Two-Fisted Tales (film)

{{Multiple issues|

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{{Infobox television

| image = Two-Fisted Tales (film).jpg

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| caption = Japanese DVD cover

| genre = Drama
Thriller
War

| based_on = {{Based on|Two-Fisted Tales|Harvey Kurtzman}}

| writer = Gilbert Adler
Frank Darabont ("Showdown")
Randall Jahnson ("King of the Road")
Jim Thomas ("Yellow")
John Thomas ("Yellow")

| director = Richard Donner
Tom Holland
Robert Zemeckis

| starring = {{plainlist|

}}

| music = Michael Kamen ("Showdown")
Warren Zevon ("King of the Road")
Alan Silvestri ("Yellow")

| country = United States

| language = English

| producer = William Teitler

| executive_producer = Richard Donner
Walter Hill
Joel Silver
Robert Zemeckis

| location = Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona

| editor = Michael Thau

| cinematography = Hiro Narita ("Showdown")
Gary B. Kibbe ("King of the Road")
Don Burgess ("Yellow")

| runtime = 88 minutes

| company = Carolco Pictures

| budget =

| network = Fox

| released = {{Start date|1992|01|18}}

}}

Two-Fisted Tales is a 1992 American made-for-television anthology horror film consisting of three separate segments, based on the EC Comics publication Two-Fisted Tales. Only one of the stories is actually adapted from a story appearing in an issue of EC Comics.

Plot

Cast

William Sadler – Mr. Rush (Presenter)

=Segment: "Showdown"=

David Morse – Tom McMurdo
Neil Giuntoli – Billy Quintaine
Roderick Cook – Cornelius Bosch
Thomas F. Duffy – Scorby
Monty Bass – Frank Little Bear
Mel Coleman – Blacksmith
Grant Gelt – Little Boy
Paul T. Murray – Harley
Tommy Townsend – Big Bart

=Segment: "King of the Road"=

Raymond J. Barry – Garrett
Brad Pitt – Billy
Michelle Bronson – Carrie
Jack Kehler – Mole
Alva L. Petway – Dispatcher

=Segment: "Yellow"=

Kirk Douglas – Sr. Calthrob
Eric Douglas – Jr. Calthrob
Lance Henriksen – Ripper
Dan Aykroyd – Milligan
Dominick Morra – Priest
Steve Boyum – King
Chuck Picerni Jr. – Jones
R. David Smith – Soldier

Production

In 1991, the comic book was adapted for a TV pilot{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/television|title=Television|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-03-24|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |title=Horror Movies |url=https://www.horrormovielists.com/ |access-date=12 August 2024}} by producers Joel Silver, Richard Donner, Robert Zemeckis and others. Apart from an opening montage of covers from the comic book and use of comic's logo, the pilot had little connection with Kurtzman's creation. In imitation of EC's horror books, the hour-long anthology drama featured the ghostly gunfighter Mr. Rush (Bill Sadler) as a host and a device to connect the segments, although Kurtzman's war-adventure stories had never been introduced by a host. Two of the stories, "Showdown" (written by Frank Darabont and directed by Richard Donner) and "King of the Road" (written by Randall Jahnson and directed by Tom Holland), were original scripts and not adaptations from EC (although "Showdown" did share a title with a story from issue 37). The third story, "Yellow" (written by Jim Thomas & John Thomas and A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler and directed by Robert Zemeckis), was adapted from a story written by Al Feldstein and illustrated by Jack Davis for the first issue of EC's Shock SuspenStories.

Broadcast

Although it contains a 1991 copyright notice at the end of the credits, the pilot had a single telecast in the USA on January 18, 1992, generating little interest, and "Showdown" and "King of the Road" were later extracted to become individual episodes of HBO's Tales from the Crypt television series (though "Yellow" had been broadcast as an episode in the year before).