Kind of like the fortune-telling machine in the diner episode, with William Shatner. That little nodding demon head scared scared the bejesus out of me.
Two days ago my friends was telling me that he was having a hard time pulling himself away from a video game...I started saying 'Franklin' to him, in that voice. lol
I was really creeped out when I first saw this episode (in the 70s). As you noted, there were no monsters, or magic, or science fiction. It was just a straightforward psychological thriller and you put your finger right on it when you said 'IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU." I wonder if there were people who saw it who were disturbed because they had a relative with a gambling problem. I was very impressed with the actor who portrayed the slot player. He did an outstanding job, showing a person who just kept getting in deeper and deeper because he wanted to hit the jackpot. You know if he did, it would have made no difference, he would have just gambled even more in an attempt to get more money. Sadly, it happens all the time in real life. Great review!
Yes, the episodes without magic or otherworldly phenomena were rare, and that kind of tends to make them memorable. I always loved a similar episode, the one where Shatner and his wife stop in a cafe, and the little fortune machine on the table starts to become an obsession for the husband. As with the episode you cite, it's creepy BECAUSE it's so true to life. The thing has no power, except what the husband gives it...but that almost winds up being enough!
Actually, in the story, Franklin keeps playing the slot machine, not because he wants to "hit the jackpot," but because the machine refuses to give back a coin (a half-dollar, I think) that he put into it before it jams up. At the end of the episode, after Franklin is driven so mad by his belief that the slot machine is following him (his wife doesn't see it, somehow), that he jumps out of his hotel window and kills himself, the machine rolls up to his corpse and spits out the coin that he was trying to get back.
About 5 times a year I splurge on a few scratch offs. If I win just a couple of bucks, I will throw it back in for another ticket, maybe. Anything over $10 just gets cashed in. First time I went to a casino, I won $90 in my first 15 minutes and I was ready to leave. My guy wouldn’t let me. 😂😂
Was born in late 1909, and this episode was made ~1960, so he was just a tad over 50, at the time. I'm 65 now (April 2024), and he looks a lot older than me.
Fun fact - This same slot machine appears in TZ at least two more times. We see it in "A Nice Place To Visit" (April 1960) and in "The Prime Mover" (March 1961).
I have also seen this machine in a Perry Mason episode, which is interesting as two jazz tunes that are played throughout this episode (Jazz Theme #2 and Street Moods in Jazz) were used in multiple episodes of Perry Mason also.
Poor Flora at the end of the episode when he seems to have nearly bankrupted them! I loved the jazzy tune that plays throughout! It was in one other episode when Buddy Ebsen has the telekinetic powers and the car crashes at the beginning.
....FRANKLINNNNN!....it is a good episode and it harbors human behavior....Rod was a genius..and that slot machine is used in 'Its a Nice Place to Visit' too...:)
It's a good thing you don't like gambling, because you can go broke doing that. My sister (may she rest in peace 🕊️) had a couple of friends who got married and went to Las Vegas on their honeymoon. The very first day they were there, THE GROOM GAMBLED AWAY ALL THEIR VACATION MONEY! The bride had to call her mother to send them more cash. If I ever visited Las Vegas, I would just see the sights, take in a show or two, maybe look in a museum or two, but I would never gamble and risk losing my money. I might go inside one of those casinos just to look around and see what it's like, but I wouldn't so much as TOUCH a slot machine. Most of the money that those places take in probably goes into the pockets of the Mob anyway.
@@michaelpalmieri7335 the Mob is long gone and that's a shame. I mean it. When a GI at 20 I went to Vega$ in 1980. This was in the great days of the Mob. We actually had a "pit boss" tell us to enjoy a meal but don't drink, they could lose their license. Flash forward to 2022. I went there with my wife to see a show. The mob had long since been driven out and corporations controlled the town. With corporations come "woke" politics and the homeless had taken over the town. I remarked to a sales girl (nice twenty-something) at "Black Rifle Coffee" gifts that the town was sort of grungy. She said it was the fault of the Casinos and the Mayor, some leftist Poppa Oscar Sierra. I don't gamble but Vega$ was fun back in the day. Now? It's like LA, Portland, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin... all are woke holes.
Absolutely one of the most underrated episodes of TZ here. I love that old Rol-A-Top machine. It became so menacing over the course of the episode! I have a vague recollection of how they did the voice from reading The Twilight Zone Companion when I was a teen, but I'd love to see you do a video on how they achieved that effect.
