From The Grave
THE PHANTOM BULLET:
THE WEIRD/ WESTERN TALES OF
THE TWILIGHT ZONE
Rod Serling was a huge fan of the fantasy, horror and Sf stories, especially the ones featured on radio programs. But did you know he was also know he loved the western genre? His whole reasoning for getting involved in the genre of the fantastic was he was tired sponsors and censor and network execs meddling with his teleplays. They were constantly removing material or having him butcher his own vision because they felt the stories would offend someone. Mostly, they were worried about the sponsors pulling of the dramatic programs because he discussed poverty, racism, and his idea of a world living without violence or Atomic destruction.
Yeah, more than once old Rod got up on his soapbox and preached his gospel. The powers that be almost always won out over him. So Serling devised a plan to tell stories with these subject matters by masking them as Fantasy. In all honesty, I don’t think Television had ever encountered those stories with an adult angle before TZ. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s how I see it. I know they hadn’t seen that amount of quality in a program such as that, with the exception of Alfred Hitchcock presents. Serling delved into all kinds of stories and the Western was no stranger to fifth dimension.
MR. DENTON ON DOOMSDAY: SEASON 1, EPISODE 3
Written by Rod Serling
Directed by Allen Reisner
Al Denton (Dan Duryea) used to be good with a gun until one day a sixteen year old kid rode in to town and challenged Denton to a gunfight. Denton left the poor kid face down in his own blood. That was when he began to drink more and more finally becoming the town drunk. Years later, Al is bullied by Hoatling (Martin Landua.) After another round of humiliation by singing “How dry I am”, Denton finds a gun laying in the street. A wagon rolls by, belonging to a mysterious peddler named Henry J. Fate (Malcom Atterbury.) Denton exorcises his bully by accidently shooting a gun out of Hoatling’s hand, but brings worse trouble when a new gunman, Pete Grant (Doug Mcclure) rides into town to challenge him. Fate noticing Denton needs some extra help, gives Denton a potion that will help with his speed and aim.
Serling’s stories always have a lesson or his stand against or for topical matters. This was his stand against violence and how it escalates. Also, at heart, it’s a darn good western. The touch light fantasy always works in these weird westerns.
THE GRAVE SEASON 3 EPISODE 7
Written and Directed by Montgomery Pittman
Criminal Pinto Sykes is ambushed by the whole town. On his death bed, he tells the story how gun-for- hire Conny Miller (Lee Marvin.) had multiple chances to catch up with him. The slower he rode, the slower Conny was to catch him. Sykes professes that Miller was afraid of him and states further that if he comes anywhere near his grave after midnight, he would reach up out of the grave and grab hold of Miller. This is spread through the tiny whole in the wall town. Eventually everyone, including Sykes’ sister (Elen Willard believes Conny Miller was afraid of Pinto Sykes. When Conny rides into town, he stops off at the one room shack that is the town watering hole. Loud mouth Johnny rob (Played by the great character actor James Best, who makes another appearance on the TZ.) bets Conny twenty dollars he wouldn’t visit Sykes grave after midnight. Mr. Mothershed (Strother Martin) and a gambler Steinart (Lee Van Cleef.) joins in on the bet.
A great ghost story firmly rooted in the old west without showing too much of the fantastic. You can’t go wrong with Lee Marvin as lead who delivers strong performances time and time again. And what a nice backup of character actors! Cleef from countless westerns along with Martin actually was Marvin’s sidekicks in The Man who shot Liberty Valance, the John Ford/John Wayne western. But the anchoring performance comes from James Best (most people know him as Roscoe P. Coletrane from dukes of Hazzard.). Best was always dependable even if the show or movie was not very good.
STILL VALLEY: SEASON 3, EPISODE 11
Written by Rod Serling (story by Manly Wade Wellman)
Directed by James Sheldon
Two Confederate soldiers are assigned to scout which way the Union is approaching in a Virginia area. Sgt. Paradine (Gary Merrill.) hears them just over the town horizon, but the sounds of the army suddenly stops. He investigates alone. Paradine finds the Union troop frozen, standing completely still. Paradine comes across an old man named Teague (Vaughn Taylor) who says he is responsible. Paradine unconvinced, finds himself frozen still by Tegue’s doing, using witchcraft. He gives Paradine a book of spells so the Confederate army could win the War Between the States.
By far one of my favorite Manly Wade Wellman short stories and one of the best ever written about the Civil War. Merrill gives a strong weary performance and Vaughn Taylor is creepy as the old witchy man. Serling did justice to the short story and one thing you can always count on from the original Twilight Zone: beautiful photography.
SHOWDOWN WITH RANCE McGREW: SEASON 3 EPISODE 20
Written by Rod Serling, Frederick Louis Fox
Directed by Christian Nyby
Who says you can’t mix comedy with westerns? Well Serling did and he did it with hilarity without ruining the story, satirizing TV westerns which ran amok on America’s screens in the 50’s and 60’s.
