Printer's Devil

One more soul selling. The problem is that we aren't privy to the rules. Burgess Meredith comes upon George Bailey (Oh sorry. That's another movie) as he's trying to commit suicide. This is a man who is the owner of a newspaper that has gone in the tank due to a big money competitor. He is in hock up to his ears and can see no way out. Burgess talks him off the bridge and assures him that given the opportunity, he can turn his life around. He lights his crooked cigar by striking his finger on his pants leg. He tells the young man that he is a top reporter and a master linotype operator (and he is). The bad thing is that while things begin to flourish, it is because the newspaper begins to get scoops almost as the events take place. A series of disasters and scandals take place and the newspapers are already on the streets within an hour. Of course, the devil has snookered the young man. He now takes over the paper, acting as puppeteer for the others. What to do? The conclusion works fairly well and Meredith is a great devil (his cruelty comes to the fore at the end), but things are not presented logically within the rules of the game.

Yes, Robert Sterling was my cousin. I may be a bit biased, but I don't think so. I won't go through the new take on the oft used Faustian plot, because every review details it. I'll focus on acting.

Burgess Meredith is always good. He was a high quality actor. But let's also face the fact that his part was the easiest of the three. Like Tom Cruise, who had the tougher role in "Rain Man," (and no less than Helen Hayes agreed), the less flashy, more ordinary humans are the hardest to play. Robert Sterling gives a fine performance here (so does Crowley in a smaller role). He takes us through the nuances of change regarding his character, Doug Winter, and that's where the acting challenge comes. He was perhaps best known for TV's "Topper," with his talented wife, Anne Jeffreys. He also appeared in Greta Garbo's final film, "Two Faced Woman," among many other screen credits.

Robert Sterling was a handsome and competent actor. In fact, he gave his first wife, Anne Sothern, credit for increasing his acting knowledge and ability. Bob was not the greatest actor who ever lived (a la Olivier for example), but he was every bit as good as most and I am proud of his performance here.

Printer's Devil benefits hugely from being an hourly episode. Characters are more defined, there's a nice build-up in suspense (though mainly for the paper's employees, rather then the viewer, who's already into Mr Smith's secret.) Meredith is a delicious little Satan, but it really is Robert Sterlings acting that supports the narrative. I knew his face, but had no idea he was such a good actor. Printer's devil has stood passing of time a lot better than most - shorter - episodes and is still hugely enjoyable. The climax could have been a bit better though..

"The Printers devil" is one of my favorite hour long episodes of TZ. The another variation on the "selling your soul to the devil" story, this one is made delightful by Burgess Meredith's devil. I think this is my favorite of his 4 characters he did on TZ.. Some of the others were better stories , but the delight of seeing him play the linotype machine with the crooked cigar in his mouth was a delight. By the way, I think the linotype machine was the 4th main character in the episode. Loved seeing one of those old mechanical marvels in action, they are truly incredible machines. After seeing this episode for the first time, I spent many hour researching both the history and the function of these machines of the pre computer era.

This was a great episode with great acting all around. But Burgess was definitely channeling The Penguin! He's such a wonderful character actor no wonder he was in several TZ episodes.