The Twilight Zone (TV Series) Kick the Can (1962) User Reviews

Change their pills, quickly.

[darrenpearce111 · 8/10 · 12 February 2014]

George Clayton Johnson wove a story around a childhood game, like tag, in which the kid who kicks the can releases all the 'captured' kids in the game. Old age has captured the residents of Sunny Vale, an old people's home. A sad beginning has Charles Whitley (Ernest Truex) having his hopes dashed of going to live with his son. Whitley starts acting nostalgic and his curmudgeonly but well meaning friend, Ben Conroy (Russell Collins), becomes concerned that he may be going senile.

Magical, funny, sad, but ultimately delivering a pleasant afterthought in Serling's epilogue, this is a charming episode. The relationship between the two contrasting old guys is good and Truex plays Whitley's childlike ways brilliantly.

Infirmities of age

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 3 October 2012]

I was all of 16 when I first saw this Twilight Zone episode and now that I'm 65 it all is quite poignant to me. Being now an old codger like some of the familiar character players that populate the cast I only wish that children's games can make me young again and take away a few infirmities of age.

Ron Howard's Cocoon was anticipated by 25 or so years with this Twilight Zone episode. At the Sunnyvale Rest Home all is tranquil as the various residents accept age and infirmities as if they had no choice. That is until the arrival of Ernest Truex who is propagating the strange notion that if one starts playing childhood games again, one might just recapture one's youth as if drinking from a fountain with said properties will do so as well.

Truex's assigned roommate Russell Collins is no believer in that notion, but Truex's idea gains popularity with the rest of the residents with results only found in the Twilight Zone.

Such familiar faces as Earl Hodgins, Burt Mustin, Hank Patterson, Marjorie Bell make up some of the rest of the residents and a harassed John Marley is the director of the home. Nice ensemble make this a good show.

Young Again

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 28 October 2014]

Ernest Truex plays Charles Whitley, an elderly resident of Sunnyvale Rest Home, where he is unhappy living at. His hopes of living with his son are dashed, so Whitley seems to retreat into a fantasy world where all you have to do is play an old childhood game called Kick the Can in order to be young again. His friend Ben Conroy(played by Russell Collins) thinks he is going senile, but the other residents join in, forcing the Superintendent(played by John Marley) to take drastic action, but it turns out that none will be needed... Fondly remembered episode is no classic, being a bit corny and thin, but it still remains an entertaining entry with a timeless message.

Then and Now

[barb-46173 · 10/10 · 16 January 2018]

Simple, lasting truth .... "Kick the Can" has a special personal appeal to many of us Baby Boomers because we've lived the stories from both ends of the characters' timelines.

I first saw the episode in 1962 at 12 yrs old but didn't understand the emotional pathos involved in Grandparents wanting to return to the childhood I happily took for granted. Now that I'm 67 I could be a resident of the Old Age Home in the show and trust me, I GET IT NOW!

Old age is a state of mind

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 15 May 2018]

Irrepressible elderly rest home resident Charles Whitley (a delightfully vibrant performance by Ernest Truex) believes that the secret to regaining youth by playing a special game of kick the can. However, Whitley's grouchy longtime friend Ben Conroy (well played to the sour hilt by Russell Collins) thinks otherwise.

Director Lamont Johnson not only relates the sweet and charming story at a steady pace, but also crafts a warm gentle tone. George Clayton Johnson's thoughtful and sensitive script offers a positive and uplifting message about the importance of staying young at heart well into your twilight years. Truex's wonderfully vivacious acting gives this episode an infectiously joyous glow. John Marley lends sturdy support as strict superintendent Mr. Cox while wizened character actor Burt Mustin appears as one of the old folks. A lovely show.

Retirement Home, TZ Style

[dougdoepke · 2 September 2016]

Slender premise, well performed by a troupe of Hollywood vets. It's an old age home where unoccupied old folks are simply waiting to die. That is, all except one. When Whitley (Truex) watches kids playing kick-the-can, he begins to wonder why the spirit of youth must pass with old age. Suddenly enthused, he tries to rally others into frolicking like youth. Is he senile or really on to something.

