The Twilight Zone #16 (July, 1966)
"Nightmare for an Astronaut"
Script: Dick Wood
Pencils & Inks: Joe Orlando
Letters: Ben Oda
Cover: George Wilson
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Monday, May 18, 2020
Reading Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone Magazine, Part 22
In
which we take a closer look at each issue. For our capsule history of the
magazine, go here.
Volume
2, Number 11 (January/February, 1983)
Christmas
issue
Cover art: Walter Velez
Note:
TZ Magazine moves to a bi-monthly publication
schedule.
TZ
Publications, Inc.
President
& Chairman: S. Edward Orenstein
Secretary/Treasurer:
Sidney Z. Gellman
Executive
Vice-Presidents: Leon Garry, Eric
Protter
Executive
Publisher: S. Edward Orenstein
Publisher:
Eric Protter
Associate
Publisher and Consulting Editor: Carol
Serling
Editor:
T.E.D. Klein
Managing
Editor: Jane Bayer
Associate
Editor: Robert Sabat
Contributing
Editors: Thomas M. Disch, Gahan
Wilson, Marc Scott Zicree
Design
Director: Michael Monte
Art
Director: Pat E. McQueen
Art
Production: Susan Lindeman, Carol Sun
Typesetting:
Marianna Turselli
Production
Director: Stephen J. Fallon
Controller:
Thomas Schiff
Ass’t
to the Publisher: Judy Linden
Public
Relations Manager: Jeffrey Nickora
Accounting
Mgr.: Chris Grossman
Accounting
Ass’t: Annemarie Pistilli
Office
Ass’t: Miriam Wolf
Circulation
Director: William D. Smith
Circulation
Mgr.: Carole A. Harley
Circulation
Ass’t: Karen Martorano
Newsstand
Sales Manager: Karen Marks Goldberg
Eastern
Circ. Mgr.: Hank Rosen
West
Coast Circ. Mgr.: Gary Judy
Advertising
Manager: Rachel Britapaja
Adv.
Production Manager: Marina Despotakis
Advertising
Representatives: Barney O’Hara &
Associates
Contents:
--In the Twilight Zone: “Dahl’s house .
. .” by T.E.D. Klein
--Other Dimensions: Books by Thomas M.
Disch
--Other Dimensions: Screen by Gahan
Wilson
--Other Dimensions: Etc.
--Dice-Wielding Warriors by Lawrence
Schick
--“Crossing Over” by Jack McDevitt
--Optoshock! (photomontage) by
Christopher Hoffman
--“Personality Problem” by Joe R.
Lansdale
--“Tommy’s Christmas” by John R. Little
--“Recollections of Annie” by Charles L.
Grant
--“There’s a Man Goin’ Round Takin’
Names” by Robert S. Reiser
--Fantasy Films ’82: A Critical Guide by
TZ Magazine Staff
--“Below Zero” by John Kessel
--“Echoes” by Lawrence C. Connolly
--“A Chance Affair” by Mignon Glass
--TZ Interview: Roald Dahl by Lisa
Tuttle
--Required Reading: “Royal Jelly” by
Roald Dahl
--Other Dimensions: The ‘So Saying, He
Vanished’ Quiz Revisited by Chet Williamson
--Rod Serling’s Lost ‘Christmas Carol’
by Sam Frank
--Show-By-Show Guide: TV’s Twilight
Zone, Part Twenty-Two by Marc Scott Zicree
--TZ Classic Teleplay: “One for the
Angels” by Rod Serling
--Looking Ahead: In April’s Anniversary
Issue
--In
the Twilight Zone: “Dahl’s house . . .” by T.E.D. Klein
-Klein
highlights the issue’s interview with and story by Roald Dahl by presenting an
excerpt from an article Dahl wrote for Architectural
Digest which illustrates the ways in
which Dahl mines his own life and interests to create his stories. The column
is rounded out in the usual way, with capsule biographical information on the
issue’s contributors along with thumbnail portraits. Klein attaches an addendum
to the column explaining the magazine’s move to a bi-monthly schedule while
also announcing an aggressive, national subscription drive. Klein laments a
further shrinking of the genre fiction market but concludes: “it’s good to look
forward to the expanded circulation, and to know that we’re going to be around
for years to come, doing what we do best: publishing a magazine that’s right
out of the Twilight Zone.”
