Arch Hammer (Harry Townes) has a peculiar ability to change his face when concentrating on the photograph or picture of someone, assuming their roles, often startling those who knew the men whose identities he chooses. The three men he decides to imitate are a beloved musician, Johnny Foster (Ross Martin) who was killed by a train, a gangster who was double-crossed by an associate, shot, and dumped in the river, Virgil Sterig (Phillip Pine), and a former boxer who betrayed his family and fiancé, Andy Marshak (Don Gordon). While Foster is adorned with love by his startled blues club singing beauty, Maggie (Beverly Garland, stunningly lovely), Hammer's decision to "become" Virgil and Marshak will come back to haunt him.
"The Four of Us Are Dying" is a decent, if underwhelming episode of Twilight Zone highly regarded by some of the series' fans, but I found it suffered from flaws. Why wouldn't Hammer return to his own face after the two gangsters chased him into an alley, instead of morphing into the boxer, found on a ripped poster nailed to a wall? How would Marshak's father know where Hammer lived? Hammer as Virgil muscling a former partner might seem logical from the perspective of securing some quick cash, but there would certainly be safer methods than confronting a dangerous mobster who is certain to have goons nearby. After the heated meeting with the father who blamed his son for breaking his mother and fiancé's heart, why would Hammer dare ever return to the identity of Marshak (even if Marshak is a face on Hammer's mind, why would he keep it after eluding a policeman who found out where the he was hiding?)?
The most visible flaw is how Hammer knows specific details of those he replaced that he shouldn't? Newspaper articles don't elaborate the kind of details about the mobster that betrayed Virgil or the girl of Foster's life, yet it is as if Hammer completely assimilates himself into their lives as if he had literally been imbued with their personalities. Three distinct characters who act completely different from Hammer; I'm just not sold on the fact that Hammer has such chameleon-like abilities. That said, director John Brahm does a swell job of using the camera to pan perfectly before each transition without much editing, often in one take which is quite an impressive feat. While I think each actor performs their specific characters well, you are supposed to be believe that another man is "behind the mask" for which I think doesn't work quite that well.
"The Four of Us Are Dying" is a decent, if underwhelming episode of Twilight Zone highly regarded by some of the series' fans, but I found it suffered from flaws. Why wouldn't Hammer return to his own face after the two gangsters chased him into an alley, instead of morphing into the boxer, found on a ripped poster nailed to a wall? How would Marshak's father know where Hammer lived? Hammer as Virgil muscling a former partner might seem logical from the perspective of securing some quick cash, but there would certainly be safer methods than confronting a dangerous mobster who is certain to have goons nearby. After the heated meeting with the father who blamed his son for breaking his mother and fiancé's heart, why would Hammer dare ever return to the identity of Marshak (even if Marshak is a face on Hammer's mind, why would he keep it after eluding a policeman who found out where the he was hiding?)?
The most visible flaw is how Hammer knows specific details of those he replaced that he shouldn't? Newspaper articles don't elaborate the kind of details about the mobster that betrayed Virgil or the girl of Foster's life, yet it is as if Hammer completely assimilates himself into their lives as if he had literally been imbued with their personalities. Three distinct characters who act completely different from Hammer; I'm just not sold on the fact that Hammer has such chameleon-like abilities. That said, director John Brahm does a swell job of using the camera to pan perfectly before each transition without much editing, often in one take which is quite an impressive feat. While I think each actor performs their specific characters well, you are supposed to be believe that another man is "behind the mask" for which I think doesn't work quite that well.