Twilight Zone Companion (16 page)

One person who almost certainly must have agreed with that statement was one of the shows sponsors, called the Old Man by the crew. He used to call up the agency on Monday morning and demand to know what Fridays script had been all about, Serling told TV Guide. Then hed demand an explanation of the explanation. I guess he figured if he couldnt understand it, neither could the people who bought his products. The funny part was that although every renewal was right at the wireone day I got eight phone calls, four telling me we were off the air and four more telling me we were back onthe Old Man stuck for a whole season before he decided he couldnt stand it any longer.

Within two months, the Nielsen ratings showed The Twilight Zone ahead of its competition. The series was attracting a weekly audience of close to twenty million, and while it was never a runaway hit, its audience did prove loyaland vociferous. Serling: We got almost six thousand pieces of mail in eighteen days. A lot of teenagers wrote, which surprised us, and a lot of doctors and professional people, people who ordinarily would never write a letter to a show. The letters ranged all the way from scholarly analyses of various episodes to out-and-out hero worship, the

purest example of the latter being one that began, Dear Mr. Serling; I think of you like most people think of God, but this is not intended as a fan letter . . Another letter, this one to a newspaper, praised Serling for his fictitious imagination.

On February 10, 1960, the suspense was broken. CBS announced in a press release that the series would continue for the rest of the season, with both General Foods and Kimberly-Clark staying on as sponsors. Heaving a collective sigh of relief, Cayuga Productions got back down to business.

EXECUTION (4/1/60)

Written by Rod Serling

Based on an unpublished story by George Clayton Johnson

Producer: Buck Houghton

Director: David Orrick McDearmon

Director of Photography:George T. Clemens

Music: stock

Cast:

Joe Caswell: Albert Salmi George Manion: Russell Johnson Johnson: Than Wyenn Reverend: Jon Lormer Judge: Fay Roope Elderly Man: George Mitchell Bartender: Richard Karlan Cowboy: Joe Haworth

Commonplace-if-somewhat-grim unsocial event known as a necktie party, the guest of dishonor a cowboy named Joe Caswell, just a moment away from a rope, a short dance several feet off the ground, and then the dark eternity of all evil men. Mr. Joe Caswell, who, when the good Lord passed out a conscience, a heart, a feeling for fellow men, must have been out for a beer and missed out. Mr. Joe Caswell, in the last quiet moment of a violent life”

In 1880, Joe Caswell is about to be hanged for shooting a man in the back. But as the noose tightens around his neck, Caswell disappearsand reappears in the modern laboratory of Professor Manion, inventor of the time machine that has saved his neck by plucking him at random out of the past. Seeing the rope burns and surmising that Caswell is one of lifes more dangerous people, Manion attempts to send him back. The two men struggle. Caswell hits Manion over the head with a heavy lamp and runs

out onto a busy city street. Overwhelmed by the lights and the noise, Caswell soon returns to the laboratory to seek Manions aid, but his blow has killed the scientist. Then Paul Johnson, a petty thief, enters the lab. Caswell grapples with him for his gun. Johnson strangles Caswell with the drawcord of a curtain. But in looking for a hidden safe, Johnson unwittingly activates the time machine. He is sent back to 1880, appearing in the noose meant for Caswell and meeting the fate intended for the other man.

This is November; 1880, the aftermath of a necktie party. The victim’s name Paul Johnson, a minor-league criminal and the taker of another human life. No comment on his death save this: justice can span years. Retribution is not subject to a calendar. Tonighfs case in point in the Twilight Zone

The first episode produced in February (number twenty-seven in order of production), Execution, proved one of Serlings lesser efforts. In George Clayton Johnsons original unpublished story, two modern scientists use a time machine to yank a nineteenth-century killer out of a hangmans noose and into the present. Soon, the scientists realize that theyve made a mistake and have unwittingly let loose a violent primitive. Ultimately, the man is shot to death by a policeman and reappears back in the noose, the cycle complete. In adapting the story into a teleplay, Serling added verbiage and contrivance, eliminating one of the scientists (in the show, the remaining scientist is played by Russell Johnson, later the Professor on Gilligans Island) and adding a modern-day criminal, who strangles the man from the past with ludicrous ease. In particular, Serlings addition of the burglar, obviously intended as Caswells modern counterpart, makes the piece seem cluttered and unbalanced.

