Albert Salmi plays Joe Caswell, a murderer about to be hanged from a tree somewhere in the Old West. It's established right away that he's very deserving of the death sentence and he shows little remorse to the assembled authorities. He escapes his doom, however, when as part of a 20th Century scientific experiment, he's miraculously transported to present-day New York City and into the laboratory of a certain Doctor Manion (Russell Johnson, the professor on "Gilligan's Island"). The doctor has used his own "Time Machine" successfully for the first time and (at first) he's happy to make Caswell's acquaintance. Unfortunately, after noticing the stretch marks on Caswell's neck, the good doctor quickly surmises that his Time Machine experiment has brought back a very bad fellow. Manion makes a grave mistake, however. He inexplicably informs Caswell that he wants to return him to his previous dilemma at the end of a rope---without considering the consequences. Not enthused about that idea, Caswell does what comes natural for him; he brutally kills the doctor.
The interesting part of this story is Caswell's subsequent venture out into the noisy and hectic Manhattan mean streets. The blare of snarled traffic horns, the loud television and the whole unnerving scene of the modern metropolis is enough to drive Caswell over the edge. He's the ultimate "fish out of water" and his complete demise follows rather quickly. You might say that there's more than one bad guy in this town. Rod Serling wrote the teleplay for this entry and he gave it his usual spark of intelligence and insight. Salmi is very good as the Wild West bandit who doesn't cut it in the "Big City."
The interesting part of this story is Caswell's subsequent venture out into the noisy and hectic Manhattan mean streets. The blare of snarled traffic horns, the loud television and the whole unnerving scene of the modern metropolis is enough to drive Caswell over the edge. He's the ultimate "fish out of water" and his complete demise follows rather quickly. You might say that there's more than one bad guy in this town. Rod Serling wrote the teleplay for this entry and he gave it his usual spark of intelligence and insight. Salmi is very good as the Wild West bandit who doesn't cut it in the "Big City."