Dead Man's Shoes

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.

"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.

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.

Warren Stevens stars as a hobo named Nathan Bledsoe, who one day sees a car dump a corpse in a nearby alley. He goes over to it in hopes of rifling its pockets, but instead decides to take his nice pair of shoes, which mostly fit. However, the murdered man turns out to be an underworld figure whose soul has somehow latched onto the soles of his shoes, compelling poor Nate to avenge his death by whatever means possible, no matter how long it may take... Stylish episode has a good central idea at its center. Though it isn't a total success(Who does the viewer root for after all, since they are all criminals?) this still remains an appealing effort.

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.