Episode no. Season 1Episode 19 Original air date February 12, 1960 | Production code 173-3619 | |
Featured music Lucien Moraweck, conducted by Lud Gluskin | ||
"The Purple Testament" is episode nineteen of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is "the story of a man who can forecast death". It originally aired on February 12, 1960 on CBS.
Contents
Plot
William Fitzgerald ("Fitz"), a lieutenant serving in World War II, suddenly gains the mysterious ability to see who is about to die via a strange glow on the person's face. After correctly predicting several deaths, he tells his friend Captain Riker what he is able to see, but the Captain does not know whether to believe him. Riker consults with a doctor, Captain Gunther, who thinks it may be fatigue and suggests that the lieutenant should take a leave of rest. Fitzgerald goes to a hospital to see one of his men, Smitty, who is supposed to pull through. But he sees the strange light on the soldier's face and knows his fate.
Later, his prediction has come true, and he makes a scene in the hospital in front of Captain Gunther. Back at their tent, Fitz reveals to Riker he has seen the light on his face. Though he tells Fitz to forget it and get ready for battle, Riker sets out some of his personal possessions — a few photographs and his wedding ring — before he goes into combat. In the camp, the men argue about the rumors of the lieutenant's predictions, but Riker tells all the soldiers there that there are no "mind readers" in the camp. Fitz, seeing the men's faces and realizing he could cause mutiny (and that none of them are fated to die), agrees with the captain.
In the ensuing battle, all return except for Riker, who is killed by a sniper. Captain Gunther brings news to Fitzgerald that he is being sent back to division headquarters for some much needed rest, but as the lieutenant gathers his gear, he sees the light on his own face in a mirror. A jeep driver comes to pick up Fitzgerald for the ride to HQ, and Fitzgerald sees the light on the driver's face as well. Fitzgerald becomes distant, as if resigned to fate.
The Sergeant sends the two off, telling the driver to be careful as they go; they have not completely checked the area for land mines on the road ahead. As the soldiers are gathered around the camp at dusk, the sound of an explosion is heard in the distance.
Cast
Broadcast date controversy
On the same day as the screening of the episode, director Richard Bare and William Reynolds, then filming the TV series The Islanders, were in a plane crash, with one person on board the plane being killed in the crash. Reynolds claimed Rod Serling pulled the episode from its scheduled screening date, out of concern for the families of Reynolds and Bare.
In his exhaustively researched 2008 book The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic, Martin Grams concludes that the episode did indeed air as originally scheduled on February 12, 1960, despite Reynolds' statements.