The Whole Truth
- Episode aired Jan 20, 1961
- TV-PG
- 25m
A used car salesman buys a car that dooms him to tell only the truth.A used car salesman buys a car that dooms him to tell only the truth.A used car salesman buys a car that dooms him to tell only the truth.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the third of six The Twilight Zone (1959) episodes to be videotaped.
- GoofsHunnicut puts a cigar on the bar rail when going to talk to a pair, but during the opening narration in the same spot, it's missing.
- Quotes
[opening narration]
Narrator: This, as the banner already has proclaimed, is Mr. Harvey Hunnicut, an expert on commerce and con jobs, a brash, bright, and larceny-loaded wheeler and dealer who, when the good Lord passed out a conscience, must have gone for a beer and missed out. And these are a couple of other characters in our story: a little old man and a Model A car - but not just any old man and not just any Model A. There's something very special about the both of them. As a matter of fact, in just a few moments, they'll give Harvey Hunnicut something that he's never experienced before. Through the good offices of a little magic, they will unload on Mr. Hunnicut the absolute necessity to tell the truth. Exactly where they come from is conjecture, but as to where they're heading for, this we know, because all of them - and you - are on the threshold of the Twilight Zone.
- ConnectionsEdited into Twilight-Tober-Zone: The Whole Truth (2021)
Jack Carson plays fast-talking, wheeler-dealer used car salesman Harvey Hunnicut, who makes a living from being economical with the truth. However, business takes a nosedive when Harvey buys an A-model car from an old man, only to learn that the vehicle is haunted and, as its owner, he is doomed to tell nothing but the truth. This set up leads to plenty of amusing moments as the brash salesman loses potential customers, tells his wife about his secret poker nights with his pals, and admits to his employee Irv (Arte Johnson) that he has no intention of giving him a pay rise. The only way out for Harvey is to sell the car, but can he do so without being able to tell a few porkies?
It's easy to see why Hollywood would be keen to recycle such an ingenious idea - the premise is pure gold: Carson is a riot as he struggles to come to terms with life without lying, and making one potential buyer for the haunted car a politician is a stroke of genius. The ending, in which Hunnicut finally sells the car to none other than Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, and then informs President Kennedy of the situation, is highly implausible, but hey, stranger things have happened in The Twilight Zone.
- BA_Harrison
- Mar 6, 2022
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1