The Dummy
| "The Dummy" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 33 |
| Directed by | Abner Biberman |
| Written by | Rod Serling (Based on an unpublished story by Lee Polk.) |
| Featured music | Stock |
| Production code | 4826 |
| Original air date | May 4, 1962 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
Cliff Robertson: Jerry Etherson/Voice of Willie/Voice of Goofy Goggles |
|
Cliff Robertson: Jerry Etherson/Voice of Willie/Voice of Goofy Goggles
Frank Sutton: Frank
George Murdock: Willie (as ventriloquist)
John Harmon: Georgie
Sandra Warner: Noreen
Rudy Dolan: The M.C.
Ralph Manza: Doorman
Bethelynn Grey: Chorus Girl
Edy Williams: Chorus Girl
"The Dummy" is episode 98 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone starring Cliff Robertson as a ventriloquist. It is not to be confused with a similar episode "Caesar and Me", in which Jackie Cooper plays a ventriloquist.
Ventriloquist Jerry Etherson (Cliff Robertson) is performing an act with his dummy Willie in a small club in New York City. At the end of the act, Willie seems to bite Jerry's hand, and after he goes back to his dressing room he finds teeth marks on his finger. He begins to drink from a liquor bottle he'd hidden in a drawer. His agent, Frank, comes in and is upset that Jerry has resumed drinking. Jerry tells Frank, as he has numerous times before, that Willie is alive. Frank does not believe Jerry and has already pushed him into getting psychiatric help. Jerry is convinced that further psychiatric sessions would be redundant and that the only solution is to get rid of Willie and perform with a different dummy, "Goofy Goggles", from now on. He quickly comes up with new material for Goofy Goggles and locks Willie in a trunk.
After the second act, Jerry refuses to comply with the owner's wish that he and his dummy mingle with the audience. His agent considers this the last straw and quits, saying that Jerry's behavior, in particular what he sees as his delusional belief that Willie is alive, are keeping him from being a star. Jerry tells Frank he is leaving for Kansas City to get away from Willie. After leaving the theater, Jerry hears Willie's voice following him wherever he goes, and sees his shadow on a wall. No one else can hear Willie, apparently confirming Frank's belief that Jerry is suffering from delusional fear.
...
Wikipedia