Setting: A hotel room in a major city; a smart-aleck figure of a man has just checked into his room.
"His name is Arch Hammer. He's 36 years old. He's been a salesman, a dispatcher, a truck driver, a con man, a bookie and a part-time bartender. This is a cheap man, a nickel-and-dime man, with a cheapness that goes past the suit and the shirt; a cheapness of mind, a cheapness of taste, a tawdry little shine on the seat of his conscience, and a dark-room squint at a world whose sunlight has never gotten through to him. But Mr. Hammer has a talent, discovered at a very early age. This much he does have. He can make his face change. He can twitch a muscle, move a jaw, concentrate on the cast of his eyes, and he can change his face. He can change it into anything he wants. Mr. Archie Hammer, jack of all trades, has just checked in at $3.80 a night, with two bags, some newspaper clippings, a most odd talent, and a master plan to destroy some lives."
Hammer examines a newspaper story with a photo of Johnny Foster, a trumpet player killed in a car crash. He visits the bar where Foster worked, and, assuming Foster's face, meets his girlfriend Maggie, an attractive torch singer heartbroken by Johnny's death - until she sees who appears to be Johnny. He charms Maggie, says it was a different guy in the car, and tells her to pack her things after work, that later that night they're going to run away together.
Hammer returns to his room and examines another clipping, that with a photo of Virgil Sterig, a mob runner who was killed and his body tossed in a river. Assuming Sterig's face, he visits Mr. Penell, the mobster who had him killed, and extorts money from him. Two of Penell's thugs show up, however, and Hammer, as Sterig, is forced to flee. He finds himself in a dead-end alley, with the thugs closing in, when he sees a boxing poster on a wall with the photo of Andy Marshak, a fighter. Hammer assumes Marshak's face and is able to fool the hoods, who head in another direction in search of Sterig.
Still disguised as Marshak, Hammer walks past a newspaper stand, and the proprietor is stunned at seeing him. The old man, it turns out, is Marshak's father, who lambastes the man he thinks is his son for hurting a sweet young girl and breaking his mother's heart. Hammer, as Marshak, pushes the old man down and returns to his room. He quickly hides behind the door when he hears a sound outside, and, changing back to his own face, encounters a police detective who wants to take him downtown for routine questioning.
Hammer escapes and resumes the guise of Marshak, when he again meets Marshak's father - who is carrying a long-barreled .38 revolver. Hammer is petrified, and tells the old man this is all a mistake, and he can prove it if he only has a moment to concentrate.
The old man fires one shot at point-blank range, and Hammer falls to the sidewalk, with his features shifting from those of Foster to Sterig to Marshak, and finally, as he dies, his own face.
"He was Arch Hammer, a cheap little man who just checked in. He was Johnny Foster, who played a trumpet and was loved beyond words. He was Virgil Sterig, with money in his pocket. He was Andy Marshak, who got some of his agony back on a sidewalk in front of a cheap hotel. Hammer, Foster, Sterig, Marshak - and all four of them were dying."
Writer: Rod Serling (based on a story by George Clayton Johnson)
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: John Brahm
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Cast -
Hammer: Harry Townes
Hammer (as Johnny Foster): Ross Martin
Maggie: Beverly Garland
Hammer (as Virgil Sterig): Phillip Pine
Hammer (as Andy Marshak): Don Gordon
Mr. Penell: Bernard Fein
Mr. Marshak: Peter Brocco
Police Detective: Milton Frome

