Mr. Dingle, the Strong
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| “Mr. Dingle, the Strong” | |||||||
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |||||||
 Douglas Spencer and Michael Fox in "Mr. Dingle, the Strong" |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 55 |
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| Written by | Rod Serling | ||||||
| Directed by | John Brahm | ||||||
| Guest stars | Burgess Meredith : Luther Dingle Don Rickles : Bettor James Westerfield : O'Toole Edward Ryder : Callahan James Millhollin : Abernathy Douglas Spencer : 1st Martian Michael Fox : 2nd Martian |
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| Production no. | 173-3644 | ||||||
| Original airdate | March 3, 1961 | ||||||
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||||||
"Mr. Dingle, the Strong" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
Contents |
[edit] Opening narration
| “ | Uniquely American institution known as the neighborhood bar. Reading left to right are Mr. Anthony O'Toole, proprietor who waters his drinks like geraniums but who stands foursquare for peace and quiet and for booths for ladies. This is Mr. Joseph J. Callahan, an unregistered bookie, whose entire life is any sporting event with two sides and a set of odds. His idea of a meeting at the summit is any dialogue between a catcher and a pitcher with more than one man on base. And this animated citizen is every anonymous bettor who ever dropped rent money on a horse race, a prize fight, or a floating crap game, and who took out his frustrations and his insolvency on any vulnerable fellow barstool companion within arm's and fist's reach. And this is Mr. Luther Dingle, a vacuum-cleaner salesman whose volume of business is roughly that of a valet at a hobo convention. He's a consummate failure in almost everything but is a good listener and has a prominent jaw. And these two unseen gentlemen are visitors from outer space. They are about to alter the destiny of Luther Dingle by leaving him a legacy, the kind you can't hardly find no more. In just a moment, a sad-faced perennial punching bag who missed even the caboose of life's gravy train will take a short constitutional into that most unpredictable region that we refer to as the Twilight Zone. | ” |
[edit] Synopsis
In an experiment, two Martians give vacuum-cleaner salesman and perennial loser Luther Dingle superhuman strength. Discovering his new powers, Dingle starts performing various tricks from lifting statues to splitting boulders—and starts gaining lots of publicity.
The experiment ends just as he attempts to lift a building before a live TV audience. Unable to make good his claims, he is made a laughing-stock.
As the Martians leave, they bump into two Venusians searching for an Earthling to try their experiment on. The Martians recommend Dingle. So the Venusians give Dingle super-intelligence. Discovering his new powers, Dingle starts thinking aloud at an alarming rate....
[edit] Closing narration
| “ | Exit Mr. Luther Dingle, formerly vacuum-cleaner salesman, strongest man on Earth, and now mental giant. These latter powers will very likely be eliminated before too long, but Mr. Dingle has an appeal to extraterrestrial note-takers as well as to frustrated and insolvent bet-losers. Offhand, I'd say that he was in for a great deal of extremely odd periods, simply because there are so many inhabited planets who send down observers, and also because, of course, Mr. Dingle lives his life with one foot in his mouth, and the other in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
