Mr. Bevis

When oddball James B.W. Bevis (Orson Bean) loses his job, his car and his apartment all in one day, his guardian angel, J. Hardy Hempstead (Henry Jones), offers to help, starting the day over with some changes to ensure success. Beavis must dress like a career man, put aside his more playful pursuits (no playing football with the kids on the street), and be serious about his job (keeping a clean, functional desk at work).

As Hempstead promises, Beavis' new life is certainly different, but it is at the cost of his happiness. Beavis tells his guardian angel to change things back to how they were, and is the better man for it.

Rod Serling's moral in Mr.Bevis is that it is better to be yourself, no matter how eccentric you might appear, than to try and pretend to be something you're not, especially if it means being unhappy. It's not the most profound of messages, but it probably rings true for many avid sci-fi/fantasy fans (myself included) for whom being successful and trendy comes second to being content.

The Twilight Zone is one of most interesting series ever, the first episode that l've remember was in 1984 on TV around midnight, many years ago l watched it on TCM and taped some episodes, all them dubbed, in this episode Mr. Bevis is an eccentric, but happy guy who living an easy life until be fired one more time, then suddenly appears from nowhere your Guardian Angel trying helping Bevis to become a new winner person, however he has to change his silly behavior, good plot an interesting point of view for those that finds important to be a winner in their lives!!!

Eccentric young man has chance to mend errant ways when guardian angel pays a concerned visit.

The role of Bevis is pivotal to this half-hour and calls for the acting skills of someone like the late Hans Conreid, who specialized in humorous eccentrics. Unfortunately, Orson Bean's performance demonstrates all the skills of an earnest teenager placing second in a high school audition. You would think with a name like 'Bean", he could bring off a nutty character who likes 'zither music' and broken-down old cars. But he doesn't, and with him goes the episode. There are two possible redeeming features-- Henry Jones as the delightfully smug guardian angel, and the story's subtext, which appears to be an unflattering comment on businessman conformity during the button-down 1950's (a recurring concern of Serling's). With better central casting, this could have been a whimsical and revealing half-hour, instead of the flat-liner it is.

Mr James BW Bevis is an eccentric young man, a scatterbrain with odd hobbies, fashion sense, tastes and habits. But he is also incredibly warm, generous and well-liked. Then one day everything goes wrong.

A change of pace for The Twilight Zone. No great twists, no great intrigue but instead we have a heart-warming story. A story that makes you examine your own priorities and what matters in life.

Wonderfully understated, engaging, warm and profound.

We are now close to the end of year one and at this stage in the series many well dressed and well spoken angels/devils had appeared in mundane US settings. This kind of storyline was still fun but was now appearing a bit too often for my tastes. Can a great actor save an okay script? Most would say no but I say yes.

Henry Jones not only plays an angel in this episode but his light character is also a time traveller who makes passing comments about meeting Ben-Hur. I am guessing that this Zone character gave writer William Welch a few ideas when Welch would script two Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episodes (A Time To Die/No Way Back) concerning a time traveller - Mr Pem - played by Henry Jones.

The arrogant angel/arrogant Mr Pem both appear in rooms with only the voice heard and then they materialize in person. Both characters constantly vanish into thin air and re-appear at the drop of a hat. However, Mr Pem was "remarkably stupid" and the angel was far from foolish. Mr Pem was more amusing, more entertaining, than the angel but I can't help thinking that Mr Pem was born out of The Twilight Zone.

Away from all this, you have to hand it to some of the often used MGM sets in this series. In the teaser we see that famous street, loaded with extras and nice old cars, that really puts the viewer into another time in Hollywood. If watching on a LCD monitor, press the zoom option (to get wide screen) so you can really take in that street, like me, you will want to jump into the screen and be at MGM. The next episode in screening order is much better than Mr Bevis, one of the best in fact...The After Hours