A Thing About Machines
- Episode aired Oct 28, 1960
- TV-PG
- 25m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
Bartlett Finchley's paranoia about the machines around proves true.Bartlett Finchley's paranoia about the machines around proves true.Bartlett Finchley's paranoia about the machines around proves true.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTo make the possessed car scenes work, the stunt drivers used various practical ways of disguising themselves so they would not been seen behind the wheel of the car. In some scenes they crouched down below the dash. In the scenes where the car was filled with dark shadows the driver dressed all in black from head to waist to blend in the shadows. For the brighter scenes the driver appeared to be wearing white canvass to match the convertible top's canvass covering.
- GoofsWhen Finchley is being chased by the car, there are two medium shots of his feet stopping in the dirt. Both times he stops by a cigarette butt, which was probably the mark that he was supposed to hit. Both shots also appear to be done in the same place and edited in two different places in the scene.
- Quotes
Ms. Rogers: Mr. Finchley, in this conspiracy you speak of, this mortal combat between you and the appliances, I hope you lose.
- ConnectionsEdited into Twilight-Tober-Zone: A Thing About Machines (2021)
Featured review
Terminator 0.1 – Initial Rise of the Machines
I raised this point after various "Twilight Zone" episodes already, but it always remains relevant: many, many of cinema's greatest and most famous film concepts featured here first in this magnificent TV- Show, albeit in short and more modest versions. The story of "A Thing about Machines" can easily be considered as a blueprint for James Cameron's awesome "The Terminator"; as it's centered on a man – Bartlett Finchley – who painfully experiences how all types of machinery in his house, including his car television set and even his electrical shaving device, violently turn against him. Of course, it might just be his imagination, as Mr. Finchley is an obnoxious and self-indulgent individual who's against all forms of technological progress and also leads a very secluded life without friends or family. It starts with the television switching on and off and alarm clocks continuing to ring even though they lie broken on the floor, but pretty soon the typewriter sends him messages to get out of the house and his car is chasing him up and down the driveway. This is only the fourth episode of the second season, but I can already safely claim that it's one of the most suspenseful and unsettling ones of the whole franchise. There's something genuinely disturbing and petrifying about machines operating themselves and attacking their proprietors. James Cameron knows it, and various other movies also used this idea already like "Killdozer" and "Maximum Overdrive". But remember, it featured first
in "The Twilight Zone". "A Thing about Machines" features a few very powerful sequences, like when the typewriter delivers an unfriendly message. Also, as silly as it may sound, there's something very scary about a shaving machine slithering down the stairs like a snake.
helpful•145
- Coventry
- Aug 29, 2017
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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