Darkroom Make-Up (1981–1982) Online

Down-and-out schnook Paddy (Crystal) is trying to start a new life with his girlfriend (Allen), but is frustrated in attempting to raise money for this cause by sleazy mobster Dennehy. While pawning his belongings to raise money, he meets the widow of a deceased actor, who is trying to pawn his old makeup case which (according to the widow) enabled the late actor to literally become the part he was playing. Feeling sorry for the woman, Paddy buys the case with the money he just got pawning his own stuff, and realizes that the widow's story may have had more to it than he imagined...

Along with "Uncle George", "Closed Circuit", and "Who's There?", "Make Up" rounds out the best four segments of "Darkroom," thanks largely to a wonderfully clever script from Bloom, and a marvelous lead performance from Crystal, following off his success in "Soap." Bloom's script gets where it's going through a number of clever twists, changing the lead character's identity with just enough delineation to make those plot turns plausible, and keeping us in suspense as to how Paddy will deal with Dennehy's attempts to get even with him.

In this respect, Crystal's performance is critical. For those who only know of him in light comedies or from the Oscars, this performance is a revelation, as he creates three completely separate identities through a combination of slight changes in gesture, body carriage, voice and facial expression, all of which is crucial to make the plot work. Crystal also get some nice support from Dennehy as a man who does not take kindly to defeat at the poker table, and 1940s film star Hasso as the widow.

A marvelous little episode with a very satisfying ending, one that would fit in well with some of the best of the "The Twilight Zone" or "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."

Paddy (Billy Crystal) hasn't got it easy: cursed with a lame leg, he's virtually penniless, feeds himself on toast with a conservative layer of mustard, has the landlord sitting on his shoulder and keeps himself afloat with menial jobs, such as making deliveries for the shady club-owner Roland (Brian Dennehy), who rips him off over a hundred bucks and tosses him back into the gutter. Paddy's only light at the end of the tunnel is the waitress Brenda, who want him to come with her to sunny Miami, but of course there's the problem with the green paper, from which George Washington so benevolently smiles. Trying to sell his watch, his last valuable possession, at a pawnshop, for a meagre 20 bucks, he overhears the widow (Signe Hasso) of famed silent-movie actor Lamont Tremayne – "the man with the hundred faces", as he was known in his heyday – trying to sell off her late husband's make-up-box. For no other reason than having a soft heart, Paddy buys the box for 20 bucks. He rummages through the content and discovers the make-up that Lamont applied during the filming of his "Revenge of the Colossus". Soon later, a huge guy looking a lot like Paddy, appears at Roland's, roughs up his heavies and demands the hundred bucks (plus interest) that is being owned to Paddy. Enraged, Roland pays Paddy (no his diminished self again) a visit and takes his money back, vowing revenge on Paddy's "tall friend". Paddy contemplates to make a run but is tempted one more time by the magical make-up-box. Shortly later, a one-eyed gambler, again looking eerily similar like Paddy, appears on Sebastian's poker table and milks him for all he's worth. However, this may be only the beginning of Paddy's real troubles… "Make Up" was again one of the highlights of this short-lived series and once again it's mainly due to the excellent cast and generally creepy atmosphere. We get a very young Billy Crystal, before he became a household-name, 'fresh' off playing bit roles in TV-shows and movies (among them Joan River's mega-flop "Rabbit Test" – which Schwarzenegger's "Twins 2" later ripped off mercilessly and turned into a semi-success). Surprisingly enough, there is almost no comedy in his performance, but he plays the hapless Paddy to a tit. Brian Dennehy had always had a penchant for playing shady characters and doesn't disappoint either.

The rest of the cast, although having no more than cameo appearances, should be known to people who've been watching TV between the 1950's and 1980's, with special-guest (so to speak) Signe Hasso, the elusive actress who was 40 years earlier tooted by RKO as "the next Greta Garbo". Which brings us to the premise of this episode, which hints at Hollywood's golden age, and especially Lon Chaney and his reputation as "the man with the 1,000 faces". It's a charming, harmless little romp – surely outdated these days but certainly worth the time for friends of 80's horror- and spooky-anthologies. As far as those go, a 8/10 would not be too much.