12:01 PM
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12:01 PM is a short story by Richard A. Lupoff, which was published in the December 1973 edition of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The major plot device is a time loop or time bounce.
The story was adapted twice by Hollywood. First in 1990 as a short film, and again in 1993 as a television movie. Lupoff appeared in both films as an extra.[1]
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[edit] 1990 film
12:01 PM was first adapted into an Academy Award nominated [2] 1990 short film starring Kurtwood Smith. Directed by Jonathan Heap, it originally aired on cable television in 1990 as part of the Showtime 30-Minute Movie anthology series.
In this version, Kurtwood Smith plays Myron Castleman, an everyman-type who keeps repeating the same hour of his life, from 12:01 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.. The character is fully aware that the time loop is occurring, although no one else appears to be aware of the repeating hour. Each time the hour resets, Myron retains his memory (or as the film puts it, his conscienceness), and despite his best attempts to understand what is happening, he ultimately realizes that he is entirely helpless to prevent the time bounce. Myron cannot even break the loop by killing himself, as he reappears, alive, at the next iteration; he is trapped in the loop for eternity. This version has not been released on DVD or VHS in the United States, but 12:01 PM is available on DVD in the UK, collected on a DVD with other short films.
An urban legend (spread via the internet) suggests that the makers of 12:01 PM won a lawsuit against the producers of Groundhog Day (a film with a similar main plot device). According to Lupoff, "Jonathan Heap and I were outraged and tried very hard to go after the rascals who had robbed us, but alas, the Hollywood establishment closed ranks. We were no Art Buchwald. After half a year of lawyers' conferences and emotional stress, we agreed to put the matter behind us and get on with our lives."[3]
[edit] 1993 film
12:01 is an adaptation of the same short story, produced as a television movie in 1993. It stars Helen Slater, Jonathan Silverman, Jeremy Piven and Martin Landau, and it originally aired on the Fox Network in the United States. In this version, Silverman’s character keeps reliving the same 24-hour period. Slater plays his romantic interest, and Piven provides comic relief as his best friend. This version differs from the short film in that it features a much lighter and more comedic tone, and that the protagonist ultimately finds a way to correct the time loop over the course of the film’s 94 minute running time. This version was released on DVD in the United States on 2006-11-28. Coincidentally, the film Groundhog Day, which has a similar plot, was released in the same year.
