I love Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone. The Trade-Ins is one of my favorite episodes from the series. It centers around an old couple who want to get new bodies, especially because the man is suffering with a serious illness. It’s an emotional story that brings up many questions about life, love and youth. As always there’s a surprising twist at the end.
The actor that gave the memorable performance for the old man was Joseph Schildkraut who won an Oscar in 1937 for The Life of Emile Zola. He was also the grandfather in hiding in the powerful Diary of Anne Frank (1959). What’s important to note for his performance in this special Twilight Zone was the fact that his wife of 29 years passed away during the shooting and he insisted on completing the work, thus postponing his mourning. This pain comes through in his unforgettable performance.
Rod Serling quotes two passages from poems in “The Trade-Ins.”
The first is from Robert Browning’s “Rabbi Ben Ezra” here, beginning:
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”
The second is from Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet, a series of 28 essays. “The Trade-Ins” quotes from the second one, called “Love,” found here. The lines Rod quotes in his outro are:
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
Love gives only itself and takes nothing from itself.
Now in their 80s, Noah Keen and Edson Stroll at the 50th anniversary convention for #The Twilight Zone” in 2009 with photo from their episode “The Trade Ins.”
Here’s a bunch of great photos from the 50th Anniversary Twilight Zone convention