The Old Man in the Cave
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"The Old Man in the Cave" is a half-hour episode of the original version of ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...
''. It is set in a
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
1974, ten years after a
nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...
in the United States. The episode is a cautionary tale about humanity's greed and the danger of questioning one's faith in forces greater than oneself.


Opening narration


Plot

In a sparsely populated town in 1974, ten years after a nuclear war has devastated the US, the townspeople have discovered a supply of canned food. However, they are waiting for Mr. Goldsmith, the town's leader, to return with a message from the mysterious and unseen "old man in the cave" who will tell them whether the food is contaminated with radiation. Some of the townsfolk want to take their chances and eat the food, but they refrain from doing so after seeing the disastrous harvest yielded when they failed to take the old man's advice about which farming areas were contaminated. When Mr. Goldsmith returns, he informs them that the old man has declared the food is contaminated and that it should be destroyed. Shortly thereafter, three soldiers led by Major French enter the town and clash with Goldsmith as they try to establish their authority. The soldiers may or may not be representatives of the US government; Goldsmith claims that wandering packs of self-styled military men have previously intruded on the town and tried to establish authority—all unsuccessfully. French, meanwhile, reveals that there are maybe 500 people left alive between
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
and
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
, and also talks of small, isolated primitive societies on the shores of
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...
and in "what used to be"
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. He claims his job is to organize the region so that society can be re-built. However, Goldsmith believes that French and his men simply want to strip the town of its food. A clash of wills ensues and, frustrated by Goldsmith's quiet and steadfast refusal to bend, French tries to dispel the townspeople's strange beliefs about the seemingly infallible old man in the cave and take control of the area. French tempts the townspeople with some of the food Goldsmith claimed was contaminated and many throw caution to the wind and partake. Everyone except Goldsmith eventually consumes the food and drink and Goldsmith falls into disfavor among the townspeople. After being bullied and threatened with his life, Goldsmith finally opens the cave door and it is ultimately revealed that in reality, the townsfolk have been using information from a computer the whole time. French rallies the townspeople into a frothing frenzy into destroying the machine, after which French leads the people into celebrating their newfound freedom from this "tyranny". However, as Goldsmith had insisted, the "old man" was correct; without an authority figure to tell them which foods are safe, the entire human population of the town (including French and the soldiers) die—except for the lone survivor, Goldsmith, who somberly walks out of the now dead town.


Closing narration


Cast

* James Coburn as French * John Anderson as Goldsmith *
Josie Lloyd Susanna Josephine Lloyd (May 28, 1940 – September 30, 2020), credited professionally as Josie Lloyd, was an American actress. She was the daughter of Norman Lloyd and Peggy Lloyd, who was also an accomplished Broadway actress and director. L ...
as Evie, townswoman who says, "We already took chances. The old man told us not to plant on the north acreage." *
John Craven John Raymond Craven, (born 16 August 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC programmes '' Newsround'', ''Countryfile'' and '' Beat the Brain''. Early life Craven was born in Leeds, West Rid ...
as townsman who asks, "Been to the cave, Jason?" *
John Marley John Marley (born Mortimer Marlieb, October 17, 1907 – May 22, 1984) was an American actor who was known for his role as Phil Cavalleri in ''Love Story'' and as Jack Woltz—the defiant film mogul who awakens to find the severed head o ...
as Jason :Uncredited (in order of appearance): * Natalie Masters as townswoman who asks,"Did you see Goldsmith? Did he talk to the old man?" *
Don Wilbanks Don Wilbanks (born Thomas Donald Wilbanks, October 4, 1926 – July 26, 2013) was an American actor who appeared in such television series as '' Rawhide'', ''Tate'', '' Twilight Zone'', '' Tales of Wells Fargo'', '' Laramie'', ''Bat Masterson' ...
as Furman, one of the three soldiers with Major French, "That last part, put it on top... No trouble." This was the last of John Anderson's four appearances on the original series. The first was as Angel Gabriel in "
A Passage for Trumpet "A Passage for Trumpet" is episode 32 of the American television series ''The Twilight Zone''. Opening narration The narration continues after dialogue between Joey and Baron. Plot Joey Crown is a hapless trumpet player in New York City; he ...
" (May 1960), the second was as the airplane captain in "
The Odyssey of Flight 33 "The Odyssey of Flight 33" is episode 54 of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone'', the 18th episode of the second season. An unlikely break of the time barrier finds a commercial airliner sent back into the prehistoric age ...
" (February 1961) and the third was as Deitrich, the businessman with a conscience, who is bankrupted by the ruthless tycoon Feathersmith in "
Of Late I Think of Cliffordville "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" is episode 116 of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone''. It originally aired on April 11, 1963, on CBS. In this episode, an elderly business tycoon buys the opportunity to enjoy amassing ...
" (April 1963). The other cast member who appeared in more than one episode was John Marley who played the superintendent of the old-age home in "
Kick the Can Kick the can (also known as kick the block, guard the block, can can, 40 40, pom pom, tip the can, tin can copper, and can up can down), is an outdoor children's game related to tag, hide and seek, and capture the flag, played with as few as thr ...
" (February 1962).


Episode notes

In the
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
world presented in the episode, humanity has destroyed itself, but does so through "greed, desire and faithlessness". It is thus a warning not to ignore faith, which often serves an important purpose in society. The events in the episode show that myths and beliefs are often based on fact or necessity, as is the case with the "old man" who, despite being a computer, was ultimately keeping his "followers" alive. According to
Valerie Barr Valerie Barr is an American computer scientist, and is the Margaret Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Bard College. She formerly held the Jean Sammet endowed chair in the department of Computer Science at Mount Holyoke C ...
of Hofstra University, it also "turns the usual notion of overreliance on technology on its head" by suggesting an interdependence with machines when it is revealed that a man-made computer has been keeping the townspeople alive. A suggested learning plan accompanying this episode for the
SyFy Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
's participation in
Cable in the Classroom Cable in the Classroom was an American division of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association that assisted the cable television industry in providing educational content to schools. The organization was founded in 1989. A Canadian organ ...
provides a platform for exploring ideas about war, faith, and the question of whether humans control computers or vice versa. Film critic
Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...
noted in his review of "
Time Enough at Last "Time Enough at Last" is the eighth episode of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone''. The episode was adapted from a short story written by Lynn Venable. The short story appeared in the January 1953 edition of the scien ...
" that, at the time ''The Twilight Zone'' was produced, depicting an
atom bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
explosion or its aftermath on network television would likely have been prohibited if it had been "couched in a more realistic format".Sarris, Andrew. ''Rod Serling: Viewed From Beyond the Twilight Zone''. Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine, March–April 1985, p. 45 Hence, in both this episode and " The Shelter", Serling makes a point of noting that the story is intended to be fictional, particularly given both are set in the United States.


References

*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. *Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing.


Notes


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Old Man in the Cave, The 1963 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 5) episodes World War III speculative fiction Post-apocalyptic television episodes Fiction set in 1974 Television episodes written by Rod Serling Television episodes about nuclear war and weapons Television shows based on short fiction