Inside Franchot Tone’s Wound in The Twilight Zone’s “The Silent”

The visual sensitivities of The Twilight Zone (broadcast regularly on SYFY) throughout its legendary career are a big part of why the show is still so beloved today. Yes, creator Rod Serling’s clever plotting and presentation were the driving force behind much of its success, but the show was unlike anything else on television at the time, and is still capable of unsettling and even shocking modern audiences.

Which is all the more impressive when you consider that at least some of his best style choices were the result of pure chance.

A key example is “The Silence,” a Season 2 episode written by Serling and directed by Boris Sagal. The first thing you’ll notice about this episode is that it’s one of the few Serling stories without any science fiction or fantasy elements. Its plot is purely psychological, which both creates its own tension and sets up a shocking, human twist at the end.

To learn more about The Twilight Zone:
How the trial of a real Nazi war criminal inspired a fuzzy area Episode
Top 10 fuzzy area Unexpected endings
The only fuzzy area Episode with its own sequel

The Twilight Zone“The Silent One” explained

The story follows a staid man named Archie Taylor (Franchot Tone) who grows tired of another man, Jamie Tennyson (Liam Sullivan), who makes too much noise and talks incessantly at the exclusive gentlemen’s club they both frequent. Frustrated and eager to psychologically devastate this blight on his life, Taylor makes a bet with Tennyson: if he can remain silent for an entire year, he will receive half a million dollars. Tennyson accepts and Taylor leads him to the basement of the club, where a battle of wills ensues as the imprisoned Tennyson is determined to win the money from Taylor, who is himself determined to break the other man’s spirit at all costs.

It’s a juicy premise, and the psychological interplay between Tone and Sullivan provides all the tension needed, but after the first day of shooting, the production was faced with a very unexpected problem: Franchot Tone didn’t show up for work. The Twilight Zone Companion by Marc Scott Zicree, the team waited hours before finally being able to contact Tone’s agent. The actor had been in an accident and was “in a clinic” being treated.

Zicree went on to explain that there were several stories explaining Tone’s injuries, from a parking lot fight to a fall at a party, but the result was clear: half of the actor’s face was left “raw” and scratched. Since the crew had already filmed key scenes for the episode, replacing Tone wasn’t really an option, so Serling opted for something a little more direct.

“I said, ‘So be it. Come in, Franch, and we’ll pull the other side of your face,’ which we did,” the designer recalled, according to The Twilight Zone Companion.

Since the episode’s opening and closing scenes were shot before Tone’s injury, this means that all of the scenes in the club’s basement, in which Tennyson is imprisoned by Taylor, were filmed with only half of the star’s face in the frame. Tone is filmed in profile, or with one side of his face hidden, all while he attempts to psychologically torture Sullivan’s character into talking and thus losing the bet. Despite the unexpected necessity of the technique, the episode partially succeeds in it. because We only see half of Tone’s face in these scenes. This adds some visual intrigue, as well as psychological depth to the story, and even helps add more dimensions to the unexpected ending.

The Twilight Zone airs regularly on SYFY. Check the schedule for more details.