The Once and Future King (The Twilight Zone)
Encyclopedia
The Once and Future King is the first segment of the twenty-fifth episode (the first episode of the second season (1986–1987) of the television series The Twilight Zone.
, opens in a smoke-filled lounge, singing "Heartbreak Hotel
" in Elvis' signature 1950s gold lamé suit
. Much to Gary's chagrin, his performance receives mediocre applause. Afterward, Gary is in his dressing room when his manager, Sandra, walks in. Sandra tells Gary that she was able to book him into a small hotel on the Las Vegas Strip
. The mere mention of Las Vegas
drives Gary into a rant about how Vegas killed Elvis and how he didn't have to make the same mistakes he made just because he looked like Elvis. He laments about how it was great music, but she reminds him, it was...but it's not "his" music.
As Gary is driving down the road, he sees an incoherent driver coming the opposite direction swerving left and right. To avoid hitting the driver, Gary steers off the road, only to have his car flip upside-down. Gary awakes the next morning and sees the damage done to his car. He then gets up, grabs his guitar and starts thumbing
for a ride. A man in an old pickup truck sees Gary and pulls over. Gary runs to the passenger-side door, and to his shock, sees that the man resembles Elvis. He offers Gary a ride, saying "You look...all shook up
." When Gary opens the door, the sign on it says "Crown Electric Co.", which was the company Elvis worked for before getting his first recording contract.
They break the ice
by talking about how they're both musicians. As they're talking, Gary looks over and sees an old Chrysler DeSoto
drive by. He then picks up a newspaper sitting on the floor and looks at the date: July 3, 1954. Gary comes to the realization that the man sitting next to him not only looks like Elvis Presley, but that he actually is Presley. Gary begins thinking that all of this is a hallucination
resulting from his accident the night before.
When they arrive at Crown Electric, Elvis' boss comes out and chides him about picking up hitchhikers, "even if it is your brother." Elvis begins to question Gary about who he is and where he comes from. Gary then uses Elvis' belief in the supernatural
to convince him that he is Jesse (Elvis's twin brother who died at birth). Elvis, thinking that Gary is his thought-to-be deceased twin, asks him why he came back. Gary tells him that he came back to help him because he was going to be bigger than he could ever imagine. Gary starts listing all the positives of Elvis' future career, then he starts listing all the negatives, but affirms that it doesn't have to be that way. Feeling remorseful about deceiving Elvis, Gary starts to back out, until Elvis asks him to meet him the next day so that he could help him rehearse the song he was going to record for Mr. Phillips
, so Gary agrees.
The next day, Gary continues to tell Elvis about his future success and how he is going to be the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Elvis starts playing a smooth, easy-listening ballad called "I Love You Because" with his guitar. Gary is disappointed with Elvis' choice of song and attempts to convince him to play "That's All Right
" and even moves around and shakes his hips. Elvis is horrified, claiming that it's the devil's music and even accuses Gary himself of being a devil who has come to tempt him. The two break into an argument that leads to a brawl. Elvis grabs a guitar and swings it at Gary, but misses, hitting the edge of a shelf instead and breaking off the top part of the guitar's neck. As they continue to fight, Elvis leaps towards him and accidentally lands on the broken guitar when Gary moves out of the way. The guitar goes right through Elvis' chest and he dies.
With no other alternative, Gary buries Elvis, all the while wondering what was going to happen. He thinks about it for a minute and decides from that point to assume Elvis' identity and to do everything just the way Elvis had. The following day, a nervous Gary (wearing Elvis' clothes from the day before) goes into Sun Studio
and is received by the office manager, who lets him know that everyone is already waiting for him in the recording booth. As Sam Phillips is preparing his recording equipment, Gary plays a little of "That's All Right" to the other band members who immediately join in. Phillips interrupts the trio, but tells "Elvis" to keep it up. As the song is playing, the scene flashes forward
to 1970s Las Vegas where we find Gary (as Elvis) talking to a woman in his hotel room. He tells her that he did all the songs, all the movies, as closely as he remembered. He questions whether or not the real Elvis would've been a better King than he would've been, or if there would've even been a King at all. He says that he has terrible dreams and that he talks to Elvis all the time and that Elvis tells him that he still owes him. He even goes as far as to say that Elvis would have liked Vegas. The woman, who turns out to be a younger Sandra, just tells him that he is tired and to not worry, no one would ever take his place, he was the King, the only King. He then sends her off with a scarf and a kiss. After she leaves, Gary sits in a chair facing a window overlooking the Vegas Strip.