Good to see so many familiar movie vets picking up a payday. It's a slender episode, more interesting than suspenseful, and one of the few times of that era when elderly faces dominate the proceedings. Too bad the home's supervisor (Marley) doesn't organize some non-strenuous activities. That way the aged would't just be sitting around. But I guess he likes his charges ultra-manageable. So there's something of a contest between the deadening supervisor and the enlivening Whitley.

Anyway, it's a pretty spry old bunch—check out how sprightly they come down the stairs. Still, I doubt that the theme will appeal that much to a younger crowd. All in all, it's not typical TZ fare, but is still consistent with the series' sci-fi concept.

The fountain of youth

[Calicodreamin · 7/10 · 16 June 2021]

Solid episode of the twilight zone, the characters were interesting and well acted and the storyline authentic even if a bit predictable.

Still one of the best.

[igotchulilhomie · 10/10 · 1 January 2017]

I was first introduced to the Twilight zone around the age of 8. I instantly grew fond of all the episodes even tho I've learned to enjoy them more and comprehend them better with age. The entire series is like a fine wine, they just keep getting better with age, especially in this day. This episode is a window into the differences between youth and adulthood. At least that's how I interpreted it. The contrasting dynamic between the two old main characters is perfect, and the writing is always top notch. As soon as you quit playing those childhood games, you start to grow old. What changed you? it's a compelling subject to think about. The imagination of youth and childhood is ultimately what created those fond memories of our hay days. When the lie unfolds or the dream dies.. we age. Whether it's giving into societies demands or when you stop believing in magic. This episode will really make you question what exactly are we all doing with the time we have? I still uphold my youth and I think that's important, it keeps you energized and the creativity flowing. I highly recommend this episode to anyone for any reason any day of a week. Old or young.

The fountain of youth isn't a fountain after all!

[Coventry · 6/10 · 7 September 2020]

Inconspicuous but nevertheless adequate and compelling (but also slightly over-sentimental) Twilight Zone tale set in a retirement home where, evidently, the residents muse non-stop about their own childhood years whilst observing the kids who're playing "kick the can" and other games across the street. One of them is Charles Whitley, who just has been rejected by his own son, and he strongly believes that playing these same kid games hold the power to make their old bones feel young and vital again. Charles encourages the entire old folks' home to join his experiment, but his best friend Ben stubbornly refuses to believe. Ben obviously doesn't know his way around the Twilight Zone. I said it before, and I'll say it again: sentimentality is not my favorite theme for this wonderful TV-series. I prefer the grim and dystopian TZ-stories over the sentimental ones. Still, I have a fondness for ageing and elderly actors in roles that summarize their lives. "The Whales of August" starring Vincent Price, Lilian Gish and Bette Davis, for instance, is one the most wonderful movies ever. I don't have the same connection with the actors in this episode, but they give strong performances for sure.

One of the Very Best!

[ellisonhorne · 10/10 · 16 November 2007]

For anyone looking for some of the best in television writing and production, this is without question one of the very finest of the Twilight Zone series, or any other series! This was produced when Twilight Zone was in its best period with one of the most insightful and moving scripts by writer George Clayton Johnson.

Watching actor Ernest Truex is pure joy. What a performance! This is one of the DVDs I enjoy watching from time to time. And each time I find new levels of appreciation in Truex's portrayal of a throwaway man who evokes the essence of vitality in life through imagination and creativity. At 73 years old Truex was in top form. In fact Twilight Zone featured many episodes with actors in leading roles who were over 65.

This is truly one of those rare occasions when story, acting, photography, music and sound design combine in making real "magic"—the very theme of this wonderful episode.

With the Baby Boomers emerging into retirement in ever growing numbers, I can easily see "Kick the Can" becoming a popular classic.

