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Two (The Twilight Zone)
Encyclopedia
"Two" is the season 3 premiere of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone
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), her face dirty and wearing a tattered army uniform, stumbles into a deserted, war-ravaged town. She looks into some of the shop windows, pausing to examine a white dress, then finds a restaurant and goes inside in search of (clearly scarce) food. She finds a can of chicken, but before she can open it, a man also wearing a military uniform (Charles Bronson
) walks in and eyes the food from the doorway. Recognizing his uniform as that of the enemy, she begins defending herself and her findings, initially throwing pots and pans and eventually engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The man knocks her out and begins to ravenously eat the chicken while the woman lies unconscious on the floor. The man notices a single animal that survived the war, a dove
, which flew away. He examines a calendar with a woman in a swimsuit on the wall, turns to look back at his opponent and realizes that he desires human companionship more than he wants to continue a now-pointless conflict.
He wakes the woman up, who initially tries to defend herself again. Speaking in English
, he announces that there's no reason to fight anymore and gives her the remains of the food. The woman, not understanding English, is wary around the man, but eats the chicken and is now also intrigued by him. She follows him into a barber shop and watches as he shaves himself with leftover soap from before the town was destroyed. He tosses the soap to her, which she uses to wash her face. They leave the barber shop and wander to a movie theater. He stares at a poster for a wartime romance film, and turns to smile at her, again hinting that he longs for companionship. But hostility flares again as they spy skeletal remains of soldiers at the theater entrance, and they both snatch nearby rifles, simultaneously aiming at each other.
After a tense moment, the man turns, walks away and slings the gun over his shoulder. The woman follows him, and the two walk along the road. They stop in front of the store with the dress in the window and she mutters prekrassnyi (прекрасный), the Russian
word for "pretty." He rips the dress off the dummy and throws it to her, indicating a doorway and telling her to put it on. She goes through the door, which turns out to be a military recruiting office. As she begins to undress, she notices the posters on the wall. The last one depicts the enemy (her country) as being brutal; she leaves and angrily shoots at him instead, burning part of his face. The man walks away, not understanding why she has all of a sudden changed.
Later, the man is changing out of his uniform into a makeshift tuxedo and has found two jars of food. He sees the woman peeking out from behind a car and yells at her to go away, to take her war somewhere else. She emerges from behind the car in the dress, and he realizes she's resigned herself to being a civilian. He throws her one of the jars and calls her prekrassnyi (прекрасный). Moving to face him, she smiles for the first time. With their guns slung over their shoulders, they walk away side-by-side along the road, no longer in uniform but resembling a bride and groom.
, which was literally falling apart, due to mismanagement and disuse (the facilities were finally torn down in 1963). Very little set decoration was needed to embellish an "abandoned city" here.
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
.
Synopsis
Few details are given about the war that preceded the events of the episode. The voice-over suggests the time could be hundreds of years in the future or millions of years in the past. A female survivor of an apocalyptic war (Elizabeth MontgomeryElizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is perhaps best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.-Early life:Born in Los...
), her face dirty and wearing a tattered army uniform, stumbles into a deserted, war-ravaged town. She looks into some of the shop windows, pausing to examine a white dress, then finds a restaurant and goes inside in search of (clearly scarce) food. She finds a can of chicken, but before she can open it, a man also wearing a military uniform (Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
) walks in and eyes the food from the doorway. Recognizing his uniform as that of the enemy, she begins defending herself and her findings, initially throwing pots and pans and eventually engaging in hand-to-hand combat. The man knocks her out and begins to ravenously eat the chicken while the woman lies unconscious on the floor. The man notices a single animal that survived the war, a dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
, which flew away. He examines a calendar with a woman in a swimsuit on the wall, turns to look back at his opponent and realizes that he desires human companionship more than he wants to continue a now-pointless conflict.
He wakes the woman up, who initially tries to defend herself again. Speaking in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, he announces that there's no reason to fight anymore and gives her the remains of the food. The woman, not understanding English, is wary around the man, but eats the chicken and is now also intrigued by him. She follows him into a barber shop and watches as he shaves himself with leftover soap from before the town was destroyed. He tosses the soap to her, which she uses to wash her face. They leave the barber shop and wander to a movie theater. He stares at a poster for a wartime romance film, and turns to smile at her, again hinting that he longs for companionship. But hostility flares again as they spy skeletal remains of soldiers at the theater entrance, and they both snatch nearby rifles, simultaneously aiming at each other.
After a tense moment, the man turns, walks away and slings the gun over his shoulder. The woman follows him, and the two walk along the road. They stop in front of the store with the dress in the window and she mutters prekrassnyi (прекрасный), the Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
word for "pretty." He rips the dress off the dummy and throws it to her, indicating a doorway and telling her to put it on. She goes through the door, which turns out to be a military recruiting office. As she begins to undress, she notices the posters on the wall. The last one depicts the enemy (her country) as being brutal; she leaves and angrily shoots at him instead, burning part of his face. The man walks away, not understanding why she has all of a sudden changed.
Later, the man is changing out of his uniform into a makeshift tuxedo and has found two jars of food. He sees the woman peeking out from behind a car and yells at her to go away, to take her war somewhere else. She emerges from behind the car in the dress, and he realizes she's resigned herself to being a civilian. He throws her one of the jars and calls her prekrassnyi (прекрасный). Moving to face him, she smiles for the first time. With their guns slung over their shoulders, they walk away side-by-side along the road, no longer in uniform but resembling a bride and groom.
Production notes
This episode was actually filmed on the backlot of Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, which was literally falling apart, due to mismanagement and disuse (the facilities were finally torn down in 1963). Very little set decoration was needed to embellish an "abandoned city" here.