I woke up early this morning --five-ish--and Syfy was showing the Twilight Zone and I never pass up a revisit to The Hunt (1962). Arthur Hunnicut might be remembered in the substitute Walter Brennan role in the Hawks' / Wayne western, El Dorado. I especially liked him in Hawks' The Big Sky. But on the subject, The Hunt just holds a special place in my heart. It isn't the most memorable episode, and you won't see it heralded alongside "To Serve Man" or "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street". But it doesn't have to be. There are all kinds of TZ episodes that fall below the radar and find their own particular audience. This was an episode my late uncle--who died in 2011 to kidney/brain cancer--was quite fond of. It has a romantic quality to it, I think, in its message of the important bond between man and his dog. Hunnicut is a backwoods man-of-the-land who loves to coon hunt with his dog while the missus tends to the cooking and home chores. They fondly cherish each other, just not in a gushing way. Hunnicut fails to humor his wife (Jeanette Nolan) who has experienced what she considers omens of danger towards him. He shrugs her experiences like a bird flying in and perching itself at his side of the bed and how the moon carried a particular color she found ominous. Turns out she's right...he doesn't heed her warning and winds up drowning while diving in a deep lake after his dog went chasing a coon.
The episode follows Hunnicut and his dog as they realize they're not among the land of the living. Two neighbors are digging a hole for the dog, the wife is in black and mourning the loss of her husband, and following a fence that leads to an entrance which could be heaven...or hell.
That the dog can sense "fire and brimstone" and have a master who won't go to any afterlife without his pet just left me with a grin. It always does. Yes, this is the Darkside blog, but, occasionally, I think a little light doesn't hurt. Hunnicut has this folksy appeal, quite similar to James Best, who found himself in TZ episodes written by Earl Hammer, and is totally believable as a woodsman accustomed to the simple, uncomplicated life. It's depiction of how Hunnicut and the dog are in search, unbeknownst to them, of their final resting place has its charm as we never leave the woods, keeping the episode grounded in a place they're most familiar. Hell's uncharacteristic entrance gate, with a greeter who isn't the expected emissary of evil, almost convincing Hunnicut to follow his welcome is a clever ruse. The real angel, looking like a fisherman just removed from the big pond catch, offering a heaven for Hunnicut and his dog bookends it with a nice wink.
The episode never fails to leave me a bit melancholic, and yet along with memories of past TZ July 4th marathons watching this with my uncle, how it lovingly treats the hunter and his dog, I can't help but always feel a warm feeling. It isn't too maudlin, and the presentation refuses to get all treacly which might be a plus for those not into over -sentimentality. If it's on, I just feel the overwhelming need to once again watch Hunnicut and his dog on the path towards eternity.
The episode follows Hunnicut and his dog as they realize they're not among the land of the living. Two neighbors are digging a hole for the dog, the wife is in black and mourning the loss of her husband, and following a fence that leads to an entrance which could be heaven...or hell.
That the dog can sense "fire and brimstone" and have a master who won't go to any afterlife without his pet just left me with a grin. It always does. Yes, this is the Darkside blog, but, occasionally, I think a little light doesn't hurt. Hunnicut has this folksy appeal, quite similar to James Best, who found himself in TZ episodes written by Earl Hammer, and is totally believable as a woodsman accustomed to the simple, uncomplicated life. It's depiction of how Hunnicut and the dog are in search, unbeknownst to them, of their final resting place has its charm as we never leave the woods, keeping the episode grounded in a place they're most familiar. Hell's uncharacteristic entrance gate, with a greeter who isn't the expected emissary of evil, almost convincing Hunnicut to follow his welcome is a clever ruse. The real angel, looking like a fisherman just removed from the big pond catch, offering a heaven for Hunnicut and his dog bookends it with a nice wink.
The episode never fails to leave me a bit melancholic, and yet along with memories of past TZ July 4th marathons watching this with my uncle, how it lovingly treats the hunter and his dog, I can't help but always feel a warm feeling. It isn't too maudlin, and the presentation refuses to get all treacly which might be a plus for those not into over -sentimentality. If it's on, I just feel the overwhelming need to once again watch Hunnicut and his dog on the path towards eternity.
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