The Big Tall Wish
starring Ivan Dixon, Steven Perry
directed by Ron Winston
A young boy named Henry Temple (Steven Perry) wishes that his neighbor, past his prime boxer Bolie Jackson (Ivan Dixon), into winning a fight. Bolie remembers how badly he was losing the fight when all of a sudden things changed. He wants to believe that he still has it and that he really did it himself but after talking to Henry he learns the truth. He can't accept the magic that Henry somehow worked and that somehow undoes what Henry made happen.
Quite often episodes of this show are about people learning to accept the supernatural or fantastic. This episode is about learning to accept reality and reject the supernatural.
I have mixed feelings about this episode. It is good but it is also a little painful to see how it unfolds. Should Bolie have won that fight? No, but the lesson he teaches Henry is both an important one and a bit of a heartbreaker.
Notes
This is the first of two episodes of this show in which Ivan Dixon appeared. I also saw him several months ago in an episode of The Outer Limits (1963), 1.08 The Human Factor. I have to admit that I didn't recognize Ivan Dixon without a mustache.
This is the only episode of this show in which Steven Perry appeared.
Kim Hamilton played the part of Henry's mother. This is the only episode of this show in which she appeared. I've also seen her in Odds Against Tomrrow (1959). She appeared in one episode each of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Henry Scott had a small part in this episode as a boxing promoter. I saw him a few months back in Anna Lucasta (1958). This is the first of two episodes of this show in which he appeared.
This is the second of three episodes of this show that was directed by Ron Winston. The first was 1.22 The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.
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