"Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" is one of the lesser-known episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Part of the series' fourth season, which consisted of hour episodes, "Cliffordville" is often criticized for its bad age makeup and for Albert Salmi's brash performance as Feathersmith. On the other hand, Julie Newmar's slinkily seductive turn as the Devil is justly singled out for praise, and it must be said that the episode (age makeup aside) looks very good, with a convincing transition to the 19-teens for the Cliffordville sequence. Rod Serling was in moralistic mode here, and the script is quite sophisticated, with echoes of CITIZEN KANE in its chronicle of the downfall of a mighty tycoon. I like the epic scope of this story, which fits very well into the hour format; arguably, it could have even been a full-length movie.
There is one point, though, where I feel Serling stumbled. It is the ending. Feathersmith and fellow Cliffordville native Hecate trade places, with Hecate becoming the cruel tycoon and Feathersmith the lowly custodian. Serling's point here seems to be that power corrupts absolutely; the suggestion is that a decent, virtuous person like Hecate will turn evil simply by virtue of acquiring power and success.
I think Serling missed an opportunity to show that virtue can triumph over evil. An alternate ending could have had Hecate acting kindly and mercifully toward custodian Feathersmith in the end, thus showing him a correct exercise of power and ending the episode on a more redemptive note. As it is, Serling simply wrote an O. Henry-esque "switcheroo" ending such as we already saw in Season 2's "Back There." Here it is simply predictable and leaves us with an unnecessarily bitter view of life and human nature.
Ultimately, "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" is worth seeing, but it is a flawed episode and not one of the series' best.
There is one point, though, where I feel Serling stumbled. It is the ending. Feathersmith and fellow Cliffordville native Hecate trade places, with Hecate becoming the cruel tycoon and Feathersmith the lowly custodian. Serling's point here seems to be that power corrupts absolutely; the suggestion is that a decent, virtuous person like Hecate will turn evil simply by virtue of acquiring power and success.
I think Serling missed an opportunity to show that virtue can triumph over evil. An alternate ending could have had Hecate acting kindly and mercifully toward custodian Feathersmith in the end, thus showing him a correct exercise of power and ending the episode on a more redemptive note. As it is, Serling simply wrote an O. Henry-esque "switcheroo" ending such as we already saw in Season 2's "Back There." Here it is simply predictable and leaves us with an unnecessarily bitter view of life and human nature.
Ultimately, "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" is worth seeing, but it is a flawed episode and not one of the series' best.