Review of A Penny for Your Thoughts

"A Penny for Your Thoughts" is played for a few laughs and in that regard it succeeds fairly well. Dick York, one of TV's better light comedians, is Hector Poole, a nonentity working in a bank who suddenly gains a great power. After flipping a coin on its edge while buying a newspaper, he's able to read people's thoughts. Instead of using his newfound talent to his advantage, however, the inept Poole only receives loads of frustration. He quickly discovers that most people think one way and act decidedly different. This becomes readily apparent when he accuses long-time trusted employee Mr. Smithers (Cyril Delevanti) of stealing money out of the bank's vault so he can take a secret excursion to the Islands. Poole finds out the hard way that Smithers' big heist is all in the old fellow's very active imagination. Luckily for Poole, he catches his boss (Dan Tobin) thinking amorously about his mistress and is at least able to finagle a new office and promotion out of him. Poole's brief trip to the "Twilight Zone" ends when the coin falls off its edge after a day on the precipice. For his part, Poole is most happy to be back in reality.

Not much here in the way of excitement or suspense but Dick York at least keeps the story moving. His co-worker (June Dayton) has some amorous thoughts of her own, and York finally acts on them after much prodding. Having great powers and then foolishly squandering them is a familiar Twilight Zone theme. In "A Penny for Your Thoughts," York learns a valuable lesson without the usual tragic results. In the end, he's happy just to keep his job and have Ms. Dayton on his arm.