Execution (The Twilight Zone)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Execution
Series = The Twilight Zone


Caption = Albert Salmi in Execution
Season = 1
Episode = 26
Airdate = April 1, 1960
Production=173-3628
Writer =Rod Serling (story by George Clayton Johnson)
Director =David Orrick McDearmon
Guests =Albert Salmi : Joe Caswell
Russell Johnson : Professor Manion
Than Wyenn : Johnson
Jon Lormer : Reverend
Music =
Episode list = List of Twilight Zone episodes
Prev = People Are Alike All Over
Next = The Big Tall Wish

"Execution" is an episode of the American television anthology series "The Twilight Zone".

Opening narration

ynopsis

In 1880, a man named Joe Caswell is about to be hanged for murdering a civilian. But as the noose tightens around his neck, he suddenly appears in the modern lab of Professor Manion. Manion explains that he used a time machine to randomly pluck Caswell from the past. But when Manion sees Caswell’s rope burns around his neck, he attempts to send him back. The two men get into a fight, and Caswell ends up hitting Manion over the head with a heavy lamp. Caswell then tries to escape onto a busy street, but becomes so overwhelmed by the lights and the noise that he returns to the lab. Seeking the scientist’s aid, he realizes that his blow has killed Manion. Then a thief, Johnson, breaks into the lab. Caswell tries to wrestle Johnson’s gun from him, but Johnson ends up strangling Caswell. As Johnson tries to break into Manion’s safe, he accidentally activates the time machine—and is sent back to 1880, appearing in the noose intended for Caswell, just in time to be hanged.

Closing narration

Preview for Next Week's Story

Trivia

* In the "Twilight Zone" episode "Back There", Russell Johnson portrays a man who travels through time in an attempt to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
* Albert Salmi also plays the lead character in "The Twilight Zone" episode "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville".
* Russell Johnson, who plays Professor Manion in this episode, plays The Professor on the series "Gilligan's Island".
* Compare to "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", a short story by Ambrose Bierce, and the Twilight Zone episode.
* The opening narration in this episode has a line which is reused in the second season episode "The Whole Truth", which describes the main character thusly, "Mr. Harvey Hunnicut...who, when the good Lord passed out a conscience, must have gone for a beer and missed out," similarly to the main character in this episode, "Mr. Joe Caswell, who, when the good Lord passed out a conscience, a heart, a feeling for fellow men, must have been out for a beer and missed out."

References

*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). "Trivia from The Twilight Zone". Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
*Grabman, Sandra. (2005). "Spotlights and Shadows: The Albert Salmi Story". Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media.
*Grams, Martin. (2008). "The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic". Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090

External links

*
* [http://www.cbs.com/classics/the_twilight_zone/video/video.php?cid=621774886&pid=7_PjjrJ_wGG1zpdciVyrhiG_V47M4mfl&play=true&cc=0 Full video of the episode at CBS.com]