The incessant howling of desert wind, eerie desolation of a frontier graveyard, and uneasy speculation of whiskey-swigging saloon patrons combine to make "The Grave" one of the most effective ghost stories ever told on the original iteration of Rod Serling'sThe Twilight Zone(airing regularlyonSYFY).
Written and directed by Montgomery Pittman (who had a hand in five episodes of the trailblazing anthology series, including "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?"),the seventh installment of the third season takes place on a blustery night two days after an Old West outlaw by the name of Pinto Sykes is gunned down in the street by townsfolk tired of waiting around for the local gunslinger they hired, Conny Miller (Lee Marvin), to bring the man to justice. When Conny returns, he finds himself defending his reputation and honor as a toughened cowpoke against three saloon regulars: Johnny Rob (James Best),Mothershed (Strother Martin), andSteinhart (Lee Van Cleef).
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They heavily imply that the supposedly fearless bounty hunter was really afraid of confronting Sykes, who, in his dying moments, vowed to reach up and grab Conny, if the man ever found the courage to visit Pinto's grave. Motivated by pride, bravado, and a pair of 20-dollar gold pieces, Conny heads out to the old graveyard, determined to plunge a Bowie knife into the freshly dug earth of Pinto's final resting place. He succeeds in his mission, but as Miller tries to get up and leave, something drags him back down.
Johnny Rob,Mothershed, andSteinhart go to investigate the following morning and find Conny dead on the ground. Steinhart theorizes the cowboy accidentally pinned the fabric of his coat with the knife and mistook the ensuing tug for a vengeful Pinto, thus causing Conny to immediately drop dead from fright. Pinto's kooky sister, Ione (Elen Willard), casts ominous doubt on this argument by drawing the trio's attention to the direction of the wind, which would have blown Miller's coat away from the grave. Did Conny really pin himself to the grave or did Sykes make good on his dying promise? That's up to the audience to decide.
"The Grave" is one ofThe Twilight Zone's best ghost stories
High-angle production still looks down on the cast and crew as they shoot a scene for an episode of the television show 'The Twilight Zone' entitled 'The Grave' in Culver City, California, March 15, 1961. Photo: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
Simple, yet totally effective, "The Grave" is one of the countless examples of howThe Twilight Zone could turn a few simple ingredients (basic sets, talented performers, and atmospheric sound design) into a truly special half-hour of television.
The sound in particular sets the whole thing off; the constant and peripheral wailing of the wind just outside the earthen saloon puts the viewer in mind of restless spirits, perhaps the countless victims of frontier justice, calling out to Conny and luring him to his doom. Then there's the wonderful juxtaposition between the practical stoicism of Lee Marvin's world-weary cowboy and the slouching, Podunk loud-mouths who successfully goad Conny into taking the bait of their sophomoric dare. The cherry on top of this delicious ghost story sundae is the graveyard set, a simple forced perspective backdrop full of whispering scrub, swirling sand, forbidding skies, and the looming peaks of a dark and distant mountain range.
Potentially inspired by similar stories from Leonard Q. Ross and/or Maria Leach, "The Grave" has the palpable aura of timeless folklore; a ghoulish yarn that might have been passed down from person to person over flickering camp fires since the days of the Old West — or, perhaps, long before. Indeed, the episode resembles one of the short, goosebump-raising tales a person might find within the pages ofAlvin Schwartz andStephen Gammell'sScary Stories to Tell in the Dark books.
Why Lee Marvin was almost fired from The Twilight Zone
Portrait of American actor Lee Marvin on an episode of the television show 'The Twilight Zone' entitled 'The Grave', Culver City, California, March 15, 1961. Photo: CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images
In Marc Scott Zicree'sThe Twilight Zone Companion, the episode's director of photography, George T. Clemens, recalls that Marvin showed up to the first night of shooting drunk as a skunk and unable to work. Filming was canceled as a result and an enraged Clemens urged producer Buck Houghton to fire the actor, though the latter refused — perhaps suspecting (and rightfully so) just how much "The Grave" would benefit from Marvin's sober screen presence. Thankfully, the inebriated faux pas of the first night proved to be an isolated incident.
"The next day he apologized to the crew," Houghton says in the Companion. "Because he said, 'Everybody was ready to work and I wasn't, and I'm terribly sorry, and you just watch me go today.' And by God, he put in a day's work that would knock your hat off."
Marvin was, of course, eventually invited back for the show's fifth and final season to play robotic boxing coach Tim Kelly in "Steel."
Classic episodes of The Twilight Zone air regularly on SYFY.Click herefor complete scheduling info!
