Four O'Clock
| "Four O'Clock" | |||
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |||
 Theodore Bikel in "Four O'Clock" |
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| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 94 |
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| Directed by | Lamont Johnson | ||
| Written by | Rod Serling - (Based on the story by Price Day. First published in Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 14 of My Favorites in Suspense (1959) ) | ||
| Featured music | Stock from "The Little People" | ||
| Production code | 4832 | ||
| Original air date | April 6, 1962 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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Theodore Bikel: Oliver Crangle |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||
"Four O'Clock" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
[edit] Plot
Oliver Crangle is a fanatic who maintains records of people he deems evil, calling and writing their employers to remind them of the evil acts in question and to demand their immediate firing. Unsatisfied with the results he gets with anonymous threats, he searches for a more effective way to eliminate all evil from the world. He finds the idea of shrinking the "evil" people to two feet tall. He cackles at the idea of that plan.
His acts attract the attention of the government and Agent Hall is sent to investigate. Crangle tells him that he has finally devised a plan to shrink every "evil" person down to two feet tall at four o'clock that afternoon through sheer force of will. Hall dismisses him as a crank, recommends psychiatric help and leaves. Before departing, Crangle warns that Hall will be two feet tall but is ignored.
When four o'clock rolls around, Crangle is dismayed to find that he himself has been shrunk to two feet tall. His parrot, Peter, calls him a "nut" for his actions.
[edit] References
- Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090
