The Trade-Ins

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.

He gets the new body, works for a year or two, saves up the 5k and then she gets her new body. She's not the one in pain, she can easily wait.

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.

Joseph Schildkraut and Alma Platt play John & Marie Holt, who have been married for 50 years, but now need some help, since John suffers from frequent pain, and they plan to visit the New Life Corporation where they can have their minds transferred into younger, fit bodies. Unfortunately, they only have enough money for one, so Marie insists it be John, though he still tries to get the money by either gambling, or receiving sympathy, with little practical success... Nicely acted and touching episode rings all the right bells, though I always found it odd that the company couldn't have given poor Marie a two-for one break on her operation, which would have been fantastic public relations! Oh well...

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")