User Reviews

Arch Johnson and Read Morgan play two strong-armed brothers who have brought peace and stability to a small western mining town that was once the scene of riotous, violent and drunken behavior. Just when it looks like this little town will live forever in peace and happiness and "brotherly love," a strange little man dressed in black (Norman Lloyd) shows up at the local saloon and puts a damper on the whole scenario. He immediately convinces the bartender (old Robert Armstrong from "King Kong" fame) that he has supernatural powers. It doesn't take long for him to put an evil spell on the two brothers either. He challenges each of them to a fight and easily subdues them with an "invisible wall" for his defense and a flick of the wrist for his offense. The baffled and bewildered boys end up incapacitated on the tavern floor and thoroughly humiliated. And now the truth is told: the little man is the DEVIL himself. Before leaving in a cloud of hellish smoke, the man in black takes everyone's money (he even knows where the bartender keeps the weekly profits stashed) and then exits in dramatic fashion. Of course, the real "truth" of this supernatural tale is told just before the credits roll. The whole thing has been a swindle and con from the start as the three men (Lloyd, Johnson and Morgan) are all in cahoots together. As the episode ends, they're off to another town ripe for the picking. Host Hitchcock informs the audience at the end that the three fellows "road show" soon came to a screeching halt when one barroom customer happened to see a repeat viewing. Theirs was an "act" that could only be performed one time.

I didn't think too much and got fooled by this one. I should have known that Hitchcock stays away from the supernatural. That was left to Rod Serling. A couple of big guys have brought religion to a town that used to be tough and dangerous. They used their superior intellect and their brawn to put a stop. They then use a knowledge of religion to keep people in line. Then one day a little guy, dressed in black shows up. He challenges these two guys and robs the entire town. He seems to have a kind of force field around him where he can't be struck. I felt sorry for the town folks because they seemed defenseless. But old Alfred pulled a fast one on me.

**SPOILERS** Predictable. If one takes the fact that Satan (or the devil, if you must) steals souls, not money. One thing about the ending, though, He, Lucifer, missed the coinage from the slot machine. The tough guys left it on the table, remember? I mean, that looked like a lot of cash to just leave layin' there, didn't it? Of course, I guess though guys could have said afterward that they DID win it, so they could just pick it up and leave. THEN, wouldn't they have to share it with "THE DEVIL" when they got to the cabin?? Still... I wonder.

This episode is a spin on all those TV and movie Westerns that had a story about a boxing promoter who hit town with some self designated 'champeen', and after hammering a lot of the local opposition, would wind up losing a big money fight to a guy who was in cahoots with the other two. Same idea here, but the guy pulling the strings is a small built man (Norman LLoyd), who purports to have some unfathomable power to strike down Copper Pocket's pair of over-sized brothers (Arch Johnson, Read Morgan), who have cleaned up the town from miscreants and outlaws. The gimmick with the invisible barrier surrounding The Little Man was kind of weak, and the idea that the bandits got away with thirty thousand dollars in that small saloon didn't pass the smell test for me. But otherwise it was a nifty grift the three swindlers pulled off with no one the wiser. Until of course, Hitchcock had to come along in his epilogue and explain how the trio eventually got tripped up.