Dust (The Twilight Zone)

"Dust" is episode 48 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on January 6, 1961 on CBS.

"Dust"
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 12
Directed byDouglas Heyes
Written byRod Serling
Featured musicJerry Goldsmith
Production code173-3653
Original air dateJanuary 6, 1961
Guest appearance(s)

Opening narration

There was a village. Built of crumbling clay and rotting wood. And it squatted ugly under a broiling sun like a sick and mangy animal wanting to die. This village had a virus, shared by its people. It was the germ of squalor, of hopelessness, of a loss of faith. With the faithless, the hopeless, the misery-laden, there is time, ample time, to engage in one of the other pursuits of men. They began to destroy themselves.

Plot

Set in the Old West in a desolate barren town, an unscrupulous peddler, after selling the executioner some five-strand rope needed for a hanging, sells a bag of "magic" dust to the condemned man's father. The condemned man had been found guilty of accidentally causing the death of a child. The peddler collects ordinary dirt from the ground and insists to his mark that it will spread good will throughout the crowd and will make them feel love and sympathy for the man sentenced to be hanged.

As the crowd gathers for the hanging, the father cries out and starts sprinkling the dust everywhere. To his dismay, he hears the trapdoor drop behind him and turns... to see that the fresh and sturdy rope has snapped above the noose, and his son is unharmed. When asked if another hanging attempt should be made, the girl's parents decide that it should not, that the condemned man has suffered enough and maybe they have had a sign from God. As father and son walk home, the peddler discovers that he is also affected by the "magic". He throws his gold pieces from the sale of the dust to the poor children of the town, laughing.

Closing narration

It was a very small, misery-laden village. On the day of a hanging. And of little historical consequence. And if there's any moral to it at all, let's say that in any quest for magic, and any search for sorcery, witchery, legerdemain, first check the human heart. For inside this deep place is a wizardry that costs far more than a few pieces of gold. Tonight's case in point - in the Twilight Zone.

Cast

gollark: I'm just terrible at checking the forums.
gollark: _did not know of the raffle_
gollark: I kind of want someone someday to end up accidentally gifting one of my APd eggs back to me.
gollark: https://dragcave.net/lineage/KTCmt
gollark: I saw one of my bred thingies in a trade! Cool!

See also

References

  • DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
  • Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0
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