Twilight Zone - A Passage for Trumpet - A Review

We're going to dispense with the little summary for this one, as I'm covering the plot in greater detail than usual. Having said that, I'm sure the familiar Spoiler Warning isn't needed, but it's here anyways. Nice guy. Always ready to lend a hand, that Spoiler Warning.

So, as those that care have been informed of the dangers that lay ahead, we shall plunge ahead, none the worse for wear.

Opening Thoughts

A Passage for Trumpet follows a familiar course for those who study the Fantastic. Striped down to the bone, removing incidents and characterization, we have a plot that looks like this:

The story's protagonist is disappointed with his/her life's course. Something happens (a meeting with an angel, a tornado hits, a co-worker gives a strange book as a gift, etc.) and he/she is taken into another world (in other words, the Twilight Zone). While in this other world, another side to his/her life is revealed, and, in the end, it's apparent that the original situation wasn't as bad as first thought. The protagonist returns to the real world refreshed and renewed.

We could list the stories that could match this simple outline. Two of the ones I've mentioned in passing above are world famous. They are, of course, It's a Wonderful Life and The Wizard of Oz.

As we make our list, we could no doubt add several "Twilight Zone" stories. The third story I mentioned, the one about the co-worker and the strange book, refers to the episode "The Mind and the Matter." One could also make the case for "The Changing of the Guard" and lord knows how many others.

Now, as I implied in an essay far worse than this one, just because a story is similar to or inspired by another does not mean that the story in question is inferior. What matters is how the plot is dressed: how it get from point A to point B, the characterization, and, in the case of T.V. shows and movies, the acting involved. It seems simple enough, doesn't it?

Here's "A Passage for Trumpet":

Joey Crown, former trumpet player, current alcoholic, and all in all loser, has hit rock bottom. He has no job. He has no girl. Worse over all, he has lost his talent, thus depriving him of any chance at either. He comes close to conning an old friend into giving him a job at a jazz club, but this falls through at the last moment.

Things are so bad that he pawns his beloved trumpet for money. Not a lot of money, mind, but enough to get the job done. Joey goes out and gets himself utterly plastered.

Satisfied, Joey ambles about the city. This course takes him back past the pawn shop. He arrives in time to see life's latest betrayal: the trumpet is priced far more than Joey was given for it.

This is the last straw. Joey contemplates but a moment before stepping out in front of an on-coming truck. The truck slams into him, knocking him back onto the sidewalk.

He recovers to find a cop standing nearby. Joey offers an explanation for his being on the sidewalk, but he gets no response for his effort. In fact, the cop doesn't even seem to notice him.

Joey goes out to a movie theater, and finds that no one there reacts to his presence. A chance glance at a mirror gives him an answer to this odd behavior. He casts no reflection. His attempt at suicide was more successful than he thought.

Joe wanders to his favorite watering hole. He doesn't recognize anyone there - even the bartender is a newcomer - but that doesn't stop the memories. He recalls the good times he had at the bar, and he realizes he had more than he was aware of.

He returns to his friend's jazz club to listen to the music. During a lull he hears a trumpet playing behind him. He follows the sound and finds a lone trumpet player sitting by himself. As the last notes fade away, Joey marvels aloud at the player's skill.

And the player is pleased by the kind words.

The two begin to talk, and it is clear from the start the player is more than he seems. He reveals that, instead of being dead in the land of the living, Joey is a living soul trapped in a world of the unaware dead. He also asks a very direct question: does Joey want to return to his life?

The answer is, of course, yes. After bidding farewell to the player (who, it turns out, is no less than the Archangel Gabriel), Joey finds himself back on the sidewalk. The blow from the truck hasn't caused him any harm, but the truck driver doesn't care. He pays Joey not to talk about the incident, and with the money Joey buys back his trumpet.

That night, he goes to the roof of his apartment and begins to play. He has is talent back in spades and his future is brighter than it was. It brightens further as his playing attracts the notice of a new tenant, a very pretty girl. The Zone's been most kind to Joey Crown...

That's out of the way, we'll break our analysis down into three parts: Route, Characterization, and Acting.

Route

The story itself in "Passage" is no great shakes. It's little more than a study of Joey Crown. There is no antagonist (unless you count Joey against himself) and no conflict to speak of. The resolution of the plot amounts to a deus ex machina and, even worse, the potential to wash the whole thing up as being "Just a dream."

Having said that, there is no padding. It moves at a good pace and handles exposition deftly, though Joey tends to talk to himself a bit too much in the World of the Dead.

There is never a moment when the viewer (or, rather, this viewer) felt preached at. It's message, that things aren't always as bad as you think, slips in without drawing attention to itself.

Finally, the story's resolution, despite the potential disaster it provides, comes across as organic to the story, rather than pried in. Gabriel is mentioned early on (and which other angel would help a trumpet player?) and there is a subtle feel that what happened to Joey might have been a clerical error on the divine part. While the episode could be written off as just a dream, Joey himself never does so.

That everything works so well isn't surprising, considering Rod Serling was the writer. Of course, with Serling, things could have gone the other way just as easily...

Characterization

Joey Crown is really the only character we get to know to any great detail. Desperate, beaten, and miserable, he could have been a pain to be around. Yet even at this low point, he is a charming, likeable figure, one we hope the best for.

As the story continues, more of this charm emerges. When he believes himself a ghost, he could have easily despaired; if Joey thought he was alone before, how much more so was he in the World of the Dead! Instead, he accepts and begins to adjust to his new existence.

While it is Gabriel who leads Joey back to life, it is Joey and Joey alone who talks himself into it. Again, it's subtle moments. His talking about his time in the bar. The way he smiles wistfully at the back door of the Jazz club while the music is playing. These moments take some of the edge off of the deus ex machina.

It is also his likablity that makes the appearance of the girl at the end palatable. All of his problems are solved, just as we hoped. Plus, his sheer delight in talking with a girl is just a joy to see.

Acting

I'm not the greatest judge of acting, but I realize that a bad actor can break a production. Everyone of the supporting actors does their job quite well. Or, at least well enough so that I was fooled.

Which isn't saying much, but still.

The most important element, though, is who plays Joey Crown. As he is the lynch pin holding everything together, he has to be the best. Someone wooden, like say Keanu Reeves, would kill the part no matter how well it was written.

Joey Crown is, however, played by Jack Klugman. I can't say who you think of when mentioning Klugman's name, but I instantly think of Quincy and maybe the Odd Couple. Push comes to shove, I remember he was in good in Twelve Angry Men. I can even tell you that I knew he was in the "Twilight Zone" several times and that I've seen most if not all of his episodes.

When I rewatched this episode, it was as if I'd never seen him before. God, is he good in this. One moment sticks with me: him standing outside of the pawn shop, leaning against the window. The pawn shop owner puts out the trumpet with the higher price and he waggles his finger at the man. Saying without saying, "Now, now, you know that isn't right." The look of utter misery.

He goes through a whole range of emotions here and is just wonderful. It's his performance that helps tips this episode into the great "Twilight Zone" stories.

End Notes

* For the record, it was this review that I said I lost not too long ago. This version is about as different as you can get from that one and, I think, much better.

* I keep confusing this story with "In Praise of Pip". No clue why, except maybe that Klugman's dying in both...