The Twilight Zone (TV Series) A Quality of Mercy (1961) User Reviews

'Last grimy pages of a dirty torn book of war'.

[darrenpearce111 · 7/10 · 7 February 2014]

An anti-war message from WW2 hero Rod Serling. Set in the Philippines where he served comes a drama of two halves about an ambitious young Lieutenant called Katell (Dean Stockwell). In the first half Katell takes over a platoon in August 1945 and clashes with his Sergeant (Albert Salmi). The war experienced Sergeant Causarano hopes his weary soldiers will not have to attack a cave where the enemy is holed up. Katell is lacks the Sergeant's battle experience and 'hasn't been shot at yet'. He wants to prove his manhood by leading an attack in the last throes of war. Sergeant Causarano hopes the necessary job of war is done without many more men having to die-on either side.

There is a 'Quantum Leap' for Dean Stockwell as he gets to see war from another perspective. If that's not TZ enough, well, Leonard Nimoy is one of the soldiers.

I think Serling is suggesting we would be better off if the whole world could see each other as humans and not see some others as a hated entity that has to die just to satisfy the ambitions of leaders. See what you think?

Great casting

[marknyc · 7/10 · 24 September 2012]

I have to disagree with the poster who wrote that Dean Stockwell doesn't look remotely Japanese. It was great casting, as Stockwell's eyes didn't require that much makeup to look Asian, and the work that was done on them was done extremely well. In fact, I caught this episode on TV in the middle and thought that they had cast a Japanese actor in the second part! The episode itself falls prone to Serling's not uncommon habit of hitting you over the head with his point. The American Stockwell and the Japanese commander are so extreme as to be cardboard cutouts. But I guess subtlety wasn't really the point of "The Twilight Zone".

It Falleth from the Heavens

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 25 November 2008]

The Twilight Zone is all about finding yourself in a situation where you must face something that is totally alien to you. This is no exception. In war, the soldier often sees the enemy as worthless--dehumanized. They forget that they were children, had loving families, and are now thrust into the same conflicts that their adversary on the other side is. This episode was selected for the Twilight Zone movie. It's the one where Vic Morrow was killed. It is much more intense, of course, but the message is the same. Walk in the man's shoes. Understand what terror is like. If we are to fight wars, then don't romanticize them. This is certainly a memorable episode and makes one think.

"A Quality of Mercy"....a grim battle tale

[chuck-reilly · 7 January 2008]

Dean Stockwell plays a hard-charging newly-minted 2nd Lieutenant who is assigned to a battle-fatigued platoon in the waning days of WWII on the Philippines. Intent on wiping out a small force of battered and beaten Japanese trapped in a cave, he tries to rouse his new mates to action. The sergeant (Albert Salmi) advises him to forget about them but Stockwell insists on an attack. It seems he wants to get in on some action before the war ends and wiping out some defeated Japanese is his sure path to some medals of valor. The sergeant finally blows up at him calling him a "glory hound" and gets a severe tongue lashing in return. Then suddenly Stockwell drops his field glasses and enters the "Zone." He's been outwardly transformed into a Japanese Lieutenant and it's early 1942 in the Philippines instead of August 1945. The shoe is definitely on the other foot now as Stockwell (still an American officer on the inside) tries to convince his Japanese superior that attacking a group of battered and beaten Americans is the wrong action to take. He is similarly castigated in the same way he had previously bullied and berated his own sergeant.

"A Quality of Mercy" portrays war in all its grimness and dispenses with any heroics. Stockwell is excellent as the cocky Lieutenant who receives a comeuppance only the Twilight Zone can give him. Salmi adds some fine support as the sergeant and Rayford Barnes is also along as one of his war weary companions. Look for Leonard Nimoy in a small role as another exhausted soldier. Buzz Kulik, who directed many Twilight Zone episodes as well as feature films, is on hand to keep things lively on the set. Narrator Rod Serling's brief rendition of the "Quality of Mercy" speech from Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" closes the show on an uplifting note. Serling was a combat veteran of the Pacific Theater himself besides being one of early Television's greatest creative minds. This episode spoke volumes for him.

