"..I get the feeling I've taken a 19th century primitive and placed him in a 20th century jungle. And heaven help who gets in his way."
Scientist George Manion(Russell Johnson; the professor on "Gilligan's Island") teleports a cold-blooded killer, Joe Caswell (Albert Salmi) from 1880 at the moment of his death, hanging from a noose for shooting a young man in the back by a "necktie party", to the 20th century..Manion does not know the kind of human monster he has brought into his time until it's too late. To be honest, I didn't really think this particular episode, "Execution" was any great shakes but it is a fine showcase for the underrated Salmi who is very good at playing a roughly-hewn, conscienceless, volatile killer who doesn't belong in the urban streets of any modern city, much less New York City.
A different approach to a time travel episode, the ending is more than a bit contrived and hard to swallow (another no-good hood gets involved at the end to sort of "take Joe's place", which isn't that believable), but seeing Salmi's misplaced Caswell unable to tolerate the sound of honking horns and speeding cars and the bright lights of the big city, dysfunctional in a time he doesn't belong, is fascinating if you enjoy "fish out of water" stories.
"Execution" feels every bit the anti-time travel tale, perhaps saying that maybe people should stay in their own time. Salmi's fate, at the hands of another criminal, is ironic but silly considering what is used to "subdue" him (the hood is smaller and less strong than Salmi yet can overpower him; it doesn't work). Lackluster Twilight Zone, but even a lesser episode of this series is better than some of the best other series of the same type have to offer. Johnson's character is basically an afterthought despite his importance in Salmi's transportation to the 20th century, but the violence of it is pretty startling. Probably the best scene has a distraught Salmi entering a diner, destroying a juke box because of the music, shooting a television because of a western television show featuring a gunslinger about to draw his weapon, soon exiting firing a bullet into a taxi cab. That intensity is always present in Salmi, both quiet and explosive—quite a performance.
Scientist George Manion(Russell Johnson; the professor on "Gilligan's Island") teleports a cold-blooded killer, Joe Caswell (Albert Salmi) from 1880 at the moment of his death, hanging from a noose for shooting a young man in the back by a "necktie party", to the 20th century..Manion does not know the kind of human monster he has brought into his time until it's too late. To be honest, I didn't really think this particular episode, "Execution" was any great shakes but it is a fine showcase for the underrated Salmi who is very good at playing a roughly-hewn, conscienceless, volatile killer who doesn't belong in the urban streets of any modern city, much less New York City.
A different approach to a time travel episode, the ending is more than a bit contrived and hard to swallow (another no-good hood gets involved at the end to sort of "take Joe's place", which isn't that believable), but seeing Salmi's misplaced Caswell unable to tolerate the sound of honking horns and speeding cars and the bright lights of the big city, dysfunctional in a time he doesn't belong, is fascinating if you enjoy "fish out of water" stories.
"Execution" feels every bit the anti-time travel tale, perhaps saying that maybe people should stay in their own time. Salmi's fate, at the hands of another criminal, is ironic but silly considering what is used to "subdue" him (the hood is smaller and less strong than Salmi yet can overpower him; it doesn't work). Lackluster Twilight Zone, but even a lesser episode of this series is better than some of the best other series of the same type have to offer. Johnson's character is basically an afterthought despite his importance in Salmi's transportation to the 20th century, but the violence of it is pretty startling. Probably the best scene has a distraught Salmi entering a diner, destroying a juke box because of the music, shooting a television because of a western television show featuring a gunslinger about to draw his weapon, soon exiting firing a bullet into a taxi cab. That intensity is always present in Salmi, both quiet and explosive—quite a performance.