The Grave (The Twilight Zone)
 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (November 2010) |
| "The Grave (The Twilight Zone)" |
|---|
“The Grave” is episode 72 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on October 27, 1961 on CBS.
Plot
The episode opens as the outlaw Pinto Sykes is ambushed by the men of the town in the middle of the street. Some time later, gun-for-hire Conny Miller, who had been hired to track Sykes down and kill him but had never been able--or had possibly, according to Sykes, never wanted--to catch up with him, arrives in town, ready to kill Sykes and collect his pay. He goes to the saloon where the men who hired him are gathered and is angry to learn that they had dispatched Sykes themselves. Leery of Miller, and uneasy because of Sykes's deathbed vow to reach up and grab Miller if he ever came near his grave, the men--none of whom, clearly, would have taken on Sykes one-on-one--dare Miller to make a midnight visit to Sykes's grave. As part of the bet, Miller is told to stick a knife into the burial mound as proof that he had visited the grave. After being confronted by Sykes's sister Ione, Miller treks in the cold, windy darkness to the cemetery and, at midnight, kneels at the grave to plant the knife. But as he attempts to rise, he is suddenly pulled back down....
The next day, the townsmen, accompanied by Ione, visit the cemetery in the safety of broad daylight. They find Miller lying dead atop Sykes's grave, with his knife through his coat pinning him to the ground. Steinhart says it's plain what happened: the wind blew Miller's coat over the grave, he stuck the knife through his coattail unknowingly, and as he stood up afterward, he mistook the pinned coat's resistance for Sykes's grip. Being scared half to death anyway, he fell dead of a heart attack. Ione reacts with scorn: "From which direction was the wind blowing last night?" she asks. "From the south," one of the men replies. "Same as now?" she asks. They agree that it is so. As she stands in the spot where Miller would have stood before planting the knife, "Look at my cloak," she challenges them. "Is the wind blowing it across the grave?" It is not. As the wind blows, Ione's long cloak streams behind her, like that of the Grim Reaper. Ione laughs, chillingly.
Cast
- Lee Marvin as Conny Miller
- James Best as Johnny Rob
- Lee Van Cleef as Steinhart
- Strother Martin as Mothershed
- Stafford Repp as Ira Broadly
- Elen Willard as Ione Sykes
- Dick Geary as Pinto Sykes
- William Challee as Jason
- Larry Johns as Townsman
Quotations
Opening narration
Normally, the old man would be correct. This would be the end of the story. We've had the traditional shoot-out on the street and the badman will soon be dead. But some men of legend and folk tale have been known to continue having their way even after death. The outlaw and killer Pinto Sykes was such a person, and shortly we'll see how he introduces the town and a man named Conny Miller, in particular, to the Twilight Zone.
Closing narration
Final comment: you take this with a grain of salt or a shovelful of earth, as shadows or substance, we leave it up to you. And for any further research, check under 'G,' for 'ghosts'...in the Twilight Zone.
“The Path Through The Cemetery”
A short story written[when?] by Leonard Q. Ross, “The Path Through The Cemetery,” situated in Imperial Russia, describes a very timid man, named Ivan, who responds to a similar challenge from a Cossack officer in the Tsar's Army (some printings identify this officer as a captain, some as a lieutenant) with the sword he receives from the Cossack officer for the purpose--and who meets a similar fate.
References
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0