"They are enemies, and this is war, and in war you kill".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 23 May 2010]

Part time travel story and part identity switch, this episode of The Twilight Zone examines the perspectives of both sides of combat, much like Clint Eastwood's 2006 film "Letters From Iwo Jima" did. It's an attempt by Rod Serling to humanize an enemy, and dehumanize the brutality and mindlessness of war. As a gung-ho young lieutenant (Dean Stockwell) takes command of a battle weary unit on August 6th, 1945 (just hours from the fateful bombing of Hiroshima), he suddenly finds himself on the opposite side of the war some three years earlier with American surrender in the Phillipines imminent. Lieutenant Katell is forced to understand that there is no glory in humiliating the enemy into surrender. He's challenged to respond to a question posed by the man he replaced (Albert Salmi as Sgt. Causarano) - "How many men have to die before you're satisfied"? It's a query that finds more relevance when the shoe is on the other foot, as Lieutenant Yamuri finds himself berated by his commanding officer Yamazaki (Dale Ishimoto) when he expresses doubts about the mission. It's the classic Twilight Zone paradox.

One of the great delights for me in watching The Twilight Zone is seeing who shows up in each episode. The added bonus supplied by this one is the appearance of Leonard Nimoy in a pre-Star Trek role. Maybe not a big deal for a lot of folks, but it would seem to me that Nimoy's not someone you'd expect to see in the Zone. Even without a major role in the story, it was cool to see him as one of the soldiers in the unit.

No glory in war

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 24 April 2018]

Gung-ho hot shot Lt. Katell (well played to the annoying hilt by Dean Stockwell) desperately wants to prove himself in the worst most bloodthirsty way on the last day of World War II in the Pacific in 1945. However, Katell suddenly finds himself back in 1942 in charge of a Japanese unit instead of an American one.

Director Buzz Kulik maintains a grimly serious tone throughout and relates the absorbing story at a steady pace. Rod Serling's thoughtful script takes a tough and gritty, yet low-key and reflective look at the harsh reality of war by putting a very poignant human face on the soldiers fighting said war on both sides. The fine acting by the capable cast helps a lot: Albert Salmi as the gruff and weary Sgt. Causarano, Rayford Barnes as the sarcastic Andrew Watkins, and Leonard Nimoy as the cynical Hansen. Beautifully crisp black and white cinematography by George T. Clemens, too. An excellent episode.

100% certified "Twilight Zone" goodness!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 30 July 2020]

If you know your way around "The Twilight Zone" somewhat, it's fairly easy and logical to see why this particular episode got selected - although uncredited - to serve as model for one of the four segments featuring in the 1983 movie remake/tribute. It's a prototype tale, exactly like the great late Rod Serling liked to serve them. A headstrong and obnoxious protagonist, in this case a fanatic army lieutenant, is literally forced to alter his ideologies and prejudices because he's inexplicably transferred into the shoes of an opponent. Young Lieutenant Katell insists on making a few more Japanese causalities on the very last day of WWII, when the surrendering of Japan is practically certain, despite the protest of his new platoon. Something banal, like dropping a pair of binoculars, causes for Katell to suddenly have become a Japanese Lieutenant, in pretty much the same albeit reversed situation, in 1942. Naturally he now wants to spare the lives of the American soldiers trapped in a cave, but he clashes with the same type of stubborn superior that he is. Redemption, the foolishness of warfare, shapeshifting, time travelling... These are all hobbyhorses of Serling and frequently featured in "The Twilight Zone". Competent director Buzz Kulik "A Quality for Mercy" brings them all neatly together in a compelling story, with a sublime double role for Dean Stockwell. Recommended.

Note: the segment in the aforementioned 1983 film, which is based on this episode, became notorious due to the tragic helicopter accident resulting in the death of actor Vic Morrow and two Vietnamese children.

The helmet is on the other head.

[mszouave · 8/10 · 27 September 2021]

A good TZ episode. Especially good acting by Albert Salmi. I won't rehash the plot. Serling served in the Philippines during the later part of WW2 and saw some heavy combat with the Japanese Army. It is interesting that several episodes take place there. Also kind of surprising that he takes a merciful and humane view of his enemy that he personally fought in such a hellish experience.

