"Execution" is episode 26 of the
American television
Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...
anthology series ''
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...
''. It features
Albert Salmi
Albert Salmi (March 11, 1928 – April 22, 1990) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Best known for his work as a character actor, he appeared in over 150 film and television productions.
Early life
Salmi was born and raised ...
, who also plays the lead character in the Season 4 episode "
Of Late I Think of Cliffordville
"Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" is episode 116 of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone''. It originally aired on April 11, 1963, on CBS. In this episode, an elderly business tycoon buys the opportunity to enjoy amassing ...
".
Opening narration
Plot
In 1880, an outlaw cowboy named Joe Caswell is about to be hanged for murder. But as the noose tightens around his neck, he suddenly disappears and finds himself in 1960, in the laboratory of Professor Manion. Manion explains that he used a
time machine
Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...
to pluck Caswell from the past. But when Manion sees Caswell's rope burns around his neck, and hears his admission that in his life he had murdered over 20 men, he knows he must try to send Caswell back.
The discussion leads to an argument. Caswell attacks Manion, killing him with a desk lamp. He then flees from the laboratory into a busy street, but is overwhelmed by the lights and the noise; he returns to the lab, distraught and desperate. He breaks down, pleading for the dead scientist to help him.
A thief named Paul Johnson enters the lab. Caswell fights with Johnson, but Johnson gets the upper hand and strangles Caswell with the cord from the window curtains. As Johnson tries to find 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. The witnesses to the hanging are shocked to see a stranger's body, in strange clothes, in place of Caswell. They question whether this was the Devil's work or some other power's, and whether they have just executed an innocent man.
Closing narration
Further reading
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media.
*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.
External links
*
{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
1960 American television episodes
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 1) episodes
Television episodes about death
Television episodes about time travel
Television episodes written by Rod Serling
Fiction set in 1880
Fiction set in 1960
Television episodes written by George Clayton Johnson