Rick, Great video! Had no idea of the illegality issue to this episode. Very interesting. And yes, I've seen this (and every TZ) episode... Point of fact: Looks like the air date was *January* 29, 1960. Be hopeful, Paul +
First time I saw this back in the '60s it worried me a lot. We had a dehumidifier in the basement that would rattle every now and then like it suddenly awoke and started walking for my bedroom door which was also in the basement. I would lay in the dark at night expecting it to appear at my door for some kind of TZ-type vengeance.
When I was a kid and a young adult, I was blown away by a slot machine doing $1 bets in the 1960s, since that was a high betting machine in my modern day. Think about inflation: $1 in 1960 is the same as $10.55 in 2024.
It's a powerful episode, but it's still very difficult to watch a character's complete breakdown, when he was nothing more than a stuffed-shirt who didn't otherwise really deserve such a fate in the end, though he's not as sympathetic as Burgess Meredith's character in "Time Enough At Last" that we sense a great loss.
Yes I saw it, about in 1964 when I was about 6. I was sent to bed so I missed the end. I had to ask a friend about the end next day. Great show, thanks.
I work as a Counselor and I've been lucky to work alongside a good Mentor who knew Process Addictions very well. Gambling is a Process Addiction, and a lot of folks who have Substance Use issues? Often substitute a Substance Use, for a Process, and in some cases Substance Use is also intertwined with a Process Addiction. That is one aspect of why when a well documented SU person is using a highly potent or large amount of a Substance in Location A is fine... but... they use the same Substance or amount in Location B and its fatal.... yeah, I know! This episode of Twilight Zone? Is really awesome because it shows HOW a Process Addiction can occur and it can be in just the span of a few hours or just ONE event! But, I think the biggest Process Addiction issues out there today are .... Social Media and Video Gaming. Yeah, not kidding. Go to any store or restaurant and you'll see a worker with their cellphone in their hand or hear them mumbling on their phone half distracted.... or, hear a sudden screech and feel a big THUMP from the back of your car. Yep. Been hit 4 times now by kids with phones in their hands. Texting using both hands, steering with the knees is a thing apparently. Airbag deployed, phone broke their nose. I laughed, then I called 911.
I'm surprised they didn't find a Nevada casino to film in. A couple of episodes were done in Death Valley's Desolation Canyon, which is closer to Nevada than to Hollywood.
Love the behind the scenes info on these episodes. There were a bunch of Slot Machines in the background of this program & it would have been interesting having the studio transport all of them with a police escort.
My guess is that ms y of those in the background were statics and not real. Maybe they were casted and molded with no working parts. The real one was def the one Franklin used
It would be interesting to see if Las Vegas hotels experienced a drop in reservations by people named Franklin after this episode aired. Or, perhaps an increase!
I saw that episode as a kid when it aired and had the weirdest recurring nightmares right afterward. I think it was the voice of the slot machine calling his name, "Franklin" that creeped me out. As a young adult, watching it decades later in the late 1970s it helped me see a parallel in my own compulsive behaviors and partly inspired me to get clean and sober.
Well, well. You fooled us. Apparently.., it WAS legal with the added Policeman on set. I loved this episode, too. Everett Sloane, the actor who played the lead was great. He was also excellent in "Patterns" --- a 1956 film written by Serling.... Check it out.
If I remember correctly, (which I doubt,) in an interview Cheech and Chong talked about having real weed plants on the set of a movie and round the clock police escorts for the plants. A few plants wound up missing.
A former co-worker of mine won $50,000 via "progressive slots" (at a casino in New York State) and proceeded to give it all back within 3 months. He was chasing another "big hit" which never came. This was a great TZ episode.
Yeah I have seen it-I remember that the way he described the machine doing it was that it allows you to win a little to get your hopes up and bid more, but that after that you keep losing-pretty much the way actual gambling machines work. Anybody going into a casino needs to remember that it’s not set up for you to win. It’s set up to make money for the casino. This is the lesson Serling wanted to impart.
So, I was like four or five years old when this episode came out. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my cousin Becky, she was around my age, and my mom in a chair behind us. When the bedroom door opened and the slot machine was standing there, I beat my cousin to my mom’s lap. My cousin wound up behind the chair. Although not funny to me at the time, it’s a fond and funny memory of my childhood.
Back in a time when Hollywood worried about morals, ethics, and legality....Rod Serlings "Twightlight Zone's" stories always revolved around these themes....(not like most of the streaming sleeze of today)👁🌀⏰
One of my top 5 episodes I would say. I first saw it as a kid, and the first time that damn slot machine spoke it made my hair stand on end because the voice effects they used scared the shit out of me. Speaking of favorite episodes, included in that list are the episodes "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street", and "To Serve Mankind". It's so odd to think that a lot of the lessons in these episodes have gone right over the heads of folks in the modern day.
