Dead Man's Shoes

"Dead Man's Shoes" is not a great, but nonetheless very competent and enjoyable "Twilight Zone" episode. The credits list the name of the almighty Charles Beaumont as writer, but the plot seems based - or, at least, heavily inspired - by the legendary Maurice Renard novel "The Hands of Orlac". This classic horror story already got adapted into a handful of genre milestones (including the silent "Orlac's Hände" starring Conrad Veidt and "Mad Love" starring Peter Lorre), and revolves around a talented pianist who loses both his hands in an accident. Via a medically ground-breaking transplant operation, he receives a new pair of hands, but they belonged to an executed murderer and gradually force the new owner to commit horrible crimes.

Although uncredited, this episode is a slick variation on the same plot. The homeless Nate witnesses how mobsters dispose of a dead body in a dark alley. The corpse wears brand new and funky shoes, and Nate isn't too shy to try them on. As soon as he wears the shoes, however, Nate somehow becomes the dead gangster - Dale - and remembers where he lived, what his favorite drink was, and who killed him. The shoes naturally force their new owner to seek revenge. There's nothing extraordinary about "Dead Man's Shoes", but the performances are good, and the end-twist is fairly original and unexpected.

The bump Nathan 'Nate' Bledsoe is sleeping in an alley. Out of the blue, he sees a body dumped in the alley and steals his shoes and his keys. When he wears the pair of shoes of the dead man, he acquires the life of the deceased gangster. He goes to his apartment where he meets his girlfriend, Wilma. Then he looks for his clothes and weapon, and goes chasing his former partner Dagget, who killed him, seeking revenge. What will happen in this encounter?

"Dead Man's Shoes" is a great tale of revenge in "The Twilight Zone". The plot is intriguing and also funny, with the deceased gangster using a homeless guy to seek revenge. The conclusion with his promise and another homeless man finding the shoes is also funny. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Sapatos de Outro Mundo" ("Shoes from Other World")

That's an old saying, I believe, and I always took it to be the point of this story. The episode is a good film noir gangster picture with shoes symbolic of a grand idea that men will always have--- an idea that could have just as easily been about the need to create transportation other than a horse and so on.

Grubby transient (Warren Stevens) steals flashy shoes from dead man named Dane. Trouble is, these are size 9's from the twilight zone, which have the magical effect of replacing weak, cringing persona of the transient with strong, criminal personality of the dead man. This sets up interesting sequence in which Dane now occupies Stevens' body, and returns to old haunts to unnerve mistress and gang rival, who hear Dane but see stranger. Fun to watch icy mistress (Joan Marshall) gradually come unglued.

Neat idea, but filmed in straightforward style that adds little to the plot. Stevens does convincing job of altering personality whenever the shoes fit. Good script, even though climactic office scene is disappointing. On the whole, a solid entry.

Dead Man's Shoes lacks that magical je ne sais quoi of a classic The Twilight Zone episode, but it is still a reasonably entertaining tale, helped by a solid turn from Warren Stevens, who is transformed from wretched hobo to cool-as-a-cucumber tough man after he half-inches a pair of shoes from a stiff in an alleyway.

Possessing Bowery bum Nathan Bledsoe, the shoes' original owner, gangster Dane, sets about trying to get even with the man who killed him: his greedy business partner Bernie Dagget (Richard Devon). Unfortunately for Dane, Dagget isn't easily fooled, his men killing the gangster for a second time. But when Bledsoe's body is dumped in an alleyway, another tramp takes a shine to those fancy shoes...

One imagines that Dane's next attempt to take revenge will be successful (how many times can he be caught out by a hidden gunman?), but if it isn't, will Dagget eventually cotton on and destroy those loafers? These questions and more await the curious in The Twilight Zone.