Rance McGrew (Larry Blyden) is a western star on TV. When he is ready to shoot a scene—in which Jesse James (Arch Johnson.) shoots him in the back. As the scene starts shooting, he says, "I guess you know that I know that Jesse James is on his way here looking for me....There's something else I know that you don't know. That you don't know that I know that you know Jesse James." He goes on to say he will be right there waiting for him. The movie Jesse enters and says his lines. A fight ensues in which Rance keeps calling for a stuntman every time the action gets the least difficult. The man playing Jesse says shooting Rance in the back is not how Jesse would have done it, but Rance insists on the scene playing that way. Suddenly, Rance finds himself in a real Old West saloon. The real Jesse James walks in and confronts Rance, saying, "So you don't shoot, you don't ride, and you don't fight. You just strut around wearing a phony badge goin' through the motions of killin' fellows like me." He continues to criticize Rance and explains that he, Billy the Kid, and other famous outlaws are not pleased with the way that they are portrayed on McGrew's show. James then challenges Rance, who has never shot a gun in his life, to a showdown, with no stuntman, just Rance and Jesse. Rance attempts to flee, but James corners him. Rance drops to his knees, pleading. He says that he will do anything if James will only spare him. James accepts ("We may be stiffs up there...but we're sensitive."). Rance finds himself back on the set, and his agent is announced. The agent turns out to be Jesse James himself, in Hollywood garb (wearing a beret and a loud sport shirt), come to ensure that outlaws get their due, and beginning with the TV bad guy throwing Rance out the saloon window.
EXECUTION: SEASON 1, EPISODE 26
Written by Rod Serling (Story by George Clayton Johnson)
Directed by David Orrick Mcdearmon
The year is 1880 and an outlaw named Joe Caswell (Albert Salami) is about to be hanged for murder. Just as the noose tightens around his neck, he disappears to finds himself in 1959, in the laboratory of Professor Manion (Russell Johnson.). Manion explains that he used a time machineto pluck Caswell from the past. When Manion sees Caswell's rope burns around his neck, and hears his admission that in his life he had murdered over twenty men, he knows he must try to send Caswell back. The discussion leads to an argument. Caswell attacks Manion, killing him with a desk lamp. Casswell runs from the laboratory into a busy streets. He becomes so overwhelmed by the lights and the noise that he returns to the lab. Caswell, distraught and desperate, breaks down, pleading for the dead scientist to help him.
Suddenly, a thief named Paul Johnson enters the lab. Caswell fights with Johnson, but Johnson gets the upper hand in the fight and strangles Caswell with the cord from the window curtains. s When he tries to find Manion's safe, he accidentally activates the time machine and is sent back to 1880, appearing in the noose intended for Caswell, just in time to be hanged. The Old Man and the Reverend are shocked to see a stranger's body, in strange clothes, in place of Caswell's; the Old Man orders it to be cut down and asks the Reverend for an explanation, but the latter cannot even answer whether this was the Devil's work or some other power's.
Not George Clayton Johnson’s best story (that would be The Prime Mover.) But it is an interesting plot and some fine acting from Russell Johnson and Albert Salami.
"I don’t think Television had ever encountered those stories with an adult angle before TZ."
DUST: SEASON 2 EPISODE 12
Written by Rod Serling
Directed by Douglas Heyes
April 14, 1961, young professor Peter Corrigan (Russell Johnson) is involved in a discussion with colleagues at the Potomac Club on the question of whether events in history could be changed if time travel were possible. He bumps into an attendant named William on the way out, Peter feels faint. Confused by the gas lamps and horse-drawn carriages on the street, he notices that he's wearing clothes of a much older style and decides to walk home. He realizes his home is a boarding house, and in discussion with the strangers he meets there, he discovers that it's April 14, 1865, the day of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Peter runs to Ford's Theatre to warn everyone but is arrested for disturbing the peace. The police thinks that he is a Union soldier under emotional distress. After being held in the police station a short time, he is released into the custody of a Mr. Jonathan Wellington. Peter continues to implore Mr. Wellington, and anyone else he can find, to do something to warn and protect the president. Mr. Wellington offers Peter a drink, and immediately afterwards, Peter realizes that he has been drugged, presumably because Mr. Wellington doesn't believe him and wants him quiet.
After Mr. Wellington's exit, Peter crawls to the door but passes out before he can warn anyone else. When a policeman who overheard his story comes in and rouses him, he notices that the handkerchief left behind by Mr. "Wellington" bears the initials JWB. John Wilkes Booth himself had drugged him to prevent any interference in fulfilling his mission. As he hears the crowd outside spreading the news that the president has just been shot, Peter realizes it is too late. He was unable to change the past. Peter runs out and finds that he is back in 1961. Unable to explain the shift in time but knowing that he will now be in familiar surroundings, he returns to the Potomac Club and asks for William. His request for an attendant named William is met with only confusion. Back at the table with his colleagues, he finds that the scholarly discussion has moved from time travel to a new topic, and William is at the table participating. When this new man of interest is asked, he reveals that he inherited his wealth from his great-grandfather, a policeman who had insisted, despite all opposition that there was an assassination attempt on the president that evening. He had been the only person to believe Peter, had made a name for himself trying to stop the assassination, and had become a millionaire. For Peter, the question of whether past events are unchangeable via time travel is no longer speculation. He states that some events can be changed, and others can't. Overwhelmed by all that has happened, Peter steps aside to wipe his brow with his handkerchief and notices the initials: JWB.