The machine is a Watling ROL-A-Top. I think the law in California was that a slot machine had to be 25 years old or more to allow private ownership. In 1960 these old one armed bandits were in common use all over Nevada. I see other slots in the photos, notably some Mills Hi Tops. These may have been dummies.
When I was vacationing in Istanbul, I found one of these 1930s Roll-o-Top machines in an antique shop there. I wanted to take it back with me, but it would have cost a fortune. That being said, the way it was modified for the show was a bit unfortunate.
I do remember seeing this one, and yes, like one other person said the voice was creepy coming from the machine. There was one other episode that I really enjoyed and I think about it from time to time where I forget who the actor was by himself on a planet, like a Pinot colony, but he was the only one there and there was a cabin and he had restored an old model T car, and for companionship, they sent a female robot to him for companionship, and when his time was up, he was attached to the robot and when they came to get him, he wanted to take her back, but there was no room on the rocket so they were trying to tell him that she wasn't real and they ended up shooting the robot in the face to prove it to him. And that scene always strikes me when I think about it it was quite sad. But that's another one to talk about. Thank you! 4:52
I can’t remember what episode it was, but I know that slot machine has been used in more than one episode. I’m just can’t think of what the other episode is.
Cool. I thought I was the only one who considers "The Fever" one of the best of the series. When the episode is reviewed by bloggers, it generally gets a middling ranking at best, with less gracious reviewers placing it near the bottom. I've concluded I just don't have the taste of most Twilight Zone fans, as there are some highly regarded episodes that I find utterly ridiculous. Like, don't get me started on all the issues I have with "To Serve Man," the most overrated episode of the series. But I digress... As a psychological study, I think "The Fever" is brilliantly paced. Everett Sloane gives a gripping performance as Franklin, whose descent into madness is the basis for the story. My only beef with the episode (spoiler coming...) is the final scene, when the slot machine returns Franklin's last dollar - I mean, if the slot machine is all in Franklin's head, that scene strikes me as illogical. With that said, I consider this one of Rod Serling's strongest Twilight Zone scripts, and I dismiss IMDB's ranking at #21 out of 24 season 1 episodes as ludicrous.
I assumed they either filmed in another state ... or? Just acquired or made a few PARTS of a slot machine, an filmed them separately never putting it all together :) An impounded slot machine is genius, Polie of course have to be able to transport the machine, and this was a genius idea, MUCH cheaper than my two ideas!!! :)
Right?! I was thinking the same thing. I also came up with solutions and thought they came up with a brilliant and simple solution that wasn’t too expensive
According to the IMDB, this episode aired on 29 Jan 1960, not 29 Nov. I had a crush on Vivi Janiss, but I was disappointed at how Serling portrayed the actions of the casino staff. In a real casino, they would not stand around while a player was clearly having a nervous breakdown. They would escort him out of the area.
The episode's original airdate was Friday, January (not November) 29, 1960. Everett Sloane, who played the unfortunate Franklin Gibbs, also appeared on shows like Andy Griffith's (where he provided the lyrics to the theme song, "The Fishin' Hole") and Dick Van Dyke's. He committed suicide himself in 1965 when he was going blind. :(
Years later Rod Serling himself could've been quite unaware of how symmetrical a turn of events this was. On CBS Television no less! "Franklin" was the real first name of The Actor Franklin Cover who Played "Tom Willis" on "The Jeffersons." And "Gibbs" of course is the real last name of The Actress Miss Marla Gibbs who Played "Florence Johnston", "George" and "Louise"'s impudent yet admirable Maid on the same Show!😂😉🎤📺B.W.
Interesting. A perfect example why many people lean Libertarian on certain issues. The government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong....like gambling or what substance someone chooses to put in their body.
Hello Rick, I am a long time subscriber to your channel, and I am perplexed as to why my comments are being "shadow-banned" in the comments section on your channel. I am always polite and respectful, and I realize that this is probably out of your control. I just wanted to vent.
I really liked that episode to by the way,another TWILIGHT ZONE episode where they would use the same slot machine and that was "the prime mover" it was used in the beginning of the episode check that one out.
I think something you may have missed is why the "star" slot machine featured in both those episodes was the same slot machine. When talking about having the police monitor the usage of the slot machines that were borrowed, I think what is really being referred to are the machines in the background. If another episode needed a slot machine, why borrow the same machine. How would they get the chance assuming the available machines from impound are random. I suspect the reason is because that particular machine is a "prop" machine that can be manipulated to work on cue - i.e. not a slot machine. Such prop machines must have existed in the prop department of the studio as there would have been more than one show or film that required a machine that could perform on cue; yielding coins or lemons as the script required. It would be interesting to see if this machine, like so many other distinctive props, makes an appearance in other productions from that studio.