, Elvis' real-life schoolmate and best friend.
Elvis vocals were performed by the legendary Ronnie McDowell
.
Opening narration
Synopsis
Gary, an Elvis impersonatorElvis impersonator
An Elvis impersonator is someone who impersonates or copies famed American musician Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators can work all over the world as entertainers, and such tribute acts are in great demand due to the unique iconic status of Elvis...
, opens in a smoke-filled lounge, singing "Heartbreak Hotel
Heartbreak Hotel
"Heartbreak Hotel" is a song recorded by American rock and roll musician Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley's first on his new record label RCA Victor. His first number-one pop record, "Heartbreak Hotel" topped Billboards Top 100 chart, became his first...
" in Elvis' signature 1950s gold lamé suit
Lamé (fabric)
Lamé is a type of fabric woven or knit with thin ribbons of metallic yarns, as opposed to guimpé, where the ribbons are wrapped around a fibre yarn. It is usually gold or silver in color; sometimes copper lamé is seen. Lamé comes in different varieties, depending on the composition of the other...
. Much to Gary's chagrin, his performance receives mediocre applause. Afterward, Gary is in his dressing room when his manager, Sandra, walks in. Sandra tells Gary that she was able to book him into a small hotel on the Las Vegas Strip
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
. The mere mention of Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
drives Gary into a rant about how Vegas killed Elvis and how he didn't have to make the same mistakes he made just because he looked like Elvis. He laments about how it was great music, but she reminds him, it was...but it's not "his" music.
As Gary is driving down the road, he sees an incoherent driver coming the opposite direction swerving left and right. To avoid hitting the driver, Gary steers off the road, only to have his car flip upside-down. Gary awakes the next morning and sees the damage done to his car. He then gets up, grabs his guitar and starts thumbing
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
for a ride. A man in an old pickup truck sees Gary and pulls over. Gary runs to the passenger-side door, and to his shock, sees that the man resembles Elvis. He offers Gary a ride, saying "You look...all shook up
All Shook Up
"All Shook Up" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music and composed by Otis Blackwell. Elvis Presley's single topped the U.S. Pop chart on April 13, 1957, staying there for eight weeks. It also topped the R&B chart for four weeks, becoming Presley's second single to...
." When Gary opens the door, the sign on it says "Crown Electric Co.", which was the company Elvis worked for before getting his first recording contract.
They break the ice
Icebreaker (facilitation)
An icebreaker is a facilitation exercise intended to help a group to begin the process of forming themselves into a team. Icebreakers are commonly presented as a game to "warm up" the group by helping the members to get to know each other...
by talking about how they're both musicians. As they're talking, Gary looks over and sees an old Chrysler DeSoto
DeSoto (automobile)
The DeSoto was a brand of automobile based in the United States, manufactured and marketed by the Chrysler Corporation from 1928 to 1961. The DeSoto logo featured a stylized image of Hernando de Soto...
drive by. He then picks up a newspaper sitting on the floor and looks at the date: July 3, 1954. Gary comes to the realization that the man sitting next to him not only looks like Elvis Presley, but that he actually is Presley. Gary begins thinking that all of this is a hallucination
Hallucination
A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a perception in the absence of a stimulus. In a stricter sense, hallucinations are defined as perceptions in a conscious and awake state in the absence of external stimuli which have qualities of real perception, in that they are vivid,...
resulting from his accident the night before.
