The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross
Encyclopedia
"The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone
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Ross comes to realize that he has a supernatural power to make magical trades with other people. In exchange for a large amount of cash and a penthouse apartment, Ross sells his youth to an elderly millionaire. As a result, Ross is now very rich but old. He finds an easy way to regain his youth: he offers a large number of young men (beginning with a hotel bellboy) a small amount of cash for just one year of their lives. The boys accept the money, thinking Ross is just crazy (and since none of them feels any different after aging just one year, none thinks anything has really happened). In short order, Ross is young again, and still rich.
With his new-found wealth, he attempts to win Leah's hand again, and again, she refuses. She wants a man with a heart, who is as generous and compassionate as her father. Frustrated, Ross approaches Mr. Maitland, who likes him but does not think he would be a good husband for his daughter. Ross offers to make him financially secure for the rest of his life. When the father skeptically asks how, Ross says hesitantly, "Well, it's kind of hard to explain..."
Sometime later, we see that Ross has become a warm, compassionate fellow who has won Leah's heart. Ross, in consideration of Mr. Maitland's feelings, meets with him in private and asks his assent to the marriage, but Mr. Maitland refuses. He implores the older man, "Don't you have any compassion?" Maitland coldly replies, "I sold that to you, yesterday", and shoots Ross dead.
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
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Synopsis
Salvadore Ross is a brash, insensitive, ambitious young man who craves a lovely young social worker named Leah Maitland. Leah is attracted to Ross, but could never marry a man so lacking in compassion. Telling him that the relationship is finished, Leah slams her door in his face, and Ross slams his fist into the door, breaking his hand and necessitating a trip to the hospital. Ross' roommate is an elderly man with a respiratory infection. Ross sarcastically suggests that he'd like to trade ailments with the old man, who jokingly accepts the trade. The next morning, as if by magic, the old man has a broken hand, while Ross has a cold.Ross comes to realize that he has a supernatural power to make magical trades with other people. In exchange for a large amount of cash and a penthouse apartment, Ross sells his youth to an elderly millionaire. As a result, Ross is now very rich but old. He finds an easy way to regain his youth: he offers a large number of young men (beginning with a hotel bellboy) a small amount of cash for just one year of their lives. The boys accept the money, thinking Ross is just crazy (and since none of them feels any different after aging just one year, none thinks anything has really happened). In short order, Ross is young again, and still rich.
With his new-found wealth, he attempts to win Leah's hand again, and again, she refuses. She wants a man with a heart, who is as generous and compassionate as her father. Frustrated, Ross approaches Mr. Maitland, who likes him but does not think he would be a good husband for his daughter. Ross offers to make him financially secure for the rest of his life. When the father skeptically asks how, Ross says hesitantly, "Well, it's kind of hard to explain..."
Sometime later, we see that Ross has become a warm, compassionate fellow who has won Leah's heart. Ross, in consideration of Mr. Maitland's feelings, meets with him in private and asks his assent to the marriage, but Mr. Maitland refuses. He implores the older man, "Don't you have any compassion?" Maitland coldly replies, "I sold that to you, yesterday", and shoots Ross dead.