Walking Distance

This is one of my all-time favorite episodes, because it taps into the desire of all of us to return to that place (Real or imagined) where we were carefree and worry-free. The scene where Gig Young (Martin SLoan) realizes that he cannot stay in the past is masterfully directed and filmed, with all of the characters leaving the scene except young, who is left alone in the dark on the merry-go-round. Just a wonderful scene. Everything about this episode is well done. I agree that the scene with his father is very powerful as well. It is clear that Sloan will go back to his own time with a renewed sense of vigor and leave that summer to his 11 year old self. He will look for "merry-go-rounds" in his own way and his own place.

The busy and stress VP of a company Martin Sloan (Gig Young) stops his car at a gas station in a road and the attendant tells that he needs to change the oil. Martin sees a warning plate informing that Homewood is 1.5 miles away from the spot and he decides to walk to revisit his hometown. Soon he finds that he has returned to the past and he finds himself and his parents in the place.

"Walking Distance" is one of my favorite episodes of "The Twilight Zone". The idea of having a chance to travel back to your childhood or adolescence when the days were better and better is a dream of most elder people and the amazing journey of Martin Sloan is very nostalgic and makes the mature viewers think of what he or she would do if he or she would have the same opportunity. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Além da Imaginação - Walking Distance" ("Beyond Imagination - Walking Distance")

Extremely appealing and heartfelt early 'Twilight Zone' episode stars Gig Young. Mr. Young plays Martin Sloan, a rather gruff business executive. One day he brings his car to a service station, and realizes that the hometown of his childhood is within walking distance. So he moseys on over there, and is magically transported back in time to 1934. He meets the younger incarnation of his mother (Irene Tedrow), father (Frank Overton),...and the young version of himself (Michael Montgomery).

It's only human nature to often long for the simpler times of our youth, something series creator Rod Serling keeps in mind throughout. There are certainly some joys that are wonderful to experience again, such as an ice cream soda for a mere 10 cents. However, as Martin comes to realize, one "can't go home again". The past is over, which all of us must accept, as hard as that may be at times. We can only live in the moment or look towards the future.

Much like Marty McFly learned, years later in "Back to the Future", Martin sees that there can be consequences from messing with a timeline. As honest and sincere as his intentions are, it's obviously not such a smart thing to try to reach out to his younger self.

Serlings' dialogue is literate and beautiful, and brought to life by a superb cast. Another heavy asset is the lovely score by Bernard Herrmann.

Very well done overall.

10 out of 10.

I imagine that most people, at some point, have wished that they could revisit their childhood to once again experience life without the responsibilities and pressures of adulthood; in Walking Distance, stressed New York advertising executive Martin Sloan does just that, but learns that yearning for the past is a fruitless exercise.

I wholeheartedly agree with Rod Serling's message in Walking Distance: we should, of course, cherish our memories, but not allow our longing for times gone by to prevent us from making the most of the present. But as much sense as that all makes, given half a chance, I'd still take that mile-and-a-half walk back to simpler times, even if it only lasted for a couple of hours.

Perhaps the most richly artistic of all the TZ episodes. Gig Young's harassed advertising executive is undergoing a mid-life crisis when he finds himself next to the town he grew up in. Naturally, he's drawn back to the boyhood innocence of long ago as relief from the fast-paced pressures of an empty adult life. I suspect Serling reached deep within himself for this one.The half-hour is a near-perfect blend of script, atmosphere, and direction, with a subtly moving music score to deepen the mood of days gone by. Notice how subtly Young is transported back in time and how expertly the camera moves in for close-ups at the right emotional moment. The nighttime encounter bringing Young together with his father (Frank Conroy) is one of the most poignant in a series not known for highlighting such sensitive passages. It's also a moment of wonderfully understated high drama that I would think touches a near universal chord. There was always something deeply melancholic about Gig Young the person that comes through on the screen. Here he's perfectly cast and as a result adds greatly to the compelling mood. This may not be the creepiest, scariest, or most suspenseful entry, but it may be the most touching and artistically complete.