"Of Late I Think of Cliffordville"

"Of Late I Think of Cliffordville"

A wealthy businessman (Albert Salmi) strikes a deal with Satan and relives his past.

Stars Albert Salmi, Julie Newmar.
Original air date: April 11, 1963.

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This is a good episode. Julie Newmar was good as Ms. Devlin, and I liked seeing Albert Salmi get what he deserved at the end.

"7" Perhaps I rated this a little low but I should give it some more chances just like Printer's Devil. I guess it's a thing I have with some hour longs.

Leen

Can anyone figure out how one scene is accomplished? Feathersmith leaves Devlin's office, turns around as if he wants to go back to ask a question, and sees that the office no longer exists. It's one continuous shot, and it appears seamless.

I would guess the same way they did the scene in "A World of Difference": they had the wall on wheels and another one ready off camera to move into its place when the camera moved away. They would have had to have done it a lot quicker, though.

From the Associated Press, courtesy of AOL:

LOS ANGELES (Nov. 6) - James Belushi has sued his next-door neighbor, actress Julie Newmar, accusing her of a "campaign of harassment" to drive him from his home.

In a lawsuit filed Nov. 2, the 50-year-old actor claims Newmar vandalized his estate by destroying a fence and landscaping. He also contends she bad-mouthed him to neighbors and friends, spied on his family and caused a nuisance by playing loud music directed at his backyard.

"Newmar has engaged in a malicious and premeditated campaign to prevent and destroy Belushi's quiet peace," the suit says.

A telephone number for Newmar, who played Catwoman in the 1960s television series "Batman," was not immediately available. A call to Belushi's lawyers was not returned Saturday night.

The suit seeks an injunction against the actress as well as damages of at least $4 million plus attorneys' fees, saying her actions caused emotional distress and harmed Belushi's reputation and career.

Did Belushi also claim that Newmar gored him with her horns?

This one is usually in my top ten. Just love seeing a villain like Feathersmith get his. Oh, and I loved the scene in the bar where John Anderson and the other banker are making fun of him and Anderson's character says something like, "what was that name again, Featherhead?" and they laughed. That just kills me every time...

It's definitely worth reading Malcolm Jameson's (any relation to Walter?) "Blind Alley" for contrast. Zicree mentions the key difference in endings: Jameson's Jack Feathersmith (not William) never mentioned anything about either being or looking young in his deal, so he just dies an old man in Cliffordsville (notice the S in the name that Jameson gave the town).

Jameson's Feathersmith is smart enough not to buy the oil-rich property, knowing the oil can't yet be reached. For the most part, the story is devoted to showing how primitive the past is, and how Feathersmith has trouble adjusting to the absence of modern niceties that he took for granted in the present.

I'm particularly intrigued by the evolution of Jameson's supporting characters into Rod's. "Hecate" is recognizable from Greek mythology as a sorceress whose name is pronounced "HECK-uh-tee." Jameson featured her as Satan's "Girl Friday" through whom Feathersmith must go before speaking with the Big Guy. Satan and Madame Hecate are presented as a modern businessman and receptionist. Rod combined the two into Miss Devlin and created the janitor that doesn't exist in "Blind Alley." He used the "Hecate" name for the janitor but changed the pronunciation to "HECK-it."

***SPOILERS***



Very interesting. Thanks, Dan. One of the things I don't like about this episode is that Hecate pretty much turns into an old devil himself: He's almost as bad at the end as the original Feathersmith was, making me wonder what was the point of the whole thing. Another thing I don't like is that Serling was so eager to use someone as a mouthpiece for his moral indignation towards Feathersmith that he was even willing to use a demon (Miss Devlin) for that purpose. Another thing I don't like is that there are a lot of boring parts. I could go on. In fact, this is my least favorite episode of Season 4.

It makes me wonder as well and if I had my way I'd have had Hecate make a similar deal with Miss Devlin and return Feathersmith back to his tycoon status a lot wiser and with more of a conscience.

Excellent suggestion, TS. I agree. There's certainly no shortage of boring or irritating parts that they could have cut out to add the additional plot developments.

Excellent suggestion, TS. I agree. There's certainly no shortage of boring or irritating parts that they could have cut out to add the additional plot developments.

I could see Hecate in Miss Devlin's office doing that thing with his right ear. "Hecate: Let's talk turkey, shall we Miss Devlin?" "Miss Devlin: Oh we'll do precisely that Mr. Hecate.......AND STOP DOING THAT THING WITH YOU EAR!!!" In all seriousness, John Anderson was good in this too "Something you ate Mr. Feathersmith? Like.....crow?"

i agree.. hecate was a nice guy and i didn't like the fact that he changes because he trades places with feathersmith. just because you are rich does not mean you have to turn into a horrible person.

i did not like the scene where feathersmith is trying to get anyone to help him with his get rich schemes. the dialog is exactly from the previous scene where feathersmith is trying to get the mechanics to build a starter. visually the scene is good with the weird camera angles, but otherwise it just was a retread of the previous scene.

since i am rewatching the series from beginning to end, i noticed in the scene where feathersmith and ms devlin are talking in cliffordville (near the end of the episode) the crates that are in the scene were the crates used in 'the new exhibit' to move the wax figures to the senescu house.

