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
Apparently someone never heard of Faust...
A tale about a hypochondriac who makes a deal with the Devil for immortality, 'Escape Clause' is just one of many stories to deal with the question of immortality and its price.
It is short and overacted, but in a fun way; it is also not very well thought at certain aspects, especially the main character and his motivations, but that seems to stern more from the time contrivance than a poor screenwriter.
Its originality comes from its seemingly light-hearted approach, which combined with a rather naive but very black humor and a deceptively dark concept, make 'Escape Clause' almost eerie. It is quite thought-provoking, as are most stories of this kind.
What good is immortality? What price are we willing to pay for it? And, what happens when we achieve it, what else can we do now?
It could be better drawn-out, but overall for a 25-minute episode it was very good. I would not mind a feature film with this take on the 'immortality' morality play.
It is short and overacted, but in a fun way; it is also not very well thought at certain aspects, especially the main character and his motivations, but that seems to stern more from the time contrivance than a poor screenwriter.
Its originality comes from its seemingly light-hearted approach, which combined with a rather naive but very black humor and a deceptively dark concept, make 'Escape Clause' almost eerie. It is quite thought-provoking, as are most stories of this kind.
What good is immortality? What price are we willing to pay for it? And, what happens when we achieve it, what else can we do now?
It could be better drawn-out, but overall for a 25-minute episode it was very good. I would not mind a feature film with this take on the 'immortality' morality play.
helpful•93
- GTeixeira
- Oct 24, 2013
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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