"Paladin of the Lost Hour" is the second segment of the seventh episode of the first season of the first revival of the television series The Twilight Zone, adapted from a novelette by scriptwriter Harlan Ellison. The story follows the friendship between a Vietnam veteran and an old man entrusted with forestalling the end of the universe. The television episode starred Danny Kaye in one of his final screen appearances.
Scene from "Paladin of the Lost Hour"
Harlan Jay Ellison was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. His published works include more than 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic book scripts, teleplays, essays, and a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media. Some of his best-known works include the 1967 Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever", considered by some to be the single greatest episode of the Star Trek franchise, his A Boy and His Dog cycle, and his short stories "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" and "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman". He was also editor and anthologist for Dangerous Visions (1967) and Again, Dangerous Visions (1972). Ellison won numerous awards, including multiple Hugos, Nebulas, and Edgars.
Ellison in 1986
Ellison's 1957 novella "The Savage Swarm", cover-featured in Amazing Stories, has never been included in an authorized collection or anthology.
A few months later, another Ellison novella, "The Steel Napoleon", also took the cover of Amazing. It also remains uncollected.
Another uncollected Ellison novella, "Satan Is My Ally", was the cover story on the May 1957 issue of Fantastic Science Fiction.