Escape Clause
- Episode aired Nov 6, 1959
- TV-PG
- 25m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
4.7K
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 Mr. Cadwallader first appears, Walter Bedeker looks to the screen's left and he is laying on the left side of the bed from the camera's point of view, with Cadwallder to the left of the bed. In the next shot, Walter is on the right side of the bed and Mr. Cadwallader is standing on the right side of the bed. However, the first shot was shown through a mirror, so this was not actually a continuity error.
- 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
Flawed, but still fun.
Hypochondriac Walter Bedeker (David Wayne) makes a deal with the devil: immortality and indestructibility (with no discernible signs of aging) in exchange for his soul. The novelty of eternal life quickly wears off, however, and Walt starts to take risks that see him playing right into the devil's hands.
As much as I love this episode for it's great performances, morbid humour, and cool twist, I can't help feeling that, with its theme of escaping death/achieving immortality, it's just a little too similar to several of the previous tales in the first season, most notably 'One for the Angels' (and this being only the 6th episode, that's not a great thing).
The story also suffers from one glaring plot hole that it is hard to ignore: just what did Walter Bedeker think would happen to him when he survived the electric chair? Wouldn't life imprisonment be the obvious alternative?
As much as I love this episode for it's great performances, morbid humour, and cool twist, I can't help feeling that, with its theme of escaping death/achieving immortality, it's just a little too similar to several of the previous tales in the first season, most notably 'One for the Angels' (and this being only the 6th episode, that's not a great thing).
The story also suffers from one glaring plot hole that it is hard to ignore: just what did Walter Bedeker think would happen to him when he survived the electric chair? Wouldn't life imprisonment be the obvious alternative?
helpful•143
- BA_Harrison
- Aug 31, 2011
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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