Tales of Tomorrow

The classic January 18, 1952 live TV broadcast of "Frankenstein" with Lon Chaney, Jr. is finally available on DVD!

I had never even heard of this program until I was browsing in my local dollar store and happened to flip through their bin of dollar DVD's and saw a black and orange package bearing the title Tales of Tomorrow with a picture of three men in space suits staring at me.

I picked it up and immediately spotted Thomas Mitchell on the back cover photo. Any television appearance with Thomas Mitchell is worth seeing, but when I saw that the first episode was "Frankenstein," I knew I had a genuine find on my hands!

The three episodes are as follows:

Frankenstein (1-18-52) Starring John Newland and Lon Chaney, Jr. This, of course,is the prize of the lot. Chaney's performance (drunk or not) still hints at the sensitivity and greatness he was capable of. I'm left wondering what he might have done during an "actual" performance.

The Crystal Egg (2-29-52)Stars Thomas Mitchell and is based on a story by H G Wells. Mitchell sees Mars inside the titular crystal egg -which promptly goes missing and there's dirty work afoot!

Appointment on Mars (6-22-52) Leslie Nielsen (looking unusually young and virile) appears as one of a trio of space explorers in this weirdly disturbing drama which comes across as a low-rent adaptation of The Martian Chronicals.

Tales Of Tomorrow.... I have watched this whole series on Tubi TV. These are like the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits. They were 8 years before Twilight Zone. I don't think Rod Serling is the originator of this style. The only thing that made T-Zone different was the unique hosting. The stories in Tales of Tomorrow will stand up to any T-Zone episode. The episode Ice From Space.... I think theres a young, Paul Newman in it.

I was lucky enough to see this series in first run! Fortunately, the episodes are still available on videotape. (I salute those who preserved the films.) This was in many ways more experimental than "Twilight Zone" and similar programs. And here's an example: I recall the episode where the program opened with a typical and excellent Tales Of Tomorrow science-fiction storyline. Just as the audience got into the live action, the entire play and its cast and even its crew were disrupted by an actual on-stage emergency! (This, of course, was a play-within-a-play, but the "reality" of it was stunning!) Seek out taped episodes, and learn what television once, long ago, could do, and how creative it could be, and what it wasn't afraid to try.

Watching this program back in the early 50's was a real treat; to say it scared the hell out of me would be an understatement. Here we had a live show with minimal sets and special effects; yet the writing was such that every story was totally believable. This caused me more than a few sleepless nights! I'm sure Rod Sterling learned a thing or two; some of his Twilight Zone episodes are eerily similar. Later anthology programs (Science Fiction Theatre, One Step Beyond, Outer Limits, etc.) never had the same impact on me (perhaps because I was older), though the more recent 'Tales from the Darkside' seemed to stir up a little emotion. I haven't watched any of the 'Tales from Tomorrow' tapes; maybe some memories should remain 'just a memory'.

I have never heard anything about this series, therefore I cannot guarantee whether it was broadcast by the Brazilian TV in the 50's. I have just bought this DVD and enjoyed the three episodes of about 20 minutes running time each:

"Frankenstein", with Lon Chaney Jr., is the less original of the three. It is a theatrical representation of Frankenstein, a short version of the story. My vote is six.

"The Crystal Egg" ("O Ovo de Cristal"), a tale of H.G. Wells, is certainly the best episode. The ambitious owner of a shop, Mr. Cave (Edgar Stehli), has a client with a great interest in a cheap crystal egg, and he decides to consult Prof. Vaneck (Thomas Mitchell) about what might be the weird object. Prof. Vaneck finds the landscape of Mars in the egg, and becomes obsessed by his discovery. He tries to keep the crystal egg for him, and the story has a tragic end. The direction of Charles S. Dubin keeps the attention of the viewer until the last scene. My vote is seven.

"Appointment on Mars" ("Encontro em Marte") presents three explorers - Captain Robert "Robbie" (Leslie Nielsen), Bart (William Redfield) and Jack (Robert Keith Jr.) – that find uranium in Mars. They have to share their findings with the sponsor of the expedition, and the atmosphere and greed seem to affect the group. The direction of Don Medford is only reasonable, and the tragic surprising conclusion does not work well. My vote is five.

In the end, "Tales of Tomorrow" is a worthwhile entertainment as a whole, especially to satisfy the curiosity of how was the first sci-fi series on TV. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Contos da Escuridão" ("Tales From the Darkness")