Exploring The Twilight Zone, Episode #72: "The Grave"

In the historic Old West, the young yet still grizzled Lee Marvin must face his own fears, enter a cemetery on a wind-swept hill, and prove that the dead remain dead, that they don't, they can't, reach out and grab you from the beyond ...

The Twilight Zone, Episode #72: "The Grave" (original air date October 27, 1961)

The Plot: Pinto Sykes strides into town and is promptly shot down by multiple gunmen. His body is dragged into the local jail. The gunmen appear relieved. Pinto, a local boy gone bad, is finally dead.

Bounty hunter Conny Miller (Lee Marvin) returns that evening. A local known for his quick draw, he was hired to hunt down the fugitive Pinto, but, according to the talkative Mothershed (Strother Martin), the townspeople grew tired of waiting for results and took it into their own hands to do the shooting, urged on by a new Marshal. But, Mothershed says, on his deathbed Pinto vowed that he would reach out from his grave and grab Conny.

Goaded on by a bet made by the mocking Johnny Rob (James Best), Conny must prove he is not afraid by sticking his knife into Pinto's grave, a condition imposed by gambler Steinhart (Lee Van Cleef). Pinto's spooky sister Ione (Elen Willard) stops by to fuel the unease.

The Goods: Just a couple of days ago, I wrote about Marvin's thunderous performance in the great Emperor of the North, so it was a pleasure to rewind another decade or so and watch the man at work pre-stardom. He gives good glare; his steely-eyed gaze is ideal for a multitude of TV close-ups, and he's supported here by a very strong cast of Western veterans (Martin, Best, Van Cleef).

The episode, written and directed by Montgomery Pittman, is a fine ghost story, and the performances are enjoyable, but it lacks that special charge that comes from truly unexpected twists or situations that chill the blood. Maybe it's just me, but this one didn't "grab" me as much as I hoped it would.

It feels entirely too predictable. Maybe that's a product of watching the episode in early September, rather than viewing it closer to Halloween, the time when it originally aired.

The Trivia: Marvin appeared in another TZ episode in Season 5. While he's a tough but good guy here, he would menace James Stewart (and get killed) in another Western, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, that came out about six months later.

Pittman wrote and directed two other TZ episodes: "Two," the one with Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery as the last two soldiers after an apocalyptic war, which kicked off Season 3, and "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank," which comes up later in the season. He began by directing an episode in Season 2 (the kooky "Will the Real Martin Please Stand Up?"). Sadly, he succumbed to cancer less than a year after our episode, in June 1962.

On the Next Episode: Oooh, it's a good one, kids! In my memory, it's one of my favorite episodes, so I truly hope it holds up: "On an isolated family farm, a young boy with vast mental powers, but lacking emotional development, holds his terrified family in thrall to his every juvenile wish."

Catching up: Episodes covered by Twitch | Episodes covered by Film School Rejects

We're running through all 156 of the original Twilight Zone episodes, and we're not doing it alone! Our friends at Film School Rejects have entered the Zone as well, only on alternating weeks. So definitely tune in over at FSR and feel free to also follow along on Twitter accounts @ScreenAnarhcy and @rejectnation.