TZPT127 Quality of Mercy
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This is the transcript of The Twilight Zone Podcast for deaf or hard of hearing fans of The Twilight Zone. I hope it will be of some. Please bear in mind that these notes are made for me to riff on and read from, so the style and cadence may be different from if they were written for an article, and much as I've tried to clean them up they may be rough round the edges in places. Best Wishes – Tom Elliot A Quality of Mercy Introduction: When tonight's Twilight Zone begins there is a date flashed up on the screen. It might seem like a small thing, but I'm trying to recall when the show has been so specific, so.... intent on making sure that you know the date that the story takes place on. Of course there have been times when a date has been specifically given to the audience in some way, the death of Lincoln comes to mind. But this time, it's right there, from the moment the episode begins. The date is, August 6th 1945. But why is that significant? Well lets turn to the BBC news for that date, and see why that date lives in infamy: The first atomic bomb has been dropped by a United States aircraft on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. President Harry S Truman, announcing the news from the cruiser, USS Augusta, in the mid-Atlantic, said the device was more than 2,000 times more powerful than the largest bomb used to date. An accurate assessment of the damage caused has so far been impossible due to a huge cloud of impenetrable dust covering the target. Hiroshima is one of the chief supply depots for the Japanese army. The bomb was dropped from an American B-29 Superfortress, known as Enola Gay, at 0815 local time. The plane's crew say they saw a column of smoke rising and intense fires springing up. The President said the atomic bomb heralded the "harnessing of the basic power of the universe". It also marked a victory over the Germans in the race to be first to develop a weapon using atomic energy. President Truman went on to warn the Japanese the Allies would completely destroy their capacity to make war. The Potsdam declaration issued 10 days ago, which called for the unconditional surrender of Japan, was a last chance for the country to avoid utter destruction, the President said. "If they do not now accept our terms they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the like of which has never been seen on Earth. Behind this air attack will follow by sea and land forces in such number and power as they have not yet seen, but with fighting skill of which they are already aware." Meet our cast of characters. A war weary band of American soldiers on an island in the Phillipines. Surrounding a cave occupied by Japanese soldiers. But far from being hungry for battle, the Americans would sooner let them be... CLIP: 02:17 Soldier: You don't think they'd expect us to go at that frontally do you? Sgt Causarano: Well, when two air strikes and an afternoon of lobbing shells doesn't accomplish anything you'd better start counting your cartridges, coz we are the bottom of the barrel. I mean when they can't move an enemy with the big stuff, that's when they call out the queen of battle, the ever loving infantry. Soldier: What do you think? Month? More? Less? Sgt Causarano: No no no. We got em ringed. They're finished on Okinawa, the trouble with these little bandy legged buzzards is they just don't know when to quit. Look at em. They're in there holed up in that cave, beaten sick, starved. And yet there's no-one in there to tell them that the war's over for them. Those poor guys. So, rather than creating an episode where the president mulled over the moral implications of dropping nuclear bombs on Japan – which I imagine Rod Serling could have done very well – this time, Serling once again tells the story from the perspective that he had an intimate knowledge of - the soldier with their boots on the ground. While the people in suits all shuffle their papers and decide when they press that big red button, the soldiers are still living and dying on the battlefield. Tonight's Twilight Zone: A Quality of Mercy. OPENING NARRATION – “It’s August, 1945, the last grimy pages of a dirty, torn book of war. The place is the Philippine Islands. The men are what’s left of a platoon of American infantry, whose dulled and tired eyes set deep in dulled and tired faces can now look toward a miracle, that moment when the nightmare appears to be coming to an end. But they’ve got one more battle to fight, and in a moment we’ll observe that battle. August, 1945, Philippine Islands. But in reality, it’s high noon in the Twilight Zone.” First Broadcast December 29th 1961 Written by Rod Serling but based on an idea by Sam Rolfe Directed by Buzz Kulik Buzz Kulik is a well known director around these parts at this point, so I won't repeat myself. But a couple of things of note with these opening scenes, of course an appearance by a pre Star Trek Leonard Nimoy. It's a shame he didn't do a Twilight Zone where he played a bigger part, but although he had a good few roles under his belt at this point I think Star Trek was the thing that took his career to the next level so he would take these small parts to pay the bills. I did actually guest on a Star Trek podcast by my friend Zach Moore last year where we looked at the Twilight Zone episodes featuring Star Trek actors. The name of the podcast is Standard Orbit and I'll place a link to it in the show notes. Nothing hugely sticking out about Serling's opening narration. A whip pan and some set decoration behind him, but a certain poetry there. “The last grimy pages of a dirty, torn book of war” - we've spoken before about the young Rod Serling eagerly signing up for the Second World War and it's this Rod Serling that came out the other side, the one who knows what a dirty business it is. So enter Lt Katell played by a young Dean Stockwell. His uniform is crisp and clean, in stark contrast to the dirty and dog eared uniforms of the rest of the platoon. Lieutenant Katell is here to take over the platoon and the first order of business is what to do with the cave of Japanese soldiers. CLIP: 05:26 Lt Katell: I think we'll have to go to it frontally, just move right in there and wipe em out. Soldier: Hey lieutenant, you sure you got the right platoon? Lt Katell: What about it Sergeant, think we can go it alone? Soldier: Go it alone? Begging the lieutenant's pardon sir but you just inherited a pretty good outfit but we're not that good. This is infantry not kamikaze. Watkins: I told you he had the wrong platoon, I think he's got the wrong army. Lt Katell: Your name is what soldier? Watkins: My name is Watkins. Andrew j Watkins. Lt Katell: Are you accustomed to talking to an officer lying on your back? Watkins: Well I'm not accustomed to talking to an officer anyway. You see we lost the last three we had. Lt Katell: Well you've been assigned another one you've got to learn to live with him. Let's start off with a little reminder, when you talk to an officer you stand up on your own two feet. Sgt Causarano: We been in the line thirty three days lieutenant, we haven't had much sleep. Lt Katell: You have my sympathies Sergeant. My job is to lead this platoon. When I tell you boys to jump you'll jump. When I tell you to stand up on your feet you'll stand up. If I tell you to head towards that cave with weapons pointed and bayonets fixed that's exactly what you're going to be doing. Martin Grams Junior in unlocking the door to a television classic writes that Lt Katell was originally scripted to arrive in a jeep, but here he just walks onto set. That may be because it was a set when it was actually filmed, a set that was at Hal Roach studios and had previously been used for another production. So perhaps it just wasn't suitable to drive a jeep onto, but that's just a theory. You and I will all be at varying places in life and career, but I would wager a good portion of you will have met your own Lieutenant Katell. This is not something that is unique to the military. On the one hand, he is in a position of authority and wants to come in and make his mark. Fair enough he's been given the position, right or wrong. But on the other hand, he does it with no regard for the experience on the ground, he makes his decisions with no regard for necessity. This is all to stamp his authority, build his reputation and deflect from the fact that he looks like a kid who has found his dad's uniform.