One for the Road (19 Jan. 1986)

In 1934, a couple of South Bronx barflies try to kill drunk Mike Malloy for his insurance money and find they're tangling with much more than they bargained for.

Director:

Thomas Carter

Writers:

Steven Spielberg (developer), Joshua Brand (developer),

Stars:

James Cromwell, Geoffrey Lewis, Joe Pantoliano

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
James Cromwell	...	Francis
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Dan
Joe Pantoliano	...	Joe
Al Ruscio	...	Tony Maroni
Douglas Seale	...	Mike Malloy
Royal Dano	...	Salvation Army Officer
Mark Tymchyshyn	...	O'Farrow
Mike Finneran	...	Customer
Matt Amott	...	News Kid

Storyline

In 1934, a couple of South Bronx barflies try to kill drunk Mike Malloy for his insurance money and find they're tangling with much more than they bargained for.

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Plot Keywords:

number in title

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 January 1986 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amblin Entertainment, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title is from a song made famous by Perry Como, "Make it one for ma baby an' one more for the road." Bette Midler sang the same song to Johnny Carson on his next to last Tonight Show.

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Goofs

When they are trying to kill Malloy by exposing him to the cold, his shirt has already been opened. In the next shot it's closed again, and Malloy suddenly has a scarf on.

User Reviews

Why does Malloy not need a life insurance and anti-freeze?

The story is set in the 1930s approximately. There are five people in a bar, three guests, the owner, and a barkeeper. One of the guests is an old, poor man called Mike Malloy. Since he is so old, and always drunk, the other four think he is going to die soon. They aren't as poor as Malloy, but they are all in need of money. Then they have the idea of getting a life insurance for Malloy; of course, they are the ones who are going to benefit from it. They treat Malloy to as many free drinks as he wants, hoping he will die very soon. When that doesn't work, they take him for a walk in the cold and leave him outside, sleeping under a layer of snow. But he survives that, too, although he was lying there for about five hours.

How could any human being survive that? And will Malloy also survive their next, even more severe attempts at killing him?

This story is about crime and punishment. The plot is quite simple, but there's a twist at the end that I liked. I liked the actors, too, especially James Cromwell ('L.A. Confidential', 'Star Trek: First Contact'), Geoffrey Lewis ('Every Which Way But Loose') and Douglas Seale (who played Santa Claus in 'Santa '85' (#1.11 of this series)). There's some black humour, for example they mix Malloy's whisky with paraffin, anti-freeze and turpentine and give him a drawing-pin-rat-poison-mustard-sandwich, and the score has some funny music to accompany their attempts at Malloy's life.

I didn't like it as much as some of the other episodes in this series, but it's an enjoyable story in my opinion.