The Rip Van Winkle Caper

Opening narration

Plot

Four men are fleeing from the law in a truck after stealing $1 million worth of gold bars from a train bound from Fort Knox to Los Angeles. The thieves, consisting of scientist/mastermind Farwell, demolitions expert De Cruz, firearms expert Brooks, and mechanical engineer Erbie, hide in a secret cave in Death Valley, where Farwell has hidden a set of suspended animation chambers for the group to sleep for approximately 100 years. After that time, he expects that they will be able to sell the gold without raising suspicion. De Cruz has reservations about the plan, but all four men enter the chambers.

When they wake up, they find that Erbie has died, his chamber broken open by a falling rock. De Cruz offers to guard the gold and their truck while Brooks drives to civilization, but Brooks does not trust De Cruz and insists that he drive. De Cruz kills Brooks with the truck, but when the brakes fail, he bails out and leaves the truck to crash into a ravine. As a result, Farwell and De Cruz are forced to walk through the desert in the summer heat, carrying as much gold as they can on their backs.

Along the road, Farwell discovers he has lost his canteen and begins trading gold bars to De Cruz in exchange for some of his water. When De Cruz increases the price, Farwell strikes him with a bar and kills him. Farwell gathers up as much gold as he can carry and continues on, but is forced to discard it gradually as the weight becomes increasingly burdensome. Finally, weak and dehydrated, he collapses.

Farwell regains consciousness and finds a man standing over him. He feebly offers his last gold bar in exchange for water and a ride to the nearest town, but dies before the man can respond. Upon returning to his car, the man tells his wife that Farwell is dead and remarks that the latter offered him a gold bar as if it were valuable. She reminds him that people once used gold for money, but he points out that that was a long time ago, before mankind found a way to manufacture it.

Closing narration

Cast

• Simon Oakland as Mr. De Cruz
• Oscar Beregi as Mr. Farwell
• Lew Gallo as Mr. Brooks
• John Mitchum as Mr. Erbie
• Wallace Rooney as a passer-by, George
• Shirley O'Hara as a passer-by, George's wife

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 Planet.

References

• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media.
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing.