Printer's Devil
Template:Infobox TTW season four Template:TTW episode details
Cast
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Mr. Smith | Burgess Meredith |
| Douglas Winter | Robert Sterling |
| Jackie Benson | Pat Crowley |
| Mr. Franklin | Ray Teal |
Opening Narration
"Take away a man's dream, fill him with whiskey and despair, send him to a lonely bridge, let him stand there all by himself looking down at the black water, and try to imagine the thoughts that are in his mind. You can't, I can't. But there's someone who can—and that someone is seated next to Douglas Winter right now. The car is headed back toward town, but its real desination is the Twilight Zone"
Synopsis
After a number of emloyees quit a failing newspaper, The Courier, including the linotype operator, the editor Douglas Winter, feels there is nothing to live for. Drunk, at a bridge, he looks down into the inviting water below. He is approached by one “Mr. Smith” who comments that it a short fall and probably wouldn't do a very good job. He then asks Doug for a light, and, if he wasn't quite ready, a ride into town. Amused,and forgetting all about suicide, Winter gives him a lift to a café where Mr. Smith agrees to provide the editor with money to pay off debts and continue the operation of the newspaper. "Mr. Smith" also signs up to replace the linotype operator and be the sole reporter. With nothing to lose, Doug agrees to the proposition.
Business booms for the little newspaper, as "Mr. Smith" out-scoops other reporters from the rival Gazette on dramatic news stories, many involving disasters. The Courier becomes a success as its stories hit the streets semingly minutes after the events happen. The Courier is so successful that a man from The Gazette, Mr. Franklin, tries to buy up the little newspaper. Winter is now in a position to confidently say "No"! Not many days later, there is a fire at The Gazette, and they accuse someone at The Courier of arson.
With all the success the newspaper is having, Mr. Smith asks the editor to humor him by signing a contract guaranteeing continued success in exchange for his soul, pointing out that it doesn't mean much, "it's almost like an appendix these days, not really necessary" and besides, since the devil is not real, Winter shouldn't have problem with it. Winter hesitates, but Mr. Smith goads him saying, "Imagine a grown man believing in the devil!" More importantly, Mr. Smith has modified the newspaper's linotype machine, so that whatever is set in type subsequently happens.
Eventually, Mr. Smith makes a pass at Miss Benson, who sternly rebuffs him. In retaliation for this, and trying to turn the screws on Winter, he writes a story that has the editor's girlfriend gravely injured in an auto accident. The editor finally realizes that Mr. Smith is in fact the devil, and he discovers the story that has his girlfriend dying. Winter uses the linotype machine to change the story so that his girlfriend survives the crash, but also writes it so that Mr. Smith's contract is void, and he must leave. When the car is found, Jackie is safe, but Mr. Smith has completely disappeared. Doug decides to run the newspaper fairly, and to destoy the infernal linotype machine.
Closing Narration
"Exit the infernal machine, and with it his satanic majesty, Lucifer, Prince of Darkness, otherwise known as Mr. Smith. He's gone, but not for good, that wouldn't be like him. He's gone for bad. And he might be back, with another ticket to the Twilight Zone."
Trivia
- This episode marks Burgess Meredith's fourth and final Twilight Zone appearance.