A Quality of Mercy
E822308
"A Quality of Mercy" is a 1961 episode of the anthology television series The Twilight Zone that explores the futility and moral ambiguity of war through a supernatural role-reversal experienced by a zealous World War II officer.
Statements (40)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf | television episode ⓘ |
| airDateYear | 1961 ⓘ |
| basedOn | original teleplay by Rod Serling ⓘ |
| blackAndWhite | true ⓘ |
| broadcastFormat | half-hour anthology episode ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| createdForTelevisionBy | Rod Serling NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| director | Buzz Kulik NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| exploresConcept |
the psychological cost of war
ⓘ
the shared humanity of soldiers on opposing sides ⓘ |
| featuresSupernaturalElement | yes ⓘ |
| followedByEpisode | Nothing in the Dark NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| genre |
anthology television
ⓘ
fantasy television ⓘ science fiction television ⓘ |
| hasTitleOrigin | phrase alluding to Shakespeare’s "The Merchant of Venice" speech on mercy ⓘ |
| mainCharacter | Lieutenant Katell NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| medium | television ⓘ |
| moralMessage | condemns blind militarism and dehumanization of the enemy ⓘ |
| narrator | Rod Serling NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| originalAirDate | 1961-12-29 ⓘ |
| originalLanguage | English ⓘ |
| originalNetwork | CBS ⓘ |
| originalSeries | The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| partOfSeries | The Twilight Zone NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| plotSummary | A zealous American World War II officer is supernaturally placed in the position of a Japanese officer, forcing him to experience the enemy’s perspective. ⓘ |
| precededByEpisode | Once Upon a Time NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| productionCode | 4807 ⓘ |
| protagonistAllegiance | United States Army NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| roleReversalDevice | body swap across enemy lines ⓘ |
| runningTimeMinutes | 25 ⓘ |
| seriesSeason | The Twilight Zone season 3 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| settingPlace | Pacific theater of World War II NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| settingTime | World War II NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| theme |
empathy for the enemy
ⓘ
futility of war ⓘ moral ambiguity of war ⓘ role reversal ⓘ |
| title | A Quality of Mercy NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| writer | Rod Serling NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.