Tales of Tomorrow: Frankenstein

"Medical science laughs at the idea of man being a creator... but I've created you. I've made you stronger than ten men. You're indestructable. And now I shall give you life."

- Victor Frankenstein

"Frankenstein" is the sixteenth episode of season one of Tales of Tomorrow and was directed by Don Medford. It first aired on January 18th, 1952 on ABC. The episode adapts the 1818 novel  Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. The episode stars Lon Chaney, Jr. in the role of Frankenstein's monster and John Newland in the role of Victor Frankenstein. In the episode, scientist Victor Frankenstein creates an artificial human being that comes to life and goes on a rampage throughout his castle laboratory.

Synopsis
Victor Frankenstein holds a dinner party at his castle laboratory in the middle of a lake. In attendance are his lover Elizabeth as well as her father - Victor's old mentor, and his young cousin William. During the meal, the three adults joke about the notion of creating the perfect human being. Victor is enticed by the possibility of such a feat, but gives no evidence of his own research into the creation of life. Elizabeth cannot understand why he chose this castle as the setting for his experiments and Victor tells her that it is ideal due to its isolation and its picturesque quality. Elizabeth presses him about his work, but Victor is careful not to reveal the true nature of his experiments. Her father defends Frankenstein's integrity, saying how he knows when the to draw the line behind what can be done and what is impossible. As they talk, William begins playing with a recorder that belongs to Victor. The tape plays a track of continuous laughter and Victor says that he uses it in his experiments.

After dinner concludes, Victor tells Elizabeth and her father that he will have his butler Matthew row them to the shore. Saying good-bye, he returns to his laboratory to complete his work. Victor Frankenstein has indeed succeeded in creating life. Upon an operating table rests a hideously scarred man of his own creation. Victor activates a series of machines and the crackling sound of electricity revives the creature. The monster stands up and begins howling in pain and confusion. Victor tries to steady him, but the creature is distraught and violently tries to find a way out of the room. Victor manages to calm him down and straps him down to the table. He locks him inside the lab, but after he leaves, the monster breaks his straps, pulls down the door and begins wandering throughout the castle.

In the dining hall, Matthew assists the maid Elise in cleaning up the room. The two flirt with one another and it becomes clear that Matthew shares a romantic interest in his fellow servant. The maid sees the monster wandering into the room and begins screaming. The monster doesn't understand anything that is going on, but Matthew picks up a chair in the hopes of using it to defend himself and the maid. The monster pushes them both backward onto the floor then lumbers out of the room. The monster then goes into the playroom where he finds young William pretending to be a soldier. The monster attempts to play with the child by setting him onto a hobby horse, but William is frightened of the creature and yells that he is "mean and ugly". As the monster is taken aback, he catches a reflection of himself in the mirror and realizes for the first time how hideous he truly is. Thrown into a rage, the monster grabs William and violently shakes him before tossing him onto the floor and exiting the room. Victor and Matthew hear the child's screams and rush into the room, but the monster is already gone. Tearfully, the child says, "He's ugly...". Victor now realizes that his creation has escaped.

The monster continues stalking the halls of the castle until he comes upon the maid again. This time however, Matthew is not there to protect her. The monster lunges at her and strangles her to death. Victor and Matthew come upon her body moments later. Guilt washes over Victor Frankenstein and he regrets ever creating the monster. Matthew and he go to his laboratory where Victor begins loading bullets into a rifle. The monster bursts through the door and attacks Matthew, but Victor makes a crude torch and uses it to force the beast into dropping his butler. The monster swings his arms towards Frankenstein giving Matthew enough time to pick up a handgun and shoot it. He fires several shots into the creature, pushing him back through the stained glass window where he tumbles two-hundred feet into the lake below. Victor is convinced that his creation has now been destroyed.

A short time later, Elizabeth and her father return to the castle. She begs Victor to tell her about his experiments, but Victor promises her that he is through with any of the experiments he had been conducting. He confesses to discovering the secrets of life and using his work in the creation of a monster. Elizabeth's father however, feels that Victor should continue his work. As they converse, Matthew enters the room in a panic. He tells Victor that the monster survived and is back inside the house. Somehow, it must have caught onto a ledge and climbed back in through a window.

Victor determines that since electricity brought the creature to life, then the same method must be used to destroy him. Reluctantly, he asks Elizabeth and William to act as bait to lure the monster into his laboratory. The two begin walking the halls of the castle singing until the sounds of their voices captures the monster's attention. The monster chases them into the lab where Victor has two large power cables stretched across the doorway. He falls into them and the massive electrical jolt proves to be enough to kill the creature.

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode was filmed in Kinescope, a process by which a television program is made by filming the picture from a video monitor.


 * By observing the clothing style of the characters, the setting for this episode appears to take place in the present.


 * Lon Chaney, Jr. is credited as Lon Chaney in this episode. This was the name that Chaney used throughout most of his later film works.


 * At no point is it stated that the Monster was made from body parts of the dead.


 * While rushing to light his makeshift torch, Victor Frankenstein actually takes the time to brush the hair out of his face even though his servant is being strangled right before his eyes.


 * Lon Chaney, Jr. is no stranger to playing the infamous Frankenstein Monster. Chaney played the role of the monster in the 1942 Universal Pictures film Ghost of Frankenstein.