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Max Ernst |
--Other
Dimensions: Books by Thomas M. Disch
-Thomas
M. Disch returns after a month off to suggest buying books for those on your
Christmas list. Disch begins his column by defining the types of books which
are acceptable to purchase as Christmas gifts and those which are not (such as bestsellers,
remainders, and books which are part of a trilogy). He proceeds to provide a
list of Disch-approved titles with commentary. On Disch’s list are the
following titles:
-Poetry Comics: A Cartooniverse of Poems
by Dave Morice (Disch earlier praised
Morice’s works in the July, 1982 issue of TZ)
-A Visit from St. Alphabet by Dave Morice
-A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil
by Max Ernst
-Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Barry Moser
-Collected Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer (Singer will later be featured in the
February, 1984 issue of TZ Magazine with a profile, interview, and story)
-Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme
-Collected Fantasies by Avram Davidson
-Science Fiction Writers edited by E.F. Bleiler
-World Folktales by Atelia Clarkson and Gilbert B. Cross
-Disch
points out that someone has to get coal for Christmas so he recommends Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Harvey L. Bilker and Audrey L. Bilker as
the perfect lump of coal for the deserving person on your list.
--Other
Dimensions: Screen by Gahan Wilson
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Metropolis |
-Wilson
discusses what he views as the growing trend toward pessimism in science
fiction films, tracing the trend from classic films such as Metropolis and Things
to Come through Planet of the Apes,
Alien, Outland, Escape from New York, Blade Runner, and The Road Warrior, the
latter four of which were reviewed in the pages of TZ. Although Wilson acknowledges that science fiction films are generally
highly moralistic and tend to view mankind’s folly through dark lenses, he
finds that modern films are uniformly bleak in their view of the future of the
human race. Still, he admits that this pessimistic view has likely not been
taken as far as it could, predicting that the “Grapes of Wrath of absolute despair is still to come.”
--Other
Dimensions: Etc.
-The
miscellany column this issue provides a meaty update on Twilight Zone: The Movie, detailing the film’s format, directors, and stories, plus the spate of
TZ cameos slated for director Joe Dante’s version of “It’s a Good Life.” The column also looks at the rousing reception
for Steven Spielberg’s E.T. when the
film was shown at a special U.N. event.
--Dice-Wielding
Warriors by Lawrence Schick
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Illustrated by Harry Pincus
“She was going to remain with him till
the end . . . and beyond. But what if there was nothing on the other side?”
-A
woman with a gift (curse) for connecting with the minds of others is paid a
large amount of money by a spiritual association to connect with a dying man
and definitively discover whether or not there is life after death. The woman
is left emotionally damaged by the experience but is later allowed to heal when
a tragic accident grants her the opportunity to comfort a close friend at the
point of dying.
-McDevitt
returns to the pages of TZ after he appeared with his first published story, “The
Emerson Effect,” in the December, 1981 issue. “Crossing Over” is a moody and
emotionally resonant take on a familiar theme which, like McDevitt’s earlier
contribution to the magazine, is rich in character and incident.
--Optoschock!
by Christopher Hoffman
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-Hoffman
curates a personal journey through his particular art form: grotesque collage
photography. Hoffman gives some personal background on how he came to first
create his unique photographs and provides humorous captions for several
selected images.
Illustrated by Yvonne Buchanan
“Just ‘cause a guy’s got bolts in his
neck, don’t mean he ain’t got feelings.”
-Frankenstein’s
Monster lies on the psychiatrist’s couch for a session in which he explains his
never-ending battle with being misunderstood and attacked by people. The doctor
listens quietly until he interrupts the session to try and light the Monster on
fire.
-This
humorous short-short marks Lansdale’s fourth appearance in the pages of TZ,
preceded by the similarly humorous shorts “The Dump” in the July, 1981 issue,
“The Pasture” in the December, 1981 issue, and “Chompers” in the July, 1982
issue. “Personality Problem” was collected in Bumper Crop (2004).
--“Tommy’s
Christmas” by John R. Little
Illustrated by Randy Jones
-Santa
Claus is interrupted while robbing a home on Christmas Eve by little Tommy, who
wants to know why Santa is taking things rather than leaving gifts. When
Tommy’s older brother also awakens and enters the room, Santa decides to kidnap
Tommy as an apprentice (he’s getting too old for this job, anyway). He only
hopes Prancer and Vixen get used to the boy.
-This
humorous short Christmas tale was reprinted in 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories (1984), which reprinted several tales from
the pages of TZ Magazine, including Joe Lansdale’s “Personality Problem” and
Lawrence C. Connolly’s “Echoes” from this issue. “Tommy’s Christmas” was
collected in Little Things (2010).
--“Recollections
of Annie” by Charles L. Grant
Illustrated by David Klein
“There were two strong women in his life
– and one of them was dead.”
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-Charles
L. Grant, a master of the suggestive horror story, returns to the pages of TZ
with this stark, haunting meditation on the influence of the dead. The story is
told in Grant’s typically economical style with a pleasantly downbeat ending. The
story was reprinted in the limited-edition anthology Black Wine, edited
by Douglas E. Winter (Dark Harvest, 1986) and posthumously collected in Scream
Quietly: The Best of Charles L. Grant (2012).
