CTVA US Anthology - "Tales Of Tomorrow" (ABC) Season 2 (1952-53)

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 Season 2 (ABC) (1952-53)
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by:  John Hallam, Rina Fox, Sal Crisanti
references:
TV Guide / Library of Congress (telnet://locis.loc.gov)
Internet Movie Database (https://us.imdb.com)
UCLA Film and Television Archive


############# Tales of Tomorrow ##############
############# season 2 1952-53 ###############
############## (final season) ################
ABC Fridays 9:30-10:00pm Eastern
 
2.01 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: SUBSTANCE 'X'

03-Oct-1952 ABC Fri

written by Frank DeFelitta

starring

Vicki Cummings as Selena

James Maloney as Carmichael

Will Kuluva as Samuel

Charlotte Knight as Paula

Barry Nathan

Synopsis:
A young woman goes to her hometown at the behest of a food conglomerate. Her assignment is to discover what the people of
the community are using for food after their only food outlet closes. She discovers a scientist who has developed a food
substitute called 'Substance X'. Anyone who diets on Substance X is unable to eat normal food from that time on.
 

2.02 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE HORN

10-Oct-1952 ABC Fri

written by Alan Nelson

starring

Franchot Tone

Stephen Elliot

Barbara Joyce

Joe Latham

Synopsis:

The story of a brilliant scientist who invents a super sonic machine  that has power to dictate human emotions.

 

2.03 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: DOUBLE TROUBLE

17-Oct-1952 ABC Fri

written by Armand Aulicino

story by Paul Tripp

starring

Ruth Enders

Paul Tripp

Ferdi Hoffman

Raymond Bailey

Harrison Dowd

Frank Marth

Joseph Abdullah

Synopsis:

A drama about a man who writes about a death ray machine, and later finds

that the government has just such a thing and is trying to keep it a secret.

 

2.04 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: MANY HAPPY RETURNS

(aka Invaders at Ground Zero)

24-Oct-1952 ABC Fri

adapted by David Karp

written by Frederick Pohl

story by Raymond Z. Gallum

directed by Don Medford

starring

Gene Raymond as Andy

Flora Campbell as Jane

Clifford Sales as Jack

Edwin Cooper as Dr. Barnes

Richard Trask as Peter

Synopsis:
Jack and his father Andy are working on projects in the basement like any normal American father and son. When Andy notices
his son is working on a peculiar electrical device and reaches over to turn a switch Jack shouts at him not to touch it.
Jack has been instructed by a mysterious "Mr. White" on how to construct this device. When Jack shows his dad a picture of
"Mr. White" sent from the Moon, Andy is horrified by the awful appearance of the creature and even more alarmed when he
realizes his son is being controlled by "Mr. White" through some sort of mental telepathy. When Andy questions his son more
he is horrified to discover his son has suddenly lost his voice. Andy discovers that not only his son, but other vulnerable
children in the neighborhood are being controlled by "Mr. White" and decides to send Mr. White an explosive package to break
the mind control he exerts over the children.
 

2.05 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: TOMB OF KING TAURUS

31-Oct-1952 ABC Fri

written by Mann Rubin

starring

Walter Abel

Synopsis:

An archeologist discovers an ancient king who has stayed alive for  forty centuries in a tomb deep in the Egyptian desert. [RF]

 

2.06 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE WINDOW (live)

(aka Lost Planet)

07-Nov-1952 ABC Fri

written by Frank DeFelitta

directed by Don Medford

starring

Rod Steiger as Henry

Frank Maxwell as Al

Virginia Vincent as Jean

William Coburn as Father

Merle Albertson as Daughter

Muffet Peter as Secretary

Jim Walsh as Floor Manager

Robert F. Levine as Agency Executive

Don Medford as Director

Mort Abrahams as Producer

Merle Worster as Chief Engineer

Roger DeKovan as Announcer

Synopsis:

A mysterious signal interrupts a television show in production and we witness a murder about to take place. [RF]

 

2.07 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE CAMERA

14-Nov-1952 ABC Fri

written by Mann Rubin

starring

Donald Buka

Olive Deering

Synopsis:

A man uses photography for blackmail and finds a camera that will take  pictures 25 years into the future. [RF]

 

2.08 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: QUIET LADY

21-Nov-1952 ABC Fri

written by Irwin Lewis & Armand Aulicino

story by Phyllis Sterling

starring

John Conte

Gaye Huston

Glen Walker

Una O'Connor

Martin Agronsky

Synopsis:

A deadly disease covers the earth and a little girl tries to do what doctors and scientist have failed in doing. [RF]

 

2.09 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE INVIGORATING AIR

28-Nov-1952 ABC Fri

starring

Joseph Buloff

Anne Seymour

Synopsis:

A young man, interest in science, produces a new kind of air which proves to be more than he bargained for.
A wife feels that her husband is a bungler even after he creates a miraculous "air".
 

