Mr. Denton on Doomsday

Dan Duryea is wonderful as a gunslinger turned wretched drunk named Al Denton. Poor Al spends his days being tortured and teased by cretins such as swaggering bully Dan Hotaling (Martin Landau). One day, he starts pulling himself out of the abyss into which he fell. First, he finds a discarded revolver in the street. Next, he makes the acquaintance of a travelling peddler named Henry J. Fate (Malcolm Atterbury). Fate offers Denton an elixir which will supposedly both get his gunslinging prowess back to normal as well as cure him of alcoholism. A young punk named Pete Grant (Doug McClure) will be the latest to challenge Denton on his abilities.

There's a review here at IMDb that really got my attention. Far too often, this viewer is only able to take such entertainment at face value, so when other, more savvy viewers are able to point out the subtext, it makes him truly appreciative of the writing on this classic series. There's a hidden meaning here that is cleverly mirrored by the plot. Also, there is a very enjoyable revelation / twist late in the game that makes you think about what the peddler has in mind. (We *know* he's not named Fate for nothing.) The atmosphere is solid as always, especially in a tale set in the Old West.

The primary attraction of 'Mr. Denton on Doomsday' is a heartfelt performance by Mr. Duryea. Your heart just goes out to him, and you root for him to rise up righteous and kick the asses of people like Hotaling. Landau is great fun in the role of the bully, Atterbury is solid as Fate, and Jeanne Cooper does nice work as Liz, the area local who takes pity on the unfortunate Mr. Denton.

Eight out of 10.

Written by Rod Serling, directed by Allen Reisner and starring Dan Duryea, Martin Landau, Doug McClure, Malcolm Atterbury and Jeanne Cooper.

The first Western themed Twilight Zone is a cracker, boosted by a great performance by Duryea, it's an episode dealing with that old dangled carrot known as the second chance. Al Denton has lapsed from being a dandy gunfighter into the town drunk, a man forced to sing for his next fix of alcohol offered by the town bully (Landau). But fate is going to play a hand, here in the human/supernatural form of peddler Henry J. Fate (Atterbury).

Story firmly has us feeling for Denton, wondering just how he came to be this way? The sorrow quickly turns to joy but this being The Twilight Zone we know there's going to be a kick in the tale, and when it comes it's a doozy, beautifully set up by Denton's revelation about what drove him to drink to oblivion. It could have ended up sappy but director Reisner ensures that is not the case, and Duryea's two pronged performance gives the story its super emotional fortitude. 8/10

Dan Duryea was one of the best and underappreciated players of his time on the big and small screen. In this Twilight Zone saga he's a former top gunfighter who has fallen on bad times. Now he's a sodden alcoholic who is bullied conitnually by a young punk who gets a chance to go back to the top.

It comes in the form of satanic like itinerant peddler Malcolm Atterbury who offers him a magic potion that will for a few second return him to his old speed and accuracy.

It does but for an interesting twist and may be another intervention saves his soul and the life of another would be gunfighter Doug McClure.

Dan Duryea is one actor who is good in anything he plays and this saga of the old west from The Twilight Zone is no exception.

Our episode starts with Al Denton who was once known as the quickest draw in town, but riddled with increasing guilt over the losers in his gun duels (one of whom was a teenage boy), he became an alcoholic wreck and the laughing stock of the community. A mysterious salesman named Henry J. Fate causes Denton to inexplicably regain his expert shooting touch and once again inspire the respect and awe of the townsfolk, which Denton explains will only cause reputation-hungry gunslingers from miles around to seek him out and, inevitably, kill him. He cleans himself up and goes sober but only, he says, so as to die with dignity. Just as Denton predicted, soon enough a challenge is delivered which Denton dare not refuse. I'm not surprised that the series decides to descend into western territory, considering if I'm correct 8 of the top 10 watched shows in 1959 were all westerns so at the time they were at there peak and were extremely popular. Also add to the fact Serling seemed to be great with them creating and writing the 1965 western "The Loner" which I thought was an underrated gem. Anyway this one works quite well revolving around the topic of fate. Dan Duryea plays our lead really good and I always remembered him guest starring in several television series, mostly "Wagon Train". Martin Landau and Doug McClure both very young make appearances as two gunslingers. The final ending in which Serling closes the narration describing how fate helps one man climb out of the pit and another from falling into it is really great. Overall, a fine well written effort.

A story about self-esteem and a man about a million miles away from regaining his. Film noir veteran Dan Duryea plays Denton, a washed-up, drunk former gun-fighter. Western scenarios tend to wear less well with time than other TZ's. When Denton tells of turning away from gun-fighting after being challenged by a sixteen-year old I had to chuckle remembering the Waco Kid's version of such an event in 'Blazing Saddles'.

Jeanne Cooper plays the woman urging Denton to find his self respect. Martin Landau plays the mean and nasty gun-slinger. It all adds up to a well-acted, good little yarn that is over-shadowed by so many great episodes in series one.