The Twilight Zone - A Passage for Trumpet
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Jack Klugman is excellent, no surprise, in his first TZ episode, the lesser known first season effort, A Passage for Trumpet, about a down-on-his-luck alcoholic trumpet Jazz musician with no money, job, or girlfriend, not even able to convince an old friend who owns a club he used to haunt to give him a gig. Frank Wolff, as club owner, Baron, must be his sympathetic ear as he waxes nostalgic about how he could really play, combating the hooch and rattling on depressingly about his ratty apartment with cracked pipes. Deciding his trumpet won't get him anywhere any longer, he sells it to a pawn shop for far less than it's worth, choosing after another trip to the bar to walk into a moving truck. Afterward he dusts himself off once he rises to his feet, but anyone he talks to fails to answer or recognize his presence. Soon a policeman, theater ticket girl, and bartender (none he has ever met in town) act as if he's not there, Joey Crown (Klugman) eventually hears a beautiful trumpet melody and finds the musician (John Anderson) actually can hear him. He even know Joey by name, telling him he's in limbo while those around him are dead, they just fail to realize that yet. Joey might just get a chance to return to the living instead of remaining in the "middle". Anderson rocking the Lincoln profile, complete with fuzzy chin, calls himself Gabe before walking away, triggering to Joey a comment he had made earlier about Gabriel's trumpet.
While not as iconic as A Game of Pool, tragic as In Praise of Pip, or haunting as Death Ship, this episode, which I never catch on during any marathons--it doesn't get as much recognition or attention--has good things to offer those viewers who root for someone to get a chance at redemption. Even though not as popular as his other TZ work, this episode nonetheless, I thought, was quite satisfying if just because Klugman's character gets a happy ending which doesn't happen to him in subsequent episodes. He's given a second chance, enduring the bottle, unemployment, and near poverty. But he has talent and a timid lady who is new in town is interested in him. Maybe he will turn it around! If you love Klugman, and I do, this will be a treat. He's pitiable and has hit rock bottom, remembering good times like his buddy bartender, Charlie, playing a song on the jukebox with his trumpet music. He contemplates having good friends and maybe not taking life for granted if he "goes back". Klugman's trumpet playing mimickry might be scrutinized, although he tries to pull it off. The melancholy is well conveyed by Klugman as is the excitement of a possible new lease on life and potential romance. The gimmick TZ limbo is fun as Klugman yaps away all Chatty Cathy and no one responds. Anderson has a sly smile and clever countenance, knowing that just a little bit of encouragement can go a long way.
Jack Klugman is excellent, no surprise, in his first TZ episode, the lesser known first season effort, A Passage for Trumpet, about a down-on-his-luck alcoholic trumpet Jazz musician with no money, job, or girlfriend, not even able to convince an old friend who owns a club he used to haunt to give him a gig. Frank Wolff, as club owner, Baron, must be his sympathetic ear as he waxes nostalgic about how he could really play, combating the hooch and rattling on depressingly about his ratty apartment with cracked pipes. Deciding his trumpet won't get him anywhere any longer, he sells it to a pawn shop for far less than it's worth, choosing after another trip to the bar to walk into a moving truck. Afterward he dusts himself off once he rises to his feet, but anyone he talks to fails to answer or recognize his presence. Soon a policeman, theater ticket girl, and bartender (none he has ever met in town) act as if he's not there, Joey Crown (Klugman) eventually hears a beautiful trumpet melody and finds the musician (John Anderson) actually can hear him. He even know Joey by name, telling him he's in limbo while those around him are dead, they just fail to realize that yet. Joey might just get a chance to return to the living instead of remaining in the "middle". Anderson rocking the Lincoln profile, complete with fuzzy chin, calls himself Gabe before walking away, triggering to Joey a comment he had made earlier about Gabriel's trumpet.
While not as iconic as A Game of Pool, tragic as In Praise of Pip, or haunting as Death Ship, this episode, which I never catch on during any marathons--it doesn't get as much recognition or attention--has good things to offer those viewers who root for someone to get a chance at redemption. Even though not as popular as his other TZ work, this episode nonetheless, I thought, was quite satisfying if just because Klugman's character gets a happy ending which doesn't happen to him in subsequent episodes. He's given a second chance, enduring the bottle, unemployment, and near poverty. But he has talent and a timid lady who is new in town is interested in him. Maybe he will turn it around! If you love Klugman, and I do, this will be a treat. He's pitiable and has hit rock bottom, remembering good times like his buddy bartender, Charlie, playing a song on the jukebox with his trumpet music. He contemplates having good friends and maybe not taking life for granted if he "goes back". Klugman's trumpet playing mimickry might be scrutinized, although he tries to pull it off. The melancholy is well conveyed by Klugman as is the excitement of a possible new lease on life and potential romance. The gimmick TZ limbo is fun as Klugman yaps away all Chatty Cathy and no one responds. Anderson has a sly smile and clever countenance, knowing that just a little bit of encouragement can go a long way.
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