Tales of Tomorrow –The Evil Within – S 2 E 37

Tales of Tomorrow –The Evil Within – S 2 E 37

Review by Bill Russo

Here's another pretty good entry in the 1953 season of the under-rated series, Tales of Tomorrow. With painted sets, primitive mikes and cameras the size of a VW Bug, along with the constraints of live TV, the producers did a pretty good job, all things considered.

Rod Steiger, James Dean, and Margaret Phillips star in this episode where a bizarre plot has Steiger playing a scientist who develops a chemical that releases the beast within – but since it needs to be refrigerated he takes it home and puts it in a pie! (Why the lab did not have a fridge is not known! - and why he put it in a pie is also not known.)

What is known is that while Rod was away, his wife devoured a piece of the pie and afterwards she was ready to devour poor old Rod, who seemed to be phoning in his performance for the first half of the show. But he managed to get going pretty good after the wife picked up a huge knife and held it shoulder high in classic horror film, attack-mode.

James Dean, has a small role as a bespectacled lab assistant and his work is excellent. In his scene with Steiger he sells his role perfectly, while the veteran actor seems wooden. From Dean's tousled hair, the way he moved on the set, and a bit of business with the eyeglasses, J D made the most of the tiny part.

It was one of about 30 tv productions in which he appeared during a busy 1953. It was two years ahead of somebody dropping a needle down on a 45 r.p.m. Record, called Rock Around the Clock, which introduced Rebel Without a Cause, which made James Dean the hottest actor in the world!

Margaret Phillips plays the wife with a certain flair that befits her real occupation, which was star of the legitimate stage where she gave an award winning performance in 1947's Broadway smash, “Another Part of the forest.” Her lively acting, and the broad smirk on her face is like a symphony orchestra to Steiger's ukulele!

-0-