Four O'Clock story

tz1959e3x29 · 1962-04-06

A fanatical one-man moral crusader decides to shrink those he deems evil to a height of two feet at four o'clock. Directed by: Lamont Johnson. Story by: Price Day, Rod Serling.

13 total · 2 choice · 6 major · 5 minor

ThemeLevelMotivation
obsession choice Mr. Crangle was obsessed with rooting out all the evildoers in the world.
vigilante justice choice Mr. Crangle was busy maniacally administering his own justice to whomever he felt like designating "an evildoer".
conspiracy theory major Among many other things, Mr. Crangle had a theory of a Red conspiracy calling the shots in Washington.
guilt and evidence major Mrs. Lucas asked Mr. Crangle by what right he presumed to sit in judgment of her husband, and we must indeed ponder by what right he levied his many baseless charges.
poetic justice major Mr. Crangle took it upon himself the designate and punish all the world's evildoers, but ended up punishing himself.
unbounded thought powers major Mr. Crangle maintained that he could will, if he wished, a variety of changes to the world. He decided to make every evildoer in the world two feet tall, at four o'clock. In the end he only changed himself.
what if I was accused of a crime that I didn't commit major Mrs. Lucas pleaded for clemency on behalf of her husband who was taking Mr. Crangle's accusations rather hard.
what is good and evil major Mr. Crangle railed maniacally about all the evil he would expunge from the world.
husband and wife minor Mr. and Mrs. Lucas, indirectly.
master and pet minor Mr. Crangle kept a pet parrot named Pete.