The Four of Us Are Dying
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Template:Infobox TTW season one The Four of Us Are Dying is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.
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Details
Episode number:13
Season:1
Production code: 173-3618
Original air date: January 1, 1960
Writer: Rod Serling adapted from "All of Us Are Dying", an unpublished story by George Clayton Johnson
Director: John Brahm
Music: original score by Jerry Goldsmith
Cast
Arch Hammer:Harry Townes, Philip Pine (as Sterig), Don Gordon (as Marshak), Ross Martin (as Foster)
Maggie: Beverly Garland
Synopsis
Arch Hammer is a man who can change his face to make it look like anyone else's he chooses. He first impersonates trumpeter Johnny Foster in order to steal Foster's girlfriend, a sultry singer. Hammer then impersonates the murdered gangster Sterig in order to threaten money out of Penell, the man who killed Sterig. But Penell figures out the deception and sends his men to go after him. Trying to escape, Hammer changes his face to that of boxer Marshak. But he then runs into Marshak's father, who mistakes him for the son that broke his mother's heart. Hammer pushes the old man out of the way and returns to his hotel room. Later, when Hammer tries to escape from the police, he assumes Marshak again. But he bumps into Marshak's father again, who uses a gun to kill him. As Hammer lies dying, his face shifts from one person to another until he dies wearing his own face.
Trivia
- "After the first half-dozen stories had been written, part of the hustle was getting an agent. Through those years I found several who would let me use their names, though few cared to sign a contract with me. One of these men, Jay Richards - at the time head of the television department of the Famous Artists Agency, long since absorbed by I.F.A. (International Famous Agency), and since embedded in I.C.M. (International Creative Management), which represents me now in television and movies - agreed to read something. I showed Jay "All of Us Are Dying." After reading it, he crossed out the title with a ballpoint pen and wrote in "Rubberface!" Then he sent it to Rod Serling, who had a new series that season called the Twilight Zone." George Clayton Johnson writing in the August 1981 issue of The Twilight Zone Magazine
Themes
Seems to warn against the misuse of talent for personal gain. Similar themes are explored in The Prime Mover, A Most Unusual Camera and A Kind of a Stopwatch.
External link
- TV Tome episode page (http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-237/epid-12597)
References
- Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
Back to: The Twilight Zone, Episode List, Season 1