Charley Parkes (Robert Duvall) is an office worker who is struggling at his job — while he's an excellent worker, his lack of social skills makes him unpopular with his colleagues. While wandering through his local museum on his lunch break after discovering his regular cafeteria is closed, Charley looks into an antique dollhouse and sees little figurines of a man, woman, and housekeeper. Charley soon discovers that the female doll, identified on a sign next to the house as "Alice Copley", appears to be alive, watching as she practices on the house's tiny piano. He tries to tell one of the guards in the museum about this, but the guard claims that the dolls can't be alive, as they were carved from solid blocks of wood.
Charley's infatuation with Alice and the dollhouse delays him well past his planned lunch break, and when he returns to his office late, he's called into his boss's office. At first Charley thinks it's about his tardiness, but after a brief conversation, his boss drops the bombshell — despite his exemplary work record, he's being let go because he doesn't fit in with the office culture. Charley is stunned, but meekly takes the news without any fuss or objections.
Back at home, Charley gives the news to his mother, where we learn that Charley has been having trouble keeping down a job for some time. We also learn that his mother still fusses after him like a child, which he sometimes finds frustrating. The next day, his sister Myrna and her husband join Charley and his mother for breakfast; they discuss a job opening at his brother-in-law's workplace that's just opened up, but Charley politely declines the offer when learning that he'd have to travel outside the city.
With no obligations to occupy his time now, Charley returns to the museum day after day for hours at a time to glimpse at the dollhouse some more. He gradually grows infatuated with Alice, even moreso when the other figurines begin moving. When her suitor comes to life, Charley discovers that he behaves abusively to Alice. Unable to take this, Charley breaks into the case, attempting to rescue her. He continues to maintain that the dolls are alive, and gradually winds up in an asylum.
Over time, Charley pretends that the delusion is wearing off, and is soon declared rehabilitated. His family and friends gather at the Parkes' house to greet him when he's released, but as they're preparing for a celebratory dinner, Charley sneaks out again. His panicked mother calls Dr. Wallman from the asylum, who suggests that he might have gone back to the museum to see the dollhouse one more time. At the museum, Charley confesses his feelings of love to Alice, particularly mentioning that his rather adversarial relationship with his mother allows him to empathize with her unhappy relationship.
Dr. Wallman and Charley's family soon arrive at the museum and search for him. Nobody finds a clue that he was ever there, except for the sympathetic guard who previously spoke to Charley. He looks into the dollhouse and sees that Charley is now a doll himself, having replaced Alice's abusive boyfriend. Figuring that no one will believe him, the guard merely grins and walks away as Charley and Alice take turns looking through a stereoscope, the former office worker finally content with himself and his new life.
Miniature Tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: Charley is turned into a doll and gets to be with the love of his life forever, but his sister, his mother, and everyone else in his life have no idea where he is or what happened to him, and thanks to the guard's silence, they probably never will.
- Blind Date: Charley's sister Myra tries to set him up on a date with her co-worker Harriet Gunderson in the hopes it helps him come out of his shell. Given Charley's mannerisms, it goes about as well as you'd expect.
- Creepy Doll: Alice's suitor is portrayed as a Dastardly Whiplash silent film villain who smacks her and her housekeeper around. Alice and the housekeeper themselves are gentle and complacent.
- Dastardly Whiplash: Alice's lover resembles this type of villain, complete with cartoonishly evil mannerisms and musical cues as he smacks the poor girl around.
- Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Downplayed. While it's not said bitterly, Charley reflects upon himself, and to Alice, about how their "imagined" world is truly real, because it's filled with people who have feelings like him.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After being treated as off-putting and misunderstood for a great deal of the episode, Charley is able to will himself into a doll and join Alice in her house, freeing himself from his problems and finally having the love of his life by his side.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the first scene, Charley's boss Mr. Diemel calls him into his office to tell him that he's being let go. While Charley's noted to be an excellent worker, Mr. Diemel establishes that he also has an introverted personality and an inability to socially adapt.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Was the whole thing in Charley's imagination, or was the world of the living dolls Real After All? The episode doesn't say, leaving both choices equally viable.
- My Beloved Smother: Charley's overbearing mother continously treats him like he's still a child, even untying his shoes for him when he prepares to go to bed. His sister Myra lampshades that Charley being forced to live like he's 14 years old in his 30s is sick, and partly blames their mother for the fact that Charley is socially underdeveloped.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: The piece that Alice plays on her piano (and which serves as a recurring Leitmotif throughout the episode) is the first movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata no. 11 in A major
. - The Voiceless: None of the dolls can speak when they come alive, so their scenes are often depicted as vignettes out of a silent film, sometimes accompanied by Charley's attempts to make conversation with Alice.
- You Need to Get Laid: Charley's sister Myra comes about as close to this trope as daytime television of the era would allow by suggesting that his problems stem from the fact that he "[hasn't] had a real girl" and offers to set up a date with one of her coworkers. Charley goes along with it for her sake, but the date goes badly because of his social awkwardness, leaving him humiliated.
