★★★★ December 6, Season 5 Episode 10
If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.
I like this one a lot. You learn some history and enjoy some Time Travel. Warren Oates, Randy Boone, and Ron Foster play three National Guardsmen on war game maneuvers on June 25th, 1964, near the Little Big Horn battlefield where, in 1876, General Custer held his famous last stand with the 7th cavalry against an army of Sioux, which led to their massacre. They find a canteen that appears brand new…but it was from 100 years ago.
As for the characters…There’s the true believer, the sergeant, who seems to have an unbelievably detailed knowledge of the historical event and the greenhorn kid. They all play their parts well. You will not see a lot of locations in this episode but you see the characters, even the skeptic, turn true into believers.
If I would have graded this on a personal scale…it would be a 5. I’m not sure it would be that for everyone. The funny thing is…the 5th season had some known classics and a few not graded so high. Two of those (near the ned) are two of my favorites but I try to grade this more on a masses scale when possible. The 5th season was a roller coaster.
From IMDB Trivia
The tank used is an M3A3 Stuart light tank.
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
June twenty-fifth 1964—or, if you prefer, June twenty-fifth 1876. The cast of characters in order of their appearance: a patrol of General Custer’s cavalry and a patrol of National Guardsmen on a maneuver. Past and present are about to collide head-on, as they are wont to do in a very special bivouac area known as….the Twilight Zone.
Summary
A National Guard tank crew on war games suddenly find themselves back in time to June 25, 1876, the day General Custer fought and lost to the Sioux at the battle of the Little Big Horn. They report what they’ve seen and heard but the officer-in-charge is more than a little dubious about what they claim. They return to the area, and when the attack begins, they join the fight. When the commander goes to locate them, he finds something else entirely.
***Before you watch this…they had a bit of fun beeping words to make it sound bad. It is funny I will admit. This is the only one I could find that is not a drawn out review…like the one you are reading!***
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Sergeant William Connors, Trooper Michael McCluskey, and Trooper Richard Langsford, who, on a hot afternoon in June, made a charge over a hill—and never returned. Look for this one under ‘P’ for phantom, in a historical ledger located in a reading room known as the Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited)
Ron Foster…Sgt. William Connors
Randy Boone…Pvt. Michael McCluskey
Warren Oates…Cpl. Richard Langsford
Greg Morris…Lieutenant Woodard
Jeffrey Morris…Finnigan
Wayne Mallory…Scout
Robert Bray…Captain Dennet
Lew Brown…Sergeant
Jacques Shelton…Corporal
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That clip is so funny and how they put a different name on the monument. I really liked this episode also. I learned more about Little Big Horn in it than I ever knew before. Warren Oates looks about the same age he was when he was in Two Lane Blacktop.
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TZ 1963 and TLB 1971.
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He didn’t age much I have to admit…even in the mid-seventies, he didn’t look too much different.
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I really like Oates 70s movies…and I have Two Lane Blacktop…it is time to revisit that movie.
I like this one also much more than the masses.
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I envy you having TLB. I tried to find it to borrow but not possible. Criterion Collection sells it but they want a pretty penny. I have a serious crush going on for Taylor and Wilson both in that movie lol. I think/hope you know how I feel about the masses. That reminds me of the TZ episode I watched this morning about the prisoner facing hanging in a small town and “the dark.”
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I got it from an IT friend that ripped it at one time…that is how I got most of my library.
Oh yes…I love that episode…yea I do get it.
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doesn’t sound like a total classic to me, but you are usually a good judge of them. I would think that if a 60s military group/squad were to take part in that 19thC battle, they’d turn the battle around entirely and defeat the Indians, wouldn’t they, with the new weaponry they’d have?
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They left the tank because they didn’t know they were about to encounter what they did…plus in the Twilight Zone….rarely do you change history.
Is it a Nightmare at 20,000 feet? No…but I love Time Travel episodes so yea…I like this one.
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fair enough ! serling seemed to like the idea of time travel (and why not?) but seemed to have the idea that if it were possible, you could only change your own story, and that it wouldn’t alter other events…like history in general was unmovable. It was an interesting idea, and probably would be a great topic for a university philosophy course.
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Doctor Who goes by that theory…you can change small events or small things in big events but never the fixed point.
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While it’s been done many times before, I’m still not bored by the concept of time travel. Based on your description and the clip, I think I would enjoy this episode.
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Time Travel is the reason I love Doctor Who
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I think a nice sequel to this episode would be what the soldiers could learn from The Big Horn battle to resolve war in their own time and place.
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