Lee Marvin plays Steel Kelly, a former fighter who now merely acts as the manager for a robot called "Battling Maxwell." In the not-so-distant future, boxing has been banned and robots have taken the place of humans. The boxing world, however, is still full of sleazy characters and Kelly and his partner/mechanic (Joe Mantell) barely make a living off their battered and out-dated robot, bouncing from one smoke-filled arena to another. Desperate for money, the two men travel to Kansas City for a bout. To their utter dismay, Battling Maxwell blows his main fuse and breaks down completely just before the match. What transpires next is classic "Twilight Zone." Brushing aside his partner's pleas, Kelly decides to step into the ring himself disguised as Maxwell. In the opposite corner of the ring is a state-of-the-art robot called the Maynard Flash. Although the chances of Kelly staying on his feet (or even staying alive) are nearly one-hundred to one, he attempts the impossible: man versus machine at its most one-sided. It's all about the enduring human spirit, according to narrator Serling, even though the ending to the story is hardly uplifting. The episode is helped by an unforgettable performance by Marvin as Kelly with Mantell giving him fine support. This episode was written by the prolific Richard Matheson who was one of Rod Serling's chief collaborators on the series. In the realm of Twilight Zone stories, "Steel" ranks with the best.
Review of Steel