Playing nineteenth-century killer Joe Caswell was Albert Salmi, a fine character actor who deserves better roles than he usually gets. Here, he gives Caswell an air of authenticity, speaking with an archaic accent and moving with the menacing body language of a man long used to violence. His is a faultless performance, but it is not enough to overcome a poorly adapted script.

The Big Tall Wish

Written by Rod Serling

Producer: Buck Houghton

Director: Ron Winston

Director of Photography: George T. Clemens

Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Cast:

Bolie Jackson: Ivan Dixon Henry: Steven Perry Frances: Kim Hamilton Mizell: Walter Burke Thomas: Henry Scott Other Fighter: Charles Horvath Announcer: Carl Mclntire Referee: Frankie Van

In this comer of the universe, a prizefighter named Bolie Jackson, one hundred eighty-three pounds and an hour and a half from a comeback at St. Nick’s arena. Mr. Bolie Jackson, who by the standards of his profession is an aging, over-the-hill relic of what was, and who now sees a reflection of a man who has left too many pieces of his youth in too many stadiums for too many years before too many screaming people. Mr. Bolie Jackson, who might do well to look for some gentle magic in the hard-surfaced glass that stares back at him.”

Although Jackson breaks his hand prior to the fight, he wins it because Henry a little boy who adores the fighter and who believes utterly in magic has made the big, tall wish. Unfortunately, after the fight the boxer refuses to believe in the magic, insisting it was his own ability that won the match. In anguish, the child tells him, If you dont believe, it wont be true! But the fighter has been battered and beaten for so long that he can’t believe. Suddenly, Jackson finds himself back in the ring, flat on his back and counted out. When he returns to Henry, the child tells him that he wont be making any more wishes. Im too old for wishes, he says, and there aint no such thing as magic, is there? Maybe there is magic, says Bolie. Maybe theres wishes, too. I guess the trouble is, theres not enough people around to believe.

Mr. Bolie Jackson, one hundred eighty-three pounds, who left a second chance lying in a heap on a rosin-spattered canvas at St. Nick’s arena. Mr. Bolie Jackson, who shares the most common ailment of all men, the strange and perverse disinclination to believe in a miracle, the kind of miracle to come from a little boy, perhaps only to be found in the Twilight Zone.”

The theme of The Big Tall Wish was nothing new, being simply a reiteration of the old saw about the washed-up fighter and the adorable little boy the lugs just gotta win the big fight for, but Serling had a couple of twists in mind. For one, the central drama of the piece revolved around a belief in magic. For another, both the fighter and the little boy, along with the boys mother and all the people in the neighborhood, were played by black actors. In 1960, casting blacks in a dramatic show not dealing with racial issues was something practically unheard of, but this was a deliberate move on Serlings part. Television, like its big sister, the motion picture, has been guilty of a sin of omission, he said at the time. Hungry for talent, desperate for the so-called new face, constantly searching for a transfusion of new blood, it has overlooked a source of wondrous talent that resides under its nose. This is the Negro actor.

Originally cast in the lead was boxer Archie Moore, but when he couldnt keep up the pace casting director John Erman replaced him with Ivan Dixon, whom he had seen on the New York stage. Dixon, unfortunately best known as a regular on Hogan’s Heroes, is an extremely talented actor, and he turns in a delicately balanced performance of both strength and vulnerability. Also excellent is Steven Perry as Henry, the little boy. His is an agonized performanceand it is a performance, not just a bland recitation of lines, as is so often the case with child actors.

The director of The Big Tall Wish was Ron Winston, and he was met with problems here far removed from those he had encountered on The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. One of these was one shared by every television director whos ever had to stage a prize fight: how to give the feel of a crowded arena without being able to hire several hundred extras. To overcome this, in The Big Tall Wish the camera comes in close. We see the hands of the spectators as they react in various ways to the fight. One man eats popcorn, a woman peeks out from behind spread fingers, a mans fists mimic the blows he sees falling in the ring. Through these few shots a composite impression is formed of a larger reality.

Winston was particularly skilled at dealing with fragile, intangible emotions which are at the heart of this piece notably the hope, love and faith of the little boy. Says Buck Houghton, It was sentimental and he was sentimental. He was very good at extracting sentiment without getting sugary about it, very restrained.

