From his short story collection "Angry Candy", dealing with the death of a number of close friends, most especially "Dune" author Frank Herbert and his wife from radiation poisoning, it is a tome of dark, disturbing images. But "Paladin of the Lost Hour" shines through as a tale of life and death, each in their own time.
The fact that this was Danny Kaye's next to last performance and the most powerful one of his long career makes it even more than another TV appearance. His performance as Gaspar, the keeper of a prize that literally holds the fate of all mankind in his hands, whose long, and recently lonely life leads him to a pinnacle of pathos and pride cannot fail to bring tears to the eyes of even the most jaded fan of sci-fi/fantasy.
Glynn Turman, as Billy Kinetta, a sad and troubled veteran of Vietnam, whose walk through life has brought him into the strange world of Gaspar, is top notch and I often wonder, considering his great performance why this man hasn't made the jump from a remarkable volume of television appearances to some solid work on the big screen.
Considering the fact that no major market or cable network has picked up the Phillip DeGuere/Harlan Ellison resurrection of Rod Serling's classic anthology series (You can ignore the season two, Canadian crap that came in after both these men walked away, especially after the infamous "Nackles" incident), go find a copy of "Angry Candy" or do a web search for "Paladin" and read the story..oh yeah, keep a couple of Kleenex handy.
The fact that this was Danny Kaye's next to last performance and the most powerful one of his long career makes it even more than another TV appearance. His performance as Gaspar, the keeper of a prize that literally holds the fate of all mankind in his hands, whose long, and recently lonely life leads him to a pinnacle of pathos and pride cannot fail to bring tears to the eyes of even the most jaded fan of sci-fi/fantasy.
Glynn Turman, as Billy Kinetta, a sad and troubled veteran of Vietnam, whose walk through life has brought him into the strange world of Gaspar, is top notch and I often wonder, considering his great performance why this man hasn't made the jump from a remarkable volume of television appearances to some solid work on the big screen.
Considering the fact that no major market or cable network has picked up the Phillip DeGuere/Harlan Ellison resurrection of Rod Serling's classic anthology series (You can ignore the season two, Canadian crap that came in after both these men walked away, especially after the infamous "Nackles" incident), go find a copy of "Angry Candy" or do a web search for "Paladin" and read the story..oh yeah, keep a couple of Kleenex handy.