Today we have an excellent episode from this early fifties TV series... In the story, an Alien on the Moon persuades a boy an Earth to build a gadget, which accidentally electrocutes his father, who does not believe the machine can work with no visible power-source. The Alien telepathically communicates instructions to the avid boy, who's reluctant to be candid with his family, referring to the creature merely as Mr. White. It stars Gene Raymond as dad, Flora Campbell as mom, Clifford Sales as Jack, the boy, Edwin Cooper as Dr. Barnes and Richard Trask as Peter, Jack's friend.
It all starts with pops and his son Jack at their work area in the basement. Jack's working on a project and dad's curious about what it is...
So, Jack only tells him that he's been instructed by Mr. White and that it will work with no power source. Dad tells him that it will absolutely
not work without a power source.
Dr. Barnes drops in to remind dad that they're watching the Moon at his place tonight, and, to bring his telescope and lenses...
Dad goes into the basement to get his lenses, when, his curiosity gets the best of him. He wants to see for himself what happens when he throws the switch. He grabs the machine and is electrocuted, and cannot let go!
Luckily, wifey comes down the stairs and switches the thing off. Jack then has to come down and do a little explaining.
Jack says that Mr. White talks to and directs him telepathically, from the Moon, and, he has already received something, a photo of himself! When mom gets a good look at it, she freaks!
In the vintage pulp magazine style, here's Mr. White in all his glory, pretty damn cool!
And when dad tries to get more info from Jack, Mr. White prevents the kid from talking! Shaking his head, yes or no, dad gets some answers. A friend of Jack then tells dad how the machine works. All the kids Mr. White has building the machine have been deceived by his seemingly kind intentions, like, he actually wants to invade Earth!!
Right about here, the print has white lines all the way through to the ending. But anyway, dad decides to send Mr. White a present, a bundle of TNT, for all his efforts.
The TNT gets sent, and, there's a giant explosion on the Moon. This photo was easy to fix.
Dr. Barnes pops in to tell dad that he missed it. The explosion was clearly seen by their telescopes, it was a glorious sight... Then he says to dad.. Too bad you weren't there!!
Jack shows up and all is well, Earth 1, Moon 0! Check in tomorrow when we continue down the dusty and musty trail in 2020, here, at The Dungeon!..
Mr. White has Torgo's legs!
ReplyDeleteFreakin' Torgo!!.. Just watched it last week, it never gets old, Mike Nelson does a great Torgo too. I have a great free station, PLUTO TV, has MST and Rifftrax channels! My favorite MST movie is RED ZONE CUBA. Hey Mickey, did you know that Eegah!! and I were known as Ralphie and Rufus Bitsko in the early sixties, we were brothers and Mickey was our cousin!! Pretty cool, huh.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid this is one of the few TALES OF TOMORROW episodes I've seen, though I keep meaning to correct that.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of MST3K, this story is a little like "The Space Children," except that at the end of that story, you're GLAD that the kids have been possessed by an alien.