A NICE PLACE TO VISIT (4/15/60)

Written by Charles Beaumont

Producer: Buck Houghton

Director: John Brahm

Director of Photography: George T. Clemens

Music: stock

Cast:

Rocky Valentine: Larry Blyden Mr. Pip: Sebastian Cabot Policeman: John Close Croupier: Wayne Tucker First Beautiful Girl: Sandra Warner Dancing Girl: Barbara English Crap Dealer: Peter Hornsby Midget Policeman: Nels Nelson Parking Attendant: Bill Mullikin

Portrait of a man at work, the only work he’s ever done, the only work he knows. His name is Henry Francis Valentine but he calls himself Rocky, because that’s the way his life has been rocky and perilous and uphill at a dead run all the way. He’s tired now, tired of running or wanting, of waiting for the breaks that come to others but never to him, never to Rocky Valentine … A scared, angry little man. He thinks it’s all over now, but he’s wrong. For Rocky Valentine, it’s just the beginning.”

After being shot to death by a policeman, petty thief Rocky Valentine revives to find himself unhurt and in the company of a seemingly good-natured, white-haired fat man named Pip. Pip explains that he is Valentines guide, and that he has been instructed to supply him with whatever he wishes. At first, Valentine is suspicious to the point of shooting Pip point-blank in the head. But when Pip isnt harmed at all by this, Rocky concludes that Pip must be his guardian angel, and he must be in Heaven! Accordingly, he goes on a good-time spree filled with gambling and beautiful women. The only problem is that everything is too good: Rocky wins at every game, and any woman he wants is his for the asking. All of this very quickly becomes insufferably stifling. Rocky pleads with Pip to be sent to the Other Place. With a gleeful ferocity, Pip replies, This is the Other Place!

A scared, angry little man who never got a break. Now he has everything hes ever wantedand hes going to have to live with it for eternity … in the Twilight Zone.

Charles Beaumonts fourth and final first-season entry was his weakest. Its basically a prolonged oneliner. However, as regarded the casting of the lead, Beaumont had something truly original and bizarre in mind. He wrote Serling: Ive had an absolutely screwball idea. Your first reaction will be one of dumb astonishment, followed by rapid blinking and fantods. If for any reason we cant get Mickey Rooney for The Other Place [the scripts original title], why dont you essay the role of Rocky yourself} (Dumb astonishment? Rapid blinking? Fantods?) When I mentioned it to Helen, she said, Swell, now hell think you consider him the cheap crook type. I cuffed her lightly about the ears, explaining that if I know writers, its a good bet Old Rod has the same secret ambition I do … to wit, to act. Were all hams, in our own ways, each of us planning to write himself into a part some day; is it not so? My opinion is that it would be a lot of fun all around, that if you can indeed act youd be keen in the role, and that the concomitant publicity would be unbad.

Serling passed on the idea, instead casting Larry Blyden. Unfortunately, Blydens performance seriously mars the episode. Although he is likeable, his broad portrayal of Valentine comes across like a third-rate composite impression of James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and George Raft.

Buck Houghton feels that the material dictated Blydens approach. You had to do something extravagant to keep it from just laying there. If he had just gone for it and said, Gee, thats a great broad. You mean shes mine? it would have been about as interesting as yesterdays fish. But he said, Hoo boy! Really?! Ha ha!! It may not have been the right thing to do, but it was something to do.

If there is a saving grace in this episode, it must surely lie in the cultured and malevolent performance of Sebastian Cabot as Pip, Valentines guardian angel. This part demanded a great sacrifice of Cabot, though. His black hair and neatly groomed black beard were among his trademarks but they just wouldnt do for a character presumed to be an angel throughout most of the show. His hair would have to be white.

That was quite a chore, Buck Houghton remembers. Its very hard to whiten hair. What they usually use is thinned zinc oxide and it looks like thinned zinc oxide. Its bad. And yet this fellow had to have white hair, it really made a big difference. And what they do to really make it white is they bleach it and it aint very good for your hair. We really had to talk Sebastian into doing it, because then he had to be white-haired for three months, until it grew out. That was a major task, to get him to do that.