That’s one of my favorite episodes. “Franklin!” Thank you from the info about the slot machine. Now I’ll look for the cop that’s supposed be guarding it. Was he on camera?
I used to live in Las Vegas in the mid 90's and worked for a couple of magicians. Walking through the casino floor felt like walking through a crack den! The people can small because of this fever they have - they wouldn't leave, and have things like food and drink brought to them! The Casinos made money big time on these people! But you can see how they would be when they lost everything! The original slot machine was invented in San Francisco like around the late 19th c, and it looked similar to the one you saw in this episode. YES they are illegal, but that was where they began - there is also a historical marker about this and I think it is off Market street! You can find it under California Historical Markers. This video btw was great!
These days faking the prop would be cheaper, Kids don't know, in the '60s and '70s we had phone booths where anyone could use a phone to call someone and talk to them. That's like us old folk imagining taking a horse-drawn wagon trip across the country.
As always, California laws are idiotic. I've seen this excellent episode many times, but I distinctly remember being creeped out the first time I saw it as a very young boy.
I think the best episode that is low budget and doesnt invovle sci fi- horror or special effects, is THE SILENCE. Its a episode that proves a great show only needs great acting/dialog/subject matter
I love this episode was perfect it shows was gambling addiction can do to your mind. Other favorites it Talking Tina, all of the ones with William Shantner, Willerby, Masks, Beauty Is In the Eye Of The Beholder, and Room 22. That is all the ones I know of the top of my head.
How do you explain all the other multiple slot machines that look different and even identical to that one that can be seen in the long shots like @0:36, 0:41, 1:35, 3:25 and 4:50?
Twilight Zone the series makes sure to follow the letter of the law, when using a potential illegal prop, such as a slot machine. Twilight Zone: The movie disregards child labor laws, OSHA regulations, and drops a helicopter on a man and two children.
This episode scared the hell out of me as a kid. I really thought the machine was alive going after Franklin.
I thought it was one of those possessed inanimate objects. It also scared me and my brother a lot.
Me too.
Kind of like the fortune-telling machine in the diner episode, with William Shatner. That little nodding demon head scared scared the bejesus out of me.
@@geraldmartin7703 Yea, that too. The way he winked.
Yup. definitely didn't know it was illegal, but the solution was a lot cheaper than having to move the whole production! "Fraaaaaaaaaanklin!" 😂
I'm glad you're considering a video on how the slot machine "talks" to the guy. That particular aspect creeped me out and I still remember it.
Two days ago my friends was telling me that he was having a hard time pulling himself away from a video game...I started saying 'Franklin' to him, in that voice. lol
I was really creeped out when I first saw this episode (in the 70s). As you noted, there were no monsters, or magic, or science fiction. It was just a straightforward psychological thriller and you put your finger right on it when you said 'IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU." I wonder if there were people who saw it who were disturbed because they had a relative with a gambling problem.
I was very impressed with the actor who portrayed the slot player. He did an outstanding job, showing a person who just kept getting in deeper and deeper because he wanted to hit the jackpot. You know if he did, it would have made no difference, he would have just gambled even more in an attempt to get more money. Sadly, it happens all the time in real life. Great review!
I saw this episode at about the same time. I dislike gambling and slot machines to this day.
Yes, the episodes without magic or otherworldly phenomena were rare, and that kind of tends to make them memorable. I always loved a similar episode, the one where Shatner and his wife stop in a cafe, and the little fortune machine on the table starts to become an obsession for the husband. As with the episode you cite, it's creepy BECAUSE it's so true to life. The thing has no power, except what the husband gives it...but that almost winds up being enough!
Actually, in the story, Franklin keeps playing the slot machine, not because he wants to "hit the jackpot," but because the machine refuses to give back a coin (a half-dollar, I think) that he put into it before it jams up.
At the end of the episode, after Franklin is driven so mad by his belief that the slot machine is following him (his wife doesn't see it, somehow), that he jumps out of his hotel window and kills himself, the machine rolls up to his corpse and spits out the coin that he was trying to get back.
About 5 times a year I splurge on a few scratch offs. If I win just a couple of bucks, I will throw it back in for another ticket, maybe. Anything over $10 just gets cashed in. First time I went to a casino, I won $90 in my first 15 minutes and I was ready to leave. My guy wouldn’t let me. 😂😂
Everett Sloane was an excellent actor IMO, and I think he looked considerably older than he actually was.
