13 is a lucky number for The Twilight Zone, since its 13th episode, celebrating its 50th anniversary tonight, is a true classic. "The Four of Us Are Dying" originated as an unpublished short story by George Clayton Johnson called "All of Us Are Dying" (or "Rubberface," if you ask his agent at the time). As he often did when adapting an existing story, Serling chucked most of the story and kept only the core intact. Said core in this case is a man with an uncanny ability to change his face at will. His name is Arch Hammer and, at various points in the episode, is played by Harry Townes, Ross Martin, Phillip Pine, and Don Gordon (all of whom would pop up again in future episodes). John Brahm directs, and Jerry Goldsmith contributes an excellent jazz score, the first of many fine scores he'd compose for the series.
Incidentally, Johnson's unpublished (at the time) original story was finally published in the May 1982 issue of Twilight Zone Magazine, alongside Serling's teleplay.
1 comment:
Ah, one of my favourite episodes. I like this one.
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