50 years of The Twilight Zone: “One for the Angels”

The Twilight Zone Original Series Episode 2
One for the Angels
Original airdate: 9 October 1959
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: Robert Parrish
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director of Photography: George T. Clemens
Music: stock
Cast:
Lew Bookman: Ed Wynn
Mr. Death: Murray Hamilton
Maggie: Dana Dillaway

Hello Ghouls and Boils,

Thank you for joining us in celebrating the 50-year anniversary of The Twilight Zone. Every Monday I will be showcasing one episode I love. We will be having a few guest writers and some of the crew will be contributing as well. We hope you will join in and discuss! Today I am going to talk about “One for the Angels”. I won’t keep you waiting. Enjoy my fiends!

Abstrusely,
Sarah L. Gerhardt

Brief Synopsis:

“Street scene: Summer. The present. Man on a sidewalk named Lew Bookman, age sixtyish. Occupation: pitchman. Lew Bookman, a fixture of the summer, a rather minor component to a hot July, a nondescript, commonplace little man whose life is a treadmill built out of sidewalks. And in just a moment, Lew Bookman will have to concern himself with survival – because as of three o’clock this hot July afternoon he’ll be stalked by Mr. Death.”

Lewis Bookman, a sidewalk salesman (otherwise known as a pitchman), meets Mr. Death who tells him that is time is up at midnight. Lew convinces Mr. Death to give him more time so he could make one big pitch, one for the angels. Mr. Death agrees, but this doesn’t come without a price. Maggie, one of the neighborhood children is hit by a truck, Mr. Death will collect her at midnight instead. That is unless Lewis J. Bookman can keep Mr. Death from making his appointment.

“Lewis J. Bookman, age sixtyish. Occupation: pitchman. Formerly a fixture of the summer, formerly a rather minor component to a hot July. But, throughout his life, a man beloved by the children, and therefore a most important man. Couldn’t happen, you say? Probably not in most places – but it did happen in the Twilight Zone.”

Full episode recap and thoughts:

WARNING SPOILERS (I will talk about the ending of the episode. If you have not seen it and you would like to be surprised come back after viewing. See the full episode on CBS >here< !

Ah Lewis J. Bookman, one of the most loveable characters in the TZ universe, you cannot help but fall for his charms. This is perhaps what makes him a great pitchman. A man in his 60s, he had been a sidewalk salesman for some time. He was a part of the community. He had ice cream socials with the neighborhood children. Until the day when Mr, Death arrived with his notebook.

Lew Bookman is played by Ed Wynn – who some of you may remember as Uncle Albert from Mary Poppins. This actor has such a gentle manner about him and his sincerity shines through in every role he plays. He doesn’t just play a role, he becomes the character and you willingly go along for the ride.

Murray Hamilton plays Mr. Death. He has a long history on stage, film, and screen. (He was in the movie that made me afraid to go in the water – Jaws!) He is very convincing as Mr. Death, who is all business and rigid.

The scene of the initial meeting is set in Lew’s apartment. It has some interesting camera shots and the set design is so attentive to detail, It is here that Mr. Death informs Lewis that it is his time. It takes a bit of convincing to show him he was serious. Mr. Death gently touches a plant and it withers. (I love that part!) Lew instantly knows who is. This is when his salesman hat goes on and he begins to bargain, not yet ready to give up his life.

Mr. Death tells him there are three ways in which people are granted more time.
1) Hardship Cases (a family member who can’t live without you)
2) Priority Cases (on the brink of a new discovery for instance)
3) Unfinished Business (something of import left to do)

After suggesting some things that Mr. Death rejected, Lewis then realized what he really wanted. I love Ed Wynn’s facial expressions in this scene. You can tell this is an ah-hah! moment for the character. He told Mr. Death he would like to make one great pitch, one to open up the skies, one for the angels. Mr. Death accepted this plea. But Lew states he will not go so easily, he will just not make another pitch.

This next scene is great. It’s paced really well and I love the movement of the camera. Lewis tries to get away from Mr. Death, but he keeps popping in front of him. Death chases (or rather precedes) him all the way down the stairs and outside his building. When they reach the sidewalk a truck runs into his young friend Maggie. Mr. Death turns to Lew and tells him he had to take an alternative, and that at midnight he would take Maggie.

That’s when Lewis knew he had to do something. He picked up his sales kit and waited the arrival of Mr. Death. He knew that if he could keep him away from Maggie till after midnight the child would make it. When Death arrived he popped open his case and began to work his own form of magic. Soon, he was ready to purchase everything and it was long after midnight and Bookman had made his great pitch, his One for the Angels.

This episode is one of my favorites for many reasons. The dialogue is smart, funny, and a little sad. The characters are well fleshed out and believable. The director of photography really knew how to frame a scene and the set design and props were fantastic. Though it has a horrific element or two, it is really a very touching story.

If you haven’t seen it (and you read through this anyway because you don’t care about spoilers) I highly recommend you give it a viewing. If you have seen it, but it has been a while… give it a watch again!

Fun Fact:
Among the toy’s Lew bookman sold is a model of Robby the Robot , which shows up later in “Uncle Simon” and “The Brain Center at Whipple’s”.