Was born in late 1909, and this episode was made ~1960, so he was just a tad over 50, at the time. I'm 65 now (April 2024), and he looks a lot older than me.
@@michaelmoorrees3585 I just turned 64 earlier this month, and he looks at least my age if not older.
Sad that he committed suicide in the mid 1960s because he was afraid that he was going blind (glaucoma?) :(
I liked "A Nice Place to Visit."
When the guide said, "I never said this was heaven...."
Fun fact - This same slot machine appears in TZ at least two more times. We see it in "A Nice Place To Visit" (April 1960) and in "The Prime Mover" (March 1961).
I wonder if that slot machine and Robbie the Robot ever hooked up? 😉
I have also seen this machine in a Perry Mason episode, which is interesting as two jazz tunes that are played throughout this episode (Jazz Theme #2 and Street Moods in Jazz) were used in multiple episodes of Perry Mason also.
When a slot machine develops language skills an stalks him and calls his name...Franklin! Spooky for me when I was a kid.
That's really interesting, I never really thought about it. Always loved this episode. "Franklin!!"
Poor Flora at the end of the episode when he seems to have nearly bankrupted them! I loved the jazzy tune that plays throughout! It was in one other episode when Buddy Ebsen has the telekinetic powers and the car crashes at the beginning.
Didn't they use the same slot machine in this ep and the Buddy E. ep?
As someone named Frank, of course i remember this episode.
Wow, that's crazy, so is how they happened to get a machine that worked so well with the episode.
....FRANKLINNNNN!....it is a good episode and it harbors human behavior....Rod was a genius..and that slot machine is used in 'Its a Nice Place to Visit' too...:)
😆
Very interesting. I never thought about it being illegal. Thanks
I remember seeing this episode. That's wild! I never knew about the background story about the slot machine.
I remember this episode as a kid. It instilled a dislike of slot machines to this day and still don't like gambling.
It's a good thing you don't like gambling, because you can go broke doing that.
My sister (may she rest in peace 🕊️) had a couple of friends who got married and went to Las Vegas on their honeymoon. The very first day they were there, THE GROOM GAMBLED AWAY ALL THEIR VACATION MONEY! The bride had to call her mother to send them more cash.
If I ever visited Las Vegas, I would just see the sights, take in a show or two, maybe look in a museum or two, but I would never gamble and risk losing my money. I might go inside one of those casinos just to look around and see what it's like, but I wouldn't so much as TOUCH a slot machine.
Most of the money that those places take in probably goes into the pockets of the Mob anyway.
@@michaelpalmieri7335 the Mob is long gone and that's a shame. I mean it. When a GI at 20 I went to Vega$ in 1980. This was in the great days of the Mob. We actually had a "pit boss" tell us to enjoy a meal but don't drink, they could lose their license. Flash forward to 2022. I went there with my wife to see a show. The mob had long since been driven out and corporations controlled the town. With corporations come "woke" politics and the homeless had taken over the town. I remarked to a sales girl (nice twenty-something) at "Black Rifle Coffee" gifts that the town was sort of grungy. She said it was the fault of the Casinos and the Mayor, some leftist Poppa Oscar Sierra. I don't gamble but Vega$ was fun back in the day. Now? It's like LA, Portland, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin... all are woke holes.
Addiction is well-handled here with the personification of the one-armed bandit. The ironic poetry of the coin being returned at the end is pure Rod.
Absolutely one of the most underrated episodes of TZ here. I love that old Rol-A-Top machine. It became so menacing over the course of the episode! I have a vague recollection of how they did the voice from reading The Twilight Zone Companion when I was a teen, but I'd love to see you do a video on how they achieved that effect.
Rick,
Great video! Had no idea of the illegality issue to this episode. Very interesting. And yes, I've seen this (and every TZ) episode...
Point of fact: Looks like the air date was *January* 29, 1960.
Be hopeful,
Paul +
That episode made me kinda emotional honestly... I felt so bad for his wife from the jump and it just goes and goes relentlessly
First time I saw this back in the '60s it worried me a lot. We had a dehumidifier in the basement that would rattle every now and then like it suddenly awoke and started walking for my bedroom door which was also in the basement. I would lay in the dark at night expecting it to appear at my door for some kind of TZ-type vengeance.
One of my favorite episodes! Your behind the scenes information makes it even better!
One of my favorite episodes. Didn't know about the problems associated with the slot machine.
