One for the Angels

"One for the Angels"
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 2
Directed by	Robert Parrish
Written by	Rod Serling
Featured music	Stock (mostly from Bernard Herrmann's "Outer Space Suite")
Cinematography by	Joseph La Shelle
Production code	173-3608
Original air date	October 9, 1959
Guest actors
Ed Wynn Murray Hamilton

"One for the Angels" is episode two of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on October 9, 1959 on CBS.

Plot summary

A sidewalk pitchman named Lou Bookman makes a living selling toys, notions, and trinkets. All the children in the neighborhood enjoy this gentle, kindly man. One summer day, Mr. Bookman is accosted by Death and told that he is to die at midnight. Lou argues that his life's work as a pitchman is not quite complete, and convinces Mr. Death to give him enough time to give one last, great sales pitch—"one for the angels" as Lou puts it. Once Mr. Death agrees, Bookman announces his intention to quit his profession and find another line of work.

Proud of having outsmarted Mr. Death and now virtually assured of immortality, Lou is informed by Mr. Death that other arrangements must now be made, that someone else will have to take his place. Mr. Death chooses a little girl, one of Lou's good friends who lives in the same building. When she is hit by a truck Lou immediately offers to go with Mr. Death but is told it is too late.

Later that night, as the girl lies comatose, Death comes to claim her. Bookman pleads with Mr. Death to take him instead, despite their agreement. Mr. Death is adamant; a deal is a deal. He must be in the little girl's room at midnight to take her. As the appointed time nears, Bookman distracts Death by beginning a sales pitch. Bookman describes the wonders of his wares so well that Mr. Death is enticed into purchasing everything. Mr. Death is enthralled with Lou's eloquence, and he forgets to claim the girl's life. The town clock tower tolls midnight before Death realizes that he's missed his appointment. The little girl will live.

In making this marvelous pitch, one so compelling that even Death himself was moved—"a pitch for the angels"—Bookman has willingly sacrificed his own life to save that of his friend, thus fulfilling his original agreement. Before leaving with Death, Bookman packs up his suitcase on legs containing his wares, hopefully remarking, "You never know who might need something up there." He repeats, with a note of uncertainty, "Up there?" Mr. Death smiles, "Up there, Mr. Bookman. You made it."

Rod Serling, in his summation, notes that while Lou Bookman lived a very ordinary life as lives go, he was "...throughout his life a man beloved by the children and, therefore, a most important man."

Cast

• Ed Wynn as Lou Bookman
• Murray Hamilton as Death

Quotations

Opening narration

Street scene: Summer. The present. Man on a sidewalk named Lou Bookman, age sixtyish. Occupation: pitchman. Lou Bookman, a fixture of the summer, a rather minor component to a hot July, a nondescript, commonplace little man whose life is a treadmill built out of sidewalks. And in just a moment, Lou Bookman will have to concern himself with survival – because as of three o'clock this hot July afternoon, he'll be stalked by Mr. Death.

Closing narration

Louis J. Bookman, age sixtyish. Occupation: pitchman. Formerly a fixture of the summer, formerly a rather minor component to a hot July. But, throughout his life, a man beloved by the children, and therefore, a most important man. Couldn't happen, you say? Probably not in most places – but it did happen in the Twilight Zone.

Further reading

• Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
• 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
• Sander, Gordon F. Serling: the rise and twilight of television's last angry man. New York: Penguin Books, 1992. ISBN 0-525-93550-9

External links

• "One for the Angels" at IMDb
• episode at TV.com