-Grant
previously appeared in the pages of TZ with “Silver” in the July, 1981 issue,
and “Essence of Charlotte” in the February, 1982 issue. Grant also interviewed
Stephen King for the April, 1981 issue.
--“There’s
a Man Goin’ Round Takin’ Names” by Robert S. Reiser
Illustrated by Richard Basil Mock
“In what was left of Los Angeles, a
census wasn’t quite the same as a
head-count.”
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-This
was a light, enjoyable story with a neat twist in the tale. Reiser is described
by T.E.D. Klein as the “writer of the off-Broadway comedy hit El Grande de Coca-Cola and a contributor to Fridays and
other tv shows.”
--Fantasy
Films ’82: A Critical Guide
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--“Below
Zero” by John Kessel
Illustrated by D.W. Miller
“The chill was growing worse – and
winter had nothing to do with it.”
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-This
was an enjoyably bleak, downbeat story which reminded me a bit of the ending
sequence in Rod Serling’s “The Midnight Sun.” Kessel does a great job creating the
necessary atmosphere, which begins to creep up on the reader as the story moves
towards its disturbing climax.
Illustrated by E.T. Steadman
“Billy’s mother understood exactly how
he felt: when you missed someone, you conjured up a ghost and called it real.”
-A
mother attempts to cope with her young son’s struggle to accept the death of
his brother. Her husband’s return home from work reveals a larger picture of
life in the house where both sons are revealed to be gone.
-This
twisty short-short was reprinted in 100
Great Fantasy Short Short Stories (1984)
as well as in Karl Edward Wagner’s The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series
XII (1984). It was collected in Visions:
Short Fantasy & SF (2009). Connolly
previously appeared in the pages of TZ with “Mrs. Halfbooger’s Basement” in the
June, 1982 issue.
Illustrated by Peter Kuper
“There were only a few things you could
say about him: he was fat, overfriendly . . . and oddly forgettable.”
-A
woman is forced to listen to a fat man’s babble in a café in which he subtly reveals
his growing appetite for living things. The man exerts a strange effect on the
woman’s mind, making her forget certain things about their encounter. Later
that night, the woman looks out of her apartment window and sees the fat man
standing in the street looking up at her.
-This
strange, atmospheric story was reprinted in the first issue of Night Cry. Oddly,
no biographical information on Mignon Glass is offered in T.E.D. Klein’s
editorial at the front of the issue.
--TZ
Interview: Roald Dahl: ‘It’s got to be bloody good!’ by Lisa Tuttle
His style is witty, his imagination’s
nasty . . . and he also writes for children.”
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-Dahl
discusses his early writing career selling stories about his experiences as an
RAF pilot as well as what prompted him to write short fiction and why he stuck
to short stories for so long. He spends time on some of his favorite writers while
lamenting the current state of the short story in English. Dahl reveals his
level of participation in the television series Tales of the Unexpected (almost none) and his generally unpleasant experiences working on
films, with the exception of the James Bond thriller You Only Live Twice. Dahl reveals the challenges he faced when
moving from adult fiction to children’s fiction and discusses the challenges he
currently faces putting together a collection of ghost stories, which appeared
as Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories in
October, 1983.
Illustrated by Frances Jetter
“A classic horror tale about the care
and feeding of infants”
-A
mother worries that her baby is not eating enough. She expresses her fears to
the father, who assures her that he has the solution. He is an avid amateur
entomologist and begins mixing royal jelly from bees in with the baby’s milk. Soon,
the baby and the father, who has been ingesting royal jelly himself, begin to
strangely resemble insects.
-“Royal
Jelly” is one of Dahl’s most oft-reprinted tales and is one of the author’s few
tales which uses strong elements of fantasy. Dahl’s stories for adults typically
feature human cruelty or ironic twists of fate. He seldom used so bold an
element as a father and child transforming into insects. “Royal Jelly” is taken
from Dahl’s 1960 collection Kiss
Kiss. The story has been reprinted in
several anthologies, beginning with Edmund Crispin’s Best Tales of Terror (1962). It was adapted for television on Tales
of the Unexpected by writer Robin Chapman
and director Herbert Wise, broadcast March 1, 1980.
--Other
Dimensions: The ‘So Saying, He Vanished’ Quiz Revisited by Chet Williamson
-This
is a new collection of final lines from notable works of weird fiction, with
the reader challenged to match the final lines with the story title and author. The quiz and answers are below.
