Mirror Image 

While waiting in a bus station, Millicent Barnes has the strange feeling that her doppelganger is trying to take over her life.

Director:

John Brahm

Writer:

Rod Serling

Stars:

Rod Serling, Vera Miles, Martin Milner

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Rod Serling	...	Narrator (voice)
Vera Miles	...	Millicent Barnes
Martin Milner	...	Paul Grinstead
Joseph Hamilton	...	Ticket Agent (as Joe Hamilton)
Naomi Stevens	...	Washroom Attendant
Therese Lyon	...	Old Woman (as Terese Lyon)
Ferris Taylor	...	Passenger
Edwin Rand	...	Bus Driver

Storyline

Millicent Barnes is waiting in the bus station waiting for her bus to Cortland to arrive. The weather outside is dreadful and the bus is over half an hour late already. When she inquires the station clerk chides her for constantly asking when it will arrive. The only thing is (she thinks) it's the first time she's asked him anything. When she goes to the ladies room the cleaning lady suggests she was just in there, she begins to worry that she's going mad. A good Samaritan, Paul Grinstead, tries to help her out but soon realizes that there may be an explanation for what is happening after all.

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Plot Keywords:

bus station | doppelganger | bus terminal | bus | bus driver | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 February 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mirror Image

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cayuga Productions, CBS Television Network

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was after filming this story that Martin Milner went to film the pilot episode of Route 66 (1960), which made him a star.

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Goofs

When the other traveler is calling the police from the baggage check he brushes against the post and it can be seen moving.

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Quotes

Narrator: [Opening Narration] Millicent Barnes, age twenty-five, young woman waiting for a bus on a rainy November night. Not a very imaginative type is Miss Barnes, not given to undue anxiety or fears, or, for that matter, even the most temporal flights of fancy. Like most career women, she has a generic classification as a "girl with a head on her shoulders." All of which is mentioned now because, in just a moment, the head on Miss Barnes' shoulders will be put to a test. Circumstances will assault her ...

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Connections

Featured in American Masters: Rod Serling: Submitted for Your Approval (1995)

User Reviews

Don't Punch That Ticket

A woman (Vera Miles) awaits a bus in a deserted station and undergoes a strange experience.

Perhaps the creepiest of all the episodes. The dimly-lit old station presided over by a grouchy ticket seller is the very model of a late night bad dream, the kind of place where sounds echo off the walls and different dimensions come together. Then too, no one in 1959 was better at portraying afflicted women than Vera Miles, which is probably why producer Houghton got her for the show. Watch the subtlety of her expressions as she drifts deeper into emotional torment-- no wonder she was a Hitchcock favorite. The direction by Gothic ace John Brahm is also outstanding. In fact, his movie career specialized in just such psychologically troubled subjects. Also hard to say enough about Bernard Hermann's wonderfully eerie score that blends in with developments at exactly the right moments, leading us ever further into the suspense. Even the cop car abduction adds to the overall effect with an unnerving police-state abruptness about it. Baby-face Martin Milner registers too, as a concerned stranger or is he just "on-the-make"-- certainly the thought must have crossed his mind as he sits down next to her. Perhaps that was his big mistake.

Almost a perfectly wrought little gem from that marvelous first year of the series.