Tales of Tomorrow

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.

I picked up a dollar DVD of TALES FROM TOMORROW especially for the Lon Chaney "Frankenstein" episode (yeah, everyone knows he was drunk and thought it was a rehearsal --- he was pretty good nonetheless). I must have a different DVD from the previous posters because everyone else mentions "The Crystal Egg" and "Appointment on Mars" but no one has said anything about "The Dune Roller" which, to my mind, is the best episode of the four. Of all three it suffers most from its low budget. When your title menace is a huge, terrifying "creature" at some point the audience expects to see it, even if it turns out to be only a crude puppet. In this case the menace remains off screen at all times but the story is still very effective, thanks to good writing (reminiscent of 50s British Sci-Fi like X THE UNKNOWN and THE CRAWLING EYE) and a very strong central performance by Bruce Cabot, who up until now I'd never thought of as a particularly impressive actor. "The Dune Roller" would make a good feature film, or would have when modestly budgeted science fiction thrillers were still a commercially acceptable genre.

Television of the early 1950's had lots of science fiction programmes. You had your choice of "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger", "Flash Gordon", "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" and the series I am here tonight to talk about.

"Tales of Tomorrow" was for the most part a well done and effective series which offered plots which never . . . well okay, seldom . . . strayed into outlandishness. Monsters were rarely seen but their presence was always felt. In the "Dune Rollers" episode for example we learn that mysterious rocks found only on a spot called Lightning Island have the power to merge and grow into giant rocks which can move on their own and radiate enough heat to burn a victim to a crisp. (If that sounds familiar and you have never seen the episode you are probably thinking about s similarly theme feature from the 1980's called THE CREMATORS.)

The "Blunder" episode will have you on the edge of your seat but you might as well relax. Scientist Robert Allen risks an experiment which might deplete the Earth's entire oxygen supply. Of course he is certain that this will not happen but his fellow scientists are not at all sure. Can they reach him in time to stop him? The ending will leave you asking "WHAT just happened?"

"The Crystal Egg" will always be a favourite of mine. Oscar winner Thomas Mitchell is a university professor who is asked to examine what appears to be a harmless curio. Ah, but when he looks into it he sees the surface of Mars. And one time, a moment which will make you jump, he sees something looking back at him!

"Test Flight" starring Lee J. Cobb is another good one. Lee is a wealthy businessman who decides to build his own rocket to fly to the Moon. A mysterious engineer offers him a fool proof plan to build a rocket and Lee nearly bankrupts his company to build it. Does it work? Yes, and Lee and the engineer are the test pilots . . . but is Lee ever in for a surprise after take-off.

Everyone has already written about the "Frankenstein" episode so there is little that I can add. So much has been said about this episode that watching it today is a little disappointing because many of you will be expecting more. The one live broadcast may have contained more "juicy bits" but these were edited (if they ever even existed to begin with) for subsequent re-broadcasts. Lon Chaney gives a really great performance, way different from his portrayal of The Monster in GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942) and this interpretation is wholly original.

"What You Need" was a very satisfying episode also. I was glad William Redfield's ruthless, amoral character got what he deserved but I wish Edgar Stehli had made a different decision at the end. You will see what I mean.

Okay so very often the backdrops are obviously painted. In fact in the "Appointment on Mars" episode the camera follows Leslie Neilsen as he climbs a rock and you can see the studio lights about where the backdrop ends! Characters blow lines and miss cues, even during the commercials which were also shot live. This only adds to the charm of these episodes and recalls the age of Live Television; an era which is sadly gone forever. Thank goodness for collections like this so people like me who missed that era can see what it was like.

The episode titled "A Child is Crying" provides a striking example of what can be achieved by good writing. "A Child is Crying" guest-starred Robin Morgan of "Mama" in a "Children of the Damned" style Cold War message story. There were maybe four actors in the cast and a single set. In the words of my best buddy: "It scared the Hell out of me!"

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.