No Time Like the Past
- Episode aired Mar 7, 1963
- TV-PG
- 51m
A scientist attempts to use a time machine to prevent tragedies, both in world history and in his own past.A scientist attempts to use a time machine to prevent tragedies, both in world history and in his own past.A scientist attempts to use a time machine to prevent tragedies, both in world history and in his own past.
- Bartender
- (as Lindsay Workman)
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Fire Spectator Restraining Driscoll
- (uncredited)
- Lusitania Steward
- (uncredited)
- Man Hearing of Garfield
- (uncredited)
- Narrator
- (uncredited)
- …
- Man at Dining Room Table
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe small town set is the same as that used in A Stop at Willoughby (1960).
- GoofsThe U-boat that launches the torpedo at the RMS Lusitania has a spinning sonar mast, unlikely for a submarine in 1915. Obviously it is stock footage of more contemporary vintage to 1963.
- Quotes
Hanford: [at dinner] ... So what are your world views, Driscoll?
Paul Driscoll: ...I don't have any, Mr. Hanford.
Hanford: Of course you do, man. We ALL do! Like all this nonsense about giving the Indians land. What we need are twenty General Custers and a hundred thousand men! What we should have done is swept across the prairie, destroying every redskin that stood before us. Then we should have planted the American flag deep, high, and proud!
Abigail Sloan: I think the country is tired of fighting, Mr. Hanford. I think we were bled dry by the Indian Wars. I think anything we can accomplish peacefully, with treaties, we should... so long as it saves lives.
Hanford: Now, I trust this isn't the path you spoon-feed your students. Treaties, indeed! Peace, indeed! Why, the virility of a nation is in direct proportion to its military prowess. I *live* for the day when this country SWEEPS AWAY...
[notices Driscoll's disapproving look]
Hanford: ... You some kind of a pacifist, Driscoll?
Paul Driscoll: No, just some sick idiot who's seen too many boys die because of too many men who fight their battles at dining room tables... and who probably wouldn't last so long as twenty-five seconds in a REAL skirmish if they WERE thrust into it.
Hanford: ...I take offense at that remark, Mr. Driscoll!
Paul Driscoll: And I take offense at "armchair warriors" like yourself - who clearly don't know what a shrapnel, or a bullet, or a saber wound feels like... or what death smells like after three days on an empty, sun-drenched battlefield... who've never seen the look on a man's face when he realizes he's lost a limb, and his blood is seeping out. Mr. Hanford, you have a great enthusiasm for "planting the American flag deep, high, and proud." But you don't have a nodding acquaintance with what it's like for American families to bury their sons in the same soil!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Twilight-Tober-Zone: No Time Like the Past (2023)
I'm actually very happy that I can give a high rating and favorable review to "No Time like the Past", because the pre-credits dialogue/discussion between two males (Dana Andrews and Malcolm Atterbury) is indescribably boring! It wasn't very encouraging to continue watching, in fact. Luckily, the instalment becomes very good immediately after Rod Serling's traditional intro-speech. Paul Driscoll makes use of Prof. Elliot's time machine to prevent thee major historical tragedies from happening. When they all fail, he wishes to use the machine one last time to permanently travel back to the year 1881 and settle in an idyllic little village; - long before all the horrors of the 20th century. But even that seems impossible.
Although the overall moral of the story is obvious (= the past is written), this is a fun episode with several action-packed highlights and staggering dialogs. It's also one of the few episodes of the infamous 4th season that makes perfect use of the longer running time. Driscoll's attempts to alter history three times, and his desperate attempt not to interfere with history in 1881 almost feel like two 25-minute tales splendidly merged into one.
- Coventry
- Feb 1, 2022
Details
- Runtime51 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1