It's Got a Good Heart

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 2 December 2008]

While this is one of the best known episodes, it isn't as noteworthy as some say. It involves one who does not want to go gentle into that good night. He is fed up with the old people at the old folks home, because, in his mind, they have given up. Now, let's realize that these folks are pretty lethargic and the man who runs the home is quite the Nazi. So he's probably right. What always bothered me is the idea that we have to return to being young children. Is this really the happiest time? I don't know. If this guy was in the same place I was, I would find a way to push him out a second story window. It's the old thing that there is a no it all in the setting, and if we don't follow his lead, there is something wrong. What we perceive as a dignified withdrawal is part of aging and, in some ways, this guy is a bit of a threat. The other thing is that these people are pretty clichéd residents. it was nice to see Bert Mustin again. I always liked him.

"Here I come, ready or not!"

[classicsoncall · 10/10 · 31 May 2010]

Maybe you need a grandchild to enjoy this episode. Maybe you have a longing to recapture your youth. Maybe, just maybe, you need to believe in magic. Like Charles Whitley, I'm of the opinion that you can't kick the can alone.

This is just about as perfect an episode Rod Serling ever came up with. Writer George Clayton Johnson strikes all the right notes with the dialog of his main character - "All kids play those games, and the minute they stop, they begin to grow old". You know, I really believe that, and I try to make it a point to keep a youthful perspective, even as I maintain a healthy nostalgia for the past and the good old days. That would include growing up in the late Fifties and early Sixties, smack dab in the middle of all those great Twilight Zone episodes (and some not so great, but that's OK).

I think Whitley had it right. The secret of youth comes with a way of looking at things, a way of thinking. That's why there will always be room in my life for kick the can, Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and the Wizard of Oz. Running through the sprinkler and playing in the mud. You can do all those things as an adult without people thinking you're nuts, you just need a kid around to provide cover. My next grandchild is due in August. We'll be kicking the can before you know it.

Playing as a Kid

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 25 July 2023]

In the Sunnyvale nursing home for the elderly, Charles Whitley believes his son will take him home. He is disappointed when his son leaves him back at Sunnyvale. He sees a bunch of kids playing "kick the can", and during the night, he tells to his best friend Ben Conroy that, if he acts like a kid, he will remain youth. Ben discloses to the Superintendent Fox and he believes Charles is senile. But this is The Twilight Zone...

"Kick the Can" is a heartwarming episode of "The Twilight Zone". This show is a beautiful fantasy about getting old. Takes time to learn that we die a little every day, and this is clearer when we get old. I remember another TV show, maybe "Amazing Story", with another touching story in a nursery home very similar to this one. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Brincando de Criança" ("Playing as a Kid")

Note: Indeed it is not a TV show, but the second segment "Kick the Can" of "Twilight Zone: The Movie", directed by Steven Spielberg.

No, this one is NOT one of the better episodes

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 9 September 2007]

The Twilight Zone has achieved a certain mythology about it--much like Star Trek. That's because there are many devoted lovers of the show that no matter what think every episode was a winner. They are the ones who score each individual show a 10 and cannot objectively evaluate the show. Because of this, a while back I reviewed all the original Star Trek episodes (the good and the bad) because the overall ratings and reviews were just too positive. Now, it's time to do the same for The Twilight Zone.

This is a far from engaging episode that is, at times, embarrassing to watch. I feel a lot like the old crank in the episode when I say that the sight of a lot of oldsters running about pretending to be children is pretty embarrassing. Plus, the whole thing seemed very preachy and silly if you ask me. My advice is watch the series--just don't expect much from this particular episode.

Art imitating Life

[sscal · 9/10 · 30 May 2019]

As written by a few posters here, we have seen this episode in our youth and now in our 60's our perspective has changed. Like Hitchcoc stated, do we actually want to go back to childhood? Was it really our happiest time? Growing older is natural; we grow older from the day we are born. Perhaps I would view Whitley as a nuisance as well. As a recently retired teacher, students would ask me about growing older and death. I would tell them not to fear it; as we near the end, we grow smaller and smaller until we fit in the hand of God. On the other hand, Whitley,s insatiable desire to recapture youth is contagious and his exuberance is attractive. The healthiest outlook is one of balance, I suppose - accepting the aging process while keeping healthy and living life to it,s fullest. I was intrigued by the fact that Truex,s real life son played his on screen son in an uncredited role. That his son put him out of the car due to his own responsibilities is an example that being more youthful does not make one happier or more compassionate.