--Rod
Serling’s Lost ‘Christmas Carol’ by Sam Frank
“Written by Serling for the United
Nations, Carol for Another Christmas aired
in 1964 amid controversy and outrage, then vanished forever. Now, at last, the
program has been rescued from oblivion – and so has the story behind it.”
-Sam
Frank definitively documents the genesis, production, and reception of Rod
Serling’s television play, “Carol for Another Christmas,” which aired on ABC on
December 28, 1964. The play was a modern take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with
the characters and events updated for the Cold War era. It concerns a militant,
right-wing millionaire played by Sterling Hayden who is visited by three
spirits on Christmas Eve, played by Steve Lawrence, Pat Hingle, and Robert
Shaw, who show the stone-hearted millionaire the devastation wrought by
unchecked military aggression.
-Sam
Frank details the events which led a newly-created production company, in
partnership with the U.N., to develop television programs aimed at illustrating
the U.N.’s peacekeeping goals. Frank details Rod Serling’s involvement with the
program near the end of The Twilight
Zone, the struggle to find a network
willing to air the plays, the continuous effort to get approval from the U.N., the
trouble caused by far-right groups who wrote thousands of letters in an attempt
to get the network to back out, and describes the production troubles
association with the ambitious project. Frank provides details on the all-star
cast and crews who participated in the project, discusses the other plays
created for the project, examines the critical reception of the play, and gives
an honest and balanced assessment of Serling’s script. Lastly, Frank reports on
the recent finding of a print of “Carol for Another Christmas,” which had not
been seen since its original broadcast.
-This
article is a highly detailed account of the creation and reception of “Carol
for Another Christmas” and a brief summation here does not do justice to the
amount of information Sam Frank includes in his article. The article contains
quotes from the play and from interviews with Serling as well as several photographs.
Although it was difficult to view the play for many years, “Carol for Another
Christmas” is now widely available to own on DVD and occasionally appears on
television. It remains a hidden gem in Rod Serling’s career and a testament to
the type of positive social change Serling was constantly striving to create
with his writings.
--Show-By-Show
Guide: TV’s Twilight Zone, Part Twenty-Two by Marc Scott Zicree
-Marc
Scott Zicree, author of The Twilight
Zone Companion (now in a 3rd
edition), continues his guide to the original series by including cast and crew
information, a summary, and Rod Serling’s opening and closing narrations for
the fifth season episodes “Black Leather Jackets,” “Night Call,” and “From
Agnes – with Love.”
--TZ
Classic Teleplay: “One for the Angels” by Rod Serling
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--Looking
Ahead: In April’s Anniversary Issue
-Next
issue marks the second anniversary of the magazine. Behind a Rod Serling cover
lies an issue full of interesting stories and articles. Highlights include Rod
Serling’s notes for a Twilight Zone movie, an update on Twilight Zone: The
Movie, the winning stories from the
magazine’s annual story contest, an interview with Colin Wilson, Richard
Matheson’s story which inspired his first season episode “A World of His Own”
(also included), and much more. See you next month!
-JP
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Wednesday Comics
The Twilight Zone #44 (July, 1972)
"The Camera Doesn't Lie"
Script: unknown
Art: unknown
Cover: George Wilson
"The Camera Doesn't Lie"
Script: unknown
Art: unknown
Cover: George Wilson
Monday, May 4, 2020
"Passage on the Lady Anne"
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L to R: Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Lee Philips, Joyce Van Patten |
“Passage on the Lady Anne”
Season Four, Episode 119
Original
Air Date: May 9, 1963
Cast:
(In
alphabetical order)
Millie
McKenzie: Gladys Cooper
Toby
McKenzie: Wilfrid Hyde-White
Ian
Burgess: Cecil Kellaway
Alan
Ransome: Lee Philips
Eileen
Ransome: Joyce Van Patten
(With)
Captain
Protheroe: Alan Napier
Officers:
Cyril Delevanti, Jack Raine
Addicott:
Colin Campbell
Spierto:
Don Keefer
Crew:
Writer:
Charles Beaumont (based on his story
“Song for a Lady”)
Director:
Lamont Johnson
Producer:
Bert Granet
Director
of Photography: Robert Pittack
Production
Manager: Ralph W. Nelson
Art
Direction: George W. Davis, Paul
Groesse
Film
Editor: Everett Dodd
Set
Decoration: Henry Grace, Frank R.
McKelvy
Assistant
to the Producer: John Conwell
Assistant
Director: Ray De Camp
Music
(composer): René Garriguenc
Music
(conductor): Lud Gluskin
Sound:
Franklin Milton, Joe Edmondson
Mr.
