Escape Clause
- Episode aired Nov 6, 1959
- TV-PG
- 25m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
4.6K
YOUR RATING
A hypochondriac man sells his soul to the devil, exchanging it for several thousand years of immortality.A hypochondriac man sells his soul to the devil, exchanging it for several thousand years of immortality.A hypochondriac man sells his soul to the devil, exchanging it for several thousand years of immortality.
Rod Serling
- Narrator
- (voice)
Nesdon Booth
- Guard
- (as Nesden Booth)
George Baxter
- Judge Cummings
- (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns
- Janitor
- (uncredited)
Allan Lurie
- Subway Guard
- (uncredited)
Robert McCord
- Man in Subway
- (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey
- Onlooker in Subway
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- Rod Serling(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAt the time this series first aired, it was commonly believed that a frequent cause of hypochondria was a desperate need to find something to occupy one's mind, a combination of boredom and a lack of imagination about how to counter that boredom. Several TV series of the time had episodes involving a one-off character whose hypochondria was cured by finding something else of interest to replace the hypochondria.
- GoofsWhen the protagonist proclaims, "...the new Walter Bedeker!", part of the footage is run in reverse.
- Quotes
Ethel Bedeker: Walter, please come back to the apartment. I'll make you potato pancakes. Remember, you always used to love potato pancakes.
Walter Bedeker: Ethel, *you* are a potato pancake. You're as tasteless as a potato pancake.
- ConnectionsEdited into Twilight-Tober-Zone: Escape Clause (2020)
Featured review
Under-Realized Premise
The entry's far from a grabber, but does manage a philosophical nudge. So what would any of us do were we indestructible with a few thousand years to live. Hypochondriac Walter (Wayne) spends his time in bed insisting he's ill despite what the doctor tells him. But it's getting boring. So he gets a chance at renewed life after selling his soul to the devil (Gomez). But what he finds out is rather surprising and ironical, even if not well thought out.
The hammy Gomez is a good choice for Lucifer, furnishing some needed color. But I worried when the matronly Virginia Christine went over backwards—did that mean I wouldn't get my morning cup of Folgers. And old-timers like me may recognize the distinctive voice of Wendell Holmes from radio's classic Mr. District Attorney.
Cast members aside, the premise raises an interesting question, but fails to do much with it. Then too, the ending's not very plausible when you think about it. After all, Walter is indestructible giving him all sorts of options. Still, I get Serling's idea that risk is what makes life interesting. Remove it, and boredom likely results. Interesting thought. Anyway, premise aside, it's not one of the TV host's better-thought-out screenplays.
The hammy Gomez is a good choice for Lucifer, furnishing some needed color. But I worried when the matronly Virginia Christine went over backwards—did that mean I wouldn't get my morning cup of Folgers. And old-timers like me may recognize the distinctive voice of Wendell Holmes from radio's classic Mr. District Attorney.
Cast members aside, the premise raises an interesting question, but fails to do much with it. Then too, the ending's not very plausible when you think about it. After all, Walter is indestructible giving him all sorts of options. Still, I get Serling's idea that risk is what makes life interesting. Remove it, and boredom likely results. Interesting thought. Anyway, premise aside, it's not one of the TV host's better-thought-out screenplays.
helpful•51
- dougdoepke
- Oct 7, 2016
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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