"A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" | |||
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The Twilight Zone episode | |||
Cliff Robertson in "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" |
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Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 59 |
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Directed by | Buzz Kulik | ||
Written by | Rod Serling | ||
Featured music | Fred Steiner | ||
Production code | 173-3654 | ||
Original air date | April 7, 1961 | ||
Guest stars | |||
Cliff Robertson: Chris Horn |
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Episode chronology | |||
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List of Twilight Zone episodes |
"A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
Contents |
In the year 1847, Chris Horn (Cliff Robertson) is one of the leaders of a small wagon train from Ohio attempting to reach California. Horn's wife and young son Christian are in one Conestoga wagon of the group. When his son becomes dangerously ill, he sets off alone in a desperate search for water.
Horn crosses a high sandy hill rim, only to stumble through time, arriving in 1961 New Mexico. He is stunned to see power lines, a seemingly unending hard black road, and what he perceives to be a loud, fast-moving "monster" with a face coming at him. As the truck passes the unnerved Horn, he stumbles, firing his rifle, slightly wounding himself.
He finally locates a small cafe with gas pumps in front. The friendly, curious people at the gas stop provide him with water and help him with his wound. Exploring the cafe, he finds an encyclopedia containing a brief biographical entry for his son, "Christian Horn, Jr.", a physician who achieved good works in late 19th-century California. Horn realizes that his son will not only recover from the illness, he will go on to help many others.
But during his time in the cafe, Horn arouses too much curiosity. A local doctor contacts the sheriff and Horn runs back over the rim, narrowly escaping back to his party, his son, and his time, bearing a bottle of penicillin that can cure his son's illness. The cafe owner runs after Horn and finds only Horn's rifle lying on the ground. When he picks it up, the rifle, now aged more 100 years in the sun, falls apart at his touch.