Mr. Denton on Doomsday

Drunken ex-gunfighter Al Denton, after being harassed by local thugs, is approached by a mysterious peddler, who gives him a potion that allows 10 seconds of deadly shooting accuracy.

While the Twilight Zone is best remembered for twist endings, it's best episodes almost always featured richly developed characters and/or sharply delivered plots that set enormously high stakes for those characters. "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" delivers on both in spades. Dan Duryea made his career as a villain throughout the 40s and 50s -- a character with a charming smile and a deadly sneer to match the personality. In this episode, he creates a character wallowing in alcoholic desperation arising from the loss of what he perceives is his greatest gift (his abilities as a gunman), ready to grab at anything that will revive this gift; the real twist in this episode is what his character learns from reviving that gift, a moral lesson delivered by Serling without unnecessary syrup (something many later Serling-written episode would be all too full of).

The performance that Duryea creates hits all of these notes brilliantly, and he is richly supported by the entire cast -- Jeanne Cooper and Ken Lynch as the sympathetic saloon owner and bartender, Malcolm Atterbury as the inscrutable peddler, and Martin Landau as a sadistic thug who terrorizes the Duryea character. Further, Allen Reisner's direction keeps the look as a standard Western, giving the audience a familiar surrounding in which to allow the story to unfold.

This episode is not the one most think of when they think of classic Twilight Zone episodes, but it should be.

This is about reclaiming one's life. The Western was the dominant dramatic form on television at the time this came out, so people had a regular diet of them. In this one, a town drunk is given a chance to regain his dignity by doing something positive. He is given a bottle that will allow him to be a great gunfighter for a short time. Unfortunately, Mr. Fate has other plans and he find himself neutralized. All is not lost, however, because he and his adversary are left to live normal lives because their gunfighting days are over. This is a cold war tale and a morality play. Serling had to take it to the next level, by injecting irony. The story plays pretty well and is enjoyable and, if we have not seen it before, it plays pretty well. If you are looking for a parallel to this, see "The Chaser."

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.

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.

It was nice to see an aging yet durable Duryea once again in a leading role. And he more than holds his own.

I thought it an inspired touch of casting on Serling's part to cast this once uber-villain in a part that could singularly reveal both aspects of this character in one, brief 1/2-hour episode. Martin Landau was effective as the black-clad heavy (a role hauntingly foreshadowing his role in "North By Northwest"), and it was a singular pleasure seeing a nearly post-pubescent Doug McClure in what may qualify as a cameo at the conclusion. Morality tales can be tricky, but once again Serling the supreme storyteller, pulls it off with aplomb.

It always amazes me how these wonderful B&W episodes still hold up after all these years (and multiple viewings) later. I never, ever seem to grow tired of watching them. I noticed that many years later they tried (in vain) to bring back this much venerated series, only to have it fail miserably. When you combine superior writing, inspired directing, and casting the strongest character and leading actors alive into one television program, it's a tough combination to beat.

On my very favorite TZ episode, "Walking Distance," the sound track was actually written by, for my money, the greatest film composer of all time, Bernard Herrmann ("Psycho," Citizen Kane"). That fact, more than just about anything, stands in tribute to the kind of talent that Serling's landmark TV series attracted. After all of the great television I've enjoyed over the years, there is no one series that has engendered the kind of devotion and wonder that these thought-provoking episodes inspire in their loyal following, myself heartily included.