When I was a kid and a young adult, I was blown away by a slot machine doing $1 bets in the 1960s, since that was a high betting machine in my modern day. Think about inflation: $1 in 1960 is the same as $10.55 in 2024.
FRANKLIN!! Great episode love it and great story Rick.
It's a powerful episode, but it's still very difficult to watch a character's complete breakdown, when he was nothing more than a stuffed-shirt who didn't otherwise really deserve such a fate in the end, though he's not as sympathetic as Burgess Meredith's character in "Time Enough At Last" that we sense a great loss.
Fascinating. Would never have imagined this was the case.
Yes I saw it, about in 1964 when I was about 6. I was sent to bed so I missed the end. I had to ask a friend about the end next day. Great show, thanks.
I work as a Counselor and I've been lucky to work alongside a good Mentor who knew Process Addictions very well. Gambling is a Process Addiction, and a lot of folks who have Substance Use issues? Often substitute a Substance Use, for a Process, and in some cases Substance Use is also intertwined with a Process Addiction. That is one aspect of why when a well documented SU person is using a highly potent or large amount of a Substance in Location A is fine... but... they use the same Substance or amount in Location B and its fatal.... yeah, I know! This episode of Twilight Zone? Is really awesome because it shows HOW a Process Addiction can occur and it can be in just the span of a few hours or just ONE event! But, I think the biggest Process Addiction issues out there today are .... Social Media and Video Gaming. Yeah, not kidding. Go to any store or restaurant and you'll see a worker with their cellphone in their hand or hear them mumbling on their phone half distracted.... or, hear a sudden screech and feel a big THUMP from the back of your car. Yep. Been hit 4 times now by kids with phones in their hands. Texting using both hands, steering with the knees is a thing apparently. Airbag deployed, phone broke their nose. I laughed, then I called 911.
Great job as always
I'm surprised they didn't find a Nevada casino to film in. A couple of episodes were done in Death Valley's Desolation Canyon, which is closer to Nevada than to Hollywood.
I saw this episode recently and actually found it compelling viewing. And thought provoking.
Love the behind the scenes info on these episodes. There were a bunch of Slot Machines in the background of this program & it would have been interesting having the studio transport all of them with a police escort.
My guess is that ms y of those in the background were statics and not real. Maybe they were casted and molded with no working parts. The real one was def the one Franklin used
How is this episode underrated? It's like one of the two episodes people can specifically remember
I never thought about the slot machine. I always assumed that it was a prop. 🤷🏻
It would be interesting to see if Las Vegas hotels experienced a drop in reservations by people named Franklin after this episode aired. Or, perhaps an increase!
I saw that episode as a kid when it aired and had the weirdest recurring nightmares right afterward. I think it was the voice of the slot machine calling his name, "Franklin" that creeped me out. As a young adult, watching it decades later in the late 1970s it helped me see a parallel in my own compulsive behaviors and partly inspired me to get clean and sober.
Awesome episode! 👍
This is very interesting. I only have one question, what about the other slot machines we see in the episode?
Well, they found the loophole.
I imagine that the cop on scene got a lot of free coffee and some donuts.
Well, well. You fooled us. Apparently.., it WAS legal with the added Policeman on set. I loved this episode, too. Everett Sloane, the actor who played the lead was great. He was also excellent in "Patterns" --- a 1956 film written by Serling.... Check it out.
I always love "Twilight Zone' videos. Very cool story about this "Twilight Zone"".
I loved this episode. Thanks for the information.
Many thanks!
If I remember correctly, (which I doubt,) in an interview Cheech and Chong talked about having real weed plants on the set of a movie and round the clock police escorts for the plants. A few plants wound up missing.
This was one of the episodes I saw when it first aired jn '60 when I was a kid that stuck with me the most! FFFRRRAAANNNKKKLLLIIINNN!
Wow, that’s very interesting… love this post!🎰 Thanks Rick.
I've seen it and decided to rewatch it... watching it now! Thanks for sharing the trivia.
Excellent observation
Seen this episode a couple of times. Even heard about it on Coast to Coast.
A former co-worker of mine won $50,000 via "progressive slots" (at a casino in New York State) and proceeded to give it all back within 3 months. He was chasing another "big hit" which never came. This was a great TZ episode.
Yeah I have seen it-I remember that the way he described the machine doing it was that it allows you to win a little to get your hopes up and bid more, but that after that you keep losing-pretty much the way actual gambling machines work. Anybody going into a casino needs to remember that it’s not set up for you to win. It’s set up to make money for the casino. This is the lesson Serling wanted to impart.
My favorite episode was the shelter. Because it teaches you how your friends can turn on you at any time
Very creepy episode! Interesting about the illegality, too!