Serling’s Wardrobe: Eagle Clothes
Filmed
at MGM Studios
And Now, Mr. Serling:
“Next
on Twilight Zone: an exercise from the typewriter of Charles Beaumont, a sea
voyage into the darker regions of the Zone. Our stars in alphabetical order:
Gladys Cooper, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Cecil Kellaway, Lee Philips, and Joyce Van
Patten.”
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
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Summary:
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Mr. Spierto, the travel
agent, regrettably informs the Ransomes that, as it is the off-season, most of
the ships are not running their regular schedules. Upon viewing a list of
available ships, Eileen selects the Lady
Anne, an aging vessel embarking, unbeknownst to them, upon its final
voyage. Against the strong protestations of Alan and Mr. Spierto, Eileen books
two tickets for the Lady Anne.
The Lady Anne is a beautiful old ship and
Eileen is excited to travel. Alan is gloomy and seems only grudgingly going
along because he made a promise to Eileen. Shortly before boarding, the Ransomes
encounter an elderly English gentleman named McKenzie who seems incredulous
that the Ransomes have secured passage on the Lady Anne and insists that a mistake has been made. Alan shows
their tickets and considers the matter settled. The Ransomes are confronted
again, however, shortly before departure by McKenzie and his friend Burgess,
who go so far as to offer the couple ten thousand dollars to leave the ship. The
elderly men refer to the journey as a private cruise and insist they want to
help the Ransomes by discouraging them from travelling along. The Ransomes remain
adamant about their intention to stay on the ship.
Alan and Eileen make a
startling discovery once the ship has departed. Everyone on board besides
themselves is very old. Being the only young people draws attention to the
Ransomes. This particularly works against them when they have a very public
argument centered on Alan’s displeasure at being stuck on an old, slow ship
filled with elderly people, as well as the damage his obsession with business
is doing to their marriage. It appears as though the Ransomes have finally
crossed the breaking point in their troubled relationship.
Eileen and Alan agree to
a chilly truce to save face and endure the remaining journey to London.
Although Alan does not desire to do so, Eileen accepts an invitation to tea for
both of them from McKenzie and his wife. McKenzie invited the couple to tea in
order to apologize for his earlier behavior and to ensure the couple that they
will not have to leave the ship. Mrs. McKenzie informs the Ransomes that they
won’t have to die after all. Alan and Eileen are understandably confused by this
statement but McKenzie ensures them that it is only a figure of speech.
McKenzie further explains
that the Lady Anne has not had any
new passengers in several years and this journey is a gathering of all the
people who have spent time on the Lady
Anne in the past. The people on board consider their prior time on the Lady Anne to be among the happiest, most
important times in their lives. Mrs. McKenzie speaks of the ship as an
enchanted vessel and reveals that the Lady
Anne is being retired. Those on board decided to take this final two-way
journey with her, from London to New York and back again.
Eileen becomes upset
over the conversation and Alan takes her outside to get some fresh air. Alan
notices that the ship is headed north rather than in the eastward direction
they should be travelling. Alan looks out to sea and when he turns again he
finds that Eileen has vanished. He frantically searches the ship but cannot
find his wife anywhere. No one else seems concerned over Eileen’s disappearance.
Hours pass and Alan is in a panic, fearful that Eileen may have fallen
overboard.
McKenzie takes Alan to
the bar for a drink in order to ease Alan’s mind, ensuring the younger man that
Eileen has not really gone but that Alan has only missed her. Burgess, slightly
drunk, joins the men to deliver a rant on the demise of the Lady Anne, blaming the modern condition
of hurry and impatience for wanting to scrap the old ship, a symbol of the past.
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The Ransomes are
enjoying their newfound happiness the following night at a party with the rest
of the passengers when Alan notices that the ship’s engines have stopped. A
nasty surprise arrives with Captain Protheroe a short time later. The crew has
gathered the Ransomes’ things and the couple are being put off the ship. Alan
refuses, believing it to be a joke, prompting the First Officer to produce a
gun to ensure the Ransomes that this is a serious affair.
Alan and Eileen are
placed in a lifeboat along with their belongings, supplies, and the assurance
that the authorities have been contacted and the Ransomes will be retrieved
shortly. Alan and Eileen begin to understand why they were removed from the Lady Anne as they watch the old ship
sail away and slowly disappear into the fog.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
“The
Lady Anne never reached port. After they were picked up by a cutter a few hours
later, as Captain Protheroe had promised, the Ransomes searched the newspapers
for news, but there wasn’t any news. The Lady Anne, with all her crew and all
her passengers, vanished without a trace. But the Ransomes knew what had
happened. They knew that the ship had sailed off to a better port, a placed
called The Twilight Zone.”