George Clayton Johnson got his introduction to The Twilight Zone when an agent sent his story called "The Four Of Us Are Dying" to Rod Serling (the agent had changed the title to "Rubberface"). Serling liked the original title, bought the story, and then wrote a completely different one of his own.
This episode in particular posed a challenge for casting director Millie Gusse - finding four actors with similar, but not identical, features. The four chosen - Townes, Martin, Pine and Gordon - were all very good, and Beverly Garland turned in a fine performance as the sultry singer (and proved that she was indeed a fine singer, as well). Director John Brahm managed to achieve some tricky sequences - Hammer changing into Marshak in the alley, and then back to Hammer in the hotel room - without editing. He simply closed the camera in (on the boxing poster in the alley, and then on the hotel room door), allowing for the actors to switch positions. In an earlier sequence, Hammer is shaving, although the face in the mirror is again not his. This was done by having another actor stand behind an empty mirror frame. The camera, in one continuous shot, pans down to Hammer's hand, as he flicks cigarette ashes into an ashtray on the sink. When the camera rises back to the mirror, another face can be seen.
Despite some rather interesting questions which were unanswered - how did Hammer know how the other men's voices would sound, for example - the episode is extremely well-done and effective. Often, The Twilight Zone would ask for the suspension of your disbelief, and this is one example where so doing results in a very entertaining program.

"The Hitch-Hiker," January 22, 1960

A young woman is being assisted by a mechanic along a stretch of highway. "How fast were you going, Ace?" he jokingly asks. "Oh, 60, 65," she says. Remarking that she had a flat tire at 65 miles an hour, and ended up without a scratch, he says, "you were riding with the angels, lady."
"Her name is Nan Adams. She's 27 years old. Her occupation: buyer at a New York department store, at present on vacation, driving cross-country to Los Angeles, California, from Manhattan. Minor incident on Highway 11 in Pennsylvania, perhaps to be filed away under accidents you walk away from. But from this moment on, Nan Adams' companion on a trip to California will be terror; her route, fear; her destination, quite unknown."
Nan sees a somewhat ominous-looking man beside the highway after the flat tire, and again at the gas station as she pays the mechanic. Later, she sees the same man again, with his thumb extended outward as he stands beside the highway. At a diner, she asks the man at the counter if he sees many hitch-hikers there. He tells her of course not; the highway there is wide-open and no one would be foolish enough to try to hitch-hike on that stretch of road. She still isn't convinced, however, and the man notices the look of concern on her face. When he asks what is wrong, she replies, "I'm getting to the point where I hate that car!"
She later sees the man again, as she stops at a railroad crossing. She tries to get across the tracks, in the path of an oncoming train, but her car stalls. She restarts the car and backs off the tracks just in time to avoid a collision. She then realizes that the man was beckoning her!
Later, she runs out of gas while taking a dirt road, in an attempt to avoid the hitch-hiker, who always seems to be just ahead of her. She encounters a young sailor, who himself is hitch-hiking back to his ship in San Diego. Pleased to have company, she offers him a ride, and, after the sailor gets a mom-and-pop gas station to open to get gas for her car, they head out together.
A short time later, she sees him again, and swerves the car to try to kill him. The sailor, who says he saw no one, reaches over and applies the brakes, as he says the only thing he is now interested in is getting as much distance from that car as possible. He resumes his travels on foot, in spite of Nan's begging him to stay with her.
Late at night, crossing Arizona, Nan stops at a pay phone to call her mother for some comforting words - only to learn that her mother has suffered a nervous breakdown. It seems, a woman tells her on the phone, that Nan Adams died six days ago, when her car had a flat tire and crashed in Pennsylvania!
Emotionally drained, Nan slowly returns to her car. She lowers the visor, revealing the rear-view mirror - and sees the hitch-hiker in the back seat. "I believe," he says slowly, "you're going my way ..."
"Nan Adams, age 27. She was driving to California, to Los Angeles. She didn't make it. There was a detour - through the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Rod Serling (based on a radio play by Lucille Fletcher)
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: Alvin Ganzer
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Cast -
Nan Adams: Inger Stevens
The Hitch-Hiker: Leonard Strong
The Sailor: Adam Williams
Diner counter man: Russ Bender
Mechanic: George Mitchell
Mrs. Whitney (voice): Eleanor Audley

"The Hitch-Hiker" was first aired in 1941 as an episode of The Mercury Theatre on the Air, with Orson Welles in the lead (as Ronald Adams). Lucille Fletcher, who wrote the story, was the ex-wife of TZ composer Bernard Herrmann. Serling heard the original story and bought the rights for the series, although Fletcher told author Marc Scott Zicree that she preferred her own original story over Serling's adaptation. The lovely Inger Stevens plays Nan with an effective sense of foreboding and nervousness, and Leonard Strong is fine as the man with the not-so-sweet smile on the side of the highway.

