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The Twilight Zone
S3.E31
All episodesAll
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Trade-Ins

  • Episode aired Apr 20, 1962
  • TV-PG
  • 25m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
Noah Keen, Alma Platt, and Joseph Schildkraut in The Twilight Zone (1959)
DramaFantasyHorrorMysterySci-FiThriller

Elderly long-married John and Marie Holt visit the New Life Corporation to shop for a pair of younger replacement bodies. But then John resorts to desperate measures in order to cover the im... Read allElderly long-married John and Marie Holt visit the New Life Corporation to shop for a pair of younger replacement bodies. But then John resorts to desperate measures in order to cover the immense cost of this purchase.Elderly long-married John and Marie Holt visit the New Life Corporation to shop for a pair of younger replacement bodies. But then John resorts to desperate measures in order to cover the immense cost of this purchase.

  • Director
    • Elliot Silverstein
  • Writer
    • Rod Serling
  • Stars
    • Joseph Schildkraut
    • Noah Keen
    • Alma Platt
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    2.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Elliot Silverstein
    • Writer
      • Rod Serling
    • Stars
      • Joseph Schildkraut
      • Noah Keen
      • Alma Platt
    • 24User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos16

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    Top cast10

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    Joseph Schildkraut
    Joseph Schildkraut
    • John Holt
    Noah Keen
    Noah Keen
    • Mr. Vance
    Alma Platt
    • Marie Holt
    Theodore Marcuse
    Theodore Marcuse
    • Farraday
    • (as Ted Marcuse)
    Edson Stroll
    Edson Stroll
    • Young John Holt
    Terence de Marney
    Terence de Marney
    • Gambler
    • (as Terrence deMarney)
    Sailor Vincent
    Sailor Vincent
    • Gambler
    • (as Billy Vincent)
    Mary McMahon
    • Receptionist
    David Armstrong
    • Surgeon
    Rod Serling
    Rod Serling
    • Narrator
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    • Director
      • Elliot Silverstein
    • Writer
      • Rod Serling
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews24

    7.62.6K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    6darrenpearce111

    Youth is wasted on the old

    The wish to be young again was something Rod Serling said he was obsessed about. John Holt (Joseph Schildkraut) and his wife Marie (Alma Platt) are an old couple who go to a company called New Life that deals in selling new bodies that would give them a hundred years more of life together.

    Best not to apply logic to this one as it's raison d'etre is to tell a simple story about love. At least you feel very much in 'The Twilight Zone' with this one as the couple look over potential new bodies and the music adds a mysterious quality. The poker game in the middle just feels like padding, and for me, the ending was predictable.

    You can usually find good old fashioned, noble values in the Zone. Here is no exception.
    searchanddestroy-1

    One of the top episodes

    Yes, yes, yes, it's for me one of the best of the whole show, because it's such a brilliant, moving, riveting story, but a bit sad too, because it exposes the old age, and for this reason maybe it would not be advised to show it to any folk fearing to grow old. In a way, some moments of this story reminded David Fincher's THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON; I mean some spirit and atmosphere related to love and aging between a man and his sweeheart. Not the same plot. A terrific moral in the end. Which deserves no comment. It is so obvious. Beautiful but maybe not for all kinds of audiences. For instance the old ones and the youngest too.
    10chrstphrtully

    Tender, Beautifully Acted Episode

    An elderly couple (Schildkraut and Platt) visit a company that specializes in substituting their elderly bodies for younger ones, but find they only have the money needed to substitute one of their bodies.

    Serling's tender, beautifully written story of love and the sacrifices we make for it relies less on the sci-fi gimmick than on the exquisite relationship developed between the couple. The husband is wracked with pain, but possessed of a quiet, unflailing dignity and deep, rich love of his wife; Schildkraut's touching work does the part full justice, his gentle personality serving as the perfect defense against the ravages against his body. The wife, incredibly patient and possessed of the same dignity and love, is beautifully played by Platt -- the two do not seem like actors playing a long-married couple, but a couple that really have lived with and loved each other for half a century. The final twist is less a twist, than a wholly believable act growing out of the love these two people share for one another.

    Additional mention must made of Theodore Marcuse's performance as a gambler that Schildkraut's character goes to, hoping to win enough money to pay for both substitutions. Rather than play the character as a cipher or a venal shark, Marcuse adds subtle strokes to the performance that make him far more interesting; his idle humming and expression at the end of the card game gives more insight into his character than pages of dialogue ever could.

    All in all, one of the series' most charming and beautifully played episodes.
    6Coventry

    Love conquers everything...Unfortunately!

    For a brief moment, I hoped this would to be a dystopian Sci-Fi tale about rich elderly folks paying huge sums of money to transfer their selfish personalities into the bodies of young people, and then these young people turn out to be captured slaves from poor ghettos, or something. Alas, the tone of the episode turned towards the other direction, more specifically a sentimental direction with a dull "accept your fate" message. The sentimental "Twilight Zone" episodes are my least favorite ones; I prefer the grim and disturbing stories, but "The Trade-Ins" still deserves credit for the distant-future rejuvenation theme and the strong performances by Schildkraut, Platt and Marcuse (as the gentlest illegal gambler in history). The rudimentary premise by Rod Serling is similar to a brilliant novel by David Ely, and also got turned into one of the most dazzling but underrated Sci-Fi movies of all times; namely "Seconds" (1966)
    7claudio_carvalho

    New Bodies

    Mr. John bolt and Mrs. Marie Bolt go to the New Life Corporation to see new bodies for them. Mr. Johnn feels a great pain and the manager Mr. Vance shows many bodies to them. But the price is US 5,000 for each one and the couple can only afford for one trade. What will Mr. And Mrs. Bolt do?

    "The Trade-Ins" is a nice tale of love of "The Twilight Zone". The story of a couple that cannot afford o buy new bodies when the procedure does exist is a great love story. The ultimate sacrifice of Mr. John Bolt is a great proof of his love for his wife. My vote is seven.

    Title (Brazil): "A Troca" ("The Trade")

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Joseph Schildkraut's second wife (of 29 years) died while he was filming this episode. Coming from a theatrical family, he insisted on finishing the production before he'd begin mourning. Here, he plays an elderly man who must choose between a new body for himself or living the rest of his life with his wife in a pain-wracked body.
    • Goofs
      As the lifeless "Cocktail Hour" models move out of frame in the showroom, the woman is seen moving her arm.
    • Quotes

      [closing narration]

      Narrator: From Khalil Gibran's The Prophet: 'Love gives not but itself and takes not from itself, love possesses not nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.' Not a lesson, just a reminder, from all the sentimentalists - in The Twilight Zone.

    • Connections
      Featured in American Masters: Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Twilight Zone Theme
      (theme song)

      Composed by Marius Constant

      (seasons 2-5)

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • April 20, 1962 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Cayuga Productions
      • CBS Television Network
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 25m
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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