Mute (The Twilight Zone)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Mute" is an episode of the
American television Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...
anthology series ''
The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...
''. It was written by
Richard Matheson Richard Burton Matheson (February 20, 1926 – June 23, 2013) was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is best known as the author of '' I Am Legend'', a 1954 science fictio ...
, based on his 1962 short story of the same name. The episode deals with a young girl (in the Matheson story it was a boy) raised to communicate only through
telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...
, and her struggles after the sudden death of her parents forces her to enter mainstream society.


Opening narration


Plot

Firefighters respond to a blazing fire in a family home. The fire is so massive that they immediately write off the house as a loss, and a search of the building turns up no survivors. However, twelve-year-old Ilse Nielsen is found outside, having escaped unscathed from the blaze that killed her parents. Sheriff Harry Wheeler and his wife Cora take Ilse in until her relatives can be found. Ilse does not speak, even though medical examinations show she does not have a
speech disorder Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills ar ...
. The Wheelers deduce that her parents prohibited her from talking, and they conclude it was a case of parental neglect. In actuality, Ilse's parents were part of a secret society who learned how to use the latent telepathic abilities possessed by all humans. They agreed to raise their children to communicate solely with telepathy. Ilse was two when the agreement began. The members of the society stayed in touch through the mail. Using the return addresses from the recent society letters, which the sheriff could not open, Harry writes inquiries about Ilse's relatives. Ilse now lives in a world of people who speak with voices instead of their minds. Having been taught to communicate in pure meaning instead of words, she finds the sound of human speech alien and painful. She looks forward to being reunited with the other telepathic children after Harry finds them. But Cora, still grieving over her own long-dead daughter, does not want Ilse to leave, so she takes the letters from the mailbox and burns them to prevent Ilse from being taken away. Ilse witnesses this sabotage but, lacking the ability to speak or write, cannot tell Harry. When weeks go by without reply to his letters, Harry enrolls Ilse in school. Her teacher is patient with her inability to speak, but firm, and daily prompts Ilse to say her name. She deduces that Ilse has telepathic abilities by the end of her first day. Without telling them why, she has the other students think Ilse's name in unison, thus teaching her speech through her telepathy. Karl and Frau Maria Werner, society members from
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, are alarmed by the lapse in the Nielsens' regular communications and come to check on them. After being informed of the situation, the Werners meet with Ilse and talk to her telepathically. Their telepathic speech is incomprehensible to Ilse, and after continued telepathic prodding she begins sobbing and repeatedly saying, "My name is Ilse! My name is Ilse!" The Werners realize that over her weeks in a non-telepathic society, she has lost all knowledge of how to communicate telepathically. They decide to allow the Wheelers to adopt Ilse, even though the Werners are her legal
godparent In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...
s. Though saddened by Ilse's loss of telepathy, they take comfort in telling themselves that Cora Wheeler loves Ilse more than her parents did. The Werners reveal that Ilse escaped the fire because her parents, though trapped themselves, telepathically guided their daughter from the house.


Closing narration


Cast

*
Ann Jillian Ann Jillian (born Ann Jura Nauseda; January 29, 1950) is a retired American actress and singer whose career began as a child actress in 1960. She is best known for her role as the sultry Cassie Cranston on the 1980s sitcom ''It's a Living''. Ea ...
as Ilse Nielsen *
Claudia Bryar Hortense "Claudia" Bryar (née Rizley; May 18, 1918 – June 16, 2011) was an American actress. She is best known for portraying Emma Spool in the film '' Psycho II'' (1983). Early years Bryar was one of seven children of Ruby Elaine (née Seal ...
as Frau Nielsen *
Robert Boon Robert Boon (October 26, 1916 – January 13, 2015) was a Dutch-born American film, television, and theater actor. His film credits included '' The Tanks Are Coming'' in 1951 and '' Queen of Blood'' in 1966. Boon's television credits included ' ...
as Holger Nielsen *
Frank Overton Frank Emmons Overton (March 12, 1918April 24, 1967) was an American actor. He was best known for the roles of Maj. Harvey Stovall in ''Twelve O'Clock High'' (1964-1967), Sheriff Heck Tate in ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962) and General Bogan in ' ...
as Harry Wheeler *
Barbara Baxley Barbara Angie Rose Baxley (January 1, 1923 – June 7, 1990) was an American actress and singer. Early life Barbara Baxley was born on January 1, 1923, in Porterville, California, the daughter of Emma (née Tyler) and Bert Baxley and sister to H ...
as Cora Wheeler *
Irene Dailey Irene Dailey (September 12, 1920 – September 24, 2008) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Biography Dailey was born in New York City, the daughter of Helen Theresa (née Ryan) and Daniel James Dailey. Her brother was actor Da ...
as Miss Frank *
Oscar Beregi, Jr. Oscar Beregi Jr. (May 12, 1918 – November 1, 1976) was a Hungarian-born film and television actor. He was the son of actor Oscar Beregi (actor, born 1876), Oscar Beregi Sr. and often was billed simply as Oscar Beregi. Beregi was most famous ...
as Professor Karl Werner *
Percy Helton Percy Alfred Helton (January 31, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was one of the most familiar faces and voices in Hollywood of the 1950s. Career A Manhattan native, Helton began acting ...
as Tom Poulter * Éva Szörényi as Frau Maria Werner (credited as Eva Soreny) *
William Challee William John Challee (April 6, 1904 – March 11, 1989) was an American actor. Biography Challee was born in Chicago and was a student at Lake View High School. Challee appeared on Broadway by 1926 and by 1931 in early Group Theatre produc ...
as Man *
Bill Erwin William Lindsey Erwin (December 2, 1914 – December 29, 2010) was an American film, stage and television actor and cartoonist with over 250 television and film credits. A veteran character actor, he is widely known for his 1993 Emmy Award-nomi ...
as Man In Flashback


References

*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. *Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing.


External links

* {{Richard Matheson 1963 American television episodes Adaptations of works by Richard Matheson Television episodes written by Richard Matheson Television shows based on short fiction The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 4) episodes Fiction set in 1953 Fiction set in 1963 Television episodes set in Germany Television episodes set in Pennsylvania