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.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
A Quality of Mercy canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

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 ⓘ
createdForTelevisionBy Rod Serling ⓘ
director Buzz Kulik ⓘ
exploresConcept the psychological cost of war ⓘ
the shared humanity of soldiers on opposing sides ⓘ
featuresSupernaturalElement yes ⓘ
followedByEpisode Nothing in the Dark ⓘ
genre anthology television ⓘ
fantasy television ⓘ
science fiction television ⓘ
hasTitleOrigin phrase alluding to Shakespeare’s "The Merchant of Venice" speech on mercy ⓘ
mainCharacter Lieutenant Katell ⓘ
medium television ⓘ
moralMessage condemns blind militarism and dehumanization of the enemy ⓘ
narrator Rod Serling ⓘ
originalAirDate 1961-12-29 ⓘ
originalLanguage English ⓘ
originalNetwork CBS ⓘ
originalSeries The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) ⓘ
partOfSeries The Twilight Zone ⓘ
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 ⓘ
productionCode 4807 ⓘ
protagonistAllegiance United States Army ⓘ
roleReversalDevice body swap across enemy lines ⓘ
runningTimeMinutes 25 ⓘ
seriesSeason The Twilight Zone season 3 ⓘ
settingPlace Pacific theater of World War II ⓘ
linked to: Pacific War
settingTime World War II ⓘ
theme empathy for the enemy ⓘ
futility of war ⓘ
moral ambiguity of war ⓘ
role reversal ⓘ
title A Quality of Mercy ⓘ
writer Rod Serling ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

A Quality of Mercy → title → A Quality of Mercy ⓘ