Stanley Ellin's short story, "The Day of the Bullet," was first published in the October 1959 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Told in the first person by an unnamed narrator, the story begins with his assertion that the day in question was a turning point in the life of his best friend when they were boys together in Brooklyn in 1923. The narrator's family was moving to Manhattan the next day, so the day in question was fraught with emotion and the sense of an ending.
In the present, the narrator is eating breakfast with his wife when he sees a newspaper headline reporting the death of racket boss Ignace Kovacs, who was shot to death in his car, a bag of golf clubs on the seat next to him. The narrator tells his wife that Kovacs was his next door neighbor and best friend in 1923 when they lived in Bath Beach, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, where the story's author was also born. In a flashback, he tells of Mr. Rose, who lived in a large house at the end of their block. Once, while playing around by Rose's fancy car, Rose caught Iggy by the arm and shook him, causing Iggy to threaten to tell his father, whom he idolized.
"The Day of the Bullet" was first published here |
The title of the story refers to the day in 1923 when the narrator says that the bullet was figuratively fired that would reach its target decades later. The narrator believes that each person has "one day of destiny" and the lives of the two boys went in different directions: the narrator is shown to be happily married, while his friend became a criminal. Ellin paints a vivid picture of 1923 Brooklyn as it seemed to a 12-year-old boy, where the most wealthy and powerful man in the neighborhood was a gangster made rich by bootlegging during Prohibition.
Barry Gordon as Iggy |
Iggy is confronted by a series of surprises that make him re-evaluate his core beliefs:
- The beaten man does not appreciate the boys' concern and tells them to go away.
- The police are not concerned about the crime, especially after they learn of Rose's involvement.
- Mr. Rose arrives at the police station calm and in control of the situation.
- Iggy's father is visibly nervous and does not support his son.
Glenn Walken as Clete |
John Craven as Clete as an adult |
Ballinger’s script for the TV show follows Ellin’s short story closely, with a few small changes and one big change. The film opens with establishing shots of New York City skyscrapers to set the scene, then we see a man walking down a city sidewalk and buying a newspaper at a newsstand. Gone is the story’s opening narration and gone is the scene at the breakfast table between the narrator and his wife; in fact, "The Day of the Bullet" is an unusual episode in that it features not a single female character. Why did Ballinger choose to alter the opening in this way? The reason will not become apparent until the end of the show.
Dennis Patrick as Mr. Rose |
The musical cues in this episode are particularly good, with the strains of what sounds like "Someday My Prince Will Come" audible on the soundtrack during the two scenes between Iggy and his father. In the scene at the golf club, the story's references to landfill and malodorous smell are removed, but Ballinger lifts entire passages of dialogue directly from Ellin's tale, nearly word for word. There is a nice shot at the police station, looking up at the desk sergeant from the boys' point of view, and the show ends with a beautifully shot scene as the boys walk home down a dark, Brooklyn sidewalk, past a row of identical stoops; the setting recalls the settings of Fritz Lang’s great, mid-1940s films with Edward G. Robinson, The Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street. The flashback ends with Iggy running off alone in tears, calling back to Clete, "You’ll see!" several times.
There is a dissolve back to the present and a close up of the newspaper with "Ignace (Iggy) Kovacs" highlighted above the headline. This is why Ballinger changed the opening scene: the revelation of the relationship between the dead racket boss and the boy in the flashback was uncertain till this moment, and there was some question throughout the flashback as to which of the boys grew up to be a racketeer. Voice over narration ties the events from thirty-five years ago to the murder the night before, and the show comes to an end.
"The Day of the Bullet" is another example of a great short story that translates beautifully to the small screen, where the script is brought to life by expert direction and great performances by the cast members, especially Barry Gordon as Iggy.
Biff Elliott as Iggy's father |
Bill S. Ballinger (1912-1980) wrote the teleplay, which (like the short story on which it was based) was nominated for but did not win an Edgar Award. Ballinger began writing for radio in the 1930s and 1940s, then wrote for television from 1949 to 1975, penning seven episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents as well as an episode of The Outer Limits and two episodes of The Night Stalker. He also wrote many crime novels from 1948 to 1975. There is an excellent website here devoted to the man and his work.
Giving a hyperkinetic performance as Iggy is Barry Gordon (1948- ), a child actor who also had success at a very young age as a singer. Gordon went on to a long career as both a character actor and a voice actor and he was president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1988 to 1995. His screen career began in 1956 and continues today, and he was seen in two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and one each of Thriller and The Night Stalker.
Harry Landers as Joe, the chauffeur |
Dennis Patrick (1918-2002) plays the menacing Mr. Rose; he was a busy TV actor who was on screen from 1949 to 1994 and who was seen in three episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "The Last Escape."
Iggy’s father, whose feet turn out to be made of clay, is played by Biff Elliott (1923-2012), who started out on TV in 1950 and whose first film credit was as Mike Hammer in I, the Jury (1953). Elliott appeared on screen through 1986 and was on Alfred Hitchcock Presents five times, including "A Crime for Mothers." He also appeared on Star Trek. There is a website about his career here.