"The Fever," January 29, 1960

"Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Gibbs, from Elgin, Kansas, three days and two nights, all expenses paid, at a Las Vegas hotel, won by virtue of Mrs. Gibbs' knack with a phrase. But unbeknownst to either Mr. or Mrs. Gibbs is the fact that there's a prize in their package neither expected nor bargained for. In just a moment, one of them will succumb to an illness worse than any virus can produce, a most inoperative, deadly, life-shattering affliction known as The Fever."
Flora Gibbs, as the winner of an essay contest, has won an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas. Her tightwad husband, Franklin, is not pleased to be there, nor is he pleased when she thinks of dropping a coin in a slot machine. However, when a hard-gambling drunk gives Franklin a silver dollar and practically forces him to play it, the machine "hits," and Franklin is a winner. He takes his winnings to leave immediately, although he is certain he hears the one-armed bandit calling his name.
That night, still curious about the machine, Franklin tells Flora that he is going back into the casino, to put that money back into the slot machine.
By this time, Franklin is hooked, and stays in the casino all night. He is writing checks to get more money, to regain what he lost, much to the worry of his wife. He plays the machine angrily, impatiently, sweating profusely, until he is down to his last dollar. He inserts it, and the machine jams. Franklin is certain that the machine did this deliberately to tease him, and he begins to pound on the machine, screaming, "Give me back my dollar!" Casino personnel escort him away, and place an "out of order" sign on the machine.
That night, back in the room with Flora, he is convinced that the machine is right outside the door. He then sees the machine inside the room, approaching him. Terrified, Franklin backs away, crashes through the window and falls to his death in the parking lot below.
After the crowd is dispersed, as Franklin's lifeless body lies on the pavement, a lone silver dollar rolls across the lot and comes to rest near his body. The machine, with its lights in a smiling expression, has returned his dollar.
"Mr. Franklin Gibbs, visitor to Las Vegas, who lost his money, his reason and finally his life to an inanimate metal machine variously described as a one-armed bandit, a slot machine or, in Mr. Franklin Gibbs' words, a monster with a will all its own. For our purposes we'll stick with the latter definition - because we're in the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Rod Serling
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: Robert Florey
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Cast -
Franklin Gibbs: Everett Sloane
Flora Gibbs: Vivi Janiss
Drunk Gambler: Art Lewis
Casino P.R. Man: William Kendis

Serling again teamed up with Everett Sloane, who had costarred in "Patterns" on Kraft Television Theatre, in this truly spooky story of a slot machine with a sinister mind, a beckoning voice, and a game of its own making. Recordings of coins dropping down a chute were played through speakers attached to a man's throat, so that when he opened his mouth to form the words, the sounds became a metallic voice. "Frank-lin ..."

