Poster

(TV Series)

Five Characters in Search of an Exit ()

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  • Season 3
  • Episode 14
An Army major awakens in a small room with no idea of who he is or how he got there. He finds four other people in the same room, and they all begin to question how they each arrived there, and more importantly, how to escape.
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Complete, Cast awaiting verification

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The Ballerina
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The Major (as Bill Windom)
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The Clown
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The Tramp
Clark Allen ...
The Bagpiper
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Woman
Mona Houghton ...
Little Girl
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
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Narrator / Self - Host (uncredited)

Directed by

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Lamont Johnson ... (directed by)

Written by

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Rod Serling ... (teleplay by)
 
Marvin Petal ... (based on a short story by)
 
Rod Serling ... (created by) (creator)

Produced by

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Buck Houghton ... producer (produced by)

Cinematography by

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George T. Clemens ... director of photography

Editing by

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Bill Mosher ... film editor

Art Direction by

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Philip Barber ... (as Phil Barber)
George W. Davis

Set Decoration by

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H. Web Arrowsmith ... (set decoration)

Makeup Department

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William Tuttle ... makeup artist

Production Management

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Ralph W. Nelson ... production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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E. Darrell Hallenbeck ... assistant director

Sound Department

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Bill Edmondson ... sound
Franklin Milton ... sound

Music Department

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Marius Constant ... composer: theme music (uncredited)
Robert Drasnin ... composer: stock music (uncredited)
Fred Steiner ... composer: stock music (uncredited)
Van Cleave ... composer: stock music (uncredited)

Additional Crew

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Richard P. McDonagh ... story consultant (as Richard McDonagh)
Crew believed to be complete

Production Companies

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Distributors

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  • CBS (1961) (United States) (tv) (original airing)
  • Image Entertainment (2011) (United States) (Blu-ray) (DVD)

Special Effects

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

It all starts when an Army major wakes up in a small cylindrical room with no way out. The walls are too high to climb and they're too hard to puncture. Trapped inside with him is a clown, a bagpiper, a ballerina, and a hobo. They have all woken up inside there and have no idea where they are, what they're doing there, how long they've been there or even who they are or how long they'll be there. They apparently are unable to feel anything, and every now and then a loud clanging sound makes them all fall down. All of them have tried various ways of finding an exit, unsuccessfully. The Army major especially is determined to escape. He tries all sorts of ways to find an exit, but he cannot find one. Even when he hits the walls with his sword, it shatters. The major suggests that they are in Hell, so there IS no way out. Eventually the five characters decide that the only way out is to make a human tower. But then when the ballerina nearly reaches the top, the clanging sound goes again and they all fall down. They try again and the major falls over the edge, out of the cylinder, onto - The scene then cuts to a little girl picking up a doll in the snow and putting it back into a toy barrel--an Army Major doll. It turns out that the prisoners in the cylinder are actually toy dolls, and the room is a toy collecting barrel for an orphans' home, and the clanging sound is the collecting woman ringing her bell. Written by almightyone / edited by Rob

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Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Five Characters in Search of an Exit (United States)
Runtime
  • 25 min
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Did You Know?

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Trivia The title "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" combines those of the play by Italian writer Luigi Pirandello: "Six Characters in Search of an Author," and the play by French writer Jean-Paul Sartre: No Exit. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in Top 10 Best Twilight Zone Episodes (2016). See more »
Soundtracks Twilight Zone Theme See more »
Quotes The Clown: [of the Major] Very active chap. Quite a function. Compulsive worker.
The Major: [still tapping the wall] You a big-time psychologist, huh?
The Clown: I'm a clown. Which is neither here, there, nor anyplace. I could be a certified public accountant, a financier, a left-handed pitcher who throws only curves. What difference does it make?
[singing to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne" while the Major pounds the wall]
The Clown: We're here, because we're here, because we're here...
[breaks off as the Major turns to stare at him, then brokenly starts up again as he resumes hammering]
The Clown: Because - we're - here.
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