-ag

adamgrant wrote:

Good thing Leen didn't use them in her Caption game! Good eye, Adam!

i love Julie Newmar in this episode she sooo sexy

3
This is one of those eps that was good the first time I watched it but became lamer with each subsequent viewing.

My dad loves this episode even today--he's a fan of irony--and he saw TZ the first time around.

Like Beev and others have pointed out, this one stalls more than its season 4 brethren, and the ending is a blue-ribbon headshaker.

Since "Devlin" is a common enough surname, I wondered whether, just by coincidence, there might really be a Devlin's Travel Service. Lo and behold, a Web search uncovered a Devlin Travel in Springfield, Missouri:

http://x.devlintours.com/index.php

This was also the last name of Cary Grant's character in Hitch's "Notorious." I always thought this interesting.

Devlin is an Irish name that, as Dan says, is pretty common. According to a limited, non-random sample taken from the 1990 Census that is probably "good enough for government work," Devlin is approximately the 3284th most common last name in the U.S., and about 58.143% of the U.S. population has last names that are as common or more common than Devlin. The sample probably understates the commonness of European names of non-English origin.

To look up other last names, see http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/namesearch.html or www.placesnamed.com (yes, last names are included here for some reason). I regret it if this is more than anyone here wanted to know.

Did I mention that I don't care for Julie Newmar's performance in this at all? Her accent sounded so sexy in "Batman" when she played the Catwoman, but here she sounds like she's stumbling over the words.

Even so I still say using that name is no accident.

Yeah, it's probably symbolic of something about Cary Grant's character, I would imagine. I haven't seen the movie yet, though!

Yeah so what else is new?

You know you need to a have a little movie marathon that lasts until you see all of the movies we recommend, Mister!

I watched this one again today. In the past, this episode left a rancid aftertaste in my mouth. Now, I'm ambivalent.

Yeah so what else is new?

You know you need to a have a little movie marathon that lasts until you see all of the movies we recommend, Mister!

LOL again. Off-topic, but I saw the last half to two-thirds of this one (Notorious) on TCM. I liked it, but still don't know whether "Devlin" was symbolic of anything about Grant's character.

The second-worst episode of the 4th season; beaten out only by Mute.

I believe you once had that the other way around, MBO. Did this one grow on you a little, or did "Mute" "shrink" a little? Just curious!

Fixed it for 'ya

My primary difficulty with this episode is with the way Feathersmith speaks. Not only is he annoying, his voice (which sounds to me like he's trying to talk with pebbles in his mouth) is a bit like fingernails on a blackboard to me.

How about his laugh when he's back in Cliffordville having a drink with Gibbons and Diedrich?

Yeah, that too.

http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/1280/2003...35492766_rs.jpg

Did you just add that pic in?

Yep. Felt it fit there.

Back in those days, were buildings constructed without a 13th floor?

If so, that might suggest that Feathersmith's little business dealing DID occur in the Twilight Zone.

I heard this is still a common practice.

I know.

That's why I've yet to see a Gate 13 at an airport or a row 13 on an airplane or in an auditorium.

From "The Jungle":

"A multi-billion dollar corporation run by witches, warlocks, in a forty-story building that doesn't even have a thirteenth floor."

I was eventually going to comment on this in the Radio Dramas thread, but that adaptation adds a line for Feathersmith to the effect that his own building doesn't have a 13th floor.

Three more thoughts hit me:

Who the hell (pun intended) makes an offer AFTER the contract has been signed?

and

Wouldn't the soil test on the 1400-acre Widow Turner's land that Feathersmith was babbling about take more than half a day, considering the year was 1910?

and

Toward the end, couldn't Feathersmith have kept one of the deeds and offered the other one to Hecate to get the forty dollars he needed?

Which offer do you mean?

I've wondered how Feathersmith managed to hire geologists, or even contact them, apparently without paying them. For that matter, he had to make $9.14 cover all expenses aside from buying the land.

Miss Devlin said she could sweeten the pot for Feathersmith, fixing him up with Gibbons's daughter.

Miss Devlin said she could sweeten the pot for Feathersmith, fixing him up with Gibbons's daughter.

Some offer huh? Near the end she asks if that was all he wanted, to be sent back, I wonder if he asked would she have restored him? And did he have a memory of his "other" past? Also, I would've thought that Hecate would've remembered Feathersmith from there previous encounter. Interesting thoughts

This post has been edited by TZFAN on November 13, 2005 05:22 pm