TZ Promo: "He's Alive" (1/24/1963)

Season 4, Episode 4 (#106 overall)

Cayuga Production # 4856

Originally aired January 24, 1963

50 years ago tonight, a Neo-Nazi on the rise found a surprise ally straight from the bloody pages of history.

Spoiler alert:  It’s Adolf Fucking Hitler.

We've seen Hitler before on The Twilight Zone (season two’s “The Man in the Bottle;" plus we’ll get a glimpse of him later this season in “No Time Like the Past," in the cross-hairs where he belongs), but this is the one and only time that he is a tangible character with influence over the proceedings.  He’s not revealed as such until the third act, but his identity is immediately apparent to us… not so much to our angry but slow-witted protagonist.

Peter Vollmer (well-played by Dennis Hopper) is an angry young man with a racist bent and a thirst for power in Rod Serling's "He's Alive." He’s the head of a motley gang of four Neo-Nazis who pontificate on street corners about racial purity. In the episode’s prologue, we observe him being ridiculed by a mob and taunted by a police officer, and we can’t help but smile (I’d be at the front of that line, hurling tomatoes at him). Then, act one finds him whimpering like a sad puppy at the doorstep of Ernst, his long-suffering de facto father figure, and we suddenly wonder if perhaps we judged him too harshly too quickly.  Instead of kicking him in the teeth, Ernst offers him a glass of wine (Manischewitz?) and a bed for the night. Then we find out that Ernst is a Jewish holocaust survivor.  Wait, what?

That’s right:  this bigoted malcontent’s only friend in the world is a Jew, which represents a gigantic conflict of interests for him (there’s an understatement!).  I’m sure Serling did this to apply some multi-dimensionality to Vollmer’s otherwise superficial character, but frankly it’s confusing, and it essentially ruins the Ernst character’s credibility (who by default would’ve been the hero of the episode) by begging the all-important question:  WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, MAN?  What kind of man, Jew or otherwise, would suffer this weasel’s bullshit?  I dunno, maybe Ernst is supposed to represent some kind of Christ figure.  Wait, that might piss off a few people.  Ah well.

The only way to embrace this contradiction and move forward is to view Vollmer as a troubled and disturbed man-child who is primarily motivated by a pathological need for attention, versus an educated racist with at least a semi-coherent (if severely skewed) world view.  If Vollmer is nothing more than a crazy mixed-up kid, then Ernst’s sympathy is at least acceptable, if not entirely understandable.  Okay, let’s give Serling the benefit of the doubt and go with that.

So next we find Vollmer lying in the dark, restless and morose.  We cut to a close shot of his eyes, where we spy tiny little swastikas superimposed over his eyeballs.  It’s at time stamp 14:21; blink and you’ll miss it (Marc Scott Zicree obviously did, since he reports in his Twilight Zone Companion that the shot was filmed but not used; do your goddamned homework, MSZ!).  The effect is neat (if a bit gimmicky), but ultimately pointless since it couldn't possibly have been visible on the primitive TV sets found in 1963.

Vollmer’s self-pity party is interrupted by a shadowy presence outside. He identifies himself only as “a friend,” and starts giving Vollmer pointers on effective public speaking (eat your heart out, Dale Carnegie!).  Vollmer takes his advice and BOOM! His popularity around town skyrockets (evidently this particular neighborhood has a high racist count).  Vollmer’s shadowy adviser suggests that one of his gang should probably be martyred to strengthen the cause, prompting a murder and ensuring that Vollmer’s house of cards will soon be bulldozed.

Be on the lookout for a really unsettling visual early in the episode.  At the end of the prologue, where we find Vollmer crying behind a dumpster, we dissolve to the usual shot of Serling delivering his opening narration.  I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but their faces line up perfectly, so for a split second, we get a Serling-Hopper hybrid that’s frankly bizarre to behold.  Ah, the power of the pause button!

I’m not a big fan of this episode.  I think that’s probably already at least somewhat evident.  But there must be something good here, right? Well, sure. I do enjoy Hitler’s expressive hands, which jut out from his shadowy form like weapons. It’s actually kind of hypnotic, the way he punctuates each point with an aggressive gesture.  It’s fun to watch.  

In fact, the whole episode is shot well enough, with plenty of shadows.  There’s definitely a noirish vibe herein, particularly at the end when a fleeing Vollmer is, um, stopped by the authorities in a back alley (spoiler proximity alert!).  How many film noirs end with this exact scene?

Stop or I'll --- aw, fuck it.  BLAM!

Ugh! I'm hit!