In smaller roles:
Harry Landers (1921-2017) as Joe, the chauffeur who menaces the boys in Mr. Rose's driveway; he was also in "Breakdown" and was on screen from 1947 to 1991, usually playing bit parts.
Clegg Hoyt as the desk sergeant |
Clegg Hoyt (1910-1967) plays the desk sergeant at the police station; his brief career on screen spanned the years from 1955 to 1967 and he was on the Hitchcock show four times, as well as on Thriller and The Twilight Zone.
David Fresco (1909-1997) plays the man who gets beaten up on the golf course; he was on screen from 1946 to 1997 and may be seen in no less than 12 episodes of the Hitchcock show, including "The Gloating Place."
David Fresco as the golf course victim |
Sam Gilman |
Finally, the fine selection of musical cues (something that could be a distraction on the Hitchcock series, especially in early years) was the work of Frederick Herbert (1909-1966), who was the music supervisor for 59 episodes in seasons four through six.
"The Day of the Bullet" is available on DVD here or may be viewed online for free here. Read the Genre Snaps review here.
Sources:
"The Day of the Bullet." Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 5, episode 20, CBS, 14 Feb. 1960.
Ellin, Stanley. "The Day of the Bullet." The Specialty of the House, Mysterious Press, 1979.
The FictionMags Index. www.philsp.com/homeville/FMI/0start.htm.
Grams, Martin, and Patrik Wikstrom. The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion. OTR Pub., 2001.
Grand Comics Database, www.comics.org/.
IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/.
"Neal Beckner." British Film Institute, www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bc30e3d77.
Stephensen-Payne, Phil. "Galactic Central." Galactic Central, philsp.com/.
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 May 2018, www.wikipedia.org/.
In two weeks: Our series on Stanley Ellin concludes with "You Can’t Be a Little Girl All Your Life," starring Dick York!
I always associate Barry Gordon with comedies, or at least comedy-dramas (like A THOUSAND CLOWNS), so it's strange to see him in a completely dramatic story like this.
ReplyDeleteDennis Patrick seems like just the right choice to play a traditional "Irish mobster" character.
Of course, nearly his most unforgettable role is in JOE with Peter Boyle and Susan Sarandon.
After you mentioned that was Norman Lloyd doing the narration, I went back and was able to recognize his voice. I'm a great admirer of his work on both sides of the camera, but that narration just seemed very dry to me. I am always amazed at the details and source material you dig up. Thanks for all your work.
ReplyDeleteAs a 70's/80's kid I enjoyed Barry Gordon's unique voice as Donatello the Ninja Turtle (not to mention quite a few other animated voices he did). Your site does a wonderful job of showcasing other sides to performers you might not know about.
ReplyDeleteGrant, you're eight about Dennis Patrick. He's perfect in the role. I've never seen Joe, but for some reason it rings a little bell way in the back of my mind and reminds me of a film catalog or journal from the '70s that used to have an ad for it.
ReplyDeleteDon, thanks for the kind compliment. I assumed it was John Craven doing the narration until I dug that up about Normal Lloyd. I, too, went back and listened carefully and it's definitely Lloyd. He really made an impression with this show and I wonder if his great work here was one reason he became such a part of the series after this.
Blakeney, thanks for your comment! I haven't seen the adult Barry Gordon in so long it's hard to remember him, but when I looked at his credits some of them came back to me.
Great job on this review. I came here from Mitchell Hadley's link. There's another good review of this episode from GenreSnaps here:
ReplyDeletehttp://genresnaps.com/alfred-hitchcock-presents-the-day-of-the-bullet-02-14-60/
I hope to catch this one next time it shows up on Me-TV, or if I can't wait I'll go to the link you provided above.
I was first familiar with Barry Gordon when he was in the sitcom FISH, long before I knew of his past as a child actor. I've also seen him as an adult on shows like THREE'S COMPANY and ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE. I've seen his THRILLER appearance, where he received mention at the start of the episode from Boris Karloff as "Master Barry Gordon". The only other front credit on THRILLER for a child actor that I can recall went to "Master Tommy Nolan". His child acting appearance that I recall most was as Beaver's friend Chopper, who had divorced parents, on LEAVE IT TO BEAVER.
Thanks, Jon! I haven't heard anyone mention FISH in ages! Barney Miller was a good show.
ReplyDeleteExcellent episode, Jack, even as it's a downer. All the same, I thought that Barry Gordon was incredibly good as the boy, and because of him the episode was deeply emotional and made me think. There's a lot of story and a whole lot to ponder packed into its less than a full half-hour running time.
ReplyDeleteThanks, John. I agree completely.
ReplyDeleteBelatedly:
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who remembers that Barry Gordon used to make annual appearances on Jack Benny's show, playing Jack as a boy?
Even at age 9 or 10, Barry had Jack's body language down pat.
I'm too young to have watched the Jack Benny Show first run, but I have always been a big fan of the comedian.
ReplyDelete