~
"There is a fifth dimension, beyond
that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as
timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow,
between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's
fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of
imagination. It is an area which we call The Twilight Zone."
Thus began the opening on October 2, 1959, of a TV series that was to set
the standard for exceptional production values with some of the finest writers
of the Sci-Fi genre, the greatest actors at the dawn of their careers and
the most brilliant writers of film music ever (
link below) . . .
. . . and the groundbreaking series would open the door to new and incredibly exciting worlds.
The combination of strange, imaginative stories -- usually parables for
some aspect of contemporary issues -- fine casting and directing, and
first-rate music supervised by
Lud Gluskin, the head of CBS West Coast
Music resulted in a five-year series, with 155 original episodes. It
returned to series television several times over the next decades and
reached the big screen as a
feature film.
In 1959,
Mike Wallace conducted an excellent interview in his series with
Twilight Zone writer,
Rod Serling (
link below).
Where is Everybody? was the first regular episode. Gluskin made an inspired choice in
Bernard Herrmann
to compose the score. Herrmann
was an Academy Award-winning film composer with a long background in
radio and television scoring. He could be relied upon to produce music
quickly, using a minimum of players to keep expenses down, and was
famous for seizing the mood of film in economical musical gestures,
particularly when the mood was mysterious or fantastical. (Think of his
opening music for the
Orson Welles film,
Citizen Kane and his highly original scoring of
The Day the Earth Stood Still.) Herrmann
mostly worked on the series during the first year, scoring seven
episodes and writing a title theme used in the first year, only. (
Marius Constant wrote the famous
ostinato pattern forever associated with
Twilight Zone.)
Where is Everybody? set the mood for the series by
throwing the audience into a world where something is obviously wrong,
and playing up the series' main preoccupations: Extinction of humanity
and alienation among people. Directed by
Robert Stevens, the story was a
solo tour de force for the talented young actor
Earl Holliman. He plays
Mike Ferris, an Air Force officer who finds himself wearing his flight
suit and discovering he is in a strange, entirely deserted town.
Wherever he goes, everything looks normal. Meals are
set, stores are open, power, water, streetlights, and other implements
all function, but there are no people. He gets increasingly frantic,
trying to find another living soul.
The
score by
Herrmann begins with a panicked, galloping theme, but soon settles into
dark, lonely wind chords and shimmering harp or vibraphone patterns,
then builds the various emotions -- of panic, despair, rage -- Ferris
experiences.
It is a long score for a half-hour TV episode,
lasting nearly 12 minutes of original music, required because there was
nearly no dialogue. It even works impressively well as an original
abstract work for chamber orchestra (
YouTube links below).
The premiere episode of
The Twilight Zone,
Where is Everybody?, perfectly set the tone for the series.
Viewfinder links:
Bernard Herrmann
Net links:
YouTube links:
The Twilight Zone ~ intro
