"Dead Man's Shoes" is episode 83 of the American television
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...
''
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...
'', and is the 18th episode of the third season. It was written by past series contributor
Charles Beaumont
Charles Beaumont (January 2, 1929 – February 21, 1967) was an American author of speculative fiction, including short stories in the horror and science fiction subgenres.Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, "Beaumont, Charles" in David Pringle, ed., '' ...
, and was originally aired on January 19, 1962 on
CBS.
Opening narration
Plot
A homeless man, Nate Bledsoe, snatches a pair of shoes from Dane, the target of a mob hit dumped in an alley. Two of his homeless associates try to con him out of the plainly expensive shoes, to no avail. Wearing the shoes infuses him with the personality and memories of the victim, and he continues his life as Dane.
Nate stops by the home of Dane's girlfriend, who recognizes his manner but remains confused by his appearance. Nate then goes to a bar to confront Dagget, the boss who had him killed. Dagget is at first unsettled, but then realizes who Nate is and has him gunned down. Before he dies, he promises, "I'll be back, Bernie, and I'll keep coming back… again, and again, and I'll get you." The body is dumped in the same place as the original victim. A homeless man finds the corpse, takes the shoes, puts them on and the cycle begins anew.
Closing narration
Cast
*
Warren Stevens
Warren Albert Stevens (November 2, 1919 – March 27, 2012) was an American stage, screen, and television actor.
Early life and career
Born in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, Stevens entered the United States Naval Academy in 1937 but was medical ...
as Nate Bledsoe
*
Richard Devon as Dagget
*
Joan Marshall
Joan Marshall (born Joan Schrepfermann; June 6, 1931 – June 28, 1992) was an American film and television actress. She is best known for her appearances in ''The Twilight Zone's'' " Dead Man's Shoes", and ''Star Trek's'' "Court Martial".
...
as Wilma
*
Ben Wright as Chips
* Harry Swoger as Sam
*
Ron Hagerthy as Ben
*
Florence Marly
Florence Marly (2 June 1919 – 9 November 1978) was a Czech-born French film actress. During World War II, Marly moved to neutral Argentina with her Jewish husband, film director Pierre Chenal, where she appeared in several films. She also acted ...
as Dagget's girlfriend
Production
The soundtrack uses recycled music from a previous episode,
"The Fever".
Remakes
The episode was remade in the
1985 revival as "
Dead Woman's Shoes" and in the
2002 revival as "Dead Man's Eyes". This makes it the only original episode to be remade in two of the revival series.
References
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media.
*Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing.
External links
*
{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
1962 American television episodes
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 3) episodes
Television shows written by Charles Beaumont
Television episodes about spirit possession