"The Last Flight," February 5, 1960

"Witness Flight Lt. William Terence Decker, Royal Flying Corps, returning from a patrol somewhere over France. The year is 1917. The problem is that the lieutenant is hopelessly lost. Lt. Decker will soon discover that a man can be lost not only in terms of maps and miles, but also in time - and time in this case can be measured in eternities."
Lt. Decker was on a flying mission in 1917 with his best friend, Mackaye, when the two were attacked by German planes. Becker flew away and left his friend to fend for himself, when he flew into a strange, large white cloud. He lands at an air base, but it is a modern, American base, in France. At first, he tells airmen at the base that "we never knew you were so advanced." He is taken to the base commanding officer, Gen. Harper, by Major Wilson, where he affirms that he is Lt. William Terence Decker, Royal Flying Corps. When Gen. Harper said he hadn't heard the Royal Air Force referred to that way in years, Decker said, "No, sir. Royal Flying Corps."
Initially, both officers doubt Decker's story about somehow going from a World War I mission to a modern base, but, slowly, Maj. Wilson begins to believe him. Decker then learns that his friend, Mackaye, privately known as "Leadbottom," survived, and became a hero in World War II, and is also scheduled to visit that very base shortly.
Decker insists that Maj. Wilson let him go, that his trip there was for a purpose - to give him a second chance and save Mackaye. When Wilson says, "he did survive; he'll be here," Decker asks, "how do you know that?"
Decker overpowers the major and a guard and escapes, running across the base to his single-prop biplane. Maj. Wilson catches up to him and points his .45 pistol at Decker, but he cannot fire, and he lets Decker go. Decker flies back into the large cloud.
When RAF Air Marshall Mackaye arrives at the base, he is greeted by Gen. Harper and Maj. Wilson, who ask him if he knew of a Lt. Decker. "Terry Decker?" he asks, then tells them that Decker saved his life during a mission in 1917. When Maj. Wilson quietly mentions "Leadbottom," Air Marshall Mackaye is stunned. However, Decker did get his second chance, and lost his own life in saving Mackaye's.
"Dialogue from a play, Hamlet to Horatio: 'There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.' Dialogue from a play, written long before men took to the sky. There are more things in heaven and earth, and in the sky, that perhaps can be dreamt of. And somewhere in between heaven, the sky, the earth ... lies the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Richard Matheson
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: William Claxton
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Cast -
Lt. Decker: Kenneth Haigh
Maj. Wilson: Simon Scott
Gen. Harper: Alexander Scourby
Air Marshall Mackaye: Robert Warwick
Guard: Jerry Catron

Richard Matheson's first contribution to The Twilight Zone, this is a gripping story of one man's struggle to do the right thing, to redeem himself. The three principals - Haigh, Scott and Scourby - are all very good, and the episode builds nicely.

"The Purple Testament," February 12, 1960

"Infantry platoon, U.S. Army, Phillipine 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."
When A Company returns after a battle, Lt. William Fitzgerald is clearly shaken. When Capt. Riker, his friend and superior officer, asks what is wrong, "Fitz" reveals a piece of paper, listing the names of the four men from the unit that were killed in that battle. He insists that he wrote those names down the day before the battle, that he knew they were going to die because he saw a "weird light" on their faces. Riker dismisses the story.
Next day, however, the two are visiting wounded soldiers in the hospital. Fitz is talking with a young soldier, Smitty, who is told he would be going home in a few days. Suddenly, Fitzgerald again sees the odd glow, on the young man's face. The lieutenant faints, and is revived only to see the young soldier dead. Downstairs with Riker, Fitzgerald tells the colonel that he has a talent "that they don't teach at OCS" (officer's training school).
Later, the unit is to go on a night battle, and Fitz and Riker are making their final preparations. At that moment, Fitzgerald sees the glow on Riker's face, and tells him not to go to that battle, "because if you do, you won't be coming back." Riker tells his friend that they'll have a nice laugh about it when they all return. After Fitz leaves, however, Riker is convinced that Fitz is right, and leaves his dogtags and photos of his family behind.
The unit returns to camp, having lost only one man on the mission - Riker. Capt. Gunther arrives, and tells Fitzgerald that he has earned a couple of weeks of R&R at division headquarters, and he should pack immediately.
Fitz is getting his gear together outside his tent, when he looks into a mirror he has on an easel, for shaving. He then sees the glow on his own face. A young corporal assigned to drive Fitz is told to be extra careful, that there are reports of mines in the road they are to travel. The corporal says he would get out and pick up the jeep if need be. Then, however, Fitzgerald sees the glow on the corporal's face. When the corporal tries to assure Fitzgerald that the upcoming four-hour drive will be a smooth one, Fitz says, "I doubt it."
A short time later, as soliders relax around the camp, they hear the sound of a distant roar. "Was that thunder?" asks the sergeant. "Sounded like an explosion ..."
"From William Shakespeare, Richard The Third, a small excerpt. The line reads, 'He has come to open the purple testament of bleeding war.' And for Lt. William Fitzgerald, A Company, First Platoon, the testament is closed. Lt. Fitzgerald has found the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Rod Serling
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: Richard L. Bare
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Music: Lucien Morawack (composer), Lud Gluskin (conductor)
Cast -
Lt. Fitzgerald: William Reynolds
Capt. Riker: Dick York
Capt. Gunther: Barney Phillips
Sergeant: William Phipps
Smitty: Michael Vandever
Colonel: S. John Launer

Serling understood the horrors of war very well, and he was on familiar turf with this episode, despite one small niggle (the Shakespeare quote is apparently from Richard The Second). The "look of death" was accomplished through the use of shifting lights emphasis and deliberately overexposing the film.

