A Most Unusual Camera
| "A Most Unusual Camera" | |||
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 46 |
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| Directed by | John Rich | ||
| Written by | Rod Serling | ||
| Production code | 173-3606 | ||
| Original air date | December 16, 1960 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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Fred Clark: Chester |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||
"A Most Unusual Camera" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Two petty thieves, husband and wife Chester (Fred Clark) and Paula Diedrich (Jean Carson), have just robbed a curio shop, and among the seemingly worthless things they have stolen is a strange camera. Through testing out the camera for fun, the pair discover that it produces instant photos of what will happen in the future, specifically five minutes ahead. After Paula's jail-escapee brother Woodward (Adam Williams) shows up, Chester has the idea to use the camera to take pictures of the blank winner's board before races at the local racetrack and then use the camera's "predictions" in making bets. The trio win $9,500 on the first race. They bet and win on five other races and leave with an undisclosed but quite considerable load of cash.
Back at their hotel, a French waiter named Pierre (Marcel Hillaire) takes notice of their camera and its French inscription Dix à la propriétaire, meaning "ten to an owner". When the waiter exits, Paula, Chester and Woodward begin discussing how their plans might change if in fact the camera can take only two more pictures after the eight they have used. They fail to come to any agreement over how to use the remaining pictures. While tugging over the camera, a picture of Paula - screaming and recoiling in horror - is accidentally taken. In further struggle, Chester and Woodward begin to fight, and they fall out of an open window to their deaths. Paula is horrified at first - matching the reaction shown in the picture - but recovers quickly when she realizes that all the loot is now hers.
She takes a picture (the camera's last picture) of their bodies "for posterity boys, simply for posterity" in the courtyard below the window and begins collecting the day's winnings, planning to check out of the hotel. Before she can leave, Pierre returns and robs her, mentioning that he knows about their crimes and will turn her in to the police if she calls them for help. He then notes that her last picture shows "more than two" bodies in the courtyard. Panicked, Paula runs to look out the window, trips over a wire, and falls to her demise. Pierre then counts the corpses in the picture. "Yes, there are more than two bodies down there. Just like the picture shows. One, two, three ... four!" In shock upon his realization, he falls out as well, leaving the camera lying on the floor.
[edit] See also
- List of The Twilight Zone episodes
- Goosebumps children's novel, Say Cheese and Die and Say Cheese and Die-Again also the Goosebumps HorrorLand Say Cheese-and Die Screaming
- Killer Camera, a short story from Anthony Horowitz's Horowitz Horror
- Treehouse of Horror XV's The Ned Zone
[edit] 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