Commentary:
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The
six episodes (including “The New Exhibit”) Beaumont contributed during the
fourth season constitute a greater output from the writer than on any other
season. This feels significant when one considers that Beaumont, due to sudden
and debilitating health issues previously discussed on this blog, wrote no
additional episodes after “Passage on the Lady Anne.” Another Beaumont
teleplay, “Gentlemen, Be Seated,” an adaptation of Beaumont’s 1960 story about
a near future society in which laughter has been eliminated and a clandestine
group of office workers who nightly celebrate politically incorrect humor, was
completed and scheduled for the fifth season but was ultimately left unproduced
by series end. The episodes credited to Beaumont during this final season were
written by Jerry Sohl or John Tomerlin based on Beaumont’s ideas and stories.
The bitter irony which should
not be lost on the viewer is that “Passage on the Lady Anne,” the final episode
in this late outburst from Beaumont, figuratively mirrors the very real struggle
which descended on him at this time. Generally speaking, “Passage on the Lady
Anne” is about taking that final journey on one’s own terms, to see the journey
through to the end by returning to a place of happiness and success. For
Charles Beaumont, The Twilight Zone is
the Lady Anne, and although his final
passing was far less romantic than that portrayed in the episode, posterity has
shown The Twilight Zone to be that
which has done the most to keep Beaumont’s flame burning. His work on the
series has come to be considered career defining. Fortunately, the world is not
yet ready to scrap the old-fashioned television show the way in which the world
is ready to scrap the old ship in “Passage on the Lady Anne.”
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Another
noticeable change from story to screen is in the condition of the Lady Anne. In the television episode,
the Ransomes dread that the Lady Anne
will be an old wreck, hardly capable of staying on the water, when in fact it
reveals itself to be an old but beautiful pearl of a vessel, ornate and elegant
in an old-fashioned style. In the original story the ship truly is a wreck, or
close to it. Although the Ransomes believe the ship to be beautiful from afar,
contrary to “descriptions of the ship had led us to expect something between a
kayak and The Flying Dutchman,”* it is soon
seen this way from Alan’s viewpoint: “Then we got a little closer. And the Lady Anne turned into one of those
well-dressed women who look so fine a block away and then disintegrate as you
approach them. The orange on the hull was bright, but it wasn’t paint. It was
rust. Rust, like fungus, infecting every inch, trailing down from every port
hole. Eating through the iron.”
Other
changes are largely superficial and generally concern minor incidents of
character and dialogue. Jack McKenzie in the story becomes Toby McKenzie in the
episode. Eileen, rather than Alan, speaks many of the confrontational lines to
McKenzie and Burgess in the story. Burgess is also given a wife in the tale, Cynthia,
whereas the element of his being a widower is given particular focus in the
episode. Beaumont retains large amounts of dialogue from his story, much of it
Alan’s internal dialogue, though the speaker often changes in the adaptation.
Burgess’s memorable, drunken rant on the wretched state of modern society is,
in the story, delivered by a character named Van Vlyman. This scene is powerful
in both the story and the episode due largely to Beaumont’s spirited writing.
The message behind the rant was likely close to Beaumont’s own thoughts on the
issue as he, in collaboration with friends, wrote a number of nostalgic essays,
collected in Remember? Remember? (1963),
many of which lament the same sort of problems modern society creates for the
lover of old things and the older ways of doing things.
Beaumont seems to have much to say about the way in which modern society treats the elderly. The Lady Anne, and its passengers, are referred to as "relics" and "antiques." As Serling informs us in the closing monologue, the disappearance of the ship and its elderly passengers is not reported in any newspaper, suggesting that the old go largely unnoticed in the culture as they have outlived their usefulness.
Beaumont seems to have much to say about the way in which modern society treats the elderly. The Lady Anne, and its passengers, are referred to as "relics" and "antiques." As Serling informs us in the closing monologue, the disappearance of the ship and its elderly passengers is not reported in any newspaper, suggesting that the old go largely unnoticed in the culture as they have outlived their usefulness.
The ending of the story
is also quite different from the episode. In the story, Alan and Eileen are placed
in the lifeboat and observe as, in the distance, the Lady Anne first catches fire and then sinks into the water. This
fiery ending was wisely changed to the more atmospheric ending seen in the
episode, with the informative coda of Rod Serling’s closing narration to
alleviate any ambiguity.
Overall,
the reader comes away from the story with a sense of speed and compression,
especially compared to the measured pacing of the episode. The story moves very
quickly with little of the nuances in character and incident which make the
episode memorable and enjoyable. Beaumont likely selected this story from among
his published tales for adaptation because he felt as though he could improve
on the tale if given another run at it. He had a good idea in the original
story but had not given the tale the attention to character and conflict which
it warranted. Beaumont was given a wider canvas than normal and expertly
utilized the hour-long format to deliver an episode which vastly improves upon
the original story by retaining the essential hook but imbuing the tale with
greater elements of conflict, wit, heartbreak, and redemption.
