Tales of Tomorrow (TV Series) Time to Go (1952) User Reviews

I Hope I Have Time to Finish This

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 6 August 2013]

This is more Twilight Zone like than most of these episodes. The fact that aliens are at the center of it makes it a "Tale of Tomorrow." Sylvia Sydney's character is so unlikeable. She harasses her husband endlessly and seems to get no enjoyment out of life. He is patient, but when she has his dog put in the pound, that seems to be the last straw. The story is told in flashback. A letter from a new "bank" has arrived and it piques the interest of the woman. When she goes to check things out, she is told that she can bank unused time to be tacked on at the end of her life. She signs papers but doesn't read the fine print. Of course, the aliens have set things up for themselves. They are able to use this time to allow the scientists on their planet to find a solution for a coming holocaust. As with most of these episodes, the chickens come home to roost. It was intriguing.

"A schedule is necessary, time is important."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 16 April 2023]

I can't tell if the plot for this story was exceptionally brilliant or just plain stupid. It had to do with a woman (Sylvia Sidney) convinced into signing a contract with a savings bank manager, not to deposit money into her account, but to deposit unused or 'saved' periods of time with the promise of lengthening her life on the other end! You had to know something was up with this episode when a view of the bank revealed a myriad of clocks along its walls and only a single teller cage. The bank guy Tickton (Robert Harris) said he was from a distant future civilization and that's where he was 'sending' the saved time. Funny, but considering how prominent it is in the popular culture, if this episode were to be made today the guy's name probably would have been Ticktok. In any event, Natalie Davis (Sidney) is dismayed when she learns that another bank client she knew well suddenly died without his life being extended with his saved time. She's rebuffed by Tickton who reminded her that the fine print of her contract sated that he could do whatever he wanted with her time, and that he was calling it in at the stroke of midnight. At least the story concluded with the irony of her faulty grandfather clock falling over and killing her, an outcome that would have been perfectly at home in The Twilight Zone.

Observation - isn't it funny, but even if it seems like you never have enough time, you always have all the time there is.

Original...but still not very good.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 3 September 2012]

A woman (Sylvia Sidney) has been approached by a very special and elite bank--one in which you can bank time for use later. It's run by aliens but she asks few questions and agrees to its terms, as she's worried about time running out on her too soon.

I like watching the old episodes of "Tales of Tomorrow" but must admit that this isn't a very good one. Despite having a very original plot, there are just too many things wrong with this one to recommend it. The biggest one is that Sidney simply was bad. I normally don't point out specific actors for scorn but Miss Sidney has died and won't be hurt when I say she was bad. I think this show might have been performed live (many were back in the early 50s) and she kept flubbing her lines. It really takes the viewer out of the experience and reminds you it's just a TV show. Second, they plot, while highly original, also didn't make a lot of sense or made for interesting viewing. Passable entertainment and that's all.

Not all anthology series are created equal.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 6 June 2020]

What Rod Serling would do so much better on Twilight Zone less than a decade later is flawed here, showing a troubled housewife Sylvia Sidney investing in time at a strange bank where the account manager admits that he is from a far-off planet. She thinks she is wise and investing time in a new account, but things brings nothing but trouble in her life and leaves her alone and panicky. Sidney, one of my favorite actresses whether as a young lady playing long suffering poor girls or grouchy older women decades later, here, she over emotes as a panicking woman who realizes that her life is running out of time and she must do what she can to prevent that time from running out. It is a convoluted mess, much in need of another 5 or 10 minutes more to really explain sensibly the premise, and at only 24 minutes, is frustrating and noisy.