"The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street," March 4, 1960

Residents along Maple Street are engaged in typical summertime activities - gardening, washing cars - when a strange light and roar from the sky attract their attention. The neighbors begin to gather to ponder what they have seen and heard. Steve Brand suggests that it's a meteor, but others aren't sure ...
"Maple Street, U.S.A. Late summer. A tree-lined little road of front porch gliders, barbecues, the laughter of children, and the bell of an ice-cream vendor. At the sound of the roar and the flash of light, it will be precisely 6:41 p.m. on Maple Street ... This is Maple Street on a late Saturday afternoon, in the last calm and reflective moments - before the monsters came." After the large flash and roar, Maple Street is suddenly still and quiet - there is a total power failure, and suddenly Steve's car won't start. One neighbor, Pete Van Horn, sets out on foot to discover a cause. A young boy, Tommy, mentions a science fiction story that describes a family of alien monsters who inhabit a neighborhood disguised as humans. Initially, the neighbors laugh at Tommy's story, but they begin to become suspicious at the street's most recent addition, Les Goodman, when his car suddenly starts and runs briefly - with no one inside it. One woman asserts that she's seen Les outside at night,looking up at the stars, which he dismisses as nothing but insomnia.
By nightfall, all the neighbors are uneasy, although Steve tries to restore calm. As suspicion continues, even Steve is accused, as the short-wave radio he keeps in his basement makes him a target of the witch hunt.
A short time later, a shadowy figure is seen walking up the street towards them. Panicked, Charlie grabs a shotgun and fires one blast, and the figure falls. Running toward the figure, the neighbors discover that it is the dead body of Pete Van Horn, who had left in late afternoon to investigate the power failure.
Charlie, who shot the figure out of fear, is accused of being the alien monster, and after he retreats toward his home, he asserts that he knows who the monster is - it's Tommy, the kid who first planted the monster story in their minds. Steve again tries to restore calm, but pandemonium and paranoia ensue, as the lights in various houses begin to briefly flash on, then off.
A full-scale riot breaks out in the neighborhood, as residents arm themselves with rocks, bricks, firearms - anything they can muster.
On a nearby hilltop, two real aliens, standing in front of their ship, observe the scene. One, who is manipulating a control panel, tells the other that by interrupting their services, such as electricity, telephones and radio, that they can easily help the humans discover, and try to eliminate, their greatest enemy - themselves.
"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices - to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and a thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all its own - for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to the Twilight Zone."
Writer: Rod Serling
Producer: Buck Houghton
Director: Ron Winston
Director of Photography: George Clemens
Music: Rene Garriguenc (composer), Lud Gluskin (conductor)
Cast -
Steve Brand: Claude Akins
Charlie Farnsworth: Jack Weston
Les Goodman: Barry Atwater
Tommy: Jan Handzlik
Tommy's Mother: Anne Barton
Mrs. Goodman: Lea Waggner
Don: Burt Metcalfe
Charlie's Wife: Lyn Guild
Pete Van Horn: Ben Erway
Alien Officer: Sheldon Allman
Second Alien: William Walsh

Serling makes a disturbing comment on how easily life can be shattered, turning friends into foes, when normalcy is disrupted. The episode uses alien uniforms and spaceship footage from the classic sci-fi film Forbidden Planet. The cast, led by veteran character actor Claude Akins (best remembered for numerous westerns as well as the TV series BJ And The Bear and The Misadventures Of Sheriff Lobo) is superb, giving a true sense of foreboding and panic, fueled by an irrational fear of the unknown.