A Hundred Yards Over the Rim

"A Hundred Yards Over the Rim"
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 23
Directed by Buzz Kulik
Written by Rod Serling
Featured music Fred Steiner
Production code 173-3654
Original air date April 7, 1961
Guest actors

"A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" is episode 59 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on April 7, 1961 on CBS.

Plot

In the year 1847, Chris Horn is one of the leaders of a small wagon train from Ohio attempting to reach California. Horn's wife and young son Christian are riding in one of the group's Conestoga wagons. Christian is dangerously ill, and the other leaders advise Horn the group wishes to turn back, as they're almost out of food and water, and they lack medicine for those who are sick, like young Christian. Horn sets off alone in a desperate search for water and sustenance.

Horn crosses over a high, sandy hill rim and suddenly finds himself in New Mexico, in 1961. He is stunned to see power lines, a seemingly endless hard black road, and a loud, fast-moving "monster with a face" coming at him. As the truck zooms past the unnerved Horn, he stumbles, accidentally firing his rifle and grazing his arm.

He comes to a small café with gas pumps in front. The friendly couple inside offers Horn water and tends to his injury. They ask where he is from, curious about his old-fashioned clothes and "antique" rifle. When Horn is shocked to see September 1961 showing on the wall calendar, the couple assumes the desert heat has made him mentally unstable. Exploring the café, Horn finds an encyclopedia containing a brief biographical entry for "Christian Horn, Jr.", a physician who achieved good works in late 19th-Century California. Horn realizes this must be his son who is sick, and it must be Christian's destiny to recover from the illness and go on to help many others.

However, during his time in the café, Horn arouses concern about his well-being and that of his family. A local doctor alerts the sheriff, but before the police can arrive, Horn runs back to the rim, narrowly escaping back to the wagon party and his son, holding in his hand a bottle of penicillin from 1961 that can cure his son's illness. He notices that he is no longer being chased and looks back over the rim to find unsettled territory, the power lines and highway vanished. After giving his son the medicine, Horn leads the party on toward California.

The café owner, who with the sheriff had chased Horn to the top of the rim, found only Horn's rifle lying on the ground. He returns to the café to report that Horn inexplicably vanished, but that he brought back Horn's gun. The rifle, now aged more than 100 years in the sun, falls apart at his touch.

Cast

Quotations

Opening narration

The year is 1847, the place is the territory of New Mexico, the people are a tiny handful of men and women with a dream. Eleven months ago, they started out from Ohio and headed west. Someone told them about a place called California, about a warm sun and a blue sky, about rich land and fresh air, and at this moment, almost a year later, they've seen nothing but cold, heat, exhaustion, hunger, and sickness. This man's name is Christian Horn. He has a dying eight-year-old son and a heartsick wife, and he's the only one remaining who has even a fragment of the dream left. Mr. Chris Horn, who's going over the top of a rim to look for water and sustenance and in a moment will move into the Twilight Zone.

Closing narration

Mr. Christian Horn, one of the hardy breed of men who headed west during a time when there were no concrete highways or the solace of civilization. Mr. Christian Horn, and family and party, heading west, after a brief detour to The Twilight Zone.

See also

References

External links

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