2.10 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE GLACIER GIANT

05-Dec-1952 ABC Fri

starring

Edith Fellows

Chester Morris

Synopsis:

A reporter and a girl search for a giant encased in the ice in the Himalayan Mountains

 

2.11 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE FATAL FLOWER

12-Dec-1952 ABC Fri

written by Frank DeFelitta

starring

Victor Jory

Don Hamner

Jose Merced

Lovey Powell

Lee Firestone

May Lee Deering

Synopsis:

Two biochemists work in the lonely Brazilian jungle and develop a mysterious plant.

 

2.12 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE MACHINE

(aka Keep Out)

19-Dec-1952 ABC Fri

starring

Georgann Johnson

Gene Lockhart

Synopsis:

A doctor with a machine that foretells that one of his infant patients will grow up to be a murderer.

 

2.13 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE BITTER STORM

26-Dec-1952 ABC Fri

written by Armand Aulicino

starring

Arnold Moss

Joanne Woodward

Philip Pine

Ethel Remey

Warren Parker

Synopsis:

A man is able to bring back voices and sounds from the Garden of Eden.

 

2.14 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE MASK OF MEDUSA

02-Jan-1953 ABC Fri

starring

Raymond Burr

Steven Geray

Synopsis:

A murderer taking refuge in a museum laughs too soon at the curator's explanation of the 'life-like' quality of some statues.

 

2.15 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: CONQUERER'S ISLE

09-Jan-1953 ABC Fri

written by Nelson S. Bond

starring

Ray Montgomery

 

2.16 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: DISCOVERED HEART

16-Jan-1953 ABC Fri

written by David Durston

starring

Susan Hallaran as Josie

Jim Boles as Stranger

Alfreda Wallace as Rose

Frank Milan as Frank

Robert Patten as Phil

William Lee as Captain Hayes

Synopsis:
A scout for a hostile invasion force from out space comes to a lighthouse hoping to use the lighthouse as a signaling station.
A precocious little girl win's the alien's heart and moves the extraterrestrial to surrender his life to prevent invasion.

 

2.17 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

23-Jan-1953 ABC Fri

story by Oscar Wilde

starring

John Newland as Dorian Gray
Synopsis:

Dorian Gray sells his soul to the devil so that he may have immortality thru his portrait. [RF]

2.18 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: TWO FACED

30-Jan-1953 ABC Fri

written by David Durston

directed by Don Medford

starring

Richard Kiley as Paul Amanston and Julio Venichio

Reba Tassell as Lucia

Mario Badolati as Dr. Marciano

Zolya Talma as Mrs. Rossana

Synopsis:
At her wedding reception, Lucia, reveals to her mother that she could never love her new husband, Paul, because she will
always love Julio. Her evil mother quickly points out that Paul has money so she should be happy. When Paul discovers the
truth about his new wife's feelings and learns that Julio has committed suicide, he takes a drastic step. He is convinced by
his friend, Dr. Mario Marciano, who has claimed Julio's body, that he can have Julio's head transplanted to his body. Out
of desperation to win the love of the woman he loves, Paul agrees to the operation. [SC]
 

2.19 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE BUILD BOX

06-Feb-1953 ABC Fri

written by Armand Aulicino

starring

Glenda Farrell

Joey Fallon

Vaughn Taylor

Jack Davis

William Lee

Synopsis:

The owner of a gift shop gives a little boy a strange box which plays an important part in spoiling the plans of the boy's foster parents.

 

2.20 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: ANOTHER CHANCE

13-Feb-1953 ABC Fri

written by Frank DeFelitta

directed by Don Medford

starring

Leslie Nielsen as Harold 'Harry' Mason

Virginia Vincent as Carlotta & Regina

Robert Middleton as Dr. John Borrow

Synopsis:
A dark and rather harrowing story about a man named Harold who is about at the end of his rope. When his wife sees the
headlines in the paper and realizes her husband has heisted a brooch, she tells him "look at you...a real nothing...
Listen to me Harry Mason, I have wasted six years of my life with you." At his wits end, Harold answers a newspaper ad
"I'm sure I can help you", and a mysterious man tells him "You have another chance and I am going to give it to you."
Through a fantastic invention, he transports Harold to another room a thousand miles away and seven years back in time
 so he can start over. The problem is, Harold makes the same mistakes again, and now, back in the present, can only go
into the future, which has a murder rap waiting for him. [SC]
 

