The Twilight Zone (TV Series) A Piano in the House (1962) User Reviews

'The two of you together- what a picture you must be'

[darrenpearce111 · 8/10 · 23 November 2013]

Alas, the relationship of the Fortunes makes for a different picture. These words are spoken by the proprietor of Treasures Unlimited while temporarily under the spell of the player-piano Fortune is buying. It has a magical quality to make people reveal their inner-self.

All the parts are played well. I mean literally all. Barry Morse leads admirably as the obnoxious theater critic Fitzgerald Fortune. He makes the character both watchable and detestable with a slick performance. The rest of the cast are just as good. His wife Esther (Joan Hackett) is a quiet victim feeling the pain of Fitzgerald's sadistic sense of humour (How sad it is that this brilliant actress died so young at 49). The butler, Marvin (Cyril Delevanti-also impressive in 'A Penny For Your Thoughts', series two) is a good though very small part.

Psychologically packed twenty-five minutes, if light on story.

You Just Don't Seem Like The Same Persona.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 31 March 2013]

Enjoyable tale of a wicked and superior theater critic (Morse) who buys his younger wife (Hackett) an old player piano he found in a junk store. Whenever Morse plays a roll of music, someone in the vicinity is possessed and reveals his true nature. Delighted, Morse first uses the piano to enchant his solemn and ancient butler and make him laugh. Then, as guests arrive for Hackett's birthday part, he uses the music -- Katchaturian's Sabre Dance, to make her spit out her hatred for him. He humiliates her lover and, most pathetic of all, causes an affable and good-natured fat lady to turn into her idea of a fairy tale princess. Hackett switches the piano rolls and we hear Brahms' Lullaby, which turns Morse into a whimpering child who fights his own loneliness by trying to hurt others. Everyone leaves, wife included.

Earl Hamner, Jr.'s scripts tended to divide themselves into easy-going country tales full of good will and affection, and tales of the corrupt city, full of wise guys and vituperative characters, of which Barry Morse's theater critic is an exemplar. His dialog is often right on the mark, although always flowery.

The grouchy old proprietor of the junk shop tells him, "You're sure taking up a lot of my time." Morse: "I might point out that you're taking up an equal amount of mine." Critics of the theater and of movies were to get a lot meaner in another ten years, from Bosley Crowther to John Simon is one great step for criticism.

Morse is adequate in his villainy, though I'm not sure Hamner got the psychodynamics right. If a child is lonely, is his impulse to strike out at others instead of, say, trying to buy their affection with nice theater reviews? Joan Hackett is sublimely beautiful in a skewed way, and she sounds like the Vassar graduate she played in "The Group," although she isn't. She had a lot of class but a poor future.

There's Some Pretty Good Acting Here

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 2 December 2008]

I had forgotten this episode. It's about a drama critic who is known for his abrasiveness and venom. He buys a player piano for his young wife and soon finds it has magical qualities. If a person is designated to listen to it, they will begin to bear their soul. He does it to his stuffy butler, then to his wife, and finally to the guests at a party he is throwing. One of the shortcoming is that he seems able to select a victim from among his guests. Why didn't this affect everyone in the room? I don't think that's a nitpicking criticism. There is a touching moment when a sad, overweight woman friend shows her sadness and hopes to the party goers who laugh at her. She dances in front of them (it is really quite touching). I will say no more, other than Player Pianos come home to roost. Overall, quite a captivating episode.

Six Characters in a fascinating study

[lrrap · 9/10 · 6 January 2009]

This is one of two excellent TZ "inanimate objects that control us" plots (stopwatches, cameras, used cars, etc). A marvelous set of six vignettes, with each character's true personality revealed by a different tune played on a mechanical piano. Wonderfully imaginative direction by David Greene with more tight close-ups than any other TV episode in history, and remarkably subtle performances by Barry Morse (a rarity!) and the lovely, understated Joan Hackett. The three "odd-ball" characters are the true highlights of the show with Phil Coolidge, Muriel Landers and an all-star, tour-de-force knockout romp by the cadaverous Cyril Delevanti dominating the proceedings. A great "chamber-morality" play,expertly rendered. (The only tiny blemish is that lame,dufus party-goer who waves the present in his hand as he enters the room; I hope he was fired).