Though
it is easy to be charmed by displays of more demonstrative elements of fantasy,
such as grotesque monsters, time travel, aliens, killer dolls, and the like, The Twilight Zone is somewhat
underappreciated as a remarkably effective platform for powerful drama. This is
largely due to its creator’s journeyman years in the dramatic anthology
programs of the previous decade but also owes something to the writers Rod
Serling surrounded himself with, writers such as Charles Beaumont, Richard
Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Henry Slesar, Damon Knight, and Jerome Bixby who,
alongside others, spearheaded a change in American science fiction and fantasy
literature which injected the form with real people facing relatable problems
in real situations. “Passage on the Lady Anne” is a very quiet fantasy but a
very potent drama which contains further meditations on the recurring themes of
Beaumont’s fiction (death and dying, memory and dreams, the fantastic intruding
upon a normal course of events) and a powerful strain of conflict and resolve
in relationships.
A
number of the scenes and incidents which remain in one’s memory after viewing
the episode were created for the adaptation. Primary among these is the
relationship between Alan and Eileen Ransome. The perspective lens is shifted
from the passengers on the Lady Anne
in the story to the troubled couple who find their way on board a death ship in
the episode. Lee Philips as the quietly angry and stubbornly unhappy Alan
Ransome and Joyce Van Patten as the vulnerable yet defiant Eileen Ransome are
excellent in their sole appearances on The
Twilight Zone. Alan is easy to dislike through most of the episode though
not to the degree that the viewer does not empathize with his immense relief at
finding Eileen after the vulnerability of her character manifests itself in a
literal disappearance. This incident could have been the hook for a separate and
very different Twilight Zone episode,
but Beaumont uses it here for a brief sequence to bring together two characters
we have previously watched growing apart.
Depending on how one views Eileen's disappearance, "Passage on the Lady Anne" contains hardly any fantasy element at all. There is the vague notion that the Lady Anne possesses some supernatural aspect given the mythical status assigned to the ship by its aging crew and passengers. While several times Beaumont hints at the supernatural, particularly with the disappearance of the Lady Anne at the end of the episode, the writer never directly shows us anything supernatural. There are no aliens, no ghosts, no talking dolls, nor anything else fantastical. The hint of fantasy becomes, in Beaumont's hands, a way to give the audience a metaphor for Alan's relationship with Eileen. This aspect is particularly apparent when McKenzie tells Alan: "She hasn't gone anywhere. You've just missed her," and in the scene in which Alan recovers his vanished wife in their suite. He says to her: "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you," to which she replies: "I've been here, Alan," the implication being that their relationship has always been there, waiting for him to discover it.
Depending on how one views Eileen's disappearance, "Passage on the Lady Anne" contains hardly any fantasy element at all. There is the vague notion that the Lady Anne possesses some supernatural aspect given the mythical status assigned to the ship by its aging crew and passengers. While several times Beaumont hints at the supernatural, particularly with the disappearance of the Lady Anne at the end of the episode, the writer never directly shows us anything supernatural. There are no aliens, no ghosts, no talking dolls, nor anything else fantastical. The hint of fantasy becomes, in Beaumont's hands, a way to give the audience a metaphor for Alan's relationship with Eileen. This aspect is particularly apparent when McKenzie tells Alan: "She hasn't gone anywhere. You've just missed her," and in the scene in which Alan recovers his vanished wife in their suite. He says to her: "Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you," to which she replies: "I've been here, Alan," the implication being that their relationship has always been there, waiting for him to discover it.
The chemistry of Lee Philip’s and Joyce Van Patten’s performances, both during the period in which they
are waging a silent war and in their later, redemptive moments, is the finest
on the series since that of William Shatner and Patricia Breslin in Richard
Matheson’s “Nick of Time.” Their argument in the Imperial Lounge is one of the
most expertly written, authentically performed scenes in the entire series. It
is genuinely uncomfortable for the viewer and Beaumont gives the scene a number
of effective touches, such as Alan speaking less and in a lower voice the more
Eileen speaks in an animated voice. He also writes Eileen destroying the
cigarette package to end the sequence, as Eileen asking Alan for a cigarette
had been shown as a petty annoyance to Alan in prior scenes. The episode liberally
uses juxtaposition to define its conflicts and resolutions, from the young
couple and the elderly passengers to specific scenes, such as the party in the Imperial Lounge and the sudden intrusion of the Captain with a demand for the Ransomes to be put off the ship.
