At any time when we enter into The Twilight Zone, we’re all the time stunned by some unusual taking place that by no means would have first crossed our minds. Within the case of the present’s second season (which comprises a few of the collection’ greatest episodes), that remained true with the episode “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim.” This Rod Serling-penned traditional begins as a Western, full with all the standard trappings about migrants headed west. However quickly, it crosses over into the unknown as pioneer Christian “Chris” Horn (performed immaculately by Cliff Robertson) out of the blue finds himself out of the Nineteenth century and into the twentieth, and his life won’t ever be the identical.

The Twilight Zone (1959)

Unusual folks discover themselves in terribly astounding conditions, which they every attempt to clear up in a outstanding method.

Launch Date

October 2, 1959

Creator

Rod Serling

Forged

Rod Serling , Jack Klugman , Burgess Meredith , John Anderson

Seasons

5

What Is This ‘Twilight Zone’ Episode About?

Starting in 1847, a small wagon prepare is headed Westward to a magical land known as California, solely to be stopped by starvation, thirst, and illness. The band’s chief, Chris Horn (Robertson), is “the one one remaining who has even a fraction of the dream left.” As his son, Christian Jr., lies dying of pneumonia and his spouse Martha (Miranda Jones) struggles with caring for him, Horn heads out into the New Mexican desert searching for sustenance and drugs. It is solely then that he crosses over a rim into the Twilight Zone. There, he discovers he is not within the 1840s, however a brand-new time, stuffed with monsters and oddities he cannot comprehend. After all, these monsters are actually vehicles and the eccentricities are gasoline stations, diners, and phone poles, however Horn would not know any higher.

Having stepped into 1961 in virtually a reversal of what we see in Again to the Future Half III, Horn meets Joe (John Crawford) and his former nurse of a spouse, Mary Lou (Evans Evans), who treats his wounds and helps him get cleaned up. As they clarify the world he is in, Horn is greatly surprised by all of the technological and medical developments, significantly the penicillin capsules he is given for the bullet wound on his hand. After being examined by the native physician (Edward Platt), who thinks Horn shouldn’t be making sense, but additionally might consider he is telling the reality about his origins, Horn reads by an Encyclopedia to find that his son, Christian Horn, Jr., turns into a powerful kids’s physician who makes severe developments within the medical area, having made it to California as a toddler.

Believing his journey to the longer term to be windfall, Horn escapes the police on foot, wandering again to the desert rim that introduced him to this mysterious future. With the penicillin in hand, Horn returns to 1847, leaving his gun behind within the sand. Again in 1961, Joe finds Horn’s gun (which had as soon as appeared brand-new earlier than) all worn down by the literal sands of time, confirming that the wayward pioneer was certainly telling the reality. Whereas Rod Serling’s different Western-themed episodes of The Twilight Zone, reminiscent of “Showdown with Rance McGrew,” typically critique and criticize the parable of the American West, “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim” does the precise reverse. Right here, we see the bleakness and hardships that Western pioneers typically went by, and it is clear that this wagon prepare would’ve possible died with out Horn’s tour to the longer term, both attributable to dehydration, hunger, sickness, or an sudden risk.

“A Hundred Yards Over the Rim” Is ‘The Twilight Zone’ at Its Most interesting

Like a few of the greatest episodes of The Twilight Zone, “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim” takes a typical idea and flips it on its head, turning the Western into much less of a mythic excellent and extra of a brutal actuality. Whereas the style is mostly crucial of ideas like progress and “change,” this episode takes a real pioneer out of his 1800s constraints and reveals him how a lot better life would develop into with the arrival of latest medicines and applied sciences to assist within the hardships of life. Whereas different Twilight Zone episodes would possibly emphasize horror or the macabre, this one is not a lot a cautionary story as it’s a optimistic have a look at how far America has come within the final 100-plus years. Properly, no less than the final 100-plus years on the time this episode aired in April 1961.

After all, a lot of the credit score for “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim” goes to Rod Serling and the episode’s star, Cliff Robertson. Serling, as normal, crafts a compelling “fish out of water” narrative (using a tough dose of science-fiction to get our hero there) that emphasizes the distresses and anxieties of Western pioneers searching for a greater life. Whereas most Western tales romanticize the journey West, this Twilight Zone episode is a surprisingly genuine have a look at the extra urgent risks of an absence of meals, water, and drugs within the blazing deserts of the American Southwest. Regardless of solely the very starting and ending of the episode going down in 1847, Horn’s journey to 1961 enhances these ideas even higher than being within the Nineteenth century would have.