Lump in my throat

[jcravens42 · 10/10 · 14 March 2008]

The "cursed" object Twilight Zones, as well as the "we're all wearing masks" episodes, are some of my favorites, and this episode is a great mix of both themes. This episode gets forgotten, unfortunately, among a sea of classics, probably because there's no twist to the ending -- you know what's coming as soon as you know the piano is "special." But the performances are so particularly outstanding: Joan Hackett, the playwright and the butler are all perfect in their moments where their masks are gone, but it's Muriel Landers who gets the best moment of the episode, a moment that's so heart-breaking... if that didn't give you a lump in your throat, you aren't human. I don't remember this episode from my childhood when I first watched The Twilight Zone, but seeing it now, probably 25 years later... Muriel Landers makes it one of my favorites. So, what is your mask hiding?

Do We Really Want To See What's Inside

[dougdoepke · 30 January 2017]

Slender episode, but shrewdly crafted. Snobbish theatre critic Fortune (Morse) purchases an old-time player piano that turns out to have revealing qualities. Seems people in his world are really two people, one they show to others and one they lock away, while the piano, it appears, turns the key.

I love that hellish shop where Fortune finds the infernal piano. It's full of lord-knows-what, maybe even Jimmy Hoffa. The repartee between the practiced theater cynic and the sour shopkeeper (Coolidge) is a model of sarcastic thrust and parry. And catch the slim-fast runaway Marge. It's Muriel Landers as the wonderfully over-weight party guest showing why you don't have to be slim and trim to be amazingly graceful. Then too, Morse is perfectly cast as the dislikable snob, just a couple years before hounding poor David Janssen in the ever popular The Fugitive (1963-67). Add the 110-year old Delevanti plus the lovely but star- crossed Joan Hackett, and it's an unusually compelling cast.

All in all, the characters make the show. So don't look for fancy special effects or much action. And, take my advice, whatever you do, stay out of antique stores.

"Of course I've always believed that we have two faces..."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 31 May 2010]

Good old Jerry (Barry Morse) should have seen it coming. He even telegraphed his own 'truth or dare' moment when he uttered the bit of dialog in my summary line. Perhaps it's a special talent theater critics have. What didn't make sense to me was how Esther (Joan Hackett) knew enough to switch piano rolls, or which one to select to put Jerry on the spot. This was a common enough goof in the series, one that bugs me when it happens but not usually enough to spoil the message. When you're dealing with megalomaniacs like Jerry, you don't need a magic piano to sort them out. They're usually pretty successful driving people away all on their own.

Those old piano roll blues

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 18 February 2016]

Barry Morse just prior to becoming Richard Kimble's relentless hunter in The Fugitive did this nifty and original Twilight Zone episode playing a nasty theater critic. He's giving a birthday party for his wife Joan Hackett and wants an unusual present.

He finds one in an antique shop that was possibly the same one that R.G. Armstrong had in the Friday the 13th series later on. A player piano with a lot of music rolls that is guaranteed to bring out the real personality of someone in the room. Just find the right roll.

The right roll is found for several people, eventually Morse and the results are a disaster.

Morse is a cruel and sadistic man who delights in torturing aspiring actors and writers with his jibes. Definitely not a man to feel sorry for when his soul is laid bare.

A great Twilight Zone episode, a tour de force for Barry Morse.

True nature

[kellielulu · 7/10 · 18 May 2023]

Interesting episode that asks the question are we who we show the world or what is under the surface?

