User reviews

An elderly couple (Schildkraut and Platt) visit a company that specializes in substituting their elderly bodies for younger ones, but find they only have the money needed to substitute one of their bodies.

Serling's tender, beautifully written story of love and the sacrifices we make for it relies less on the sci-fi gimmick than on the exquisite relationship developed between the couple. The husband is wracked with pain, but possessed of a quiet, unflailing dignity and deep, rich love of his wife; Schildkraut's touching work does the part full justice, his gentle personality serving as the perfect defense against the ravages against his body. The wife, incredibly patient and possessed of the same dignity and love, is beautifully played by Platt -- the two do not seem like actors playing a long-married couple, but a couple that really have lived with and loved each other for half a century. The final twist is less a twist, than a wholly believable act growing out of the love these two people share for one another.

Additional mention must made of Theodore Marcuse's performance as a gambler that Schildkraut's character goes to, hoping to win enough money to pay for both substitutions. Rather than play the character as a cipher or a venal shark, Marcuse adds subtle strokes to the performance that make him far more interesting; his idle humming and expression at the end of the card game gives more insight into his character than pages of dialogue ever could.

All in all, one of the series' most charming and beautifully played episodes.

The acting is very believable, perhaps the best in the series, with convincing character decisions. And it's extremely touching.

Schildkraut expertly plays the old man, who's in severe chronic pain. He's actually an actor playing the old man who himself is an actor- acting at pretending he's not in, and not always succeeding.

Really, all four main characters do excellent work here. The gambler is played as well as a top actor in an Oscar level movie, and it's a fairly small role.

I'm also very happy that it didn't have some very sad twists that you expect in this show.

Joseph Schildkraut and Alma Platt play John & Marie Holt, who have been married for 50 years, but now need some help, since John suffers from frequent pain, and they plan to visit the New Life Corporation where they can have their minds transferred into younger, fit bodies. Unfortunately, they only have enough money for one, so Marie insists it be John, though he still tries to get the money by either gambling, or receiving sympathy, with little practical success... Nicely acted and touching episode rings all the right bells, though I always found it odd that the company couldn't have given poor Marie a two-for one break on her operation, which would have been fantastic public relations! Oh well...

Slender, sentimental tale courtesy TZ. A devoted elderly couple learn of a youth restoration clinic, and since their 50-year marriage has been so happy, at the same time he is in some pain, they consult. Trouble is the clinic charges $10,000 each for a new youthful body, but the couple has only enough for one replacement. So what will they do since separation from one another seems unthinkable.

The episode resembles John Frankenheimer's movie Seconds (1966) that came out about the same time. Here, it's hard to know where the plot is going—will they get the extra money, is the clinic on the level, will something unexpected happen. We're really rooting for them since the oldsters seem genuinely devoted. Apparently (IMDB), Schildkraut's real life wife died during production, which no doubt deepened an already moving performance. And, oh yes, baldy Theo Marcuse had a different look at a time when only he and Yul Brynner sported slickened pates. Here he turns in an unusually nuanced card dealer in a brief supporting role.

All in all, it's a different type entry that may not appeal much to the younger crowd, but is not without its subtle virtues.

He gets the new body, works for a year or two, saves up the 5k and then she gets her new body. She's not the one in pain, she can easily wait.

Mr. John bolt and Mrs. Marie Bolt go to the New Life Corporation to see new bodies for them. Mr. Johnn feels a great pain and the manager Mr. Vance shows many bodies to them. But the price is US 5,000 for each one and the couple can only afford for one trade. What will Mr. And Mrs. Bolt do?

"The Trade-Ins" is a nice tale of love of "The Twilight Zone". The story of a couple that cannot afford o buy new bodies when the procedure does exist is a great love story. The ultimate sacrifice of Mr. John Bolt is a great proof of his love for his wife. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Troca" ("The Trade")

For a brief moment, I hoped this would to be a dystopian Sci-Fi tale about rich elderly folks paying huge sums of money to transfer their selfish personalities into the bodies of young people, and then these young people turn out to be captured slaves from poor ghettos, or something. Alas, the tone of the episode turned towards the other direction, more specifically a sentimental direction with a dull "accept your fate" message. The sentimental "Twilight Zone" episodes are my least favorite ones; I prefer the grim and disturbing stories, but "The Trade-Ins" still deserves credit for the distant-future rejuvenation theme and the strong performances by Schildkraut, Platt and Marcuse (as the gentlest illegal gambler in history). The rudimentary premise by Rod Serling is similar to a brilliant novel by David Ely, and also got turned into one of the most dazzling but underrated Sci-Fi movies of all times; namely "Seconds" (1966)

At the end of a long and happy marriage, John and Marie Holt (Joseph Schildkraut and Alma Platt) gather up their life savings and pay a visit to The New Life Corp., where one can replace an old, worn out body with a physically perfect, young model - for the right price. Unfortunately, the Holt's $5K will only buy them one 'unit'...

Serling dedicates this episode to all the sentimentalists in The Twilight Zone, and it sure is a soppy tale, a schmaltzy ode to true love and happiness that has spanned a lifetime. However, we only arrive at this dedication after a desperate attempt by seriously ill John to double his money in a poker game - a tense scene that allows screen heavy Theodore Marcuse to display some considerable acting chops - and after the old man has taken a new body for a test run. When hunky young John bounds out of the operating theatre and sees his elderly wife in the waiting room, the couple realise that they will no longer be compatible, and so John gets a refund.

Worth seeing for the poker game, the outcome of which succeeded in bringing a lump to my throat, but the rest of the episode is forgettable.

The poker scene in this episode alone, is worth the price of admission.

Terence de Marney's performance as the shrewd professional card shark is masterful. It's a great example of how great TV writers were back then, and how actors rose to the challenge. Expressing the subtleties of human interaction.

The wish to be young again was something Rod Serling said he was obsessed about. John Holt (Joseph Schildkraut) and his wife Marie (Alma Platt) are an old couple who go to a company called New Life that deals in selling new bodies that would give them a hundred years more of life together.

Best not to apply logic to this one as it's raison d'etre is to tell a simple story about love. At least you feel very much in 'The Twilight Zone' with this one as the couple look over potential new bodies and the music adds a mysterious quality. The poker game in the middle just feels like padding, and for me, the ending was predictable.

You can usually find good old fashioned, noble values in the Zone. Here is no exception.

My husband and I love the TZ, and last year I got him the entire set on DVD for Xmas. We got around to watching this one last night.....and laughed hysterically, when we weren't staring in bewilderment. The concept of this one is actually pretty good (set in future, old couple wants to buy new bodies), but the writing reads like a first draft, and the acting doesn't help. The old guy stumbles and stammers and never finishes a sentence, only not in a charming way. Things happen pretty randomly--in this world, you can knock on some guy's door while he's playing the piano, and he'll get up and play poker with you and 3 or 4 other guys who are just sitting around waiting; it only takes a few minutes to walk out fully recovered from surgery, etc. (It's the future, after all--although the rough-tough gambling guys look and talk like Mickey Spillane characters). Lines like "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" and a few surreal moments that seem straight out the Rocky Horror Picture Show make this a perfect candidate for the MST3K treatment. Enjoy!

A lifeless episode that lacked any effects and the storyline had a few questionable moments.