What You Need

Episode aired Dec 25, 1959
TV-PGTV-PG
25m

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

3.6K

YOUR RATING

S1.E12

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Steve Cochran and Ernest Truex in The Twilight Zone (1959)

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A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny knack of selling people exactly what they will shortly need.A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny knack of selling people exactly what they will shortly need.A small time crook plans to exploit an old street peddler who has the uncanny knack of selling people exactly what they will shortly need.

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

3.6K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Alvin Ganzer
Writers
- Rod Serling(teleplay by)
- Henry Kuttner(based on the short story by)
- C.L. Moore(based on the short story by)
Stars

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Photos19

Ernest Truex in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Steve Cochran in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Arlene Martel and Ernest Truex in The Twilight Zone (1959)

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Director
- Alvin Ganzer
Writers
- Rod Serling(teleplay by)
- Henry Kuttner(based on the short story by)
- C.L. Moore(based on the short story by)
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
All cast & crew

Storyline

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An old man comes to the same bar every night to peddle his wares. He tells the clients what it is they need before they realize they need it. Moments after telling a washed up major league pitcher he needs a ticket to Scranton, Pennsylvania he gets a phone call offering him a job there. When the old man tells him he needs a pair of scissors, Fred Renard scoff at him but and when his scarf is caught in an elevator door, he's glad the old man was right. Renard, who has wasted most of his 36 years on Earth, decides to capitalize on the old man's gift. —garykmcd

scissors

scarf

washed up athlete

precognition

spot remover

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Did you know

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Trivia
When the leaky pen drips ink on the newspaper, indicating which horse Renard should bet on, if you look closely you will see among the names of the jockeys Clemens, Houghton, Denault and Serling; George T. Clemens was the director of photography in this episode, Buck Houghton was producer, Edward O. Denault was assistant director, and Rod Serling created it.

Goofs
Pedott is shown in the opening scene going from person to person selling odds-and-ends in a bar. He approaches Lefty, who does not know him, whereupon the bartender tells Lefty that "the old coot is in here every night". The bartender later says that Lefty is in the bar "seven nights a week." Since both men are in the bar every night and Pedott tries to sell to everyone, Lefty should have already have been familiar with Pedott.

Quotes
Rod Serling - Narrator: [Opening Narration] You're looking at Mr. Fred Renard, who carries on his shoulder a chip the size of the national debt. This is a sour man, a friendless man, a lonely man, a grasping, compulsive, nervous man. This is a man who has lived thirty-six undistinguished, meaningless, pointless, failure-laden years and who at this moment looks for an escape - any escape, any way, anything, anybody - to get out of the rut. And this little old man is just what Mr. Renard is waiting for.

Connections
Referenced in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

Soundtracks
Blues
(uncredited)
Written by Stan Tracey

User reviews32

Review

Top review

10/10

What I Got

What I got is a great episode of someone who got what they deserved when he took advantage of a man simply trying to help people. Yeah! He got his gift... slippery shoes. There is a filming quirk in the beginning before the first commercial break. That is the cigarette smoke from the thug's ashtray is going downward, i.e., the film is being played in reverse. There is also the aspect of someone of no moral grounding taking advantage of someone who is using their "Gift" of helping people with "What they need." Maybe this will sway some folk to not corrupt "charities" for their own selfish need. I was really impressed by the charitable guy's clairvoyance of the thug sitting at the bar. I also loved the cleaning fluid lady's beauty and Lefty the washed up pitcher's smile... it's infectious. It's also evident that Lefty is a good hearted guy. At the same time, it's also plain the bartender is a needler of Lefty. How the thug found out where the peddler lived and broke in, just sitting there until the peddler got home is pretty good fraught for a cheap thug like Renard.

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