Cliff Robertson plays a character named Chris Horn.\u00a0 Horn is a member of a wagon train that had crossed the prairie and deserts between Ohio and the New Mexico to start a new life in California.\u00a0 Now the rest of the wagon train were despairing of finding water ahead and were talking of turning back.\u00a0 His wife is heartbroken because their son Christian is terribly ill with a fever and thought near death.\u00a0 One of the other heads of family, Charlie (played by John Astin) tries to reason with Chris about how futile it is.\u00a0 Although practically hopeless himself Chris is very reluctant to give up after coming so far.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He tells Charlie he\u2019ll go over the sand ridge to the side of their trail to see if he can find water and what\u2019s on the other side.<\/p>\n
When Chris crests the top of the ridge, he is met with a scene he cannot comprehend.\u00a0 There are tall metal towers connected by rope-like lines that extend to the horizon in both directions and there is a black road that also extends in both directions as far as he can see.\u00a0 Walking down to the road he touches it and finds that it is very warm.\u00a0 Suddenly a huge machine comes flying down the road making a loud frightening noise and he runs for his life off the road.\u00a0 While scurrying away his rifle accidentally discharges and the bullet nicks his arm.\u00a0 Now thoroughly disoriented he walks along the road to see where it goes.<\/p>\n
He shows up at a small 1960s vintage general store with a dining area and a gas pump out front.\u00a0 The friendly married couple who own the store try to help Chris and answer his questions.\u00a0 They give him water and the wife cleans his gunshot wound and gives him some penicillin to avoid infection.\u00a0 They tell him about the area where they are (New Mexico) and that there is considerable water and game in the area.\u00a0 When talking about the penicillin Chris realizes it may help his sick child and so he takes the container of pills.\u00a0 Finally, when they ask him where he got the antique rifle, he takes offense declaring that it is a brand new 1846 rifle.\u00a0 They inform him that it\u2019s 1961.\u00a0 He disbelieves them until he sees the date on the calendar on the wall.\u00a0 He looks through their books and finds an encyclopedia that has an article on someone with his son\u2019s name that went on to be a doctor in California in the late 1800s.\u00a0 Now Chris is encouraged to think that not only will he make it to California but that his son will live.\u00a0 A doctor that the couple had called checks on Chris\u2019s wound and finds it to be satisfactory but after examining him he notes that he has fillings in his teeth that could not have been used after the middle of the nineteenth century.\u00a0 Because of the gunshot wound and also because he has begun doubting Chris\u2019s sanity, the doctor called the town sheriff to come and pick Chris up.\u00a0 When Chris realizes what is going on, he makes a run for it.\u00a0 As he nears the ridge he first climbed to get to this strange world, the police cruiser approaches.\u00a0 Running to stay ahead of the sheriff he drops his rifle and sprints over the top of the ridge.\u00a0 And there he finds his own wagon.\u00a0 When he cautiously looks back over the ridge the twentieth century is nowhere to be seen.\u00a0 No powerlines, no asphalt road and no sheriff on his heels.<\/p>\n
He goes back to the wagon train and tells Charlie that they will find water and game very soon and that they will certainly get to California.\u00a0 Then he tells his wife to give some of the pills to their son and that the boy will live and get better soon.\u00a0 Chris Horn is an awestruck man but much more confident of the future for himself and his family.<\/p>\n
Back in 1961, the sheriff and the store owner go over the crest of the hill and see no sign of Chris.\u00a0 They pick up his rifle and return to the store.\u00a0 But when they return to the store, they realize the rifle is now an antique and in terrible shape from a century of exposure.<\/p>\n
I think Cliff Robertson did a very good job with this role.\u00a0 The story is entertaining and there is plenty of human interest with the various sympathetic characters.\u00a0 The story is another unexplainable time travel story but it is well done.<\/p>\n
B+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cliff Robertson plays a character named Chris Horn.\u00a0 Horn is a member of a wagon train that had crossed the prairie and deserts between Ohio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[237,4,244,240,1661],"tags":[1798,38,1355,1194,44,309,265,1691,154,1692,838],"class_list":["post-6441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-tv-reviews","category-tv-reviews","category-twilight-zone","tag-a-hundred-yards-over-the-rim","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-rod-serling","tag-sci-fi","tag-sci-fi-tv-review","tag-science-fiction","tag-sff-tv-show-reviews","tag-tv-review","tag-tv-reviews","tag-twilight-zone"],"yoast_head":"\n