An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge (1962)
"La rivière du hibou" (original title)

During the Civil War, a Southern civilian is about to be hanged for attempting to sabotage a railway bridge. When the execution takes place from the bridge, the rope breaks and he begins his escape toward home.

Director:

Robert Enrico

Writers:

Ambrose Bierce (story), Robert Enrico

Stars:

Roger Jacquet, Anne Cornaly, Anker Larsen

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Roger Jacquet	...	Peyton Farquhar
Anne Cornaly	...	Mrs. Farquhar
Anker Larsen
Stéphane Fey	...	Union Officer
Jean-François Zeller
Pierre Danny
Louis Adelin

Storyline

A Civil War civilian is to be executed by hanging, but when the plank is kicked away, instead of breaking his neck, he manages to miraculously escape unscathed or did he?

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Plot Keywords:

civil war | escape | execution | art | safe return home | 

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Genres:

Short | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller | War

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

English

Release Date:

May 1962 (France)

Also Known As:

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmartic, Les Films du Centaure

Technical Specs

Runtime:

28 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Aside from the shouts of the soldiers and the song that plays as the prisoner floats to safety, there is no dialogue (not counting the edited Twilight Zone version narration by Rod Serling). This is significant because the original episode of The Twilight Zone was also almost completely devoid of dialogue.

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Goofs

The snippets of English dialogue are all spoken with French accents even though these are supposed to be Americans.

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Connections

Remade as An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (2005)

User Reviews

Excellent film of one of the greatest short stories ever

I am a high school English teacher, and this film is absolutely perfect for classroom use. At just over 20 minutes, it is exactly the right length to show in an 11th grade class - it holds the students' attention and is short enough to keep them from getting bored. It is also an extremely faithful representation of the story, which helps students visualize and reinforce what they have read. To the teacher who posted earlier, who had to keep warning his students about "being bored for 20 minutes," I'd suggest that he's established a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you think it's boring, and you tell them it's boring, don't be surprised if they act bored.

Beyond the classroom applications, this film is just plain good and will prove a real treat for all lovers of film and/or The Twilight Zone.