{"id":103173,"date":"2021-04-22T14:25:41","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T19:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=103173"},"modified":"2021-04-22T14:28:54","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T19:28:54","slug":"the-twilight-zone-review-mr-garrity-and-the-graves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=103173","title":{"rendered":"The Twilight Zone Review: Mr. Garrity and The Graves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- RSR AD 1 --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"7759247395\" data-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=103173\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=103173\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-103174 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/The_Twilight_Zone_Mr_Garrity_and_the_Graves_TV-147318810-mmed-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/The_Twilight_Zone_Mr_Garrity_and_the_Graves_TV-147318810-mmed-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/The_Twilight_Zone_Mr_Garrity_and_the_Graves_TV-147318810-mmed.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a>By William Kozy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Garrity and the Graves\u201d is actually a pretty fun episode in the Twilight Zone pantheon. It might take a second to realize, \u201cOh gosh this is one of the comedic episodes\u201d because the ghostly supernatural element is so effective. But make no mistake, this is a comedy, and not a bad one at all. What I like about it, is that it holds up nicely upon repeated viewings because there are so many funny reaction shots of the great many characters, but they\u2019re not thrust in your face. You have to scan the TV screen and look for them, and when you rewatch it, you\u2019ll no doubt catch a performer\u2019s funny expression that you didn\u2019t notice the first time around. The episode received only 5 votes in my survey of fans and writers asking, \u2018What is your favorite episode of the original Twilight Zone series?\u2019 tying it with 7 other episodes for 117th thru 123rd place of the 156 episodes. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>I wonder why it didn\u2019t get more love, and I do have a theory, and it has to do with actor John Dehner\u2019s performance in the lead role as a charlatan who comes into a wild west town called Happiness, claiming to provide a certain miraculous service. He can bring the dead back from the grave. Now, while the rest of the cast doesn\u2019t exactly play things straight, they clearly give comic performances, and that\u2019s all right because they\u2019re funny, and the acting styles give nothing away as to the surprise twist ending. But because Dehner is so clearly showing us all his cards from the get-go, we absolutely know it\u2019s a ruse. Though Dehner\u2019s performance in this is widely applauded, I would have loved to see a performance that genuinely kept our suspicions at bay. But the actor was just too tempted to insert near-vaudevillian shtick into his characterization. That\u2019s too bad.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a complicated scam, that could have failed Garrity and his accomplice. How do you count on a dog to simulate being dead so convincingly? Wouldn\u2019t its breathing be very noticeable? And near the end, how on Earth did Garrity pull off the trick of making his accomplice disappear right in front of everyone\u2019s eyes? There\u2019s never even the slightest throwaway explanation. And where\u2019d Garrity get the fog machines from?<\/p>\n<p>Basically it works like this: Garrity comes into town and makes small talk with the bartender (Stanley Adams) and mentions that he\u2019s a conjurer who can bring back the dead. Our bartender drops a beer mug in shock (it won\u2019t be the last time he does that). Don\u2019t get me wrong about Dehner\u2014it\u2019s not a \u201cbad\u201d performance at all\u2014in fact it\u2019s full of panache. But it\u2019s as though he has studied the playbook on \u201cHow to Act Like a Con Man in a Comedy.\u201d His performance is akin to Harold Hill in \u201cThe Music Man.\u201d Word spreads about his claim and several of the town\u2019s men convene in the bar. It\u2019s quite a collection of accomplished comic character actors. Stanley Adams has a great handle bar mustache classic saloon bartender look, and in his fourth Twilight Zone appearance, J. Pat O\u2019Malley turns up the drunken slurs as high as they\u2019ll go, but the actor had great technique, and you can understand every word he says. Another fine performance is the town sheriff played by Norman Leavitt\u2014with his authoritative mask hiding his trepidation when he understands that a gunman he shot in the back would be returning from the graveyard up on Boot Hill. And then there\u2019s Percy Helton as Lapham with that indescribable, high raspy voice who\u2019d been on TV screens for ages playing pandering oddballs. See! And just now on what must be my 10th viewing or so while writing this essay, I saw a little gag I never noticed. After some kowtowing, Lapham announces, \u201cJensen give the sheriff a drink on me!\u201d The sheriff pats Lapham on the back as he bellies up to the bar saying, \u201cThat\u2019s real kind of you, Lapham.\u201d And who should insinuate himself in the generous act but O\u2019Malley\u2019s drunken Gooberman, saying \u201cReal kind of you\u201d as he squeezes in next to the two men.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the nice thing about director Ted Post\u2019s style here; he doesn\u2019t pop in close with a shot to highlight a gag. He lets them play out in wider shots, so our experience of them is more natural and the pace of the action doesn\u2019t stop and stutter. And the other thing that feels different about the shooting here by George T. Clemens is the use of close-ups. The episode will cut to a close-up of a face and there\u2019s just something about the timing and the expression on the performer that strikes me as loopily funny.