This is to his credit. I've read that soldiers in combat for long periods will come to regard their enemies more often than not as fellow victims of the same evil- war itself.

Two sides to battle. You can only choose one.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 30 August 2019]

The tale of a soldier's issues during war wartime (World War II) takes on two different perspectives as the viewer gets to see the same soldier (Dean Stockwell) on different sides as he gives us a look at being both American and Japanese. A slight change in facial features and a bit of darkened photography shows Stockwell as young men on both sides of the combat coin, and the results are sensitive and introspective. The make-up for Stockwell isn't garish or offensive, but the script is rather talky and overly detailed for such a short episode. One major plus though is the fear shown by Stockwell in his sequence as the Japanese soldier when he has a momentary breakdown and the extreme close-up on Jerry Fujikawa as his captain is rather frightening. But for the most part, I found this episode to not really be all that interesting, even though it did give me a new insight as to how the every day ordinary soldier must feel in battle as they have no other choice but to shoot at the enemy, even if that enemy is as young and innocent as they are.

fairly typical tz ep, but great with nimoy and stockwell

[MiketheWhistle · 8/10 · 6 November 2020]

This is a fairly typical twillight zone ep, but it's particularly good because it has nimoy well before ST and stockwell long before he'd be known for QL.

So it's interesting and nice to see actors in very early rolls.

Not the deepest message but a hoot with Stockwell and Nimoy

[bgaiv · 7/10 · 26 April 2022]

I agree with a poster that telegraphing the date at the beginning was a mistake, right before Hiroshima was bombed.

I also can't see how it was relevant since nobody here knew the war was about to end. This could have been set in April 1945 for the difference it would make to the characters and story.

Anyway, the story's pretty basic, the rookie Lieutenant gets to see the war from the other side, and that's about it.

It was weird how well Stockwell was made up to be Japanese. Like another reviewer, I thought it was a different character in those scenes!

Walk in another person's shoes

[kellielulu · 8/10 · 3 December 2022]

Dean Stockwell is assigned to a group of soldiers that are covering a largely insignificant area. It's one that apparently won't make any difference in what happens there . The date is August 6, 1945 and it will all soon be over they just don't know it yet . This matters though because the rest of the men who have been there longer knows it will only rack up the number of casualties on both sides . The Japanese soldiers are in a cave no more than twenty or thirty of them. Maybe wounded or sick ( Malaria is a problem) . Albert Salmi is the Sargent he and the rest of the men are put off by Stockwell's gung ho character. He's so military that he could get them killed just by the protocol but also in his need to kill when there is no point. He actually seems only part blood thirsty he is looking to get impress the higher ups.

Suddenly though he's transformed back to an earlier this in the war as a Japanese soldier and another one is in charge spouting many of the things he did and now he does understand the need for mercy. He doesn't want to kill the other side just for the sake of it.

Once again he's back as the American leader in his platoon. The word comes in that the bomb has been dropped and the war is all but over.

Salmi's character says maybe in the next war for and Stockwell has had a change of heart and hopes not.

Stockwell and Salmi do a good job playing characters with opposing views and Salmi proved once again he can play the good guy or the bad one. Leonard Nimoy is underutilized here as another soldier not seeing any point to more killing. The actors playing the Japanese side are effective at playing their counterparts. Stockwell would never be cast now but considering the time he was quite effective. An important message in war and peace and life in general.

Wasn't this done in the movie?

[ericstevenson · 7/10 · 2 August 2018]

The 1983 Twilight Zone movie featured one entirely new segment and it was actually kind of like this. This has a guy fighting in World War II getting ready to kill the Japanese. He's fairly racist. He then switches places with a Japanese soldier. I really don't know why they had it set back to 1942. Well, I guess it doesn't make much difference in the long run.

