TWILIGHT ZONE: BIG TALL WISH (TV)
Summary
One in this science fiction/fantasy anthology series hosted by Rod Serling.
Bolie Jackson is an aging, over-the-hill boxer whose glory days are long behind him. He has befriended a boy named Henry, who idolizes him. Bolie readies himself for his comeback bout in spite of his despondent attitude. Henry promises he will make a “big, tall wish” that no harm will come to Bolie. Frances, Henry’s mother, informs Bolie that the “big tall wish” is something Henry does not take lightly, but Bolie is dismissive of Henry’s ideas of “magic.”
Minutes before his bout, Bolie gets into a fight with his crooked manager and seriously injures his hand. Bolie enters the ring anyway and his opponent dominates the fight. Henry, watching the fight at home on television, makes his “big tall wish.” Just as Bolie is about to be counted out, everything seems to freeze in place. Suddenly, Bolie and his opponent switch places; Bolie is the victor and his opponent is knocked out on the floor.
At first, Bolie believes that he won of his own accord and simply cannot remember the fight, but everyone he speaks to doesn’t recall him being knocked out at all; furthermore, his hand is no longer injured. When he confronts Henry about the fight, it is clear that Henry remembers the real outcome and insists that his “magic” allowed Bolie to win. Bolie refuses to accept Henry’s claims and insists that there’s no such thing as magic, but Henry says that his refusal to believe will stop the magic from working. As Bolie insists that wishes can’t work, he suddenly finds himself back in the ring, knocked out on the floor. He has lost the fight, just as he remembers.
Bolie returns from the ring to see Henry, who still looks up to Bolie despite the loss. Henry vows to give up his belief in magic, but Bolie says that perhaps magic does exist after all, as long as someone is around to believe…
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: April 8, 1960 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:29:21
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:20055
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction; Boxers; Magic powers
- SERIES RUN: CBS- TV series- 1959-1964
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV – Commercials- Delsey toilet paper
- TV – Commercials- Kleenex napkins
- TV – Commercials- Sanka coffee
- TV – Promos- “Wanted Dead or Alive”
CREDITS
- Rod Serling … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Buck Houghton … Producer
- Ronald Winston … Director
- Jerry Goldsmith … Music by
- Rod Serling … Narrator
- Ivan Dixon … Cast, Bolie Jackson
- Steven Perry … Cast, Henry
- Kim Hamilton … Cast, Frances
- Walter Burke … Cast, Joe Mizell
- Henry Scott … Cast, Thomas