"I will bet him $500,000 that he cannot stay silent for one year!"
Director: Boris Sagal
Writer: Rod Serling
Composer: uncredited
While this is apparently one of three episodes without a supernatural element to it, it's quite apparent that some of the characters in this episode are unnaturally evil...or naive. It's an episode of morality and the risks of gambling, which go hand-in-hand quite well, it would seem. It's also one where it's difficult to think back on specifics since an entire year passes in the span of maybe ten minutes or so, but there are still some juicy details to pick apart.
It features one talkative man named Tennyson, played by Liam Sullivan, annoying the living hell out of the owner of a gentlemen's club named Archie, played by Franchot Tone, until Archie gets sick of his constant rambling and offers him a deal: Tennyson shuts up for an entire year and Archie will give Tennyson $500,000. And so the deal is on, and the episode quickly becomes a game of wits between Tennyson and Archie at who will stand longest, and who will break. All the while Archie's close friend, a lawyer named Alfred played by Jonathan Harris, just watches in shame.
While it's clear that Archie is the villain of the episode, essentially imprisoning a man and ridding of his ability to speak for just some money, Tennyson is completely out of the woods either. He took this bet, full-well knowing that this would happen and not trying to push back or change anything about it. In both instances, this just displays the ugly side of pride and arrogance. Archie is more aggressive about it but that only serves as a decent coverup for Tennyson's stubbornness.
This nature of both men comes through in their performances and in the writing. Serling does the best he can to show the struggle both are going through as the episode goes on, having them really strain to push through, and both actors show this side of the characters very well. Tone does an excellent job as Archie all throughout the episode, especially as it moves along and it becomes a bit clearer that this bet is not as easily won as he would have anticipated. He becomes wary, his eyes darting around everywhere, and it easily portrays some level of discomfort in all of this. His dialogue would have one believe otherwise, so the viewer has to be careful to watch his mannerisms.
Of course, then, some level of gratitude must be shown to the director of the episode, Boris Sagal, who allowed the camera to hang on Tennyson and Archie for long enough amounts of time for the viewer to so easily get into the frame of mind of these gentlemen. The beginning of the episode, too, cleverly sets up Tennyson's glaring "flaw" as the camera comes into the room as Tennyson is already talking about...whatever he talks about...and it tracks the source of the voice right to him and does not leave until at last Archie appears in the episode.
Sullivan, playing a man who is essentially mute for 75% of the episode, has to do a lot with his face and his body language. He portrays Tennyson, for the most part, as a man of bravado and swagger, one who isn't afraid to back down in the face of a challenge. This performance is one that majorly benefits from a second watch, too, as it adds another dimension to Sullivan's performance once you know everything about what's going on.
There should also be some praise thrown toward Jonathan Harris's portrayal of Alfred, who plays the only morally righteous character. Granted, he doesn't actively step in the way of all this, but moreover wants the two men to learn a lesson from the experience, and Harris shows this by giving Alfred a stern demeanor that clearly doesn't want too much fallout from this, but needs them to understand that their foolish actions have consequences.
It's difficult to speak on the lesson of this episode without spoilers, but needless to say, it's something that pervades the entire episode from start to finish. One of the major themes of the episode is greed, especially as it pertains to gambling. It's a dangerous hobby, no doubt, and this episode does an excellent job of showing just how far and dangerous gambling can go.
Another major theme of the episode is arrogance and honor. Archie claims to have honor in spades but in conjunction with arrogance, honor quickly turns to the ugly side of pride. Tennyson also feels some level of pride int he decision he's made but by episode's end he learns just how fast pride and confidence and bravado can flip on one's head.
"The Silence" is just another classic Twilight Zone episode, filled with great performances, a powerful lesson that penetrates through the heart of the episode, and an unforgettable twist. Also it shows just how far some people would go for $500,000 dollars in 1961.
***SPOILER SECTION***
Some of the best acting comes from these parts of the episode too. Tone plays Archie for the man he really is: a fraud and a cheat, a man desperate to cling to whatever money he has left. He's a real monster this guy, and he does get his just-desserts by the end of the episode as he is exposed as a flaw...
But Sullivan crushes it with the reveal that Tennyson has cut out his vocal chords. It's a very strong, nuanced performance because he's so proud of himself and so ready for this to be done so he can go home and make sure that his wife isn't doing all the nasty stuff Archie had been hinting at. When he discovers that Archie has no money, Sullivan immediately switches to a powerful sense of dismay and distraught without his voice, something that would be very difficult for some amateur actor to pull off. Sullivan shows great range this episode with his portrayal of Tennyson.
The real lesson of the episode, that being knowing how much to gamble and just how deep one can get when gambling, really only pays off at the end of the episode when both men completely lose out. It also does a good job of portraying the quick high gambling can give a person before it all comes crashing down and they're stuck with the consequences. Most of the time it's just them losing money...not their vocal chords.
Whenever I talk about this episode with someone, it's often something like "oh, the episode where the guy takes out his own vocal chords?" but it's never like that's a big deal to say that spoiler. Like most episodes of The Twilight Zone, "The Silence" does not rely solely on the strength of its twist, but on the buildup and road leading to the twist that makes it so impactful.
And speaking of twists, we've got another well-known one coming up with the next episode: an army major wakes up in a cylindrical room, joined only by a clown, ballet dancer, hobo, and bagpipe player, and none of them have any recollection of their past, or why they are there. Who are they and what's really going on? Well, join me tomorrow as we find out in "Five Characters in Search of an Exit"!
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