The Rip Van Winkle Caper
Encyclopedia
"The Rip Van Winkle Caper" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone
.
, a band of four gold thieves, led by foreign-accented scientist-mastermind Farwell (Oscar Beregi, Jr.
), hides in a secret cave in Death Valley, California. Farwell has designed suspended animation
chambers and set them for 100 years, figuring that by 2061, nobody will remember the robbery and the gang will be in the clear.
When they wake up, things begin to go awry. Erbie is already dead, his suspended animation chamber having been breached by a falling rock. Greed soon begins consuming the others. Brooks demands that DeCruz drive the getaway car. DeCruz kills Brooks by running him over with the getaway truck, but then finds that the brakes do not work and barely escapes before the vehicle crashes into a ravine. Consequently Farwell and DeCruz must walk through the desert in the summer heat, carrying as much gold as they can.
Later, Farwell, who is older and heavier, loses his canteen, and DeCruz forces him to ante up one gold bar for each sip of water. When the "fee" goes up to two bars, Farwell strikes DeCruz with the gold bricks, killing him. Farwell then continues to a highway, lugging the gold he refuses to abandon. Finally, weak and dehydrated, he collapses. A futuristic car drives up and Farwell offers his gold to the couple inside in exchange for water and a ride to the nearest town, but dies a few moments later.
As the man named George gets back into his car to report Farwell's death to the police, he quizzically remarks to his wife, "Can you imagine that? He offered this to me as if it was really worth something." The wife vaguely recalls that it had indeed been valuable sometime in the distant past. The husband replies, "Sure, about a hundred years or so ago, before they found a way of manufacturing it," and tosses the gold bar away.
.
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
.
Synopsis
To escape the law after stealing $1 million worth of gold bricks from a train on its way from Fort Knox to Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, a band of four gold thieves, led by foreign-accented scientist-mastermind Farwell (Oscar Beregi, Jr.
Oscar Beregi, Jr.
Oscar Beregi, Jr. was a Hungarian-born film and television actor. He was the son of actor Oscar Beregi, Sr...
), hides in a secret cave in Death Valley, California. Farwell has designed suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
chambers and set them for 100 years, figuring that by 2061, nobody will remember the robbery and the gang will be in the clear.
When they wake up, things begin to go awry. Erbie is already dead, his suspended animation chamber having been breached by a falling rock. Greed soon begins consuming the others. Brooks demands that DeCruz drive the getaway car. DeCruz kills Brooks by running him over with the getaway truck, but then finds that the brakes do not work and barely escapes before the vehicle crashes into a ravine. Consequently Farwell and DeCruz must walk through the desert in the summer heat, carrying as much gold as they can.
Later, Farwell, who is older and heavier, loses his canteen, and DeCruz forces him to ante up one gold bar for each sip of water. When the "fee" goes up to two bars, Farwell strikes DeCruz with the gold bricks, killing him. Farwell then continues to a highway, lugging the gold he refuses to abandon. Finally, weak and dehydrated, he collapses. A futuristic car drives up and Farwell offers his gold to the couple inside in exchange for water and a ride to the nearest town, but dies a few moments later.
As the man named George gets back into his car to report Farwell's death to the police, he quizzically remarks to his wife, "Can you imagine that? He offered this to me as if it was really worth something." The wife vaguely recalls that it had indeed been valuable sometime in the distant past. The husband replies, "Sure, about a hundred years or so ago, before they found a way of manufacturing it," and tosses the gold bar away.
Production notes
The futuristic car carrying the couple who find the dying Farwell is a leftover prop, somewhat modified, from MGM's 1956 film Forbidden PlanetForbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet is a 1956 science fiction film directed by Fred M. Wilcox, with a screenplay by Cyril Hume. It stars Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, and Anne Francis. The characters and its setting have been compared to those in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and its plot contains certain...
.
See also
- List of The Twilight Zone episodes
- AluminiumAluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
was once as valuable as gold - Rip Van WinkleRip Van Winkle"Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving published in 1819, as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. Written while Irving was living in Birmingham, England, it was part of a collection entitled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon...