"The Purple Testament"

William Reynolds as the doomed Lt. Fitzgerald sees death in his own reflection.

"The Purple Testament"

Season One, Episode 19

Original Air Date: February 12, 1960

Cast:

Lt. Fitzgerald: William Reynolds

Capt. Riker: Dick York

Capt. Gunther: Barney Phillips

Colonel: S. John Launer

Smitty: Michael Vandever
Sergeant: William Phipps

Driver of Jeep: Warren Oates
Orderly: Paul Mazursky
Freeman: Marc Cavell
Harmonica Player: Ron Masak

Crew:

Writer: Rod Serling

Director: Richard L. Bare

Producer: Buck Houghton
Production Manager: Ralph W. Nelson

Director of Photography: George T. Clemens
Art Direction: George W. Davis and William Ferrari
Set Decoration: Rudy Butler and Henry Grace
Assistant Director: Edward Denault
Casting: Mildred Gusse
Editor: Bill Mosher
Sound: Franklin Milton and Jean Valentino 

Music: Lucien Morawack (composer) & Lud Gluskin (conductor)

And Now, Mr. Serling:

"Next week we show you the face of war, but the kind of portrait we venture to say you've never seen before. Dick York and William Reynolds star in 'The Purple Testament,' the story of a man who can forecast death. That's next week on The Twilight Zone, 'The Purple Testament.' We hope you'll join us. Thank you and goodnight."

Rod Serling's Opening Narration:

"Infantry platoon, U.S. Army, Philippine Islands, 1945. These are the faces of the young men who fight; as if some omniscient painter had mixed a tube of oils that were at one time earth brown, dust gray, blood red, beard black, and fear yellow-white. And these men were the models. For this is the province of combat and these are the faces of war."

Summary:

                Lt. Fitzgerald returns to base camp after a mission with an American platoon. He carries with him a list of soldiers injured and soldiers dead. Capt. Riker, Fitzgerald's superior and friend, notices that "Fitz," as Lt. Fitzgerald is known, has taken the casualties on this latest mission harder than he'd taken those from previous missions. When pressed about the issue, Fitz reveals a scrap of paper upon which are written four names, the four names of the soldiers lost in combat. When pressed, Fitz reveals that he'd written those names a day before the mission, that he'd known who would die. Riker scoffs at the idea that Fitz can foretell an individual's death. Fitz is unable to explain where the ability came from but describes it as a light on the face of the man marked for death. 

                Fearing that his lieutenant and friend may be cracking under the strain of the war, Riker informs the chief medical officer, Captain Gunther, of the situation. Gunther is as skeptical as Riker about the nature of Fitz's ability but believes that Fitz should be taken off active duty to undergo observation.

                While Riker and Gunther talk, Fitz is in the same hospital visiting an injured member of the platoon named Smitty. Before leaving the young man's bedside, Fitz sees the telling light on Smitty's face. This causes Fitz to temporarily black out. When he is awakened by an orderly, both men discover that Smitty has died.

                A confrontation ensues when Fitz goes downstairs and meets Riker and Gunther. Fitz, now obviously under terrible strain, tells the men that he saw the death warning on Smitty's face moments before the young soldier died. He implores the two men to believe him and storms off after sarcastically suggesting that his eyes be taped closed or plucked from his skull so that he won't have to look into any more faces.

                Fitz is allowed to remain on command for the following mission. Moments before departing a meeting with Riker, Fitz sees the death light on his superior's face. Though he tries to warn his friend, Riker won't hear of it and insists that when they return from the mission Fitz will see that it has all been a coincidence. Riker, however, takes a moment to leave behind his wedding band along with pictures of his wife and children. Outside, Fitz is nervously watched by the members of the platoon while he looks into their faces. One soldier can't bear it and begs Fitz to tell who will make it and who won't. Riker intervenes and attempts to dispel the rumors of Fitz's ability to foretell death. He puts it to Fitz to squash the rumors and, after a moment of contemplation, Fitz goes along with Riker and says that it's all a misunderstanding.

                The platoon returns a couple of hours later with only one casualty, Captain Riker. Fitz is notified that he has been granted a medical leave and is to pack his bags to report to headquarters. While gathering his gear, Fitz peers into a shaving mirror and sees the death light on his own face. At first terrified, Fitz accepts his fate and climbs into the transport vehicle with a young soldier. They are warned that the road is booby-trapped with mines. When the young driver tells Fitz that they have a four hour trip ahead of them, Fitz tells him that he doesn't think it will be that long.

                A short time later, while the men of the camp are getting some much needed rest and relaxation, they hear a thunderous explosion in the distance. Knowing it to be an explosion, such as the detonation of a mine, the men instead convince themselves that it is only thunder and go back to what they were doing.

Rod Serling's Closing Narration:

"From William Shakespeare, Richard the Third, a small excerpt. The line reads, 'He has come to open the purple testament of bleeding war.' And for Lieutenant Fitzgerald, A Company, First Platoon, the testament is closed. Lieutenant Fitzgerald has found The Twilight Zone."

The ghost light marks Smitty (Michael Vandever) for death.

Commentary:

                Rod Serling used his harrowing experiences with the 11th Airborne Division during WWII to color his writings on the theme of war. Although Richard Matheson, a fellow WWII veteran and author of an exceptional novel of the war, The Beardless Warriors (1960), penned the first war episode, "The Last Flight," and other series writers provided memorable episodes on the theme, the majority of the war-related episodes were penned by Rod Serling. Serling used war as a backdrop upon which to drop an element of fantasy to bring across the general point that war is hell and if it doesn't take a character's life outright, it drastically damages it. Serling's war episodes are character driven, often without the action set-pieces common to war stories and films. The battleground was a stage upon which the characters could act out the particular aspects of human drama that Serling wished to explore. "The Purple Testament" is a powerful meditation on the inevitable relationship between war and death, and was the first of many war episodes in which Serling displayed some of his strongest, character-driven writing.

                William Reynolds (b. 1931) gives an effective, melancholy performance in the lead as the tortured and doomed Lieutenant Fitzgerald. Reynolds worked steadily in films in the 1950s, a genre highlight of which was an appearance in The Land Unknown (1957), with many roles in westerns and police dramas, which largely remained his purview with a move to television in 1957. Reynolds's final work of note was a long-running role on the series The F.B.I. 
              Twilight Zone repeat performers Dick York (1928-1992) and Barney Phillips (1913-1982) give strong acting support, with York able to largely shed his innate quirkiness with a grave, gruff countenance. York later put his talent for quirky humor to great use on the second season episode "A Penny for Your Thoughts." Barney Phillips appeared in the second season episode "A Thing About Machines" and the fourth season episode "Miniature," but is undoubtedly best-remembered for his appearance in the second season episode "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" in which Phillips portrayed a fry cook who reveals himself to be an alien with a third eye. 

             "The Purple Testament" suffers from a thin premise and is mainly a collection of circular dialogue leading to an inevitable climax. Still, the dialogue, always the strongest aspect of Serling's scripts, is certainly evocative of character and elicits a strong emotional performance from the actors who, fortunately, possess the skill to bring it off. The simplicity of the premise actually works in the episode's favor as The Twilight Zone was always more interested in the effects of a fantasy element upon the characters than with overwrought explanations or scientific explorations of the fantasy element. The Twilight Zone was far more comfortable exploring the effect of something extraordinary upon an ordinary individual. The viewer is given a character they can relate to and a convincing reality then set up to watch both unravel in a strange and often terrifying way.

                Despite the use of stock footage for the brief battle sequences, Richard L. Bare's direction contains some superb camera shots, notably a 360 degree moving shot of Fitzgerald's point of view as he looks over the members of his platoon, and another of Fitzgerald gazing down at the broken remnants of his shaving mirror, each jagged shard reflecting his terrified reflection after seeing the sign of his own impending doom.

                Serling's other WWII themed episodes include the second season opener, "King Nine Will Not Return," and the third season's "A Quality of Mercy." Serling also tackled the Civil War in "The Passersby" and "Still Valley," the latter an adaptation of a Manly Wade Wellman's "The Valley Was Still," the Vietnam War in "In Praise of Pip," and several times explore the drama of a man-made doomsday, in "Time Enough At Last," based on the story by Lynn Venable, "The Shelter," and "The Old Man in the Cave," based on the story by Henry Slesar. It is interesting to note that actor Dean Stockwell was originally cast as Lieutenant Fitzgerald but pulled out of the episode, leaving the role open for William Reynolds. Stockwell returned to the series and put in an excellent performance in the third season episode "A Quality of Mercy," another WWII-themed character study scripted by Serling.

               An interesting story connected with this episode is that William Reynolds and director Richard L. Bare were involved in a plane crash on February 12, 1960, the original air date of "The Purple Testament." Flying back to Miami after filming the series pilot The Islander for MGM, the engines failed on a small passenger plane carrying five people. One passenger was killed while Bare, with two broken legs, and Reynolds, with a broken ankle and several broken ribs, swam on their backs four miles to safety. Reynolds later recounted that although Cayuga Productions agreed not to air the episode upon hearing of the plane crash, out of respect for Reynolds and Bare, as there was no word on survivors at that point, the episode aired as scheduled. The terrible irony had Reynolds not survived the crash would have been airing an episode in which he featured as a man who foresees his own death on the day of his actual death. As it happened, both Reynolds and Bare made a full recovery from their injuries.

                With "The Purple Testament," we begin to see Serling find a clear thematic niche for his scripts during a first season in which the series attempted virtually every type of fantasy story. As said before, others produced war-themed episodes for the series but this type of story on The Twilight Zone was truly the province of Rod Serling.

Grade: C

Notes:

-Dick York also starred in the second season episode "A Penny For Your Thoughts."

-Warren Oates also appeared in the fifth season episode "The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms."

-Barney Phillips appeared in three additional episodes, the second season's "A Thing About Machines" and "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" as well as the fourth season episode "Miniature."
-Serling erroneously attributes the line of Shakespeare in his closing narration to Richard III when it is actually taken from Richard II.

-“The Purple Testament” was adapted into a short story by Walter B. Gibson for Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone Revisited (Grosset & Dunlap, 1964). 
-"The Purple Testament" was adapted into a Twilight Zone Radio Drama starring Michael Rooker. 

--Jordan Prejean