The Night of the Meek
| "The Night of the Meek" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 11 |
| Directed by | Jack Smight |
| Written by | Rod Serling |
| Produced by | Buck Houghton |
| Featured music | None credited |
| Production code | 173-3663 |
| Original air date | December 23, 1960 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"The Night of the Meek" is episode 47 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on December 23, 1960 on CBS.
As snow begins to fall, a drunk Henry Corwin, wearing his Santa Claus suit, stumbles and half-falls at a curbside lamppost. He is approached by two tenement children pleading for toys, a Christmas dinner and "a job for my daddy". As Corwin begins to sob, the camera pans to Rod Serling standing on the sidewalk, wearing a winter coat and scarf:
It is Christmas Eve. Henry Corwin, a down-and-out ne'er-do-well, dressed in a baggy, worn-out Santa Claus suit, has just spent his last few dollars on a sandwich and six drinks at Jack's Place, the neighborhood bar. Bruce, the bartender, throws him out after spotting Corwin reaching for the bottle.
Arriving an hour late for his seasonal job as a department store Santa, the drunk Corwin is fired by Mr. Dundee, the manager, acting on complaints from customers about his drunkenness. As Dundee orders him off the premises, Corwin says that he drinks because he lives in a "dirty rooming house on a street filled with hungry kids and shabby people" for whom he is incapable of fulfilling his desired role as Santa. He declares that if he had just one wish granted him on Christmas Eve, he'd "like to see the meek inherit the earth".
Still in his outfit, he returns to Jack's Place but is refused re-entry by Bruce. Stumbling into an alley, he hears sleigh bells and trips over a large burlap bag, filled with packages, which seems to have the ability to produce any item that's asked of it. Overjoyed at his sudden ability to fulfill dreams, Corwin proceeds to hand out gift-wrapped presents to passersby and then to derelict men attending Christmas Eve service at Sister Florence's "Delancey Street Mission House". Irritated by the disruption and outraged by Corwin's offer to gift her with a new dress, Sister Florence hurries outside to fetch Officer Flaherty, who arrests Corwin for apparently stealing merchandise from his former place of employment. Flaherty contacts Mr. Dundee, who arrives at the police station and reaches into the garbage bag to display some of the purported stolen goods, but instead pulls out a few empty cans and a cat. Dundee, angry at having his time wasted, throws accusations of incompetence at Flaherty and disbelief at Corwin's claim that the bag is supernatural. Dundee challenges him to produce a bottle of cherry brandy, vintage 1903. Corwin reaches into the bag to hand Dundee his exact request. Leaving the precinct, he continues to distribute gifts for the remainder of the evening until the bag is empty.
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