Mr. Bevis (3 Jun. 1960)
"The Twilight Zone" Mr. Bevis (original title)

An eccentric loser gets a new life from his guardian angel, but there is a price to keeping it.

Director:

William Asher

Writer:

Rod Serling

Stars:

Rod Serling, Orson Bean, Henry Jones

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Rod Serling	...	Narrator (voice)
Orson Bean	...	James B.W. Bevis
Henry Jones	...	J. Hardy Hempstead
Charles Lane	...	Mr. Peckinpaugh
Horace McMahon	...	Bartender
William Schallert	...	Policeman
Florence MacMichael	...	Margaret
Dorothy Neumann	...	Landlady
Vito Scotti	...	Peddler
House Peters Jr.	...	Policeman
Colleen O'Sullivan	...	Michelle (as Coleen O'Sullivan)
Timmy Cletro	...	Boy

Storyline

James B.W. Bevis is, by almost any definition, eccentric. He drives a car that once was Henry Ford's dream, he likes zither music and makes model ships. He's a bookkeeper by profession and his desk at work is always cluttered. He likes to bring in children at Christmas-time to sing carols. It all leads to him being fired. While drowning his sorrows at a nearby bar, he meets none other than his guardian angel who shows him that life can be considerably different for him if he wishes it....but is he prepared to make the changes necessary to obtain that lifestyle?

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Plot Keywords:

guardian angel | angel | period in title | narration | narrator | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 June 1960 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cayuga Productions, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The 1924 Rickenbacker automobile that Mr. Bevis is seen driving away in was built by the same family that invented the electric guitar in 1931. John Lennon bought his first Rickenbacker guitar in Hamburg, Germany around the time this episode was filmed.

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Goofs

While Mr. Hempstead is trying to impress Mr. Bevis, one of the things he mentions is that he helped Ben-Hur win his famous chariot race. This would have been impossible since Ben-Hur is a fictional character and not an actual person.

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Quotes

Narrator: [Opening Narration] In the parlance of the twentieth century, this is an oddball. His name is James B. W. Bevis, and his tastes lean toward stuffed animals, zither music, professional football, Charles Dickens, moose heads, carnivals, dogs, children, and young ladies. Mr. Bevis is accident prone, a little vague, a little discombobulated, with a life that possesses all the security of a floating crap game. But this can be said of our Mr. Bevis: without him, without his warmth, without his ...
[...]

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Connections

References Ben-Hur (1959)

User Reviews

Weak,...seriously you guys.

This is one of the weakest episodes of the original "Twilight Zone" series. Now is it NOT unpleasant or stupid--it just seems totally out of place for this series and is far from Rod Serling's best work. I read on IMDb that it was intended as a pilot (just like the god-awful episode with Carol Burnett) and I am glad the network didn't pick up the series.

Mr. Bevis (Orson Bean) is a dippy loser. He's just lost his job, drives a craptastic car and enjoys life despite its many shortcomings. However, an angel (Henry Jones) appears and makes his life more successful...but by the end of the show, Bevis finds he prefers his quirky, goofy life. The show is obviously a rip-off of "It's a Wonderful Life" and was kind of cute but had absolutely no irony or horror--it was just ordinary at best. And, as a result, it seemed to have nothing to do with the series and was simply an excuse to try out a bad idea for a potential TV series. Unremarkable and nothing more.