When they arrive at Crown Electric, Elvis' boss comes out and chides him about picking up hitchhikers, "even if it is your brother." Elvis begins to question Gary about who he is and where he comes from. Gary then uses Elvis' belief in the supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
to convince him that he is Jesse (Elvis's twin brother who died at birth). Elvis, thinking that Gary is his thought-to-be deceased twin, asks him why he came back. Gary tells him that he came back to help him because he was going to be bigger than he could ever imagine. Gary starts listing all the positives of Elvis' future career, then he starts listing all the negatives, but affirms that it doesn't have to be that way. Feeling remorseful about deceiving Elvis, Gary starts to back out, until Elvis asks him to meet him the next day so that he could help him rehearse the song he was going to record for Mr. Phillips
Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips , better known as Sam Phillips, was an American businessman, record executive, record producer and DJ who played an important role in the emergence of rock and roll as the major form of popular music in the 1950s...
, so Gary agrees.
The next day, Gary continues to tell Elvis about his future success and how he is going to be the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Elvis starts playing a smooth, easy-listening ballad called "I Love You Because" with his guitar. Gary is disappointed with Elvis' choice of song and attempts to convince him to play "That's All Right
That's All Right (Mama)
"That's All Right" is the name of the first single released by Elvis Presley, written and originally performed by blues singer Arthur Crudup. Elvis' version was recorded on 5 July 1954, and released on 19 July 1954 with "Blue Moon of Kentucky" as the B-side...
" and even moves around and shakes his hips. Elvis is horrified, claiming that it's the devil's music and even accuses Gary himself of being a devil who has come to tempt him. The two break into an argument that leads to a brawl. Elvis grabs a guitar and swings it at Gary, but misses, hitting the edge of a shelf instead and breaking off the top part of the guitar's neck. As they continue to fight, Elvis leaps towards him and accidentally lands on the broken guitar when Gary moves out of the way. The guitar goes right through Elvis' chest and he dies.
With no other alternative, Gary buries Elvis, all the while wondering what was going to happen. He thinks about it for a minute and decides from that point to assume Elvis' identity and to do everything just the way Elvis had. The following day, a nervous Gary (wearing Elvis' clothes from the day before) goes into Sun Studio
Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business...
and is received by the office manager, who lets him know that everyone is already waiting for him in the recording booth. As Sam Phillips is preparing his recording equipment, Gary plays a little of "That's All Right" to the other band members who immediately join in. Phillips interrupts the trio, but tells "Elvis" to keep it up. As the song is playing, the scene flashes forward
Flashforward
A flashforward is an interjected scene that takes the narrative forward in time from the current point of the story in literature, film, television and other media. Flashforwards are often used to represent events expected, projected, or imagined to occur in the future...
to 1970s Las Vegas where we find Gary (as Elvis) talking to a woman in his hotel room. He tells her that he did all the songs, all the movies, as closely as he remembered. He questions whether or not the real Elvis would've been a better King than he would've been, or if there would've even been a King at all. He says that he has terrible dreams and that he talks to Elvis all the time and that Elvis tells him that he still owes him. He even goes as far as to say that Elvis would have liked Vegas. The woman, who turns out to be a younger Sandra, just tells him that he is tired and to not worry, no one would ever take his place, he was the King, the only King. He then sends her off with a scarf and a kiss. After she leaves, Gary sits in a chair facing a window overlooking the Vegas Strip.
Closing narration
Syndication
This episode was stretched into a half-hour run time for syndication, as recently shown on the NBCUniversal-owned horror/suspense-themed cable channel Chiller.Trivia
The man who played Elvis' boss at the Crown Electric company was Red WestRed West
Red West is an American actor, film stuntman and songwriter.West was born Robert Gene West in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Lois and Newton Thomas West. He was a close high school friend of rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. An excellent athlete and former U.S...
, Elvis' real-life schoolmate and best friend.
Elvis vocals were performed by the legendary Ronnie McDowell
Ronnie McDowell
Ronald Dean "Ronnie" McDowell is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1977 with the song "The King Is Gone", a tribute to Elvis Presley, who had died not long before the single's release. From that single onward, McDowell has charted more than thirty Top 40 hits on the Billboard...
.