What French short film was aired as the Twilight Zone episode 'An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'?
Answer
La rivière du hibou
The French short film aired as the Twilight Zone episode “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” was La rivière du hibou.
Robert Enrico directed the film, adapting Ambrose Bierce’s 1890 Civil War story about Peyton Farquhar, a prisoner who imagines escaping execution. The French title translates roughly as “The Owl River.”
Produced in 1961, the 28-minute film formed part of Enrico’s planned trilogy of Bierce adaptations. It won Best Short Subject at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival and the 1963 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.
The Twilight Zone broadcast aired on February 28, 1964, as the series’ 22nd fifth-season episode. It was edited to fit the television slot, and its original audio was replaced. The episode is sometimes confused with the similarly titled 1959 Alfred Hitchcock Presents adaptation, which was a separate production.