Not Perfect, But It Works For Me (sorta Spoiler)

[patricia-resnick · 9/10 · 1 January 2009]

I'm the first to admit that this episode isn't perfect. What I find interesting is that the things about it that used to bother me or embarrass me now make me wistful. I think perhaps it's helps to get to a "certain age" to really appreciate this episode. I'm not OLD, but I'm old enough now to find it very appealing. I can feel each of the characters inside of me, fighting it out as I maintain my grownup dignity at the expense of my childlike sense of fun and imagination. I'm pretty sure which side I want to win, I just don't want to get locked up for it. The important thing about this episode is that it reminds me to make sure I still have my moments, that I don't harden into deadwood before my time. There is a difference between childish and childlike, and we too often forget that. For me, that's what this episode is about.

If we could only continue to run....

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 2 September 2019]

For the aging Ernest Truex, living in a retirement home around a bunch of sendiary cotton tops has made him feel older than what his brain is telling him he should be feeling like. Witnessing a children's game, he begins to fantasize about what it would like to be young and carefree again, and not feel the pain. Like the pied piper, he leads other seniors (among them Burt Mustin and Marjorie Bennett) outside to do just that. But is a second childhood with a popular child game really going to make them young again, or will it take them away to another world?

Enjoyable if simplistic episode could have been better had there been the comic visual of these seniors actually going around kicking the can. The finale gives an innuendo of something else, but that is never truly clear whether it is the seniors who have somehow morphed into a different form or the neighborhood children that Truex saw earlier. Still well intentioned, it lacks in conviction and that is what prevents it from becoming a true "Twilight Zone" classic.

Arguably one of the best of all of the T.Z. episodes

[folylpentaglutamate · 10/10 · 23 April 2014]

KICK THE CAN takes place in an old folks home, and in the general vicinity of the front of this rest home. Don't worry, I WILL NOT GIVE AWAY THE ENDING. The surprise ending is one of the best of the T.Z. series, and it is a charming and satisfying one, but I WILL NOT GIVE IT AWAY. KICK THE CAN, starring Ernest Truax, and WALKING DISTANCE, starring Gig Young, are the two T.Z. episodes that concern nostalgia for childhood. The story gets off the ground when Mr.Truax makes plans to leave the confines of the old folks home, and to move in with his son. But Mr.Truax is somewhat disappointed when he discovers that his plan was really a misunderstanding, that is, his son had never invited him to move in. At any rate, Mr.Truax continues to live in the old folks home, and the viewer will be amused by Mr.Truax's penchant for running through the water sprinkler, and for amusing himself with other juvenile antics. At one point, Mr.Truax borrows a crumpled tin can that had been used by a neighborhood boy for playing kick the can, and he keeps it as a souvenir for himself. A continuing theme in this story, is that Mr.Truax continuously harps at his elderly colleagues to enjoy themselves, and to play kick the can. Russell Collins plays a cantankerous old man, who is steadfast in his refusal to engage in childish games. However, Mr.Truax is successful with persuading the other residents to "let go" and to engage in a childhood game or too. Tension is provided in this story, because the manager of the old folks home tries to prevent the old people from engaging in any childhood shenanigans. At any rate, there is a surprise ending which I DO NOT DISCLOSE HERE. Mr.Truax has an engaging, calm voice and demeanor. Unfortunately, Mr.Truax is in only one other T.Z. episode, WHAT YOU NEED, where he reprises the role of somebody who confronts a problem and responds with infinite calmness.

