The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street
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| "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" | |||||||
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |||||||
 Scene from "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 22 |
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| Written by | Rod Serling | ||||||
| Directed by | Ronald Winston | ||||||
| Guest stars | Claude Akins : Steve Brand Barry Atwater : Les Goodman Jack Weston : Charlie Amzie Strickland : Woman Anne Barton : Mrs. Brand Jan Handzlik : Tommy Burt Metcalfe : Don Mary Gregory : Sally Jason Johnson : Old man Leah Waggner : Mrs. Goodman Joan Sudlow : Old woman Ben Erway : Pete Van Horn Sheldon Allman : First alien William Walsh : Second alien |
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| Featured music | Original score by Rene Garriguenc, conducted by Lud Gluskin | ||||||
| Production no. | 173-3620 | ||||||
| Original airdate | March 4, 1960 | ||||||
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||||||
"The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. Originally aired when memories of the Second Red Scare were still fresh in the minds of viewers, the episode is often presented commercial-free as part of the Cable in the Classroom series, to teach kids about the dangers of prejudice and hysteria. The question of whether the monsters of the title are the suspected aliens or the prejudiced residents of Maple Street is open to interpretation.
Contents |
[edit] Opening narration
| “ | Maple Street, USA. Late Summer. A tree-lined little world of front porch gliders, barbecues, the laughter of children, and the bell of an ice cream vendor. At the sound of the roar and a flash of light, it will be precisely 6:43 PM on Maple Street. | ” |
| “ | This is Maple Street on a late Saturday afternoon. Maple Street, in the last calm and reflective moments...before the monsters came. | ” |
[edit] Synopsis
The episode begins in late summer; the street is full of playing children and adults talking. A shadow passes overhead and a loud roar is heard, accompanied by a flash of light. Later, after it has gone dark, the residents of Maple Street find that their machines no longer work, and there is no power. They gather together in the street to discuss the matter. One of them, Pete Van Horn, volunteers to walk out of the neighborhood to discover the extent of the problem.
Another resident, Steve Brand, wants to go into town but Tommy, a boy from the neighborhood, tells him not to. Tommy had read in his comic/action hero books that an alien invasion is taking place, and that Steve will not be allowed to leave. Furthermore - as part of this invasion - the aliens have insidiously placed within the neighborhood a family that appears human. The power outage is meant to isolate and contain the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, another resident, Les Goodman, tries unsuccessfully to start his car. He gets out and begins to walk back towards the other residents when the car starts all by itself. The bizarre behavior of his car makes Les the object of immediate suspicion. One woman begins to discuss his late nights spent standing in the garden looking up at the sky. Les claims to be an insomniac. Later that night, Steve tries to defuse the situation and prevent it from becoming a witch-hunt. Charlie, one of the loudest and most aggressive residents, pressures Steve about his hobby building a radio that no one has ever seen. Suspicion falls on Steve when he sarcastically remarks that he talks to monsters from outer space on his radio.
The panic builds when a shadowy figure is seen walking towards them. Charlie, caught in the panic, grabs a shotgun and shoots the shadow, thinking it to be the alleged monster. When the crowd reaches the fallen figure, they realize that it is Pete Van Horn returning from his scouting mission.
Suddenly the lights in Charlie's house come on and he panics as the crowd begins accusing him of being both a murderer and the monster responsible for the power being out. He makes a run for his house while the other residents chase after him, throwing stones. Terrified, Charlie attempts to deflect suspicion onto Tommy, the boy who originally brought up the idea of alien infiltration. Lights begin flashing on and off in houses throughout the neighborhood; lawn mowers and cars start up for no apparent reason. The mob becomes hysterical, with terrified residents smashing windows, and taking up weapons, devolving into an all out riot.
The film cuts to a nearby hilltop, where it is revealed that the mysterious "meteor" that had flown overhead is an alien spaceship. Its inhabitants, two alien observers, are watching the riot on Maple Street while using a device to manipulate the neighborhood's power. They comment on how easy it was to create paranoia and panic, concluding that the easiest way to conquer the Earth is to let the people of the Earth destroy themselves, one "Maple Street" at a time.
[edit] Closing narration
| “ | The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices. To be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the frightened, thoughtless search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own: for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things can not be confined to the Twilight Zone. | ” |
[edit] Preview for next week's story
Announcer: "And now, Mr. Serling."
| “ | Next week, Mr. Richard Matheson lends us his fine writing talents when we bring you a unique and most arresting story of a movie actor who finds himself on that thin line between what is real and what is a dream. Mr. Howard Duff stars in "A World of Difference," which I think you'll discover is a television play of difference, too. That's next week, a journey into the Twilight Zone. Thank you and good night. | ” |
[edit] Remake
A remake of the episode was created in the latest re-adaptation of The Twilight Zone, but it was renamed "The Monsters Are On Maple Street". The difference between the two is that the remake is more about the fear of terrorism in America and how it drives people apart. When the power surge happens in the remake, it is not caused by aliens but by the government, specifically the army, experimenting on how small towns react to the fear of terrorism. In the end, the neighborhood takes out its anger and frustration on a family who never left their house after the power surge occurred, thinking that they caused it since they still have power.
[edit] Other media
A radio dramatization of this episode was produced in the mid-2000s, featuring Frank John Hughes as Steve Brand. It was included in The Twilight Zone: Radio Dramas - Volume 2 collection.
A graphic novel version was published by the Savanna College of Art and Design partnered with Walker & Co.
This episode served to be a major influence on science fiction in the decades that followed. Among the films that drew their inspiration from this episode include The Trigger Effect and The Mist (film).
[edit] References
- 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
