One for the Angels
- Episode aired Oct 9, 1959
- TV-PG
- 25m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
6.1K
YOUR RATING
A pitchman is visited by Mr. Death and is forced to get his priorities in order.A pitchman is visited by Mr. Death and is forced to get his priorities in order.A pitchman is visited by Mr. Death and is forced to get his priorities in order.
Rod Serling
- Narrator
- (voice)
Gene Coogan
- Pedestrian
- (uncredited)
Raoul Freeman
- Pedestrian
- (uncredited)
Mike Lally
- Pedestrian
- (uncredited)
Mickey Maga
- Ricky
- (uncredited)
Murray Pollack
- Pedestrian
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- Rod Serling(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsMr. Death buys a number of items placed in a bag during the great pitch. However, when he and Lou walk away from the front sidewalk steps, Death does not take the bag with him, nor is the bag seen in the area.
- Quotes
Rod Serling - Narrator: [Closing Narration] 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.
- ConnectionsEdited into Twilight-Tober-Zone: One For The Angels (2020)
Featured review
An Episode That Lives Up To Its Title
Death comes to claim beloved door-to-door salesman Lew Bookman, who is beloved by the local children, but Bookman convinces Death to allow him to stay alive long enough to make the pitch of a lifetime. When Death suspects that Bookman is simply playing for time, he decides to take a substitute.
"One for the Angels" is Serling's first great Twilight Zone script, anchoring itself in well- defined characters with believable (under the circumstances) emotional stakes. With a different actor in the lead, the Bookman character might seem too good to be true; in Ed Wynn's hands, however, the character's warmth and bond with the children of the neighborhood is genuine, and his charm at putting off Death is equally believable (again, given the circumstances). Equally impressive is Murray Hamilton (an often-underrated character actor) as Death, taking an otherwise metaphysical figure, and imbuing him with genuine stakes (maintaining the balance of the world) while at the same time adding a bit of subdued sympathy for the plight of his mark.
To be sure, this is not a perfect episode, as the "pitch of a lifetime" does leave a little to be desired. Nonetheless, the balance between the Wynn and Hamilton characters makes the story strangely believable on its own terms, and deeply affecting. In other words, the definition of a classic Twilight Zone episode.
"One for the Angels" is Serling's first great Twilight Zone script, anchoring itself in well- defined characters with believable (under the circumstances) emotional stakes. With a different actor in the lead, the Bookman character might seem too good to be true; in Ed Wynn's hands, however, the character's warmth and bond with the children of the neighborhood is genuine, and his charm at putting off Death is equally believable (again, given the circumstances). Equally impressive is Murray Hamilton (an often-underrated character actor) as Death, taking an otherwise metaphysical figure, and imbuing him with genuine stakes (maintaining the balance of the world) while at the same time adding a bit of subdued sympathy for the plight of his mark.
To be sure, this is not a perfect episode, as the "pitch of a lifetime" does leave a little to be desired. Nonetheless, the balance between the Wynn and Hamilton characters makes the story strangely believable on its own terms, and deeply affecting. In other words, the definition of a classic Twilight Zone episode.
helpful•91
- chrstphrtully
- May 26, 2015
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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