I'm a goner, Ma. *sniff*

Unfortunately, there’s not much here for me past the visuals. Serling’s character and plot choices just wreck the story for me. It occurs to me that, had Serling plotted things differently, the results could have been immensely more satisfying.  I’ve come up with three different plot deviations…

1. Hitler is actually Vollmer’s alternate personality, a la Fight Club.

2. Eliminate the Ernst character altogether; instead, give Vollmer a good-hearted girlfriend who tries to woo him away from his misguided cause.  Vollmer tries to bow out, but is stopped by his subordinate Frank, who shoots him.  As he lays there dying, the shadowy advisor appears, reveals himself as Hitler, and reveals that he’s also been advising Frank.  Vollmer is weak, like the murdered Nick before him, and will better serve the cause as another martyr.

3. Hitler isn’t just a ghost:  he’s an immortal evil entity (perhaps the devil himself) and Hitler is only one of the many forms he has taken on over the centuries.  I personally like this one the best; however, season four already has two devil episodes (“Printer’s Devil” and “Of Late I Think of Cliffordville”).  

Ultimately, “He’s Alive” doesn’t amount to much more than another holier-than-thou sermon from Serling.  I don’t mind a good sermon now and then, but this particular message comes dangerously close to insulting my intelligence.  Hatred is evil. Racism is evil. Hitler is evil.  Evil can only lead to destruction in the end.  Well, duh.

Next week:  Ann Jillian keeps her lips zipped.

TZ Promo: "The Man in the Bottle" (10/07/1960)

"The Man in the Bottle"
Season Two, Episode #2 (overall #38)
Cayuga Production # 173-3638

Fifty years ago tonight, a couple in need received a very special gift... and completely squandered it. This is their story.


Serling's "The Man in the Bottle," directed by Don Medford, is something of a variation on the classic short story "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs (which you can read here). Through supernatural means (in the story, the eponymous monkey's paw talisman; here, a genie in a bottle), a couple is granted a number of wishes, but at the end of their wishing, they've gained absolutely nothing. "The Monkey's Paw" is a horror story whose moral is made clear from the outset with the following anonymous quote: "Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it." "The Man in the Bottle," meanwhile, ends up encouraging the viewer to count his or her blessings. Not a bad message, but unfortunately the episode generally falls flat... until a spectacular moment occurs late in Act 2 that almost makes the whole thing worthwhile. Almost.


The genie (played by Joseph Ruskin) is certainly not your typical genie. This guy (or entity, or spirit, or whatever) has clearly never seen the inside of a brass lamp. He looks like he just came from having tea at the country club. He does possess a certain malevolent charm, but his toothy grin is a bit too much at times. Ruskin would return in season three to provide the voice of the Kanamit in "To Serve Man." As a proud Kanamit fan, this makes Ruskin A-OK in my book.


The couple in question is Arthur and Edna Castle (played by Luther Adler and Vivi Janiss, respectively; Janiss played another long-suffering wife in season one's "The Fever"), the owners of a pawn shop who exist on the edge of perpetual financial oblivion. Castle takes pity on an old woman and buys what appears to be a worthless bottle from her. The above-described genie appears in a puff of smoke and grants them four wishes. I won't go into detail about the first two wishes, but I will point out that they're exactly what you'd expect, and neither of them quite works out. I usually try to avoid spoilers, but I'll make an exception here, since the third wish is the only thing that recommends this episode. Castle comes up with what he believes is a fool-proof wish: he'll be the ruler of a foreign country in the 20th century, one who can't be voted out of office. Wow, what a weird wish. It's a fairly clunky narrative device injected solely to set up the shock that follows... but boy, what a shock.


Yup, he's Hitler. Zing! Worse, it's the end of World War II, on the day that Hitler reportedly committed suicide. His fourth and final wish? To undo the disastrous third one, of course. And there you go.

The Hitler reveal is very effective. It's too bad it didn't appear in a better episode. Other than this one short scene, the episode is pedestrian, predictable, forgettable. Come on, a genie in a bottle story? Really? Worse yet, the series will do it again in season four ("I Dream of Genie"). What a hoary, overused gimmick. It's almost as bad as a guardian angel story.... oh wait, The Twilight Zone did that one too. Twice. Hoo boy.

Interesting bit of trivia, courtesy of Wikipedia: Actor Luther Adler played Hitler in two different movies in 1951: The Magic Face and The Desert Fox. Another interesting note: Nathan Van Cleave's original musical score from season one's "What You Need" is featured prominently among this episode's stock cues.

Next week: He's a nervous man in a four-dollar room, and he.... hey, wait, that would make a great episode title....