dan White

Worker
(uncredited)

Pinocchio Roy Wilson

Photo Double
(uncredited)

Jeane Wood

Landlady
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Archibald Beechcroft hums the song "Alone" written by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, introduced in A Night at the Opera (1935).

Goofs
After Mr. Beechcroft eliminates all other people, he is still transported by subway even though no one exists to operate it. However, he's making the subway move using the same power of concentration that allowed him to eliminate humans.

Quotes
[opening narration]
Narrator: A brief, if frenetic, introduction to Mr. Archibald Beechcroft, a child of the twentieth century, a product of the population explosion, and one of the inheritors of the legacy of progress. Mr. Beechcroft, again. This time, act two of his daily battle for survival. And in just a moment, our hero will begin his personal one-man rebellion against the mechanics of his age, and to do so he will enlist certain aids available only - in The Twilight Zone.

Connections
Edited into Twilight-Tober-Zone: The Mind And The Matter (2022)

Soundtracks
Twilight Zone Theme
(theme song)
Composed by Marius Constant
(seasons 2-5)

User reviews36

Featured review

7/10

Privacy and Solitude

The intolerant Archibald Beechcroft (Shelley Berman) is a misanthropic clerk of the Central Park Insurance Co. that hates everybody. When a colleague gives a book about the power of the mind to him, Archibald reads the magic book and decides to wipe out the human race. However, he feels lonely and uses his ability to make the entire population of his city his perfect clone, discovering how hateful the world would be.

"The Mind and the Matter" discloses a character full of prejudices that can not handle with differences of human beings. His hatred associated to his achieved power makes everybody identical to him, and he discovers that the world has worsened. Unfortunately this great idea, which is updated with the world of intolerance of 2009, is wasted with a weak conclusion. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Mente e o Problema" ("The Mind and the Problem")

Note: On 23 June 2018 I saw this episode again.