"A Most Unusual Camera" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration

A hotel suite, that in this instance serves as a den of crime. The aftermath of a rather minor event to be noted on a police blotter, an insurance claim, perhaps a three-inch box on page twelve of the evening paper. Small addenda to be added to the list of the loot: A camera. A most unimposing addition to the flotsam and jetsam that it came with. Hardly worth mentioning really, because cameras are cameras. Some expensive, some purchasable at five-and-dime stores. But this camera, this one's unusual, because in just a moment we'll watch it inject itself into the destinies of three people. It happens to be a fact that the pictures that it takes can only be developed in The Twilight Zone.

Synopsis

Two thieves, Chester and Paula, rob a curio shop; among the (otherwise worthless) loot is a strange camera. The pair come to realize that its pictures reveal the future, specifically five minutes ahead. After Paula’s escapee brother Woodward shows up, they decide to use the camera to take pictures at the racetrack. The trio win every time and leave with a considerable sum.

Back at their hotel, the French waiter notices their unusual camera and mentions the curious inscription (hitherto missed by the trio): "ten to an owner". The gang rush the waiter out of the room and determine that they now have only two pictures left. They disagree on how and when to use those remaining. While tugging over the camera, a picture is wasted (revealing Paula recoiling in horror). The men fight each other and, in their struggle, fall out the window to their deaths. Paula (after a curious show of mock remorse) takes a picture of the courtyard below the window and begins collecting the day's winnings before checking out. Before she can leave, the waiter returns and robs her. He then notes that her last picture shows more than two bodies in the courtyard. Puzzled, Paula goes to the window, trips over a wire and falls out the window. Then the waiter counts the corpses, "Yes, there are more than two bodies down there. Just like the picture shows. One, two, three... four?" Shocked, he falls too, leaving the camera lying on the ground.

Closing narration

Object known as a camera, vintage uncertain, origin unknown. But for the greedy, the avaricious, the fleet of foot who can run a four-minute mile so long as they're chasing a fast buck, it makes believe that it's an ally, but it isn't at all. It's a beckoning come-on for a quick walk around the block in the Twilight Zone.

Preview for Next Week's Story

This may look to you like any dismal, dark and dingy alley that lies skulking off a million myriad shadow-places off the main drags. Actually, it's the private domain of leprechauns and elves, and supplies the locale of next week's Twilight Zone. With us for a very special occasion is Mr. Art Carney, who plays the role of a department store Santa Claus, and he plays it with the heart, the warmth and the vast talent that is uniquely Carney. On The Twilight Zone next week, "The Night of the Meek."

References

• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

External links

• TV.com episode page

Twilight Zone links

• The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
• Episode List
• Season 2
• Say Cheese and Die!