2.21 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE GREAT SILENCE

20-Feb-1953 ABC Fri

written by Frank DeFelitta

directed by Don Medford

starring

Burgess Meredith

Lilia Skala as Pantomime

Paul Ford

Charles McClelland

William Kemp

Glenn Styres

Synopsis:
When the Government announces that a spreading paralysis of the vocal cords, which started in far Northwest county of
Kenasha and is spreading rapidly, is no cause for alarm, a high degree of skepticism is in order. It is not very reassuring
to hear that the situation is caused by Hydrogenic mists from the fall-out of recent H-Bomb tests and that the loss of
everyones voice is only a temporary situation which "will pass in a few days". In a cabin at the location where the
phenomenon first occured an illiterate mountain man, trying to communicate with his wife, discovers the terrible truth.
An alien spaceship has landed and is trying to control the people of the United States.

 

2.22 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE LONESOME VILLAGE

27-Feb-1953 ABC Fri

written by Barden & Blackner

starring

Raymond Bailey

Heywood Hale Brown

Stephen Elliott

Buzz Martin

Natalie Priest

Constance Clausen

 

2.23 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE FURY OF THE COCOON

06-Mar-1953 ABC Fri

written by Frank DeFelitta

directed by Don Medford

starring

Peter Capell as Brenegan

Nancy Coleman as Susan

Cameron Prud'Homme as Borden

Fernande Gude

Synopsis 1:
An expedition into the tropics is plagued by dissent, desertion, and an invisible blood sucking leech that has arrived
from outer space. The remaining members of the expedition use an insecticide to escape.
Synopsis 2:
After arriving at the camp where a scientific expedition has been inspecting a meteorite site crash in the deep jungle,
a relief expedition headed by Brenegan discovers a giant empty cocoon. They then discover that all the scientists, except
his dazed colleague, Susan, have been killed in a horrible manner. Brenegan reason's that some giant leech of an animal
has drained them of every drop of blood. After reading the diary entry of one of the scientists they learn that hundreds
of giant invisible insects have taken over the camp and they see with their own eyes the plaster cast the scientists were
 able to make of one of the captured insects.

 

2.24 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: SQUEEZE PLAY

13-Mar-1953 ABC Fri

written by Mann Rubin

starring

John McQuade

Joseph Wiseman

Elizabeth York

Murvyn C. Vye

Robert Patten

Charlotte Knight

Synopsis:

A jealous magician hypnotizes all the people with whom a reporter comes in contact so that they no longer know him.

 

2.25 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: READ TO ME, HERR DOKTOR (live)

20-Mar-1953 ABC Fri

written by Alvin Sapinsley

directed by Don Medford

starring

Mercedes McCambridge as Patricia

Everett Sloane as Professor Kinworth

William Kemp as Sidney

Ernest Graves as the Voice

Paul Lukas

Synopsis 1:
An old professor with failing eyesight builds a robot named Herr Doktor to read him books that he had never had a chance
to read when he was younger. The relationship between the professor and the robot is very close. The books the robot makes
give him the desire to be a complete person. Their roles become reversed. The robot begins to demand that the professor
read aloud to him. Later, the robot then falls in love with the professor's daughter. When she spurns it. It learns that
the books it has been reading were wrong and it des of a broken heart.
Synopsis 2:
A retired and aging Professor lives with his daughter, Patricia and occupies himself by having a robot he created read the
classics to him. Patricia becomes concerned when she observes, as she describes it to Sidney, a gentlemen caller, "He talks
to it now, they have literary discussions." "They..?" responds Sidney. Soon the Robot takes control of the household and
forces the Professor to read to and educate the Robot. When the Robot goes after the Professor's daughter, telling Patricia
that he has fallen in love with her, just like the romances in the books he has read, she fights back saying "The books are
wrong!", which breaks his heart.
 

2.26 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: GHOST WRITER

27-Mar-1953 ABC Fri

written by Mann Rubin

directed by Don Medford

starring

Leslie Nielsen as Bert

Gaby Rodgers as Joan

Murray Matheson as Lee Morton

Harry Mehaffey as Lou

Synopsis:
A struggling writer needs money to pay the bills, but promises his wife to finish his novel while she works hard to support
them. Against her wishes, he answers an ad to work as a collaborator for a successful but mysterious writer, Lee Morton,
who wants him to finish several stories he has started but is unable to finish. When he is offered $500 for each finished
story, the money seems too good to be true and he agrees to the bargain. When the ending he has written that night for a
love triangle murder appears on the front page of the next morning's newspaper and 40 people die that afternoon in a hotel
fire, which is the exact outcome he has written for another story, he realizes something has gone horribly wrong. Agreeing
to his wife's plea to return the money, he is foolishly persuaded to finish one more story for $1,000. To his horror he
realizes that this time he has written the ending of his wife's life. With a devilish smirk the camera closes in on Lee
Morton who states, "if you want anything badly enough you pay the price."

