by Paul Gallagher:
The Twilight Zone Recap: “One for the Angels”
Original Air Date (CBS): October 9, 1959
Season 1 Episode 2
The Twilight Zone made such an indelible mark on our culture that the show’s title is still used 50 years later by people as a shorthand way of describing just about any weird situation.
Notice something strange? Disorienting? Out of the ordinary? It’s just like … you know.
But the show also had a strong sentimental side, which cropped up very early in its five-year run. “One for the Angels” is a genial fantasy about a little girl who is critically wounded, and an old man determined to save her.
Sounds like a standard drama. And it might have been no more than that if, say, the old man was a doctor researching a difficult cure. Or if the pair was stranded in some remote outpost, far from modern medicine. (Not that either one would make a bad story.)
But this is The Twilight Zone. So the old man, Lou Bookman, is a pitch man – someone who sells odds and ends from a suitcase on the sidewalk – and he’s locked in mortal combat with the Grim Reaper. No, the Reaper doesn’t wear a hooded cloak and point a skeletal finger on those who are doomed. He’s an ordinary-looking man in a dark suit, writing in a notebook.
We first see Lou on a busy city street, trying (to no avail) to interest passersby in his products. As we watch this scene unfold, we hear Rod Serling’s opening narration:
“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. 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.”
Mr. Death shows up one day at Lou’s apartment to inform Lou that it’s his time to go. Lou naturally protests.
Lou: “Now just a minute. I don’t want to go!”
Mr. Death: “No, they never do.”
Sorry, Lou is told, extensions are rare. The only one he seems to qualify for is “unfinished business of a major nature.” He explains that he’s never made a really big pitch – you know, “one for the angels.” Mr. Death finally relents — whereupon Lou, thinking that he’s literally cheated death, closes the door in his face and tells him he’ll be waiting a long time.
Lou leaves the apartment a few minutes later, but Mr. Death dogs his every step, telling him he’s making a mistake (showing up, amusing enough, on every staircase landing in turn as Lou attempts to flee). But Lou won’t listen.
However, Mr. Death isn’t thwarted for long. When Maggie, one of the neighborhood children who dote on Lou, is hit by a truck, Lou realizes that it’s no accident — she’s meant to take his place. The doctor informs Maggie’s mother that if the girl can hang in until midnight, she’ll have passed the critical phrase and can be expected to recover.
Lou can’t postpone his big pitch now. He has to make it as soon as possible — in a desperate attempt to keep Mr. Death from claiming her.
So he shows up on the sidewalk outside Maggie’s apartment shortly before midnight. Mr. Death is already on the steps, waiting for the stroke of midnight. He’s surprised to see Lou setting up at this hour, but Lou tells him a late-night sale isn’t unusual. And he begins his patter – and Mr. Death is the only one around to hear it. At first, he scoffs. But gradually he becomes interested. Soon, he’s completely swept up in Lou’s sales pitch, and he’s actually buying things.
You can guess what happens next, but it’s still a pleasure to watch it unfold. Midnight arrives – and Mr. Death is aghast: He’s missed his appointment! Maggie will live. But Lou must go now. He starts to leave with Mr. Death, then goes back for his suitcase full of merchandise:
Bookman: “Oh, excuse me. I forgot something. I’ll be back in a minute. You never know who might need something up there. Up there?”
Mr. Death: “Up there, Mr. Bookman. You made it.”
And then we have Serling’s closing narration:
“Louis 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.”
Casting is key to any successful show, and “One for the Angels” boasts some real pros: Murray Hamilton as Mr. Death, and Ed Wynn as Lou Bookman. Wynn was already a Serling alum, having played the part of Army in the 1956 live teleplay “Requiem for a Heavyweight” (for which Serling won his second Emmy).
Wynn’s natural charm, in fact, helps us overlook the fact that he’s not the kind of fast talker you’d expect in a pitchman. His sales talk isn’t particularly smooth. But he’s so likeable that you can imagine buying something from him simply because he’s such a nice guy.
Some gentle humor runs through the episode. Nothing of a loud or “jokey” nature, just some nicely amusing moments – like the way Mr. Death gets unexpectedly swept up in Lou’s sales patter. As with “Night of the Meek,” the funny moments don’t seem forced or overdone.
All in all, a sweet, serene and satisfying episode.
DarkMedia contributor Paul Gallagher is a writer and an editor who works in the public relations department of a large non-profit organization located in the Washington, D.C. area. His work has appeared in a range of newspapers, magazines and websites, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.
You can find him on his website, Shadow and Substance: Exploring the Works of Rod Serling, and on Twitter at @TheNightGallery.
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