The Twilight Zone: Season 1, Episode Nineteen “The Purple Testament”

Original Air Date: February 12, 1960
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: Richard L. Bare

“How many coincidences add up to a fact?”

There is a fascinating, albeit tragic, little backstory to this episode. Both the star (William Reynolds) and director (Richard L. Bare) almost died in a plane crash the night this episode was supposed to air. They were on their way back to Miami from shooting a pilot episode for the The Islanders in Jamaica when their plane stalled and crashed into the Caribbean Sea. Reynolds later speculated that the pilot had tried to come in to the water at a glide angle but the plane split apart and while Reynolds was still buckled in, he was left spinning underwater, having been thrown clear of the fuselage until he spotted sunlight above, unbuckled, and swan to the surface. The wreck killed one person (George Schmidt who bled to death in the hospital at Annotto Bay) and several others were injured. Reynolds suffered severe lacerations, broken ribs, and a broken ankle while Bare suffered broken legs (both men were later unconscious in the hospital after the crash). When their plane crashed, they were about four miles off the coast of Jamaica so they decided to swim for it. Reynolds claimed that this episode “The Purple Testament” was quickly pulled off the air by Buck Houghton and Rod Serling out of respect to his family in case he didn’t pull through (at the time he had very young children), however others have disputed this fact, noting that there is no record “The Purple Testament” was ever pulled from the schedule. But Reynolds reaffirmed this fact in The Twilight Zone Blu-Ray commentary, acknowledging that there was no record of the episode’s delay. In some ways, the plane crash was a darkly ironic twist of fate, especially considering the subject matter of “The Purple Testament” –an episode about a soldier’s supernatural ability to foresee death.

“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.”
-Rod Serling

The setting is 1945. We are introduced to a band of U.S. troops stationed in the Philippine Islands. Lieutenant “Fitz” Fitzgerald (played by William Reynolds who took the role at the last minute) has just returned from a battle where four of his men were killed and twelve were wounded. His friend Captain Phil Riker (played by Dick York of Bewitched fame) sees something changed in Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald confesses that somehow he knew these men were going to die in advance of the battle. He describes a certain power he has been granted which shows a vague glow on men’s faces before they are about to die. He then sees this glow in Riker –and pretty soon word gets out among the troops about Fitzgerald’s unique power. Shortly thereafter, Riker dies just as Fitzgerald had predicted.

In the end, Fitzgerald is given a few of weeks of medical leave. However, before he can depart he looks in the mirror sees the faint glow over his own face. He then sees the glow on the face of his driver and he knows they are about to die. A few moments later we hear an explosion as his car strikes a landmine.

“From William Shakespeare, Richard III, a small excerpt. The line reads, ‘He has come to open the purple testament of bleeding war.’ And for Lieutenant William Fitzgerald, A Company, First Platoon, the testament is closed. Lieutenant Fitzgerald has found the Twilight Zone.”
-Rod Serling

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My Thoughts on “The Purple Testament”

“The Purple Testament” is a maddening episode about the tribulations of soldiers on the frontlines. I imagine this must have been a deeply personal episode for Rod Serling since he served as a paratrooper and fought in the Philippines during a vicious period of fighting. He lost many of his comrades in the most unimaginable ways. Perhaps many of his fellow soldiers both yearned for, and also feared, knowing the moment of death in advance. Lt. Fitzgerald is a cursed character.