The
episode is filled with small touches which are not in the original story and
would likely have been left out or edited from a twenty-four minute episode. A
scene not focused on Alan and Eileen, such as the brief sequence in which Millie
McKenzie throws Toby’s old letters overboard, would surely not have made the
cut of a half-hour episode. Viewers may see such scenes as needless padding but
some stories benefit from a richer tapestry of character and incident.
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The
episode also marks the return of director Lamont Johnson to the series. Johnson
last sat behind the camera for the third season episode “Hocus-Pocus and
Frisby,” and previously directed some of the finest episodes of the series,
including “The Shelter,” “Five Characters In Search of an Exit,” and “Kick the
Can.” Johnson’s presence on “Passage on the Lady Anne” may have been a draw for
Gladys Cooper to appear in the episode as the two previously collaborated on
the excellent third season episode, “Nothing in the Dark.” The atmospheric
cinematography of Robert W. Pittack deserves mention, as well. Pittack arrived
on The Twilight Zone late in the
third season to photograph Charles Beaumont’s “Person or Persons Unknown.” He
remained on the series through the fourth season to alternate with regular
cinematographer George T. Clemens, due to the increased shooting time per episode
for the hour-long format. Pittack’s talent was readily apparent and he was
retained for the fifth season, photographing such memorable episodes as “Nightmare
at 20,000 Feet,” “Living Doll,” and “Night Call.”
Although
“Passage on the Lady Anne” lacks that truly memorable element (a fantastic
display, a clever ending, etc.) which might lift it among the company of the
best episodes, it remains a powerful drama graced by outstanding lead
performances, a charming collection of supporting players, the return of one of
the finest directors on the series, and an eerie atmosphere complemented by
excellent photography and a memorable musical score. It is a fine final episode
from the typewriter of Charles Beaumont and comes recommended.
*“Passage on the Lady Anne” was one of several Twilight Zone episodes which directly or indirectly referenced or
took inspiration from the legend of The Flying Dutchman, a ghostly vessel often
portrayed as a portent of doom, aligning the episode with others such as “Judgment
Night,” “King Nine Will Not Return,” “The Odyssey of Flight 33,” “The Arrival,”
and “The Thirty-Fathom Grave.”
Grade:
B
Grateful acknowledgement to:
-Night
Ride and Other Journeys by Charles
Beaumont (Bantam, 1960)
-The Internet Speculative Fiction
Database (isfdb.org)
-The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com)
Notes:
--Charles
Beaumont’s story, “Song for a Lady,” was first published in Night Ride and Other Journeys (Bantam, 1960). Beaumont’s final, unproduced episode for The
Twilight Zone, “Gentlemen, Be Seated,”
was published in the limited edition volume The Twilight Zone Scripts of
Charles Beaumont, Volume One, ed. Roger
Anker (Gauntlet Press, 2004). Volume two never appeared. Beaumont’s original
story, “Gentlemen, Be Seated,” was first published in the April, 1960 issue of Rogue
and collected in Charles Beaumont:
Selected Stories, ed. Roger Anker (Dark
Harvest, 1988).
--Lamont
Johnson directed seven additional episodes of the series, including “The
Shelter,” “Five Characters in Search of an Exit,” “Nothing in the Dark,” “One
More Pallbearer,” “Kick the Can,” “Four O’Clock,” and “Hocus-Pocus and Frisby.”
--Composer
René Garriguenc also provided the scores for “The Monsters Are Due on Maple
Street,” “In Praise of Pip,” and “Spur of the Moment,” as well as stock music
pieces for several additional episodes. Garriguenc worked closely with the head
of the CBS music department, Lud Gluskin, who conducted all of Garriguenc’s
scores for the series.
--Gladys
Cooper also appeared in “Nothing in the Dark” and “Night Call.”
--Cecil
Kellaway also appeared in “Elegy.”
--Lee
Philips also appeared in “Queen of the Nile.”
--Alan
Napier was a regular performer on Rod
Serling’s Night Gallery, appearing in the
episode segments “House – with Ghost,” “The Sins of the Fathers,” and “Fright
Night.”
--Cyril
Delevanti also appeared in “A Penny for Your Thoughts,” “The Silence,” and “A
Piano in the House.”
--Jack
Raine appeared in an uncredited role in “Spur of the Moment.”
--Don
Keefer also appeared in “It’s a Good Life” and “From Agnes – with Love.”
--Joyce
Van Patten was divorced from fellow Twilight Zone performer Martin Balsam shortly before she appeared in this episode, which may have given the relationship at the center of “Passage on
the Lady Anne” extra resonance for the actress.
--“Passage
on the Lady Anne” was adapted as a Twilight Zone Radio Drama starring Martin
Jarvis and Rosalind Ayres.
-JP & BD
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