Mr. Dingle, the Strong
- Episode aired Mar 3, 1961
- TV-PG
- 25m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
A timid vacuum-cleaner salesman is given the strength of 300 men by some experimenting aliens.A timid vacuum-cleaner salesman is given the strength of 300 men by some experimenting aliens.A timid vacuum-cleaner salesman is given the strength of 300 men by some experimenting aliens.
Eddie Ryder
- Joseph J. Callahan
- (as Edward Ryder)
Gregory Irvin
- 2nd Venusian
- (as Greg Irwin)
Bob Duggan
- Photographer
- (uncredited)
Robert McCord
- Customer
- (uncredited)
Rod Serling
- Narrator
- (uncredited)
- …
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn this episode and many others like Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? (1961), a majority of the actors are smoking due to the demand of one of the Twilight Zone's sponsors, a cigarette company.
- GoofsNeither the television camera or the TV host's microphone are plugged in to anything.
- Quotes
Reporter: [sarcastically after Dingle's superstrength disappears] So long, Hercules.
- ConnectionsEdited into Twilight-Tober-Zone: Mr. Dingle, The Strong (2021)
Featured review
If you prefer comical over sinister ...
Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" is one of the greatest and most notorious TV-series of all times, but presumably obtained its solid cult reputation (and its current high ranking in the IMDb series top 250) based on the sinister and genuinely frightening episodes. There are also several episodes, "Mr. Dingle the Strong" being one of them, in which comedy gets the upper hand and they are generally less powerful and memorable. Although blessed with a terrific cast and ditto director, "Mr. Dingle, the Strong" is far too silly and meaningless to be considered as a top-entry in the series. Burgess Meredith as Luther Dingle struck me as a character that could have been played by Stan Laurel or Bud Costello, especially with stuttering voice and the constant dragging along of silly devices that are supposed to be the vacuum cleaners that he sells. When the weak Dingle is tossed around in a bar once again, two invisible aliens appear and find him the ideally pathetic guinea pig to inflict the strength of 300 men upon. The aliens also contribute heavily to the slapstick effect. They are two creatures in one cardboard box suit, complete with little buttons and glowing spirals. The episode is in black and white, so I can't be entirely sure, but I bet they are as green as stereotypical Martians ought to be. Only the obvious happens after that: Mr. Dingle becomes famous, but only uses his unique powers for cheap carnival tricks and loses them again as swiftly as they came. The performances of both Burgess Meredith and Don Rickles are admirable, and I certainly don't regret having wasted half an hour of my time on this, but personally I prefer my "Twilight Zone" tales much darker and more sinister.
helpful•54
- Coventry
- Feb 5, 2019
Details
- Runtime25 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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