So, I was like four or five years old when this episode came out. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my cousin Becky, she was around my age, and my mom in a chair behind us. When the bedroom door opened and the slot machine was standing there, I beat my cousin to my mom’s lap. My cousin wound up behind the chair. Although not funny to me at the time, it’s a fond and funny memory of my childhood.
I had no idea!! Love that episode. It was terrifying to me as a young person and I’ve never gambled. Too scary. lol.
Back in a time when Hollywood worried about morals, ethics, and legality....Rod Serlings "Twightlight Zone's" stories always revolved around these themes....(not like most of the streaming sleeze of today)👁🌀⏰
How long did the filming involving the slot machine and cop being present last? My take is probably early morning until late at night one day.
"how did they figure out a way around this loophole?"
This episode made me hate gambling and slot machines in particular. I saw it about 68 for the first time
One of my top 5 episodes I would say. I first saw it as a kid, and the first time that damn slot machine spoke it made my hair stand on end because the voice effects they used scared the shit out of me.
Speaking of favorite episodes, included in that list are the episodes "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street", and "To Serve Mankind". It's so odd to think that a lot of the lessons in these episodes have gone right over the heads of folks in the modern day.
The machine is a Watling ROL-A-Top. I think the law in California was that a slot machine had to be 25 years old or more to allow private ownership. In 1960 these old one armed bandits were in common use all over Nevada. I see other slots in the photos, notably some Mills Hi Tops. These may have been dummies.
When I was vacationing in Istanbul, I found one of these 1930s Roll-o-Top machines in an antique shop there. I wanted to take it back with me, but it would have cost a fortune. That being said, the way it was modified for the show was a bit unfortunate.
This is my fave episode. It was such an interesting journey into the human psych.
I do remember seeing this one, and yes, like one other person said the voice was creepy coming from the machine. There was one other episode that I really enjoyed and I think about it from time to time where I forget who the actor was by himself on a planet, like a Pinot colony, but he was the only one there and there was a cabin and he had restored an old model T car, and for companionship, they sent a female robot to him for companionship, and when his time was up, he was attached to the robot and when they came to get him, he wanted to take her back, but there was no room on the rocket so they were trying to tell him that she wasn't real and they ended up shooting the robot in the face to prove it to him. And that scene always strikes me when I think about it it was quite sad. But that's another one to talk about. Thank you! 4:52
I can’t remember what episode it was, but I know that slot machine has been used in more than one episode. I’m just can’t think of what the other episode is.
It’s really a good show, it’s sad & funny,
The slot machine is both silly, and unnerving at the same time.
*F R A N K L I N*
Coins jingling together
I wish a slot machine would push me out of a window.
Cool. I thought I was the only one who considers "The Fever" one of the best of the series. When the episode is reviewed by bloggers, it generally gets a middling ranking at best, with less gracious reviewers placing it near the bottom. I've concluded I just don't have the taste of most Twilight Zone fans, as there are some highly regarded episodes that I find utterly ridiculous. Like, don't get me started on all the issues I have with "To Serve Man," the most overrated episode of the series. But I digress...
As a psychological study, I think "The Fever" is brilliantly paced. Everett Sloane gives a gripping performance as Franklin, whose descent into madness is the basis for the story. My only beef with the episode (spoiler coming...) is the final scene, when the slot machine returns Franklin's last dollar - I mean, if the slot machine is all in Franklin's head, that scene strikes me as illogical. With that said, I consider this one of Rod Serling's strongest Twilight Zone scripts, and I dismiss IMDB's ranking at #21 out of 24 season 1 episodes as ludicrous.
I assumed they either filmed in another state ... or? Just acquired or made a few PARTS of a slot machine, an filmed them separately never putting it all together :)
An impounded slot machine is genius, Polie of course have to be able to transport the machine, and this was a genius idea, MUCH cheaper than my two ideas!!! :)
Right?! I was thinking the same thing. I also came up with solutions and thought they came up with a brilliant and simple solution that wasn’t too expensive
According to the IMDB, this episode aired on 29 Jan 1960, not 29 Nov.
I had a crush on Vivi Janiss, but I was disappointed at how Serling portrayed the actions of the casino staff. In a real casino, they would not stand around while a player was clearly having a nervous breakdown. They would escort him out of the area.
Now I have to watch the episode, luckily I have them all in a box set, my 3 favorite episodes are The Mask, The Obsolete Man, and Time Enough at Last
One of my very favorites!