Interestingly enough, the segment from the movie became infamous because it actually killed three actors. It didn't show the guy literally changing, at least not to the audience. The moral is kind of too basic. It's still well acted. It's always fun to look at the actors in an anthology series. It's fine for what it is. ***

Turning Japanese.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 31 March 2022]

A Quality of Mercy was the episode that provided the blueprint for Vic Morrow's segment in The Twilight Zone: The Movie. Dean Stockwell plays U. S. Lieutenant Katell, who arrives in the Philippine Islands at the end of WWII to take command of a war-weary squad of soldiers, led by Sgt. Causarano (Albert Salmi). Keen to prove himself by killing a few of the enemy, Katell instructs his men to launch an attack on a unit of injured Japanese soldiers holed up in a cave. However, before he can lead the assault, Katell suddenly finds himself as a soldier in the Japanese army, part of a unit about to launch an attack on some injured Americans.

Having seen both sides of the coin, Katell realises the error of his ways, and tries to convince his Japanese superior to abort the attack.

This is another one of Serling's anti-war tales, this time showing us how dehumanising the enemy can lead to further meaningless death and destruction. Such idealism is all well and good, until you wind up facing a foe who still sees you as nothing more than a target for their rifle, at which point survival is the name of the game. War is indeed hell.

I think the concept worked much better with the central character as a bigot -- shame that Morrow didn't live to finish the story how it was intended.

Suppose I Were You

[dougdoepke · 21 July 2006]

On eve of WWII's end a war-weary platoon is ordered into combat.

Interesting concept that takes literally the admonition to put yourself in the other man's shoes, in this case an enemy soldier's. Good characterizations. Salmi shines as the battle-hardened grunt who knows when to stop. In fact, the whole platoon exudes a sweaty, dirty battle fatigue that makes their resistance to the fresh-faced lieutenant very believable. Dean Stockwell's gung-ho officer is also well done, the kind of uncaring-about-the-cost glory-hound, who ended up getting fragged in Vietnam. Also, Salmi's dressing down of the lieutenant's selfish ambition amounts to a classic version of the enlisted man's grudge. One real flaw-- did the producers have to cast a racial stereotype as the Japanese major, even down to the buck teeth? Nonetheless, this remains an entry with a humanely worthwhile message well delivered.

Put yourself in their shoes

[Calicodreamin · 6/10 · 15 June 2021]

An important message but a lackluster episode, the storyline was interesting enough but it wasn't memorable. The acting was decent.

The Rookie Lieutenant

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 21 July 2023]

On 06 August 1945, an American platoon keeps under siege a group of about 20 or 30 Japanese wounded and starving soldiers in a cave under the command of the veteran Sgt. Causarano. Unexpectedly, the rookie Lt. Katell arrives and orders that the platoon shall attack the Japanese. His orders are questioned by Sgt. Causarano and his men that tells that all those deaths will not make the allied win the war, but Lt. Katel is resolute in his decision to kill the enemy. Out of the blue, the situation reverts and Lt. Katel is a Japanese lieutenant and the American team is trapped in the caves. What will happen next?

"A Quality of Mercy" is an intriguing episode of "The Twilight Zone" with Dean Stockwell very young in the lead role. Leonard Nimoy has also a minor participation in this show in the role of a GI. The intriguing plot teaches the meaning of the word mercy with one weird situation only possible in the Twilight Zone. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Valor da Piedade" ("The Value of Mercy")

A quality of comedy

[gregorycanfield · 6/10 · 28 August 2022]

With all the politically correct people out there, it's amazing that no reviewer has taken issue with Dean Stockwell made up to look Japanese. My heading refers not to the episode's subject matter, but to the questionable way the subject is handled. We start out with the American soldiers, whose grammatically correct way of speaking is not convincing. Enter an arrogant lieutenant played by Stockwell, who only wants to wipe out the "enemy." The soldiers have something that, at least, resembles compassion. Stockwell does not, but he soon learns a lesson. When he finds himself suddenly on the "other side," Stockwell's look and attempt to fake a Japanese accent are laughable. I actually was laughing. I'm not trivializing the importance of the subject matter. That's really the point. Stockwell looked and sounded so ridiculous, it was hard to take any of it seriously. Overall, a mediocre episode.

Preach, Rod

[caseyabell · 4/10 · 18 June 2020]

Caught this episode last night on MeTV. As another commenter notes, Rod Serling and Twilight Zone are not known for subtlety. In this World War II installment, Serling pounds home the antiwar message with a sledgehammer. Others have recounted the plot, so I won't repeat it here.