We learn about various characters from of all things a player piano bought by a theater critic named Fitzgerald Fourtune that thinks he's smart and witty but is just cruel and obnoxious. Depending on the music that is played it will reveal more than we see from each a character.

Starting with the store owner who seems blase and impatien becoems friendly and helpful but returns to his more dour demanour when the music stops .

Next up the most amusing reveal and extremely sober faced butler played by Cyril Delevanti who has the perfect face for this suddenly is dancing and singing and laughing when a certain peace of music is played .We seehow he can continue working for such a man he actually find Fortune funny! He's unbothered by all the insults he hurls at everyone including himself! But reverts back when the music stops. Fortune knows what he can do with this piano and will will have an audence at his wife's birthday party but not before he gets a earful of what she really thinks of him when he plays a different piece of music. She is far from the docile persona she projects she is just as good at hurling insults as he is but it's probably more that it's only for him not everyone. We see later she is more clever than he ever knew.

The guests start arriving one who is not only a playwright that Fortune gives bad reviews to but is having and affair with Fortune's wife Esther .Foruntune plays music that has the young playwright proclaing his love for Esther .Fortune is surprised he knew about them.

Finally Fortune cruelly plays a piece that shows a friendly and likable woman who is also hefty . She would be an exquisite ballet dancer he's getting too much fun out of this and want to continue. He gives Esther another one to play but she switches it and he is the one making confessions twlling how he is jelous and afraid and that's why he strikes out at others. It's meant to be that he's just a baby or child but it's really more like a bully who's been exposed .Everyone including Esther he's admitted he shouwl have given the plays good reviews and he's jealous of Marge (the overwight woman ) because people love her and she them. Only the butler remains butler but not laughing he tells Fourtune he isn't funny anymore.

The big flaw isn't how the music brings out true nature it will do that in real life but in a less TZ way it's how everyone knows which piece will tear the mask of each person.

We are probably all a combination of what we show others and what we don't reveal so easily but it's an interesting episode. A little more could have been done with the learing about more than one aspect of the person but for a half hour format it's pretty well done.

The music of "The Piano in the House" can reveal the truth

[chuck-reilly · 8/10 · 5 February 2008]

Mean-spirited theater critic Fitzgerald Fortune (Barry Morse, Lt. Gerard from "The Fugitive" TV Series), purchases a haunted player-piano from an antique shop as a birthday gift for his long-suffering young wife Esther, played by Joan Hackett. Fortune soon discovers that the piano has magical powers which he can use to further his own evil ends. He learns that when someone listens to the accompanying rolls of music intensely, the person will inadvertently expose their inner-self and reveal their own darkest secrets and ambitions. Being the nasty fellow that he is, Fortune decides to use the device on his friends and associates (and particularly on his wife) at one of his cocktail parties. He suspects she's having an affair with a handsome actor and now he's sure he'll find out the truth.

Morse is excellent as the contemptible theater critic who ends up singing his own sorry tune to all in attendance. Although Earl Hamner Jr. wrote the original story, it's obvious that creator Rod Serling wanted to throw a few jabs of his own with this episode and lambaste some of his detractors in the industry. Others in the cast include Ms. Hackett, who exudes just the right touch and sensitivity as Esther. Old-time character actor Cyril Delevanti plays Fortune's butler, and he gets to deliver the final well-deserved punch line to his hypocritical boss.

Revealing the real you

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 17 May 2018]

Sadistic and snobbish theater critic Fitzgerald Fortune (ably played to the deliciously supercilious hilt by Barry Morse) purchases a player piano that has the magical ability to lay bare the hidden souls and secret longings of all who hear it.

