TWILIGHT ZONE
This exceptional series created by Rod Serling deserves special attention. However, working on this series for this paper is a bit too much to get into right now. Besides, even in the first season, most of the episodes had original scores (including Herrmann, of course). The pilot show titled “Where Is Everybody?” was composed by Herrmann, broadcast October 2, 1959. Episode 2 is titled “One for the Angels” (airdate October 9, 1959). For all intents and purposes, it was “scored” by Herrmann as well in terms of the episode being dominated by his tracked music (just as in many episodes from the first and second seasons of Have Gun Will Travel). At the very least, I will now delineate the Herrmann music quotations for this episode. I will give time designations based on the newly released The Twilight Zone: The Definitive Edition: Season 1 from Image Entertainment.
EPISODES
“One For The Angels” October 9, 1959 ***** A
This is a wonderful tale about an old pitchman (Ed Wynn) stalked by well-groomed Mr. Death (Murray Hamilton, whom we saw earlier in Have Gun Will Travel).
- Chapter 1 from 1:46 to 1:52: “Fade-In” (House on K Street). Scene: Rod Serling makes his intro monolog/ introduction, introducing us to “Mr. Death.” The very first cue of House on K Street is in fact “Fade-In” and becomes the signature chord for “Mr. Death” throughout this episode. I commend the music editor for his insightfulness and also for resurrecting this music that was composed by Herrmann earlier in the spring of 1959 for that unsold pilot.
- Chapter 2 from 1:23 to 1:29: “Fade-In” (House on K Street). Scene: Lew (or Lou) Bookman sees Mr. Death for the first time in his apartment.
- Chapter 2 from 1:30 to 2:32: “Rain Clouds” (Western Suite) Bars 1-14
- Chapter 2 from 3:50 to 5:16: “Night Suspense” (Western Suite) Bars 6-12, 25-39.
- Chapter 2 from 5:17 to 5:28: “Fade-In” (House on K Street) Scene: Bookman exclaims, “You’re death?!”
- Chapter 2 from 7:04 to 7:28: “Prelude” (Outer Space Suite) Bars 1-4. Scene: about “unfinished business.”
- Chapter 2 from 8:55 to 10:02: “Prelude” (Outer Space Suite) Bars 8-12, 1-3. Scene: Lew’s special circumstance for delay of death so that he can make a pitch of “one for the angels.”
- Chapter 2 from 12:50 to 12:57: “Fade-In” (House on K Street). Scene: The little girl now sees Mr. Death after being struck by a car.
- Chapter 2 from 12:58 to 13:38: “Rain Clouds” (Western Suite) Scene: She asks Lew, “Who’s that man?”
- Chapter 3 from :03 to :32: “Rain Clouds” (Western Suite) Bars 40-46.
- Chapter 3 from :43 to 1:01: “Prelude” (Outer Space Suite). Scene: It’s 11:40 pm.”
- Chapter 3 from 1:02 to 1:13: “Fade-In” (House on K Street)
- Chapter 3 from 1:14 to 1:35: “Rain Clouds” (Western Suite) Bars 40-45.
- Chapter 3 from 2:46 to 6:08: “Time Suspense” (Outer Space Suite) Bars 1-37. Scene: Lew makes his “big pitch” (one for the angels) to distract Mr. Death from his midnight appointment to take the little girl.
- Chapter 3 from 6:09 to 6:19: “Time Suspense” again, Bars 38-39, 41. Scene: It’s now exactly midnight. Mr. Death got “tied” up.
- Chapter 3 from 7:21 to 8:31: “Starlight” (Outer Space Suite). Scene: Time to go for Mr. Bookman.
“Judgment Night” December 4, 1959 *** B-
This is certainly an atmospheric episode with the lonely ship on the foggy ocean and plenty of guest stars (James Franciscus, Patrick Macnee, Ben Wright), but it is not one of the great episodes. Nehemiah Persoff is the principal star playing tortured passenger, Carl Lanser. He’s in as much of a fogbank mentally and emotionally as the ship is physically on the calm ocean. There is a good deal of Herrmann music used in this standard Twilight Zone story, but not a great variety.
- Chapter 1 from :42 to 1:50: “Rain Clouds” (Western Suite)
- Chapter 2 from :01 to :33: “Rain Clouds” (Western Suite)
- Chapter 2 from :34 to 1:04: “Moonscape” (Outer Space Suite)
- Chapter 2 from 3:35 to 5:31: “Moonscape” (Outer Space Suite)
- Chapter 2 from 5:32 to 8:20: “Rain Clouds” (Western Suite)
- Chapter 3 from :01 to :14: “Rain Clouds” (Western Suite)
- Chapter 3 from :42 to 2:01: “Moonscape” (Outer Space Suite)
- Chapter 3 starting 5:51: “The Rocks” (HGWT). Scene: The Nazi sub is firing upon the Queen of Glasgow. Interestingly, the incessant snare drum is playing underneath “The Rocks” cue, superimposed.
- Chapter 3 from 9:53 to 10:59: “Rain Clouds” (Western Suite)
“Third From The Sun” January 8, 1960 ***** A
I am giving this episode an “A” rating because of its highly stylistic 9Off-center) direction and design, great tension-generating paranoia, excellent cast, and terrific music editing. It rates almost as high as “The Lonely” in my opinion (although the ending is predictable and rather uncreative writing).
- Chapter 1 from 1:26 to 2:02: “Time Passage” (Outer Space Suite) Bars 1-9. Note: This cue from the Outer Space Suite was never released by Cerberus LP and later compact disc releases, so it’s a treat to hear this music almost in its entirety.
- Chapter 2 from 2:22 to 2:55: “Spoutnik No. 1” (by Guy Luypaertz).
- Chapter 2 from 3:34 to 4:16: “Time Passage” (Outer Space Suite) Bars 52-62, 66.
- Chapter 3 from :01 to :45: “Time Suspense” (Outer Space Suite) Bars 1-4, 47-50.
- Chapter 3 from 2:12 to 5:52: “Time Passage” (Outer Space Suite)
- Chapter 3 from 7:47 to 8:11: “Danger” (Outer Space Suite)
- Chapter 3 from 8:22 to 9:05: “The Ambush” (Western Suite). Interestingly, there is an overlapping (superimposed) cue played with this music.
This is as far as I care to go into the Twilight Zone episodes. You will hear more Herrmann music quotations in later episodes of this season. In “The Last Flight,” for instance (February 5, 1960, episode 18), you can hear the repeated Allegro three-note figures from cue XII (“Funeral March”) of Walt Whitman. In “A Nice Place To Visit” (April 15, 1960, episode 28) you will hear in the opening scene (Chapter 1 at :39) “Lead-In F” from Police Force (Bars 1-7, 10-11) as Rocky Valentine (Larry Blyden) makes his last fateful heist before meeting the fat man in the white suit, Pip (Sebastian Cabot).
Thank you for your time and interest!