Robertson’s efficiency right here is outstanding. The Twilight Zone has had loads of sturdy main stars in its time (reminiscent of future Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child star Robert Redford) however we would be remiss if we did not word that Robertson’s work right here is among the many present’s greatest. His time as a Nineteenth-century man is solely plausible, and his mannerisms, facial gestures, and speculative perspective all contribute effectively to the character. In some ways, all the episode hinges on Robertson’s skill to play a convincing Chris Horn, and he delivers effortlessly. If this had been your first publicity to The Twilight Zone, you would be in luck as this character-driven drama reminds us simply how impactful episodic anthologies will be. To say that Cliff Robertson is a delight to observe on display can be an understatement, and the character’s transformation from a person confused and afraid of this new world to a father stuffed with conviction and goal is a relatable take that tugs deep on the heartstrings.

‘The Twilight Zone’ Episode’s Lead Does not Look Like a Basic Cowboy

One small aspect of the story which will throw off audiences anticipating one thing that appears a bit extra Western is the costuming. Whereas lined wagons, outdated rifles, and desert landscapes fill the display, Chris Horn would not look an excessive amount of like your typical Western hero. Properly, based on Marc Scott Zicree‘s The Twilight Zone Companion, there is a purpose that Cliff Robertson’s costume did not match the standard Gunsmoke or Rawhide appears to be like on tv. In contrast to the traditional cowboys and gunfighters of outdated, Horn and his companions are touring to California from out East (Ohio, particularly), and as such, actor Cliff Robertson thought that he ought to look the half. “Each [director Buzz Kulik] and Robertson wished the primary character to look not like a cowboy, however slightly to put on what really is perhaps worn by an Easterner on his approach West,” Zicree wrote. “Says director of pictures George Clemens, ‘Do you bear in mind he wore a giant stovepipe hat? It was Cliff’s thought and I used to be so scared that we would be laughed off the display on the primary scene.'”

However that is not what occurred in any respect. Clemens was the primary to confess that he obtained it fallacious. As an alternative, the episode has been thought-about a fan-favorite and infrequently seems on “better of” lists in regards to the authentic collection. Cliff Robertson’s efficiency is little question why, and his dedication to authenticity within the function is admirable. Robertson is a powerful actor, who, in fact, bookended his lengthy profession with Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man trilogy, the place he performed none aside from Uncle Ben Parker. However again in The Twilight Zone, Robertson thrived as a number one man, showing in two episodes of the collection complete: this one, and the third season episode “The Dummy.” The partnership right here between Robertson and director Buzz Kulik is a powerful one as they labored collectively to greatest craft the kind of character that the wayward Chris Horn was meant to be.

“He got here to me whereas we had been rehearsing with an eight-or-nine-page evaluation of his character that he had written,” Kulik revealed to The Twilight Zone Companion. “We used to try this after we had been all youngsters simply out of appearing college, however only a few folks take the time to try this.” Little doubt Robertson’s dedication to his craft is commendable, and his devotion to the character and the episode is obvious because the New Mexican skyline boasted within the episode. Properly, it is actually the California skyline, however hey, that is Hollywood. A enjoyable Hollywood-themed facet word: “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim” was shot on the identical location and across the similar time as the following episode, “The Rip Van Winkle Caper” (additionally written by Rod Serling), attributable to producer Buck Houghton’s need to maintain manufacturing prices as little as doable. That approach, the crew solely needed to journey as soon as out to Lone Pine, California to shoot slightly than twice.

This Was ‘The Twilight Zone’s Weirdest Western Episode

As a result of Westerns had been so standard on tv on the time, it was a related style that The Twilight Zone would revisit on a number of events. Even earlier in Season 2, the episode “Mud” aired, which is all a few supposed “magic mud” that’s meant to vary the minds of rural townsfolk who’re intent on executing a younger man. “A Hundred Yards Over the Rim” is undoubtedly the extra well-known of the 2, however there are many different Bizarre Westerns (a subgenre of the Western that usually blends with horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and different genres) within the present’s chronology together with the aforementioned “Showdown with Rance McGrew,” Season 1’s “Mr. Denton on Doomsday,” and the third season traditional, “The Grave.”

“A Hundred Yards Over the Rim” won’t have ghosts, ghouls, executions, or different spectacular ideas, however its distinctive use of providential time journey makes this one a compelling spin on a well-known story. As normal, Rod Serling was a person effectively forward of his time. He was additionally a person who cherished the Western, albeit his personal model of the style. Not lengthy after The Twilight Zone ended, he even launched a Western collection of his personal titled The Loner, which starred Lloyd Bridges within the title function. Sadly, his Western efforts did not final greater than a season, however his Twilight Zone ventures into the Outdated West proceed to stay with us over 60 years later.

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