[Eerie music]
(Male presenter, off) There is a fifth dimension beyond tha t which is known to man.
It is a dimension as fastas space and as timelessas infinity.
It is the middle ground between lightand shadovll,
between science and s upers tit/on,
and it lies between the pit of man's fears,
and the summit of his knowledge.
This is the dimension of ima Gina tion.
It is anarea which we call the twilight zone.
[People laughing]
Let's see you pay for your drink
in your own inimitable fashion, huh?
A song, denton.
How about it?
5 how dry I... 5
come on now. Come on, denton.
Get up.
Come on, denton.
5 how dry I am j
fl howdryiamfl
Charlie, can't you break that up?
Fl nobodyknows fl
I don't like it any more than you do.
The misery they give that guy out there.
5 how dry I am j
fl nobody cares fl
fl howdryiamfl
[people laughing]
[Smash]
[People laughing]
Come on, let's go in and have some music, men.
[Men laughing and whooping]
(Male presenter, off) Portrait of a town drunk named al denton.
This is a man who's begun his dying Earl y.
A long, agonizing route through a maze of bottles.
Al den ton, who would probabl y give
anarm or a leg or a part of his soul
to ha ve another chance. To be able to rise up
and shake the dirt from his body
and the bad dreams tha t infes t his consciousness.
In the parlance of the times, this is a peddler.
A ra ther fanciful -I ooking little man
ina black frock coa t.
And this is the third principal character of our s Tory.
Its function,
perhaps to give Mr. Al denton his second chance.
How you doing, al?
How do, miss Smith?
You packing a gun now?
This isn't mine.
I found it right over there.
Somebody must have dropped it.
You were pretty good with a gun in your day, weren't you?
Tha t wasa long time ago, miss Smith.
Well, you know something?
This is the first time I've held a gun since...
I can't remember how long it's been.
Too much of that, isn't it?
Yep.
Why, al?
Why do you have to drink so much?
I really don't know.
I just got the habit one day and kept to it.
[All talking at once]
Wait a minute, boys.
Here we go again, fellas.
Let's hear our little songbird.
Hey, denton!
(Whistles)
(Dan) Three ohoruses of ”how dry iam. ”
Let's hear it!
Al, don't do it.
He'll give me a drink, miss Smith.
The devil with him. I can give you one, too,
and you won't have to do that for it.
5 how dry I am j
fl howdry/amfl
fl nobody knows fl
3 how dryijj
(Dan) All right.
Come on, rumm y. Go on and get your drink
you been a good boy.
Wait a minute, denton.
Hey, gunner!
(Chuckles) Hey! Where did you get the artillery?
I... found it
I found it right over there in the street.
Is that a fact?
(Dan) Hey.
Bet it's a long time since you used one of those, huh, rummy?
Yeah. A long time.
Maybe you could use it now.
Yeah. Maybe you could even outdraw me.
No, I wouldn't know how to use it anymore.
Well, le t's see you try.
Come on. You and me will draw.
(Miss Smith) All right, cut it out. I t's no t f unn yan ymore.
Get away, Liz. We're having a showdown here.
Come on, gunner.
Dan, stop it!
Dan, Liz is right.
Go on back to the bar.
Can't you see we got private business here?
Listen, Dan.
Come on.
Come on out here.
Come on, rummy.
Come on!
(Dan) I'm going to give you a break, rumm y.
I'm going to do it left-handed.
Miss Smith, tell him.
Please tell him.
Please, miss Smith. Explain to him...
Miss Smith, please tell him it was an accident.
I don't want any trouble. Mr. Hotaling.
(Charlie) That was shooting, al!
Come in and get a drink. It's on the house.
(Charlie) Did you get your eye back, al?
You been practicing or something?
I ain't seen shooting like that. Since I don't know when.
Against hotaling too.
(Ai) It isn't even mine.
(Charlie) Drinks on the house!
Hey, rummy!
Face me, denton!
It was an accident, Mr. Hotaling.
I'm gonna get this right in your stomach.
Dan, give him a break.
I didn't mean to...
(Al) I didn't even mean to...
I didn't even mean to...
Mr. Denton, maybe you'd let us buy you a drink.
What did you call me?
Uh, I didn't mean no offense.
I just asked you what you called me.
Nothing. Nothing, Mr. Denton.
I didn't call you anything.
That's what you called me.
Mr. Denton.
He called me mister, Charlie.
Here you are, al.
(Al) No, thanks.
I've had enough.
I think I'll go out and get a shave.
And don't call me rummy anymore!
Al?
I think everything's going to beall right now
understand?
Charlie says you're as good with a gun now as you ever were.
That's what Charlie says, huh?
I was good.
I was real good.
I was so good that, once a day
someone would ride into town
to make me prove it.
And every morning
I'd start my drinking a few minutes earlier
until one morning
the guy who asked me to prove it
turned out to be 16 years old.
I left him there on his face
right there in front of the saloon.
(Al) I left him there, bleeding to DEA th
with my bullet in him.
I guess it'll start all over again now.
Every fast and fancy man who owns a gun
will come riding in down that street.
Only this time, it'll be me face down
bleeding to death.
