I love this episode with something to always remember: Things are not as they appear...
The story begins on a seemingly ordinary night as gunfighter Sam Dichter rides past a hanged figure with a mask over his face. Minutes later, Dichter arrives at a local saloon and orders a drink. He notices some poker players nearby and walks over to their table. To his surprise, one of the men, Dr. Soames, knows all about Dichter and his fearsome reputation: "The eminent Samuel Dichter...taskmaster of the six-gun...lightning-fast draw and a devilish, deadly aim...you're KNOWN, Mr. Dichter." Soon after, the clock strikes 9pm, one of the men, Charlie McKinley, gets up to leave. Dichter recognizes him as an old friend rumored to have had the back of his head shot off in Abilene. McKinley sternly tells Dichter not to be too relieved at seeing him and then leaves the saloon...followed quickly by the sound of a gunshot. When Dichter tries to see what happened, Dr. Soames calmly explains that McKinley just got the back of his head shot off...and then invites Dichter to take his place and join the poker game. While the confused Dichter is studying his hand and trying to read the other players, the loudmouth to his left, Joe Bristol, yells to Dichter to make up his mind. Dichter tells Bristol that he'll assume that Bristol doesn't know who he's talking to. Bristol replies, "That's a dead wrong assumption; I thought we made it clear WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE. You're Sam Dichter, who fancies himself lord of the gun! The trouble with you is you have no memory for things. FAST HANDS, SLOW BRAIN! Now dig into that muddy swamp you call a brain and try to conjure up a few recollections!" Dichter now realizes something is very wrong when he remembers actually seeing Bristol killed in a gunfight with a younger, faster opponent. Dr. Soames asks Dichter if he understands what's going on, but Dichter has no clue. Bristol taunts him further by remarking that his gun hand was always fast, but not his brain. Enraged, Dichter challenges Bristol to a duel, dead or not. Just then, as the clock strikes 10pm, a voice from outside the saloon calls for Bristol to come out, and Bristol leaves...again quickly followed by the sound of gunshots. Next up is Abe Bennett, who asks if Dichter remembers his story. Dichter vaguely recalls the story about Bennett getting caught inside a church. Bennett refreshes Dichter's recollection by telling how Bennett robbed a bank and killed a bank teller in the process. Bennett then hid in a church belfry, and the first time he stuck his head up to see what was outside, a sharpshooter hit him between the eyes and Bennett fell to his death. At the chime of 11pm, Bennett leaves the saloon and more gunshots ring out accompanied by the sound of a church bell ringing. When Dr. Soames again asks Dichter if he understands what's going on now, Dichter responds that the proceedings are nothing but a looney bin. Soames goes on to tell Dichter that he was a surgeon who had a very lucrative practice patching up wounded gunslingers. Dr. Soames further explains that he had a crisis of conscience when he realized that every gunfighter he was able to save eventually went on to kill again, and the realization of this caused Soames to go to his office, take out HIS gun, and then turn it on himself and commit suicide. Soames then tells Dichter the point he'd been missing all along: that they were all doomed when they made the decision to take up firearms. Soames then leaves as the clock strikes midnight and we hear one more gunshot. Stunned, Dichter asks the bartender the name of this town, and the bartender replies that it is merely a waiting room where the inhabitants play out that which is preordained...and some call it hell. Unimpressed, Dichter leaves after the clock strikes at 1am. When he returns to the hanging figure, with a leer Dichter pulls the mask off the corpse only to see that the dead man's face...IS HIS OWN!!! The terrified Dichter runs back to the bar to find the poker players and the bartender in place as if nothing happened. At that point, the clock begins to chime in perpetuity. Turns out all the poker players, and now Dichter, are doomed to replay their violent deaths for all eternity. Sam Dichter, WELCOME TO HELL!!!
A wonderful episode with great performances by a flawless, all-world cast: Steve Forrest (the increasingly not-so-cocksure Sam Dichter); Buddy Ebsen (the ironically sagacious Dr. Soames); Albert Salmi (the overbearing Joe Bristol); Lex Barker (the not-too-happy Charlie McKinley); Jim Davis (the reckless Abe Bennett); and Gilbert Roland (the very stoic bartender).
