The Twilight Zone - Mr. Denton on Doomsday / Additional

 God, this damned episode makes me cry every time. It is that damned harmonica music, I bet. Maybe it is the story of a man who has been in such heartache for so long, it was high time he got another chance to have a remainder of a life where he didn't have to emotionally suffer. Booze didn't ease Mr. Denton's pain, nor did it help to package away what has caused his ache...killing a 16 year old kid in a gunfight wouldn't go away no matter how far into the bottle "Rummy" drank himself. I watched this during my first season "brief passages" series last year prior to the 2020 4th of July Twilight Zone marathon I was building towards. I haven't really devoted an official review to "Mr. Denton on Doomsday", maybe someday. 

However, with some additional comments, I'll also include a writeup I had from 2016.

When Denton is humiliated with "How Dry I Am", I imagine few could look on without feeling some amount of pity on the man. Landau's Hotaling mockingly lording booze in a big liquor bottle while Denton, in a shirt and pants soaked in sweat, dirt, and past drink (his face in need of a good shave), aches in anticipation for it, isn't easy to watch. And ply yourself with mournful harmonica music on top of that, with a disappointed Jeanne Cooper (looking stunning in a saloon dress) watching in frustration (along with the bartender) and the episode is this tragic tale of a man way down in the dumps, having reached the bottom of despair. Thankfully the Twilight Zone cuts him some slack as Henry J Fate arrives with a bit of supernatural assistance Denton desperately needs.

August 13, 2016

What made Twilight Zone so rewarding, noteworthy, and special was its ability to tell a tale of the supernatural during any time and cross every type of genre. The western was no different…in fact; some of the best TZ episodes used the western template effectively. Why wouldn't Serling incorporate the supernatural into one of the popular genres of that time? Dan Duryea is as perfect as you could ask for in the part afforded him: a pitiable drunk who never recovered from his past days as a gunfighter, including the death of a sixteen-year-old kid. Now wallowing in the dirt, disheveled and destitute, grab-handling a broken bottle of booze in the hopes of at least one big gulp while a gaggle of bullies (led by a particularly nasty piece of work, Martin Landau (battling a rather unfortunate attempt at slang)), "Rummy" Denton is a pitiful sight. Thankfully he's in the Twilight Zone, and a particular salesman named appropriately Henry J Fate (Malcolm Atterbury, with such the right face for his character, he'd return in "No Time Like the Past") could have just the right items in his wagon the drunk needs. A "magic gun" and "sharpshooting ten-second potion" could very well resurrect Mr. Denton from the doldrums of his stupor. The haunting harmonica melody as background to Denton's rise from the pit of despair and Duryea's heart-felt, genuinely touching performance are essential reasons "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" is such a success. Serling doesn't appear in person as narrator, but the opening and closing monologues really serve as just the right device to explain how fate can in fact interrupt at just the right time for someone is dire need of a peculiar assistance. A young Doug McClure is an upstart gunslinger who challenges Duryea after he embarrasses Landau during a gunfight in a bar. Landau's proper punishment thanks to "Fate" is quite satisfying. Jeanne Cooper, as the saloon girl who sympathizes with Denton, might be best known for her long-term role on Young and the Restless.