I think I'll go in and get a shave.
I want to look proper on the day I die.
A tall man. Doesn't usually wear his gun.
Blond hair.
Who does that describe?
It describes a man named al denton.
He supposed to be top gun here. Would that be you?
That would be me.
(Messenger) I gota message for you, denton,
coming from Pete Grant.
Well, let's hear the message.
He'll be in town tomorrow night at 10:00.
He'll meet you over in the saloon.
[Suspense music]
You tell him,
you tell him there's no call.
Tell Mr. Grant I'll be there tomorrow night.
I'll wait for his pleasure.
It's just what it'll be.
[Horses riding away]
It didn't take any time at all.
Just time enough for one shave.
[Metallic rattling]
Evening, Mr. Denton.
I can't use anything.
How's that?
I can't use anything.
You're a peddler, aren't you?
Oh, yes. Dealer in everything.
Utensils, herbs, medicine, liniments and tonics.
Farm implements, clothing,
and po tions.
Oh, yes. Potions.
Kind of a sideline, you might say.
Fate's the name. Henry j. Fate.
And you're al denton.
And you're running away.
You shouldn't, you know.
You shouldn't run away.
I shouldn't.
Yeah. I guess you're right.
I shouldn't run away.
I should stay here and get shot to death.
I guess that's what I should do.
Curse this thing.
Curse the moment I found it.
(Henry) No, no, no.
Don't curse it, Mr. Den ton.
Use it.
Here.
This is one of my potions.
You might call it that, or an elixir.
Either way, it'll help solve
your problem, Mr. Den ton.
I call tha t my fast gun de vel oper.
Man who drinks tha t becomes the fastest of the fast.
You'll beable to shoota hole
through a sil ver dollar in mid-air
a ta hundred feet or better without even aiming.
It's guaranteed to last for ten seconds.
Ten seconds?
And after that?
Well, after that, the user's on his own.
Here. Try it.
Well, test the merchandise, so to speak.
Go ahead.
Proof of the pudding.
Go ahead.
Drink it.
There's your target, Mr. Denton.
Go ahead. Draw on it.
Draw on it!
[Gunshofl
six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
There you go, Mr. Den ton.
Now tha t gun probabl y wouldn't be any more use to you
thana bottle would be toa bull. Here.
Drink this two seconds after 10:00 in the night.
Just at the moment Mr. Grant walks into the saloon.
How much do I owe you?
Oh, there's no charge for this.
You might call this... Just a service.
That's what it is.
Just a service of Henry j. Fate
just so you might remember sometime
the night fate stepped in.
[Ticking]
You want a drink, al?
How about you, doc?
[Suspense music]
That would be Grant.
[Suspense music]
You denton?
That's right.
I hear you're supposed to be fast.
You got a good chance to find out.
Iaim to.
(Grant) Step away from the bar, please, Mr. Denton.
And draw.
This is a push, boys.
No winner.
Yeah, you won't be shooting anymore with that hand, al.
Not anymore.
Couple of fingers are going to be stiff, too.
But that don't make any difference.
The way you stood up there,
that will be something to tell your grandchildren about.
And the way it looks now, you'll live to have some.
Just like me.
You'll never be able
to fire a gun again in anger.
You're blessed, son.
We've both been blessed.
He's lucky.
He learned it early.
Did you get him, Pete?
No more than he got me.
Mr. Henr y fa te.
Dealer in u tens/ls and pots and pans
lin/men ts and po tions.
A fanciful little man ina black frock coa t
who can helpa man climbing out of a pit
or another man from falling into one.
Because, you see, fa te can work tha t way
in the twil igh t zone.
(Male presenter, off) Rod serl lng, the crea Tor of twilight zone
will tell you about next week's s Tor y
after this word from our sponsor.
And noi/I/, Mr. Serl/ng.
This motion picture projector and this film
provide a background on next week's story
when a most distinguished actress takes a journey into the twilight zone.
Ida lupino stars in the 16' mill/meter shrine,
a haunting story of a haunted woman
that I think you'll find interesting and perhaps shocking.
We hope you'll join us then. Thank you and good night.
(Male presenter, off) Be sure to see the fun filled famil ylife
of one of america's grea test enter tainers, the Danny Thomas show
monda y nights over mos t of these s ta tions.
(Male presenter, off) Bought to you tonight by the coffee with the best of the coffee beans
aroma, fla vor, but not caffeine.
New aroma -roa s t sa nka coffee.
I shouldn't, well, just another little piece.
Girls, girls, let's discuss our benefit party.
Well, I love bridge... oh, dear!
Girls, I shouldn't have used those paper napkins
they always slide off your lap.
Pardon this intrusion, ladies.
Oh, he has such darling manners, the Butler.
Madam, this occasion calls for kleenex table napkins.
The napkins of quality that won't slide off your lap.
Well, I ook! They do cling like cloth.
And notice, madam, kleenex table napkins
now come in a new table server box,
just fold ba ck in the center,
and you get two napkin servers, one to keep on the table,
and the other in reserve.
Wha ta smart idea!
Hm, and they're so soft.
I hate that scratchy kind.
Girls, kleenex table napkins really do
cling like cloth.