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"The After Hours"
The Twilight Zone episode
Publicity photo of Anne Francis in The After Hours
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 34
Written by	Rod Serling
Directed by	Douglas Heyes
Featured music	Bernard Herrmann (from Where Is Everybody?)
Production no.	173-3637
Original airdate	June 10, 1960
Guest stars
Anne Francis: Marsha White Elizabeth Allen: Saleswoman James Millhollin: Armbruster John Conwell: Elevator Operator Nancy Rennick: Miss Keevers Patrick Whyte: Mr. Sloan
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → "Mr. Bevis" "The Mighty Casey"
List of Twilight Zone episodes

"The After Hours" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration

Part one

Part two

Synopsis

Marsha White, a woman browsing for a gift for her mother in a department store, decides on a gold thimble. She is taken by the elevator man to the 9th floor, a floor beyond that shown by the elevator gauge. She enters the 9th floor, and turns to complain to the elevator operator that there is nothing there, but the door closes abruptly leaving her to pursue her reality. She is approached by a saleslady who guides her to the only item on the floor—the gold thimble Marsha is longing to possess. During the sales transaction, she grows increasingly puzzled by the comments and actions of both the male elevator operator who transported her to the barren, seemingly deserted floor, and the aloof and clairvoyant female salesclerk behind the counter who sells her the thimble. As Marsha rides the elevator back down from the 9th floor, she notices that the thimble is scratched and dented; she is directed by the elevator operator to the Complaints Department on the 3rd floor.

When she tries to convince Mr. Armbruster, the sales supervisor with enough energy to activate the inanimate, and Mr. Sloan, the store manager, that she bought the item on the 9th floor, she is told that the 9th floor doesn't exist. Marsha then becomes distraught after she spots the back of the salesclerk who sold her the thimble, and is shocked to discover that the woman isn't really a salesclerk at all; she's one of the department store's display mannequins. While resting in an office following her frightening discovery, Marsha finds herself accidentally locked inside in the now-closed store. She attempts to find a way out, and becomes alarmed by mysterious voices calling to her and by some subtle movements made by the supposedly lifeless mannequins around her. Moving about aimlessly, she topples the sailor mannequin, who was the somewhat frustrated elevator operator in earlier scenes.

Becoming hysterical, she flees backward to the elevator, which once again transports her up to the unoccupied 9th floor. There, she gradually realizes the mannequins have come to life, one-by-one, and that she too, is a mannequin. Each one in turn has the opportunity to go out into the world to live among the humans for one month, but Marsha enjoyed her stay among "the others" so much that before the day of her return, when she was supposed to revert, she lost her identity; she had forgotten her true nature. Being with the other mannequins, she realizes that she is back in her natural place, which allows the next mannequin in line–the female salesclerk who sold her the thimble–to go out and live among the humans for thirty days. As the other mannequins see off the salesclerk, the sailor, alone with Marsha, asks her if she enjoyed her time among the humans. She says she had "ever so much fun, ever so much fun." As Marsha fondly recalls her brief sojourn out among the humans, and with a passing expression of regret, confusion, and a small sigh, she and the sailor assume their natural mannequin postures, grow rigid, and become statues.

The next day the hyperactive store supervisor, Mr. Armbruster, is making his energetic morning rounds on the sales floor and does a sudden double-take upon passing a faintly familiar-looking mannequin on display. The final shot moves in on this mannequin, Marsha White, and then her face that fades into the stars with the closing narration.

Closing narration

Preview for next week's story

Announcer; "And now, Mr. Serling."

Remake

The episode was remade in 1986 for The New Twilight Zone. It starred Terry Farrell as Marsha. The plot is similar but the emphasis is more on suspense. In addition, the Marsha in the remake is in denial of her identity and doesn't want to be a mannequin - she wants to be truly human, unlike the Marsha in the original, who simply just forgot who she was and actually felt human for that one month of the whole year, when she lived amongst the outsiders.

Trivia

• Outside the libraries of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's California Adventure there is a glass case adjacent to the doors containing a gold thimble accompanied by a card that reads, "Looking for a gift for Mother? Find it in our Gift Shop!" This is a reference to this episode.
• This episode uses the music by Bernard Herrman from "Where Is Everybody?".

References

• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

External links

• "The After Hours" at the Internet Movie Database
• TV.com episode page
• Full video of the episode at CBS.com