Kick the Can

"Kick the Can"
The Twilight Zone episode
Scene from "Kick the Can"
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 86
Directed by	Lamont Johnson
Written by	George Clayton Johnson
Featured music	Stock (many cues taken from Bernard Herrmann's score to Walking Distance)
Production code	4821
Original air date	February 9, 1962
Guest stars
Ernest Truex: Charles Whitley Barry Truex: Charles' son Russell Collins: Ben Conroy John Marley: Mr. Cox Burt Mustin: Carlson Earle Hodgins: First old man Hank Patterson: Second old man Marjorie Bennett: First old lady Lenore Shanewise: Second old lady Eve McVeagh: Night nurse
Episode chronology
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List of Twilight Zone episodes

For the children's outdoor game, see Kick the can.

"Kick the Can" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone that was remade in the 1983 movie version.

Opening narration

"Sunnyvale Rest, a Home for the Aged - a Dying Place - and a common Children's Game called Kick the Can. It will shortly become a refuge for a man who know he will die in this world if he doesn't escape...into the Twilight Zone."

Plot

Charles Whitley, a retiree at the Sunnyvale Rest Home, thinks that he has discovered the secret of youth. He is convinced that if he acts young he will become young. His oldest and best friend, Ben Conroy, thinks he is going crazy. One night, Charles convinces a number of residents to play a game of kick the can with him. He tries to talk Ben into playing, but Ben refuses.

The game of kick the can transforms Whitley and his other friends back into children. Conroy and the home's superintendent, Mr. Cox, go out to the street where they find the group of children playing kick the can in the night. Mr. Cox chases them all off except for one, who stops to look at Conroy. Ben, now seeing the miracle, begs for a second chance to go with his friend. But it is too late: He is left behind. Mr. Cox expects Ben to help him search for the elderly people, but Ben knows that they'll never be found. Ben walks slowly to the front steps of Sunnydale and sits there with the can...alone.

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

External links

• "Kick the Can" at the Internet Movie Database
• TV.com episode page
• Kick the Can review at The Twilight Zone Project