 

2.27 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: PAST TENSE (live)

03-Apr-1953 ABC Fri

written by Jack Weinstock & Willie Gilbert

based on an idea by Robert F. Levine

directed by Don Medford

starring

Boris Karloff as Dr. Henry Marco

Robert F. Simon as Giles

Katherine Meskill as Jan

John McGovern as Laskey

Allen Nourse as Bonzy

Synopsis:
Physician Dr. Marco has invented a time machine and hopes to get rich by going back in the past to bring the benefits of
Penicillin to the medical world of 1923. However, he hasn't counted on the sceptical minds of the establishment. When they
ignore his pleas to use the drug to save lives, he becomes so distraught they question his sanity. He later dies in a
State Mental Institution of the past in which he is placed because of his "insane" suggestion that a drug can be made from
moldy bread that will save lives. Ironically, he dies of Pneumonia, a disease from which Penicillin could have saved him if
he were back in the modern world.

.

2.28 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: HOMECOMING

10-Apr-1953 ABC Fri

written by Mann Rubin

starring

Edith Fellows

Brian Keith

Doro Merande

Harry Shepard

Johnny Olsen

Al Checo

Synopsis:

Arriving home after being stranded in the arctic for five years, an Air Force pilot

finds that he can live only in sub-zero temperatures.

 

2.29 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE RIVAL

17-Apr-1953 ABC Fri

written by Peggy Speed

starring

Anthony Ross

Mary Sinclair

Synopsis:

An elderly man brings home his new wife who finds her rival to be a cat. [RF]

 

2.30 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: PLEASE OMIT FLOWERS

(aka Please Send Flowers)

24-Apr-1953 ABC Fri

starring

Ann Burr

Frank Albertson

Synopsis:

A greedy mortician discovers a serum that induces a sleep closely resembling death. [RF]

 

2.31 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE EVIL WITHIN (live)

01-May-1953 ABC Fri

written by Manya Starr

directed by Don Medford

produced by Mort Abrahams

George F. Foley Production

starring

James Dean as Ralph

Margaret Phillips as Anne Crane

Rod Steiger as Peter Crane

Synopsis 1:
Inventing a solution that unlocks evil, his wife unknowingly eats some and changes into a different woman with evil
thoughts. At the last moment he finds out and diverts his own murder by his wife.
Synopsis 2:
Too busy with his career as a scientist creating an important serum, Peter doesn't pay much attention to his wife Anne.
When she mistakenly ingests the serum which he has created to bring out the evil within a person, she goes through a
dramatic change. Now confronted with her evil side, Peter must make amends for his past behavior. 

 

2.32 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE VAULT

08-May-1953 ABC Fri

starring

Dorothy Peterson

Cameron Prud'Homme

Helen Auerbach

Liam Sullivan

Synopsis:

"Deep in the Earth's core, four bewildered people ask themselves are they the last remaining humans on earth or the
first of a great new world." Four people are trapped in a vault while making scientific tests.

 

2.33 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: INK

15-May-1953 ABC Fri

starring

Joseph Anthony

Mildred Natwick

Katherine Balfour

Synopsis:

An embittered elder sister plans revenge when her brother announces his plans to marry and establish a home of his own.
A chemist comes into possession of a recipe  for an ink which has the power to hypnotize all who look upon anything
written with it.

 

2.34 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: THE SPIDER'S WEB

22-May-1953 ABC Fri

written by Frank DeFelitta

directed by Don Medford

starring

Nancy Coleman as Jean Crawford

Henry Jones as Irwin Crawford

Don Hamner as Matt Radigan

Synopsis:

"What strange affect does radiation have upon Earth's creatures." Creatures who inhabit an island are affected by radiation.

 

2.35 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: LAZARUS WALKS

29-May-1953 ABC Fri

written by James P. Cavanaugh

story by Peggy Speed

starring

Olive Deering

William Prince

Joseph Wiseman

Synopsis:

"A man who died for an hour than lived again." A man who is revived after being dead

for a short time is found to have the facility for detecting lies.

 

2.36 [--] Tales of Tomorrow: WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

12-Jun-1953 ABC Fri

starring

Arnold Moss

Sally Gracie

Ernest Graves

Synopsis:

A woman is warned by telepathy that she is about to be murdered.

############# Tales of Tomorrow ##############
################### the end ##################
##############################################

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