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| Mr. Denton on Doomsday | |
| Episode No. | Season 1 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Allen Reisner |
| Written by | Rod Serling |
| Featured music | Stock music |
| Cinematography by | George T. Clemens |
| Original air date | October 16, 1959 |
| Cast | Dan Duryea - Al Denton Martin Landau - Dan Hotaling Jeanne Cooper - Miss Smith Malcolm Atterbury - Henry J. Fate Doug McClure - Pete Grant Ken Lynch - Charlie |
| Previous | "One of the Angels" |
| Next | "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine" |
"Mr. Denton on Doomsday" is the third episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. This is the first Twilight Zone episode to be rerun.
Plot[]
Al Denton was once known as the quickest draw in town, but his life was ruined after he killed a teenaged boy in a duel — he is now an alcoholic wreck and the laughing stock of the community. A mysterious salesman named Henry J. Fate ostensibly further dooms Denton by causing him to inexplicably regain his expert shooting touch and once again inspire the respect and awe of the townsfolk, which Denton explains will only cause reputation-hungry gunslingers from miles around to seek him out and, inevitably, kill him. Just as Denton predicted, soon enough a challenge is delivered which Denton dare not refuse.
The still-weary and not-so-sure-handed Denton practices in the desert for his suicidal duel, but he misses his targets miserably and concludes that he must skip town. As he quietly packs his things and tries to flee under the cover of night, he strikes up a conversation with Fate, who seems to know things about Denton and offers him a way out. Fate claims to possess a potion guaranteed to make the drinker the fastest gun in the West for exactly ten seconds. Denton is skeptical but Fate goads him into drinking a free sample, after which Denton immediately realizes its benefits.
Still, Denton knows that with Fate's magical potion he has extended his lease on life by only one gunfight; there will be no end to the challenges he will surely continue to receive.
At the appointed time, Denton faces his challenger Pete Grant, a young gunfighter who behaves like he knows he can't possibly lose. Denton downs his second potion only to find his opponent holding an identical empty bottle -- Fate had slyly provided the same elixir to young Grant. Each man shoots the other in the hand, causing injuries which are minor but forever ruin both men's ability to pull a trigger.
Denton tells his young opponent that they have both been blessed because they will never again be able to fire a gun in anger. Henry J. Fate tips his hat to Denton and rides quietly out of town. Just as Fate had helped one man out of a pit, he had simultaneously prevented another from falling into one.
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