Right from the start Serling telegraphs the resolution by giving the August 6, 1945 date. That's the day of the Hiroshima bombing, of course, and the beginning of Japan's surrender. So the viewer knows that, with the war almost over, the Americans will eventually hold back rather than risk a skirmish.

The role reversal with Dean Stockwell turning Japanese for a while is mildly surprising, though Stockwell's accent does come and go in the scene. The rest of the actors are competent enough, and the glimpse of Mr. Spock (without the pointy ears) is a fun moment.

Otherwise, it's a normal pulpit-pounding sermon from Serling on the horrors of war. I assume the "quality of mercy" speech from Rod right after news of the Hiroshima bombing is more heavy-handed irony. Serling does tend to lay on his effects with a very large trowel. If you like being preached at, you'll like this episode more than I did.

The main character turns into Tom Hanks, decades before we even knew about Tom.

[fedor8 · 10 June 2022]

The "japanized" American commander is a dead ringer for Tom Hanks. The resemblance is eerie.

Part of the reason this episode works is because it isn't stupidly and fanatically anti-war, but advocates pragmatism - even more so than mercy.

Additionally, the Japanese side isn't portrayed favourably. This may seem obvious now, but in light of which political forces dominate script-writing in Hollywood, even this blatant fact cannot be taken for granted.

The conclusion isn't as obvious. We expect the arrogant new commanding officer to change his mind about slaughtering the enemy, but he is prevented by news of the atomic bomb. So while it is clear that the commander had experienced a major change in attitude, he doesn't get the chance to fully show it. Perhaps it's better that way, because such an ending would have been corny.

The dialog is OK. It isn't too preachy, not many heavy-handed speeches.

That's Spock in a small role. (As an American soldier - obviously!)

"If I Were You" Concept is Stupid

[danieln-15525 · 1/10 · 9 September 2020]

"If I were you" concept is stupid, considering Japan started the war for no reason. Killed tens millions of people in the far-east. Then declared war on the US for no reason. The US had any right to fight them until victory is achieved (and I'm not an American). If the Japanese people had any problem with that, they should've complained to their government.

Already Recycling Ideas by Season Three

[jqdoe · 4/10 · 1 March 2015]

Watching Twilight Zone episodes on a classic TV channel that shows a new episode every night provides new perspectives on the series.

In this case, I saw this episode from Season 3 just a couple of weeks or so after seeing "Judgment Night" from Season 1, so the earlier episode was still fresh in my mind when I watched this one.

The similarities were obvious. In both cases, a military commander is somehow magically transported into the midst of an enemy that he is hellbent on destroying, and in both cases it causes him to question the morality of his actions. Of course there were some significant differences, too, but the main idea was quite similar.

I suppose it was hard for Rod Serling to keep coming up with new ideas for a show like this week after week - especially in an era where they regularly ran 35 or more new episodes every year and reruns were pretty much constrained to summer. But it was still a bit surprising to see they were recycling ideas so soon.

I think that most folks consider this to be a stronger episode than "Judgment Night" but I thought the acting was a bit uneven. I could never get a handle on how a very young Dean Stockwell was trying to play the Japanese alter ego. He seemed to keep going in and out of a fairly poor imitation Japanese accent, and it was distracting. And it seemed like the actor playing his Japanese commander was reading cue cards the whole time.

Bottom Line: to me, this was one of the weaker Twilight Zone episodes.

Bad.

[bombersflyup · 1/10 · 5 October 2019]

A Quality of Mercy has no point and nothing happens. Katell never considers himself Japanese after the switch, so it's meaningless. War is war, you go easy and someone ends up paying the price for it.

A Weird One

[Samuel-Shovel · 4/10 · 24 April 2020]

In "A Quality of Mercy" a bloodthirsty American officer enlisted in the final days of WWII finds himself suddenly a Japanese officer charged with taking out a cave full of American soldiers.

Dean Stockwell portraying a Japanese man just isn't doing for it me, dawg. I love the actor but it's a bad look, even for the 1960's. And the episode isn't even good regardless. As soon as he turns Japanese (a la The Vapors) the audience pretty much knows where the story will go from there. Bit if a snooze and problematic? Definitely a skippable episode.