Two-Fisted Tales (film)

Two-Fisted Tales
Japanese DVD cover
Directed by	Richard Donner Tom Holland Robert Zemeckis
Screenplay by	Gilbert Adler Frank Darabont ("Showdown") Randall Jahnson ("King of the Road") Jim Thomas ("Yellow") John Thomas ("Yellow")
Produced by	Richard Donner David Giler Walter Hill Joel Silver William Teitler Robert Zemeckis
Starring	William Sadler David Morse Brad Pitt Kirk Douglas Lance Henriksen Dan Aykroyd
Cinematography	Hiro Narita ("Showdown") Gary B. Kibbe ("King of the Road") Don Burgess ("Yellow")
Edited by	Michael Thau
Music by	Michael Kamen ("Showdown") Warren Zevon ("King of the Road") Alan Silvestri ("Yellow")
Production company	Carolco Pictures
Distributed by	Fox Network (TV)
Release date	January 18, 1992 (USA)
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Two-Fisted Tales is a 1992 American anthology TV film consisting of three separate segments, based on the EC Comics publication Two-Fisted Tales. None of the stories, however, are actually adapted from stories appearing in any issue of the EC comic.

Cast

• William Sadler - Mr. Rush (Presenter)

Segment: "Showdown"

• David Morse - Tom McMurdo
• Neil Giuntoli - Billy Quintaine
• Roderick Cook - Cornelius Bosch
• Thomas F. Duffy - Scorby
• Monty Bass - Frank Little Bear
• Mel Coleman - Blacksmith
• Grant Gelt - Little Boy
• Paul T. Murray - Harley
• Tommy Townsend - Big Bart

Segment: "King of the Road"

• Raymond J. Barry - Garrett
• Brad Pitt - Billy
• Michelle Bronson - Carrie
• Jack Kehler - Mole
• Alva L. Petway - Dispatcher

Segment: "Yellow"

• Kirk Douglas - Sr. Calthrob
• Eric Douglas - Jr. Calthrob
• Lance Henriksen - Ripper
• Dan Aykroyd - Milligan
• Dominick Morra - Priest
• Steve Boyum - King
• Chuck Picerni Jr. - Jones
• R. David Smith - Soldier

Production

In 1991, the comic book was adapted for a TV pilot by producers Joel Silver, Richard Donner, Robert Zemeckis and others. Apart from an opening montage of covers from the comic book and use of comic's logo, the pilot had little connection with Kurtzman's creation. In imitation of EC's horror books, the hour-long anthology drama featured ghostly gunfighter Mr. Rush (Bill Sadler) as a host and a device to connect the segments, although Kurtzman's war-adventure stories had never been introduced by a host. Two of the stories, "Showdown" (written by Frank Darabont and directed by Richard Donner) and "King of the Road" (written by Randall Jahnson and directed by Tom Holland), were original scripts and not adaptations from EC (although "Showdown" did share a title with a story from issue 37). The third story, "Yellow" (written by Jim Thomas & John Thomas and A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler and directed by Robert Zemeckis), was adapted from a story written by Al Feldstein and illustrated by Jack Davis for the first issue of EC's Shock SuspenStories.

Broadcast

Although it contains a 1991 copyright notice at the end of the credits, the pilot had a single telecast in the USA on January 18, 1992, generating little interest, and "Showdown" and "King of the Road" were later extracted to become individual episodes of HBO's Tales from the Crypt television series ("Yellow" was exhibited as an episode in the year before). The cast included Kirk Douglas, Brad Pitt and Dan Aykroyd.

External links

• Two-Fisted Tales at IMDb