The episode's original airdate was Friday, January (not November) 29, 1960. Everett Sloane, who played the unfortunate Franklin Gibbs, also appeared on shows like Andy Griffith's (where he provided the lyrics to the theme song, "The Fishin' Hole") and Dick Van Dyke's. He committed suicide himself in 1965 when he was going blind. :(
Years later Rod Serling himself could've been quite unaware of how symmetrical a turn of events this was. On CBS Television no less! "Franklin" was the real first name of The Actor Franklin Cover who Played "Tom Willis" on "The Jeffersons." And "Gibbs" of course is the real last name of The Actress Miss Marla Gibbs who Played "Florence Johnston", "George" and "Louise"'s impudent yet admirable Maid on the same Show!😂😉🎤📺B.W.
I am from the Reno Sparks area so happy I never got in to gambling
I thought I saw them all. Never saw this one.
Interesting. A perfect example why many people lean Libertarian on certain issues. The government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong....like gambling or what substance someone chooses to put in their body.
Hello Rick, I am a long time subscriber to your channel, and I am perplexed as to why my comments are being "shadow-banned" in the comments section on your channel. I am always polite and respectful, and I realize that this is probably out of your control. I just wanted to vent.
Franklin
Franklin Franklin Franklin
I really liked that episode to by the way,another TWILIGHT ZONE episode where they would use the same slot machine and that was "the prime mover" it was used in the beginning of the episode check that one out.
I think something you may have missed is why the "star" slot machine featured in both those episodes was the same slot machine. When talking about having the police monitor the usage of the slot machines that were borrowed, I think what is really being referred to are the machines in the background. If another episode needed a slot machine, why borrow the same machine. How would they get the chance assuming the available machines from impound are random. I suspect the reason is because that particular machine is a "prop" machine that can be manipulated to work on cue - i.e. not a slot machine. Such prop machines must have existed in the prop department of the studio as there would have been more than one show or film that required a machine that could perform on cue; yielding coins or lemons as the script required. It would be interesting to see if this machine, like so many other distinctive props, makes an appearance in other productions from that studio.
Good psych thriller.
100%
That’s one of my favorite episodes. “Franklin!” Thank you from the info about the slot machine. Now I’ll look for the cop that’s supposed be guarding it. Was he on camera?
I used to live in Las Vegas in the mid 90's and worked for a couple of magicians. Walking through the casino floor felt like walking through a crack den! The people can small because of this fever they have - they wouldn't leave, and have things like food and drink brought to them! The Casinos made money big time on these people! But you can see how they would be when they lost everything!
The original slot machine was invented in San Francisco like around the late 19th c, and it looked similar to the one you saw in this episode. YES they are illegal, but that was where they began - there is also a historical marker about this and I think it is off Market street! You can find it under California Historical Markers.
This video btw was great!
"The people can small because of the fever they have..."
The people can SMALL? That doesn't make any sense!
Please cover Last Flight and/or Judgement Night!
I imagine that the machine eventually had to be destroyed.
One of the best videos .
These days faking the prop would be cheaper, Kids don't know, in the '60s and '70s we had phone booths where anyone could use a phone to call someone and talk to them. That's like us old folk imagining taking a horse-drawn wagon trip across the country.
This is definitely one of my favorites, I really didn’t like how he treated his wife
What about all the other slot machines you can see around the main one? Were they just props?
Slots by amazon delivered right to your door.
As always, California laws are idiotic. I've seen this excellent episode many times, but I distinctly remember being creeped out the first time I saw it as a very young boy.
I think the best episode that is low budget and doesnt invovle sci fi- horror or special effects, is THE SILENCE. Its a episode that proves a great show only needs great acting/dialog/subject matter
Yea I liked this episode too. Didn't know all that trouble for the slot machine.
unless you're Gavin Newsome, then you can have all the slot machines you want
So what's the big deal about installing several paid police officers 24 hours per day for the duration of filming?
The pay.
@@davidhoward4715: What the hell are you talking about?! A "couple" of dollars that's all!
I love this episode was perfect it shows was gambling addiction can do to your mind. Other favorites it Talking Tina, all of the ones with William Shantner, Willerby, Masks, Beauty Is In the Eye Of The Beholder, and Room 22. That is all the ones I know of the top of my head.
How do you explain all the other multiple slot machines that look different and even identical to that one that can be seen in the long shots like @0:36, 0:41, 1:35, 3:25 and 4:50?
first episode of TZ i ever saw
Twilight Zone the series makes sure to follow the letter of the law, when using a potential illegal prop, such as a slot machine.
Twilight Zone: The movie disregards child labor laws, OSHA regulations, and drops a helicopter on a man and two children.