History Literature / AnOccurrenceAtOwlCreekBridge

It is set in northern Alabama in 1862 and is told in three chapters. Peyton Farquhar is a "planter"--that is, a traitorous slave-owner and plantation owner--and an enthusiastic supporter of the Southern Confederate cause in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. As the story opens he is on the Owl Creek railroad bridge, about to be hanged by Union soldiers. At the end of Chapter I, he is dropped off the bridge. Chapter II fills in HowWeGotHere: Farquhar, who [[ArmchairMilitary never got around to joining the army]] but likes to play at being a rebel, attempted to sabotage the bridge, but was caught, the Confederate who told him about the bridge actually being a Union scout.

* MissingEpisode: Due to being produced by a different studio, this episode was not in the original syndication package. It aired twice, as per the agreement. Unlike the other four episodes that were originally not in the package, this one is not on broadcast television. It is available on DVD, Blu-Ray and streaming releases of the show.

!!Tropes:

* YouMakeMeSic: The English language title of the film was originally ''An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge''. The re-edited ''Twilight Zone'' version correctly spelled it "occurrence."

* GrayEyes: Farquhar notes the gray eyes of a man taking aim at him with a rifle and thinks about how people with gray eyes are the best sharpshooters. (This is another bit of foreshadowing that Chapter III is unreality. How could Farquhar make out the eye color of the man sniping at him from far away?)

* AdaptedOut: As the film excises Chapter II, the supposed Confederate soldier who turned out to be a Union scout and lured Farquahar to the bridge is omitted.

* WhipPan: The camera spins around as Farquhar struggles in the river, a duplication of a scene from the story in which he's caught in a vortex and spun around.

It is set in northern Alabama in 1862 and is told in three chapters. Peyton Farquhar is a "planter"--that is, a traitorous slave-owner and plantation owner--and an enthusiastic supporter of the Southern Confederate cause in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. As the story opens he is on the Owl Creek railroad bridge, about to be hanged by Union soldiers. At the end of Chapter I he is dropped off the bridge. Chapter II fills in HowWeGotHere: Farquhar, who [[ArmchairMilitary never got around to joining the army]] but likes to play at being a rebel, attempted to sabotage the bridge, but was caught, the Confederate who told him about the bridge actually being a Union scout.

Adapted by French filmmaker Robert Enrico into the 1962 short film, ''An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge'' (original French title ''La Riviere du hibou'', "The Owl River"). The movie won a UsefulNotes/PalmeDOr and an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for short film, and was later shown in its entirety on American television as an episode of ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'', with Creator/RodSerling's opening and closing narration added.

Chapter III is the most famous part of the story. Farquhar is dropped off the bridge but the rope snaps, plunging him into the water below. He manages to free his hands from the ropes binding them and swim away downstream as Union bullets pepper the river. Eventually he scrambles onto shore and, after many hours traipsing through the woods, arrives home at his plantation and greets his wife... [[TheEndOrIsIt or does he]]?

Made into a 1962 French short film, ''An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge'' (original French title ''La Riviere du hibou'', "The Owl River"). The movie won a Palme d'Or and an Oscar for short film, and was later shown in its entirety on American television as an episode of ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'', with Creator/RodSerling's opening and closing narration added.

* ReCut: The ''Twilight Zone'' version was re-edited for television. Several shots received minor edits to make the film a little bit shorter to fit in the time allotted. More significantly, all the narration found in the original version was deleted.

Made into a 1962 French short film, ''An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge'' (original French title ''La Riviere du hibou'', "The Owl River"). The movie won a Palme d'Or and an Oscar for short film, and was later shown in its entirety on American television as an episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', with Creator/RodSerling's opening and closing narration added.

* ReCut: The ''Twilight Zone'' version was re-edited for television. Several shots were cut out to make the film a little bit shorter to fit in the time allotted. More significantly, all the narration found in the original version was deleted.

[[caption-width-right:350:Hi honey, I'm home!]]

Chapter III is the most famous part of the story. Farquhar is dropped off the bridge but the rope snaps, plunging him into the water below. He manages to free his hands from the ropes binding them and swim away downstream as Union bullets pepper the river. Eventually he scrambles onto shore and, after many hours traipsing through the woods, arrives home at his plantation and greets his wife...[[TheEndOrIsIt or does he]]?

* ShootTheShaggyDog: All of Chapter III is a dying dream. And for that matter he never even had a chance to fire the bridge, as the Confederate soldier was actually a Union scout.

* YearInsideHourOutside: A DyingDream variant. Farquhar has a dream that seems to last hours, when actually it all takes place in one or two seconds.

Chapter III is the most famous part of the story. Farquhar is dropped off the bridge but the rope snaps. He manages to free his hands from the ropes binding them and swim away downstream as Union bullets pepper the river. Eventually he scrambles onto shore and, after many hours traipsing through the woods, arrives home at his plantation and greets his wife...[[TheEndOrIsIt or does he]]?

Made into a 1962 French short film, ''An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge'' (original French title ''La Riviere du hibou'', "The Owl River"). The movie won a Palme d'Or and an Oscar for short film, and was later shown in its entirety on American television as an episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone'', with Creator/RodSerling's opening and closing narration added.

* PragmaticAdaptation: Excises the Part II flashback, dramatizing only Farquhar's hanging and escape.

It is set in northern Alabama in 1862 and is told in three chapters. Peyton Farquhar is a "planter"-that is, a traitorous slave-owner and plantation owner--and an enthusiastic supporter of the Southern Confederate cause in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. As the story opens he is on the Owl Creek railroad bridge, about to be hanged by Union soldiers. At the end of Chapter I he is dropped off the bridge. Chapter II fills in HowWeGotHere: Farquhar, who [[ArmchairMilitary never got around to joining the army]] but likes to play at being a rebel, attempted to sabotage the bridge, but was caught, the Confederate who told him about the bridge actually being a Union scout.

It is set in northern Alabama in 1862 and is told in three chapters. Peyton Farquhar is a "planter"-that is, a traitorous slave-owner and plantation owner--and an enthusiastic supporter of the Southern Confederate cause in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. As the story opens he is on the Owl Creek railroad bridge, about to be hanged by Union soldiers. At the end of Chapter I he is dropped off the bridge. Chapter II fills in HowWeGotHere: Farquhar, who [[ArmchairGeneral never got around to joining the army]] but likes to play at being a rebel, attempted to sabotage the bridge, but was caught, the Confederate who told him about the bridge actually being a Union scout.

Chapter III is the most famous part of the story. Farquhar is dropped off the bridge but the rope snaps. He manages to free his hands from the ropes binding them and swim away downstream as Union bullets pepper the river. Eventually he scrambles onto shore and, after many hours traipsing through the woods, arrives home at his plantation and greets his wife...[[OrIsIt or does he]]?

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There's actually a fair amount of hints towards the end that something is not right. The road is described as unnaturally straight, like an "illustration of perspective", and completely empty. Farquhar sees "golden stars...grouped in strange constellations" and hears "whispers from an unknown tongue." He can't feel the road beneath his feet. And at the end he just sort of appears at the front of his mansion, as if he'd "recovered from a delirium."
* GothicHorror: Ranks right up there with Creator/EdgarAllanPoe as one of the most iconic examples

* SilenceIsGolden: In the ''Twilight Zone'' version there is no dialogue except for the shouts of Union soldiers as Farquhar gets away.

* SilenceIsGolden: No dialogue except for the shouts of Union soldiers as Farquhar gets away.