Director David Greene makes expert use of tight close-ups and adroitly crafts a tense and unsettling confrontational tone. Earl Hammer Jr.'s clever script doesn't flinch in its stark addressing of the various masks and facades people wear and present to others on a regular basis. Morse excels as one extremely unlikeable and mean-spirited jerk who's ultimately exposed as a petty and pathetic childish bully; he receives fine support from Joan Hackett as Fortune's sweet, but long-suffering young wife Esther, Don Durant as the smitten Gregory Walker, Muriel Landers as the plump and outwardly cheerful Marge Moore (her monologue about wanting to be slender and loved rates as a poignant highlight), and Cyril Delevanti as sour butler Marvin. A solid, if rather discomfiting episode.

you cant tuna piano

[Calicodreamin · 5/10 · 16 June 2021]

Not the strongest episode of the twilight zone, no effects and no twist. The characters weren't strong enough to warrant an emotional connection to the story.

Sometimes painful to watch, but still well worth seeing.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 28 May 2010]

This episode earns a 9--not because of a complicated or bizarre plot but because the show manages to have a level of poignancy you rarely find on TV--even on episodes of "The Twilight Zone". It's well acted and quite compelling--especially in the second half.

The show starts with the main character (Barry Morse) coming into a very cluttered antique shop in search of a present for his young wife's birthday. The owner of the place is a total misanthrope and seems to have the social skills of Attila the Hun! However, oddly, when a player piano is activated, the nasty man becomes jovial and even friendly! And, when the piano is turned off, he returns to his former nasty self! Morse buys the piano but still isn't sure about its powers.

Later, at home, the piano is once again activated by Morse and suddenly his very dower-looking servant begins laughing and telling his deep feelings about working for him. Now Morse realizes--the piano has the power to bring out the hidden soul of the person for whom the piano is played. As a result, Morse, himself a cruel and awful man, decides to have fun with this truth-revealing instrument.

At the party, Morse delights in watching people expose their deepest secrets in front of others. When a very obese lady has the piano played for her, she begins dancing and talks about her fantasy life. At first, the guests all laugh but soon it becomes too painful and no one is enjoying this...except for Morse--who is a bit of a monster.

What happens next when his wife (Joan Hackett) is sick of this makes the show especially worth seeing--with a terrific monologue by Morse himself. Fascinating and hard to watch...but well worth it. A rather seldom-seen gem.

Tune Of Truth

[AaronCapenBanner · 8/10 · 28 October 2014]

Barry Morse stars as pompous Theater critic Fitzgerald Fortune, who is looking for a present for his young wife Esther(played by Joan Hackett) and chances upon an old player piano in a curio shop. Fitzgerald discovers to his delight that the piano seems to be haunted, and whenever it plays its sheet music forces someone nearby to tell the truth about themselves, which he plans to use on his wife and unsuspecting dinner guests, but doesn't count on the tables being turned... Though similar in theme to earlier 'The Whole Truth', this episode is stronger due to a fine performance by Barry Morse playing a most unlikable man who gets his much earned comeuppance.

The truth will out.

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 8/10 · 2 March 2022]

Yet another episode with a very intriguing and thought-provoking concept at its core, this one is about a very mean-spirited man who takes pleasure in verbally bullying and belittling other people including his own much younger wife, and how after he purchases a strangely designed old player piano from the world's rudest shopkeeper, he is soon thrilled to lean that his present to his wife is no ordinary musical instrument, but is in fact blessed/cursed with the ability to make anyone speak and reveal who they really are at heart and to say the secret truths that they never normally would, and he delights in humiliating some of the guests at the birthday party he arranges for his trophy wife, until he takes his cruel games too far and the harsh light of truth is turned upon him... This isn't a haunting, scary or particularly mind-blowing episode, but to me it's quite powerful and rich in the topic that it does explore and the tales like this were just as great in their own way. It basically deals with human emotions, but with a slight mystical extra kick! Barry Morse and his devilish acid-tongued performance really drives the story and it's his character who stands out the most. You can see where the plot is heading almost right away and it doesn't disappoint as the villainous Fitzgerald is revealed to be nothing more than a cowardly scarred child on the inside with no love in his heart, and who only treats people with scorn and ridicule for the attention it gives him, for being alone is what he really fears the most. He sounds so pitiful with the silly "I'll be naughty" line that you almost feel sorry for him as he's left broken and even his butler tells him he's not funny anymore. The most striking moment is undoubtedly the beautiful touching scene when the normally self-deprecating Marge reveals the delicate nature and sweet soul who yearns for true love that she is at heart, it's an extraordinarily deeply moving and magical little sequence, she speaks the words with such passion, and Marge has such a big heart that she doesn't laugh at Fitzgerald at the end even after the horrible joke he played on her, but instead suggests they all leave without taunting him. I love every scene with the piano playing, they're all very intensely engaging, and the episode really lights up during them and they make it stand out. It makes you wonder what you might say if you were under the piano's spell, and if what you revealed about yourself would be more than you could bare. I personally believe that some things are best left hidden, while the truth is generally a good thing, if everyone went around saying exactly what they thought about everyone else all the time you'd probably have a lot more anger, not to mention nobody would be able to look anyone in the eye! So to me this is a great, solid and very emotionally involving offering that is very much worth seeing anytime and is very satisfying, if nothing else it's an honest one! I love this episode to me it's one of the real gems x.

There's music in the mind, and it's not always pretty.

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 3 September 2019]

The pretentious Barry Morse combines the cynicism and misanthropic personas of famed classic movie columnists Waldo Lydecker ("Laura") and Addison DeWitt ("All About Eve") and especially "The Man Who Came to Dinner's" Sheridan Whiteside, all megalomaniac characters who were at least charming as part of a facade. There's little to find charm in Morse's arrogant theater critic, verbally abusive to everybody around him under a slight layer of class. But once he begins to speak (revealing his disgust towards mankind), he becomes crass, and the way he talks to butler Cyril Delavanti and wife Joan Hackett makes you hate him immediately, even though he's presenting his much younger spouse with a player piano.

It's all part of a birthday party for Hackett where the guests are hypnotized into making fools out of themselves once the piano player starts rolling. The cruelest victim of his prank is the heavyset Muriel Landers who all of a sudden becomes a little girl in her own mind, dancing in front of the dozen or so guests, and not realizing the motivation for Morse's prank. But things soon turn on Morse that Landers helps point out and why Morse has become the way he is.

This is psychological drama at its finest with its ultra dramatic leading character basically having a similar breakdown that Joseph Wiseman did in "One More Pallbearer", doomed to be left alone as soon as he is exposed for who he really is. Morse gets to chew the scenery a bit, revealing his jealousy over a playwright acquaintance whose plays he has panned ("Critics critique because they can't write themselves"), and it is obvious that the piano he buys has a harsh effect on those whose minds are not strong enough to block it from revealing the inner secrets of their souls. The music of the piano rolls may be beautiful indeed, but the music of the human souls it brings out in the weak listening to it really is closer to a death march.

Sing us YOUR song, Mr. Piano Man!

[Coventry · 8/10 · 17 September 2020]

My biggest complaint regarding the "Twilight Zone" episodes that I personally dislike (or - better said - like less, because I cannot truly dislike any TZ episode) is that they often don't feature a genuine villain and/or a true force of evil. That's what I love about thrillers/Sci-Fi stories; - a real bad person that you love to hate. Well, the protagonist in "A Piano in the House" - gloriously and colorfully named Fitzgerald Fortune - is exactly the type of mean jerk I'm talking about! Like Joseph Wiseman's character a couple of episodes ago in "One More Pallbearer" (who was slightly better, even), Fortune isn't necessary a criminal, but a rotten human being. He's obnoxious, arrogant, selfish, filthy rich and cowardly. He emotionally tortures his wife and people who are less eloquent than him, which is basically everyone. Evidently, they suffer the most when justice comes peaking around the corner in ... "The Twilight Zone".

F. Fortune, delightfully depicted by Barry Morse, stumbles upon a self-playing piano with a strange and supernatural power. In the first place, he buys the piano because his much younger wife showed an interested in learning to play, so Mr. Fortune buys a self-playing one for her birthday to show her that she will never be able to produce such lovely tunes herself. That's the type of husband and person Fitzgerald Fortune is. Depending on the pre-programmed tune, however, the instrument is somehow able to reveal the true feelings and emotions of certain people in the audience. Fortune promptly sees this as a devilishly fun toy to embarrass and expose his wife and the people at her birthday party that he cannot stand, but ignores the fact that his own deepest (and most secretive) emotions might come to the surface as well.

"A Piano in the House" is another great installment in the overall terrific third season of "The Twilight Zone". This one thrives on the stupendous performance by Morse, but also by the supportive cast (including Joan Hackett and Cyril Delevanti), as well as on the genius dialogues and the thoroughly uncomfortable atmosphere. Another must-see "Twilight Zone" classic.

One of the better episodes.

[fedor8 · 2 April 2022]

It's unclear why every trophy wife in these kinds of stories is a nice person (just check out that absurd/naive "classic" called "The Apartment") - when in real life such women marry for money hence aren't equipped with the best of morals. Though, in the writer's defense, it is mentioned that she supposedly married for his intelligence.

The dialog is so much better than in a typical Serling episode. Because generally speaking Hamner wrote much better speaking parts than Serling.

There is no explanation how the critic knows which tune belongs to whom, nor how his wife knows which tune to pick when she sabotages him.

Also unclear is WHEN the guests realize that the piano is magical, and it's strange that none of them express awe due to this realization nor that any of them say out loud that it's magical. The plot moves too quickly, in that sense.

Two-headed monster.

[bombersflyup · 5/10 · 17 October 2019]

A Piano in the House is an engaging episode, though rather juvenile and hateful. I would say these character's second faces and people's in general, aren't really hidden at all, just ignored or put aside for everyone's benefit.

The Arrogant Theater Critic and A Piano

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 25 July 2023]

The arrogant theater critic Fitzgerald Fortune goes to a thrift store to buy a second-hand player piano for his wife. He tells to the owner that it is the birthday party of his young wife Esther and she is mediocre in music. When Fitzgerald arrives home, his butler Marvin has received the delivery of the piano. Fitzgerald shows the piano to Esther and Marvin and soon he learns that the music in the player piano forces the listener to tell the real feelings. Fitzgerald decides to play a prank on the guests for fun, but his plan backfires.

"A Piano in the House" is another great episode of "The Twilight Zone". The cruel and sadistic theater critic decides to humiliate his guests for his own pleasure, but in the end, everybody learns his character and personality, and how insecure and coward he is. In the end, he loses his wife and friends. A great lesson in the twilight zone. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Um Piano em Casa" ("A Piano in the House")

Fitzgerald faces the music.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 2 April 2022]

I find A Piano In The House to be one of the more bizarre episodes of The Twilight Zone. Arrogant, acerbic theatre critic Fitzgerald Fortune (Barry Morse) is a mean man, treating others with disdain, even his pretty, much younger wife Esther (Joan Hackett). For her 26th birthday, Fitzgerald buys Esther a self-playing piano (because he doesn't believe that she would ever be able to learn to play a regular piano). This instrument, hailing from The Twilight Zone, has the power to make people reveal their true feelings, which Fitzgerald uses to belittle his family and friends, but he has the tables turned on him when Esther loads a particular piece of music into the player.

The concept for this one is way out, even for The Twilight Zone, and some of the performances are unusual to say the least, from the misanthropic shopkeeper who sells the piano, to miserable butler Marvin's outburst of hilarity, to large Marge (Muriel Landers) prancing around like ballerina and imagining herself to be a snowflake. It ends with Morse's character whimpering like a little boy about how people frighten him. I'm not entirely sure what the intent of the story is, but it definitely makes a change from moralistic anti-war episodes.