You Can't Beat the System
- Episode aired Oct 7, 1963
- 1h
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
16
YOUR RATING
Brock tries to help a Korean War veteran suffering from post-traumatic distress.Brock tries to help a Korean War veteran suffering from post-traumatic distress.Brock tries to help a Korean War veteran suffering from post-traumatic distress.
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Storyline
Featured review
Acting par excellence
Robert Van Scoyk, a prolific TV writer who later produced the series "Murder, She Wrote", penned this tough-as-nails screenplay that gives three guest stars a chance to really emote, as well as providing the show's three regulars a chance to exhibit great reactive performances.
He weaves two stories together, extremely downbeat, though offering a sliver of hope at the ending. Stanley Kubrick's familiar but unsung "favored" actor Joe Turkel (who is featured from "The Killing" to "The Shining" in the maestro's career) stars as a Korean War vet suffering from PTSD and a severe case of agoraphobia. He's holed himeself up in a dingy apartment for 10 years, unable to face the outside world and has become a nihilist. When Scott tries to help, Turkel spouts philosophical quotations (Voltaire through Schopenhauer) as responses in Van Skoyk's highly literate script. Scott ends up hiring him as an office volunteer, after convincing Joe to come out of his cave and we're treated to Scott narrating a brief but arresting tour for Joe of some sights of Manhattan.
The screenplay deftly integrates Joe's plight with the second storyline of sensitive Janet Margolin. Fresh from her success starring in "David and Lisa", abused by her drunken husband Martin Sheen. This is equally tough subject matter as in Turkel' case, and because Joe has been hired at Scott's welfare office now, he interferes with the couple's problems, building to a dramatic climax where Scott gets a chance to blow his top, expressing the trademark fire and explosiveness that won him an Oscar seven years later as "Patton".
He weaves two stories together, extremely downbeat, though offering a sliver of hope at the ending. Stanley Kubrick's familiar but unsung "favored" actor Joe Turkel (who is featured from "The Killing" to "The Shining" in the maestro's career) stars as a Korean War vet suffering from PTSD and a severe case of agoraphobia. He's holed himeself up in a dingy apartment for 10 years, unable to face the outside world and has become a nihilist. When Scott tries to help, Turkel spouts philosophical quotations (Voltaire through Schopenhauer) as responses in Van Skoyk's highly literate script. Scott ends up hiring him as an office volunteer, after convincing Joe to come out of his cave and we're treated to Scott narrating a brief but arresting tour for Joe of some sights of Manhattan.
The screenplay deftly integrates Joe's plight with the second storyline of sensitive Janet Margolin. Fresh from her success starring in "David and Lisa", abused by her drunken husband Martin Sheen. This is equally tough subject matter as in Turkel' case, and because Joe has been hired at Scott's welfare office now, he interferes with the couple's problems, building to a dramatic climax where Scott gets a chance to blow his top, expressing the trademark fire and explosiveness that won him an Oscar seven years later as "Patton".
Details
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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