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Credits

• Director: Richard L. Bare
• Written by: Rod Serling
• Music: Lucien Moraweck, conducted by Lud Gluskin
• Director of Photography: George T. Clemens
• Production Manager: Ralph W. Nelson
• Art Directors: George W. Davis and William Ferrari
• Film Editor: Bill Mosher
• Assistant Director: Edward Denault
• Set Decorations: Henry Grace and Rudy Butler
• Sound: Franklin Milton and Jean Valentino
• Casting Director: Mildred Gusse
• Starring:
  • William Reynolds…..Lt. Fitzgerald
    • William Reynolds (1931-2022) was best known for his role as Special Agent Tom Colby in the 1960s television series The F.B.I. Through his father he was a direct descendant of American Revolution hero Nathaniel Reynolds. He and his wife had three children, a daughter and two sons (one of whom died in infancy). He died in 2022 at the age of 90.
  • Dick York…..Captain Phil Riker
    • Dick York (1928-1992) was best known as the first actor to play Darrin Stephens on the sitcom Bewitched. His career was unfortunately hampered by a serious back injury he sustained while working on the film They Came to Cordura in 1959 which led to chronic pain and 18 months of recovery. He later left the show Bewitched. For years he smoked three packs of cigarettes a day and struggled to breathe in later years. He died of complications from emphysema in 1992 at the age of 63. He appeared in two Twilight Zone episodes “The Purple Testament” and “A Penny For Your Thoughts.”
  • Barney Phillips…..Captain E.L. Gunther, Medical Officer
    • Bernard Philip Ofner (1913-1982) appeared on shows like Dragnet, I Love Lucy, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Andy Griffith Show, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, and four episodes of The Twilight Zone (“The Purple Testament,” “A Thing About Machines,” “Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” and “Miniature“).
  • Warren Oates…..Jeep Driver
    • Warren Oates (1928-1982) was best known for appearances in Westerns, particularly the films of Sam Peckinpah like The Wild Bunch (1969) and other thrillers as well as Stripes (1981). He died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease after complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath at home before suffering a heart attack during a nap. Oates appeared in two Twilight Zone episodes – “The Purple Testament” and “The 7th Is Made Up Of Phantoms.“
  • Paul Mazursky…..the orderly
    • Paul Mazursky (1930-2014) was a director, screenwriter, and actor. He had a lengthy film career in Hollywood and was nominated for five Academy Awards for his films Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Harry and Tonto (1974), An Unmarried Woman (1978), and Enemies, A Love Story (1989). Mazursky appeared in three Twilight Zone episodes “The Purple Testament,” “The Gift,” and “He’s Alive.”
  • Ron Masak…..soldier with harmonica
    • Ron Masak (1936-2022) was best known for playing the recurring role of Sheriff Mort Metzger on the mystery series Murder, She Wrote. He got his start in stand-up comedy. also appeared in shows like Get Smart, The Monkees, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Land of the Lost, Diff’rent Strokes, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. His first screen role was as the Harmonica Man in “The Purple Testament” –this earned him his Screen Actor’s Guild card. He was just asked to noodle on the harmonica onset.
  • William Phipps…..Sergeant
    • William Edward Phipps (1922-2018) was an American actor and producer. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He also appeared in shows like The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Gunsmoke while he played roles in films like Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. In 1949, he auditioned for the voice of Prince Charming in the upcoming Disney film Cinderella. The studio was pleased with his performance and Phipps was offered the part by Walt Disney himself. After living in Hawaii in later life, he died in Santa Monica at the age of 96 from lung cancer in 2018.
  • S. John Launer…..Colonel
    • Saul John Launer (1919–2006) was an American television actor (often uncredited) best known for his role as a criminal court judge on Perry Mason. He was badly injured in a stagecoach accident on the set of Laramie in 1960. His co-actor, Bert Spencer, was harmed to the point that one of his legs required amputation.
  • Marc Cavell…..Freeman
    • Marc Cavell (1939-2004) performed in twenty films between 1952 and 1974. He appeared in shows like Peter Gunn, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gunsmoke and Batman in addition to The Twilight Zone.
  • Michael Vandever…..Smitty
    • Michael Vandever (1937-2021) appeared in shows like Batman, The Virginian, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and others.
  • Bob McCord…..man in hospital
    • Robert “Bob” McCord III (1915-1980) appeared in a variety of Westerns in addition to The Twilight Zone. He set a record for appearing on The Twilight Zone 75 times (mostly uncredited). He was known as “Bud McCord.”

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The Twilight Zone Trivia:

• This was likely a closely personal episode for Rod Serling since he decided to become a writer after serving as a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne Division in the Philippines.
• In his closing narration, Rod Serling mistakenly attributes his quote to Shakespeare’s Richard III when it was actually a quotation from Richard II.
• Dean Stockwell was originally cast in the lead role, but was unable to appear so William Reynolds was added at the last minute. Stockwell later appeared in The Twilight Zone episode “A Quality of Mercy.”
• The military hospital in which Fitzgerald confronts Gunther and Riker is a redress of the set used in “The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine” (note the stairs in the background which will also featured in “Elegy“).
• The two friends drink a bottle of Philippine tupa in this episode.
• The names of the killed soldiers are: Hibbard, Horton, Morgan, Levy. All killed in action, Luzon P.I., 13, January, 1945. Another soldier named Porky got some shrapnel in his finger. Another one named Smitty has a wounded arm.
• All the exterior scenes were shot at Stage 22 at MGM during the first two days of shooting. The interior scenes of the station hospital were shot on the third day at Stage 19. The exterior shot of the hospital was composed of stock footage.
• Director Richard L. Bare, who memorably directed nearly every episode of Green Acres and a variety of Twilight Zone episodes (including “To Serve Man,” “What’s in the Box?“, “The Fugitive,” “Third from the Sun,” “The Purple Testament,” “Nick of Time,” and “The Prime Mover“) later penned a memoir entitled Confessions of a Hollywood Director which opens with a gripping account of the near-deadly plane crash in the Caribbean while en route to film The Islanders (as recounted above).
• The production was set back due to Richard L. Bare’s injuries. At least one teleplay “The Chaser” had to be rescheduled and handed off to another director.
• The “death light” lighting effect was created using manipulation of light levels and over-exposed film.
• In the scene when Captain Riker is left alone, sorting out his personal belongings and deciding to leave them behind, the soundtrack transitions to a harmonica playing a tune. The tune is from Antonín Dvorák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”, second movement, a passage that is sometimes sung as “Going Home.” In the final scene, a wounded soldier plays it again on his harmonica.

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