<\/p>\n<p>Time for the dog trick. The men hear a commotion outside and they see a dog lying on the road behind a wagon. A man is kneeling beside and says the dog came out of nowhere (Pssst, that man is an accomplice). Garrity seizes the moment to show the townsfolk that he can indeed resurrect the dead. He has everyone turn away and he kneels down and starts muttering some mumbo jumbo. He\u2019s not very convincing at it but I think that\u2019s what\u2019s funny about it. Dehner does a funny impression of someone trying to imitate an incantation, but just didn\u2019t care much to get it completely realistic, so he mutters things like, \u201coooh dog\u2026\u201d And just like that, the dog springs to life and runs off. Now Garrity has established the foundation\u2014an example of resurrection. We cut to one man exclaiming in close-up \u201cIt\u2019s Devil\u2019s work!\u201d and then we cut to a woman also in close-up saying \u201cBlack magic is what it is!\u201d There\u2019s something amusing about her and she\u2019ll have an even better scene later in the episode, but I want to point out something puzzling; she\u2019s not listed in any of the credits on imdb or the Twilight Zone Companion. It\u2019s strange because she\u2019s got a bigger part than some others who do get listed.<\/p>\n<p>When we cut to each character asking about bringing back their supposed beloved ones, there is just enough trepidation as there is feigned hope. It\u2019s an interesting task and they all do it well, especially that uncredited actress. You see, the truth is, nobody in this town wants their \u201cloved\u201d ones to return because the 128 dead souls in the Boot Hill Cemetery all met their end violently during the course of Happiness\u2019s \u201cturbulent beginnings\u201d as the plaque points out to those who enter town. Garrity does his homework about these towns, he researches and learns the true stories behind how various people met their untimely deaths. So he knows already that the bartender\u2019s dead brother was a dishonest business partner, and that Gooberman\u2019s dead wife had broken his arm six times, and that our nameless uncredited lady\u2019s husband was a skinflint.<\/p>\n<p>So they all put on a false show of a happy expectations. Garrity eyes a portrait of Adams\u2019 brother on the wall behind the bar, and he comments that he\u2019ll be the first one coming down. Cue: Adams drops his shot glass. They all rush out into the road and see a stout man resembling Adams\u2019 brother limping toward them, enshrouded in fog. And then Adams comes out with the truth when he\u2019s alone with Garrity: his brother was a \u201clow down thieving skunk!\u201d He asks Garrity to return him to the grave, to which Garrity replies that it\u2019s a very difficult thing to do. Adams offers money, and Garrity ups the price, getting $750 out of Adams. Now I don\u2019t know many people who carry around $750 in their wallet in this day let alone in the year 1890. In fact, $750 in the 1890 wallet is the equivalent of carrying $21,676.98 in your 2021 wallet. But the pay-off works, and the brother\u2019s ghostly image fades away. Movie cameras were barely even invented at this point in history, so the con artists couldn\u2019t be projecting the image. It\u2019s another mistake that the episode miscalculates as being unnoticeable to viewers.<\/p>\n<p>Soon everybody is looking to pay off Garrity to cancel their loved one\u2019s resurrection, and they\u2019re all paying similar amounts. These are not rich looking people either. It\u2019s a bizarre misstep in the writing\u2019s research. No one would have that much money, and it doesn\u2019t really play as a funny joke. It just plays as poorly thought out. But the parade of townsfolk lining up to pay Garrity to reverse particular resurrections does play very funnily. I especially like the exchange between Garrity and the sheriff, who we can tell from his reactions most assuredly did NOT gun down Lightning Peterson in a fair gunfight. The sheriff submits to Garrity\u2019s $1200 price, swiftly slapping down his entire wallet and turning back toward the bar calling, \u201cJensen! A whole bottle please.\u201d He\u2019s simultaneously bummed at paying out that much money and relieved to death that he won\u2019t have to face the gunfighter looking for revenge.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s definitely a heartless cruelty to Garrity the way he just downright relishes taking these huge amounts of money from the people, even the ones who seem so desperate and weren\u2019t killers, like our uncredited actress. Well, who knows, maybe she did kill her \u201cscrawny\u201d \u201cgimlet-eyed\u201d husband Ephraim Perkins. I suppose that\u2019s one message the episode offers: we believe the living\u2019s claim to missing their departed because they sound so effusive about it, but they can afford to pour on the emotion since there\u2019s no chance that Death will step in and say, \u201cOh gee, if I knew you\u2019d feel that badly I wouldn\u2019t have claimed his soul. Here you can have him back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Garrity, his dog, and the accomplice meet up by the cemetery and plan to head to Tucson for their next con. Garrity bids a sarcastic adieu to the denizens of Boot Hill Cemetery, apologizing for not being able to bring them back. He leaves in his carriage, and then some creepy music not unlike the TZ theme rises up, and with it, the corpses in the graveyard. The characters plod forward, heading to town, and announce they eagerness to carry on with their mayhem. It\u2019s a great, whimsically spooky shot.<\/p>\n<p>One of the risen is Zelda Gooberman, played by Kate Murtagh, the only woman listed in the cast. Many folks helping me find out who the uncredited actress is, offered up Kate\u2019s name but of course, she\u2019s the wrong one. I suppose the Twilight Zone will take to the grave, the secret identity of the uncredited actress playing Ephraim Perkins former wife.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #808000;\"><em><strong>Here lies my rating for this episode: a 7.1. R.I.P.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>[si-contact-form form=&#8217;2&#8242;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By William Kozy \u201cMr. Garrity and the Graves\u201d is actually a pretty fun episode in the Twilight Zone pantheon. It might take a second to realize, \u201cOh gosh this is one of the comedic episodes\u201d because the ghostly supernatural element is so effective. But make no mistake, this is a comedy, and not a bad [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26376],"class_list":["post-103173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-the-twilight-zone-review-mr-garrity-and-the-graves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103173"}],"version-history":[{"count":-2,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}