A Piano in the House

"A Piano in the House" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. The episode has become well known for the performance of Barry Morse as its protagonist.

Mr. Serling's Opening Narration

Mr. Fitzgerald Fortune, theater critic and cynic at large, on his way to a birthday party. If he knew what is in store for him he probably wouldn't go, because before this evening is over that cranky old piano is going to play "Those Piano Roll Blues" with some effects that could happen only in the Twilight Zone.

Plot

Drama critic Fitzgerald Fortune goes to Throckmorton's curio shop to buy his young wife Esther a player piano as a birthday present. At the shop, as the hard-bitten and hard-shelled owner plays the piano, he reveals his soft, sentimental side to Fortune. Fortune notices that the piano's music somehow reveals people's true feelings and purchases it.

Later at home, the solemn, elderly butler, Marvin, bursts out laughing under the influence of the piano and reveals that he actually enjoys working for Fortune, primarily because he finds his ego and temper confusing. When Fortune puts on a roll for his wife, she confesses that she detests him for his cruelty to her and the people around him. More intrigued than offended by the revelations presented, Fortune eagerly elects to try out the piano on his party guests for pure entertainment.

He then tries it out on one of his wife's party guests, jaded playwright Gregory Walker, who admits to being in love with Fitzgerald's wife Esther and that they had a tryst while she was on vacation away from Fitzgerald. At the party, Fitzgerald chooses a guest—a heavy-set woman named Marge Moore—to demonstrate the piano's effects. Marge admits to really wanting to be a ballet dancer, light, graceful and ethereal as a snowflake. The others laugh at her, and when the music stops, she is embarrassed. Even Fortune laughs at her in a cruel fashion.

Fitzgerald then announces he is going to reveal the devil himself and inserts a new roll into the piano, but Esther swaps it for a different one. When the music (a lullaby) plays, everyone looks to see who will be affected. Fitzgerald reveals himself to be nothing more than a frightened and sadistic child who is jealous of others around him. He admits to writing bad reviews for Greg's play because he is jealous of his talent. He also admits to Esther that the reason he treats her so terribly is because he cannot understand and accept love. Disturbed, the guests suddenly depart; Gregory and Esther leave together.

A rejected Fitzgerald throws a tantrum and ruins the piano roll by pulling it out and ripping it up. Finally, Marvin walks in and finds Fitzgerald in the middle of his tirade. Fitzgerald asks Marvin not to laugh at him, to which he replies, "I'm not laughing. You're not funny anymore."

Mr. Serling's Closing Narration

Mr. Fitzgerald Fortune, a man who went searching for concealed persons and found himself in the Twilight Zone.

References

Zicree, Marc Scott. The Twilight Zone Companion, Bantam Books, 1982. ISBN 0-553-01416-1
DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0

External links

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Season 3	"Two" "The Arrival" "The Shelter" "The Passersby" "A Game of Pool" "The Mirror" "The Grave" "It's a Good Life" "Deaths-Head Revisited" "The Midnight Sun" "Still Valley" "The Jungle" "Once Upon a Time" "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" "A Quality of Mercy" "Nothing in the Dark" "One More Pallbearer" "Dead Man's Shoes" "The Hunt" "Showdown with Rance McGrew" "Kick the Can" "A Piano in the House" "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank" "To Serve Man" "The Fugitive" "Little Girl Lost" "Person or Persons Unknown" "The Little People" "Four O'Clock" "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby" "The Trade-Ins" "The Gift" "The Dummy" "Young Man's Fancy" "I Sing the Body Electric" "Cavender Is Coming" "The Changing of the Guard"
Season 4	"In His Image" "The Thirty-Fathom Grave" "Valley of the Shadow" "He's Alive" "Mute" "Death Ship" "Jess-Belle" "Miniature" "Printer's Devil" "No Time Like the Past" "The Parallel" "I Dream of Genie" "The New Exhibit" "Of Late I Think of Cliffordville" "The Incredible World of Horace Ford" "On Thursday We Leave for Home" "Passage on the Lady Anne" "The Bard"
Season 5	"In Praise of Pip" "Steel" "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" "A Kind of a Stopwatch" "The Last Night of a Jockey" "Living Doll" "The Old Man in the Cave" "Uncle Simon" "Probe 7, Over and Out" "The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms" "A Short Drink from a Certain Fountain" "Ninety Years Without Slumbering" "Ring-a-Ding Girl" "You Drive" "The Long Morrow" "The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross" "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" "Black Leather Jackets" "Night Call" "From Agnes—With Love" "Spur of the Moment" "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" "Queen of the Nile" "What's in the Box" "The Masks" "I Am the Night—Color Me Black" "Sounds and Silences" "Caesar and Me" "The Jeopardy Room" "Stopover in a Quiet Town" "The Encounter" "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" "The Brain Center at Whipple's" "Come Wander with Me" "The Fear" "The Bewitchin' Pool"