The Four of Us Are Dying - Twilight-Tober Zone

"The Four of Us Are Dying" is noteworthy for several different reasons: it has a film noir tone, gorgeous cinematography and set design, a wonder score by Jerry Goldsmith, features four actors playing the same role, and in this rare occurrence the ending narration doesn't mention The Twilight Zone. Join us for a new episode of the Twilight-Tober Zone.

"The Four of Us Are Dying" is episode 13 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. This is one of the few episodes of the series where Rod Serling does not mention the name of the show in the closing narration.


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[ChannelAwesome]

What did everyone think of "The Four of Us Are Dying"?

[geoffreyfyfe]

Fun fact, all four of the actors who played Hammer's personas returned for later episodes of "The Twilight Zone."

[davidg.]

"I gotta think, I gotta CONCENTEATE!" I love how the panic in his voice increases with the inevitability of what's going to happen.

[thombeacock]

This episode must have been an inspiration for the Batman: The Animated Series episodes “Feat of Clay Pt. I and II”. The idea of Matt Hagen being able to change his appearance prior to his Clayface transformation seems to be influenced by Arch Hammer in this episode.

[trinaq]

Kudos to those four actors for managing to convincingly portray the same character. It's not always an easy task, but they all pulled it off to perfection!

[Unownshipper]

"I gotta think, I gotta concentrate!" While this could be that he requires focus to execute the change, I personally love the idea that Hammer has been so many people (potentially all of his life) that he has to struggle and strain to remember his own self. What does that say about someone who's adopted so many personas that he doesn't instantly know the features of his own face?

[Nazo-kage]

I actually expected the twist to be the girlfriend had actually killed her lover. So seeing him come back she gets a gun to make sure he dies instead of poison.
A nice bit of irony to the idea that you probably shouldn’t take on the appearance of people who recently died, because you may not know why they died.

[Jonnicom]

Another interesting fact about this episode: My Chemical Romance's "Welcome to the Black Parade" was originally titled "The Five of Us Are Dying", which was obviously inspired by this episodes title.

[philipportelli]

This twists the theme of losing one's identity to someone who steals one's identity!
At one point, the screenplay was retitled "Rubberface!" but only briefly, thank goodness!

[Brenda-cgpx]

According to the Twilight Zone Companion, there was an unproduced script written by Jerry Sohl called "Who am I?" about a man who wakes up to find that his face has changed, but only he's aware of this.
Sounds like it could've been a cool prequel for this episode.

[RIlianP]

I like how the most random of the four personalities, the boxer from a poster was his undoing...

[johnhaladay]

This was such a great episode. For four different actors to convincingly play the same character required talent and excellent direction.

[dorothyschlaefer]

Ross is my favorite actor. He is also good in 'Death Ship' . His facial expressions are so amazing that you think he is really feeling those emotions. I also love him in this episode.

[stormhawk]

One of those episodes that would have been a great series on its own, with the character going from place to place.

[aliso-pvll]

Note the Songs Beverly Garland sings before "Johnny" is back in her life, to the one she sings when she and Johnny are going off to live happily ever after.

[janetaylorparris]

My favorite TZ episode and my favorite scene! Beverly Garland is hypnotic. Watching her convey anguish, disbelief, love, and pure joy thrills me every time. I memorized her lines years ago, and once in a while I like to say them to my fiance (whose name isn't Johnny, alas) and try to kiss him like she does.

[justinpullen]

* "I'll pretend to be a dead criminal and shake down the mob boss who killed him. What could go wrong?"
* I wonder if the ending of this partially inspired the ending of Feat of Clay from Batman.

[derekseven]

This episode is one of my top five Twilight zones. Ross Martin and Beverly Garden were superb, everyone else were great and the cinematography was outstanding.

[mercedestorque]

One of my all time favorite episodes! "Mr Punell where's my cut?!" Brilliantly written!

[tommyjones]

A somewhat similar theme is explored in the "Dead Man's Shoes" episode.

A homeless man finds a body dumped in the alley. He takes the deceased man's expensive shoes and puts them on only to have his mind possessed by the dead man's spirit. The dead man, of course, was a mobster. He goes seeking revenge, but is killed and dumped again where another homeless man steals the shoes.