Again, not the best episode, but intriguing plot and Russell Johnson (appearing again.) is great in this episode.
BACK THERE: SEASON 2, EPISODE 13
Written by Rod Serling
Directed by David Orrick Mcdearmon
This episode set in the Old West about an unscrupulous peddler, after selling the executioner some five-strand rope needed for a hanging, sells a bag of magic dust to the condemned man's father. The condemned man had been found guilty of accidentally causing the death of a child. The peddler collects ordinary dirt from the ground and insists to his mark that it will spread good will throughout the crowd and will make them feel love and sympathy for the man sentenced to be hanged. As the crowd gathers for the hanging, the father cries out and starts sprinkling the dust everywhere. To his dismay, he hears the floor drop behind him and turns... to see that the fresh and sturdy noose has broken and his son is unharmed. When asked if another hanging attempt should be made, the girl's parents decide that it should not, that the condemned man has suffered enough. As father and son walk home, the peddler discovers that he is also affected by the "magic" after throwing his gold pieces from the sale of the dust to the poor children of the town, laughing about it afterward.
Actually, this is an underrated episode, and by far a perfectly written piece by Serling. Still, Douglas Heyes masterfully helms this one just as he did with Eyes of the beholder.
MR. GARRITY AND THE GRAVES: SEASON 5, EPISODE 32
Written by Rod Serling (Story by Mike Korlogos)
Directed by Ted Post
A traveling peddler, Garrity, (John Dehner) arrives in the little, recently renamed town of Happiness, Arizona, offering to bring the townsfolk's dead back from Boot Hill. Initially, they don't believe him, but when he appears to resurrect a dead dog struck by a traveler's horse-drawn wagon, they do believe him. After performing the resurrection ritual, Garrity, in seemingly casual conversation, reminds the people about the dead and departed, almost all of whom were murdered: who died having a score to settle with whom, and so forth. The townsfolk grow uncomfortable at the thought of facing problems they thought buried with the dead; when one apparent resurrectee is seen approaching town, his brother, who shot the man himself, bribes Garrity to reverse the ritual, and the figure vanishes. Ultimately, everyone in town similarly pays Garrity to not revive their loved ones.
Later that night, Garrity and his assistant (who was both wagon driver and resurrectee) ride away with the money, joking about how they cannot actually bring the dead back to life: they had simply performed a few smoke and mirrors tricks to con the townsfolk, and used a dog that was alive the whole time but simply knew how to play dead. After they have left the town, the last scene reveals that the dead really are rising from the grave, with one commenting that the peddler underestimates his own ability.
A very effective episode; in the true sense of “Weird Western” (Just like Mr. Denton on Doomsday) it’s not just because the setting is the old west, but the old west is another character in the story.
AN OCCURANCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE: SEASON 5, EPISODE 22
Written and Directed by Robert Enrico (Story by Ambrose Bierce)
Simply put, one of the best episodes Twilight Zone has ever produced.
A handbill posted on a burnt tree, dated 1862, announces that anyone interfering with bridges, railroads or tunnels will be summarily executed. A condemned Civil War prisoner, Peyton Farquhar, is prepared for hanging from a rural bridge; Union troops are carrying out the execution with stately solemnity and ceremony. As the rope is adjusted about Peyton's neck, a vision of his home, wife and children flashes before him.
As he is dropped, the rope breaks and Peyton drops into the water. He frees himself from his bonds and swims away as soldier’s fire at him in vain. Peyton descends through swift rapids, runs frantically through a forest, then along an eerily linear and orderly lane. Finally he arrives at the gates of his home; he runs toward his wife as she walks toward him, her eyes filled with happy tears. Just as they are about to fall into each other's arms, Peyton suddenly stiffens and his head snaps back. The scene cuts back to Peyton hanging from the bridge—his escape revealed to be fantasy experienced in the moment of the drop.
A beautiful French short film that won both an Oscar and fist place at the Cannes film festival. It was also one of the few times that Serling broke the fourth wall more than usual. He explained that the film was shot overseas, and then picked up for the TZ program. It is not included in the syndication package (as a kid I remember it being in syndication, so I’m confused by this piece of info) but is included in the box sets.
Whenever Rod Serling and company visited the western it was a nice break from the usual Urban horror/fantasy or SF they so competently produced and inspred generations of Weird Western writers and enthusiasts.
Mark Slade, HMS
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