Some people are just negative

[thompsonm-05031 · 10/10 · 6 April 2019]

Contrary to the pompous blowhard that rates this episode a 3, this is a decent episode that I rate a 10 just to offset his rating. Some people feel obligated to hand out low ratings because, in his mind, the rest of us are too stupid to be fair. Thank goodness we have such an unreproachable critic to correct us all.

Let's kick some cans, folks

[salmasakr-82890 · 8/10 · 2 October 2023]

"All kids play those games and the minute they stop, they begin to grow old It's almost as though playing kick-the-can keeps them young" "Maybe there are people who stay young Maybe they know a secret they keep from the rest of us Maybe the fountain of youth isn't a fountain at all Maybe it's a way of looking at things, a way of thinking" Said Mr. Charles Whitley.

We always happen to accidentally drop by that YouTuber or podcaster or even an acquaintance that tell us to go back to the hobbies we used to practice as kids for various purposes, one of them is that it helps with the process of healing and taking care of our inner child, other one is to stay creative regardless the world of distractions we're living in due to social Media that Chain us to what's only trendy and keep us limited to what we're exposed to, hindering us from innovation. And the paradox is that we always watch kids these days trying to act like adults!!

At some point in the episode people start panicking when Charles Whitley starts acting playfully around the water as if he's lost his total sanity. I wonder why we hide the most alive version of us in the sake of maturity? Who said that adulting code is to be serious all the time?

Being young is the only age we feel full of life, the minute we start carrying more responsibility it gets darker, that's whywe try to stick to any memory of the youth to keep us motivated not to give up our miserable life. I'm not saying we should pretend as if time should stop at youth phase, yet to get the most advantage of the youth to help us cope with adulting problems.

Don't kick the bucket -- kick the can!

[BA_Harrison · 4/10 · 2 April 2022]

Steven Spielberg's schmaltzy retelling of Kick The Can was always my least favourite segment of The Twilight Zone: The Movie: it just didn't sit well with the more disturbing offerings from Landis, Dante, and Miller. That said, it was true to the original, which is also oversentimental nonsense.

Ernest Truex plays Charles Whitley, a resident of the Sunnyvale Rest Home for the elderly. After watching some local children playing kick the can, Charles realises that he only started to feel old once he stopped playing his childhood games, and thinks that he might regain his youth if he starts to play once more. At night, he wakes the other residents and convinces them to sneak outside for a game of kick the can. Instead of broken hips and heart attacks, the result is a miraculous return to childhood.

Far too saccharine for my liking, but it does make me wonder: kids these days don't seem to play outdoor games like we used to. When they are old and grey, might they regain their youth by revisiting Fortnite or making TikToks?

It's okay.

[bombersflyup · 4/10 · 15 October 2019]

Kick the Can is about something, but I don't think hide and seek and kick the can would get you invigorated. The idea's sound, but it's lazy writing. Churning out episode after episode, not taking the time to make them better.

One of the worst

[pmicocci-18908 · 1/10 · 1 September 2021]

There were some good episodes of TZ, like "Midnight Sun", "Room For One More", "The After Hours", "Jess-Belle"... then there were the painfully hoakey, cornball Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post memories of the Golden Age of mid-20th Century American Boyhood, like this piece of crap. I despise every one of the latter cotton candy lie factories.

The Twilight Zone could be good when the story lived up to the opening narration, but it could be embarrassing when it turned hoakey and jokey, like the episode where the two alien invaders reveal themselves to each other at the end, on by exposing his third arm, the other, his third eye. It was actually a good, unsettling episode until then.

Some of the better episodes include "Mirror Image", with Vera Miles and Martin Milner, which needed no shaggy dog ending - it started in the Twilight Zone and ended up in the Uncanny Valley. Then there was "The Invaders" which, although it had a shaggy dog ending, was carried marvelously and nearly mutely by Agnes Moorehead.

Those were exceptional episodes. But the ones like this dreck, or the other variations of Modern, Hectic Man is Saved by Regression to Childhood are just irritating and unwatchable.