LIGHTS OUT / "Cat's Cradle" - 1951

Well, here we go... In today's dark tale, former local football star (shades of THE BRUTE MAN) George Logan shows up one night at the country home of Bob and Phyllis, former friends of his. George is down on his luck and is obsessed with having never fit in, and holds a grudge against the world. But he does have one talent, weaving a cat's cradle from the string he carries with him at all times, and claims that he can cast spells with it, even ones to commit murder if anyone gets in his way. This one goes downhill fast! 

It stars Martha Scott as Phyllis, Murvyn Vye as George, Larry Kerr as Bob and Klock Ryder as Mr. Woodley. Martha was a popular actress in the forties, then did mainly TV after that, appearing in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and BEN-HUR in the fifties. Murvyn was another very popular actor and appeared on ONE STEP BEYOND and THRILLER. Larry appeared on SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE,  and in THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK and THE LOST MISSILE. Klock (love that name!) only had five acting credits.

Let's get this road on the show!!.. First, Frank Gallop tries to creep us out with his diatribe. And after his (logical/illogical) intro, we can yell... Hey! Who turned the lights out?!!

It all starts with a bang, we hear a crash and Bob runs to help Mr. Woodley out of his truck and into his yard. The old man says that after he nearly ran over a man minutes earlier, and as he was driving away, he felt an invisible wire around his neck and was choking, and that's what caused the accident. Bob and Phyllis don't really know what to make of the claim, and Mr. Woodley leaves saying it's true.

Then old friend George Logan shows up out of nowhere. Bob and Phyllis are a little shocked at his appearance at first but invite him inside.

Bob and Phyllis are happy to see him but he seems detached, because of his feelings of not fitting in. After he's asked what he's been up to...

He pulls out his cat's cradle and starts showing them what he learned in India (I think) and tells them of all the meanings of the patterns.

George gets a little too happy as the more complex patterns become kinda evil in their significance. Bob, who's getting angry at George for his claims, shuts him down and then goes outside for some fresh air...

Outside, Bob sees the newspaper George dropped before he came in and sees the dead owl Phyllis is always complaining about because of its hooting at night.

So, Bob goes back into the house and confronts George about the bird. George says he killed the bird with the cat's cradle for Phyllis, which opens up a whole new can of worms!

After they find out that George has been watching and listening to them through the open windows at night (and saying how much he envied them and that's why he killed the owl for Phyllis), a heated conversation breaks out. Both Bob and Phyllis tell George to get the Hell out, and don't come back!!! EVER!

Well, of course George didn't take kindly to their words and grabs a chair for offense after pulling the table cloth off, along with dinner.

George snaps, he says that he's going to watch Bob die and starts weaving his patterns with the cat's cradle...

OMG!!! The knucklehead wove the wrong freaking pattern by mistake, I guess the one for suicide?!.. Go figure!

And what else?.. Frank plays with our minds one more time just before The Dungeon Janitor turns the lights out on him!

THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN! - "Flaming Havoc" (1940)

A couple of weeks ago, it was "The Green Hornet," and tonight's Wild Wednesday offering is the rest of the story, or "The Green Hornet Strikes Again!"

 

It's basically the same thing all over again, but for this series, there would be fifteen chapters instead of thirteen! But there is one major difference....................

............................Three of the main characters, Kato, Lenore Case, and Michael Axford as played by Keye Luke, Anne Nagel, and Wade Boteler remain the same, but The Green Hornet/Britt Reid is now played by Warren Hull instead of Gordon Jones.

Britt Reid is just trying to take off a little time to relax in Hawaii after those last thirteen harrowing episodes, but as fate would have it...........

......................everything is going to Hell while he's away, and the guy he left in charge is also the guy behind it all!

He needs to get back as soon as possible!

I don't think I've ever seen a fight scene before that included seven guys in one car!

 

As much as I love black and white films, I have to admit a beautiful Hawaiian sunset does lose some of it's luster.

Britt Reid and Kato are able to escape from the thugs that captured them, and now it's time to get back to the mainland! 

Warren Hull's real name was John Warren Hull, and he had three sons who were named

John, George, and Paul! Now how's that for a fact?

 

Once they get on the ship to go back home, everything should be all right!!

But of course it's not, and the ship is quickly becoming engulfed in flames!

It's now one big freak and panic show!

Talk about your "Flaming Havoc!" I guess so!

And it's also time to abandon ship! Damn! Is nothing simple and easy?

All those kids left on the edge of their seats, will just have to wait a week, and come back and pay again if they want to know how it will be possible that "The Green Hornet" and Kato can escape this deadly death trap! Gee Whiz, I even want to know!

TALES OF TOMORROW / "Plague From Space" - 1952

Here's one from the dark side... A spaceship from Mars lands at an Air Force Base, there is a passenger inside but he's infected by a virulent bacteria, and it looks like it's a planned attack by someone on the red planet!..

This exceptional little feature stars Gene (THE OUTER LIMITS - "The Borderland") Raymond, Charles (THE SILENT SERVICE - TV) Proctor, Phillip (THE LOST MISSILE) Pine, James (forever Scotty) Doohan and Harry (PHANTOM FROM SPACE) Landers.

Colonel Ward is commander at a remote Air Force base in the desert. After his heroic stint in WWII, he wonders if his career is on the downturn, and, he has started drinking.

Then, reports of a strange object approaching from space spreads through the base, and it's not acting like a meteor would! After changing directions a number of times, the thing lands down at the air field. The men are dumbfounded by the event. Now what?..

What else, they take the object into a hanger where they can get a good look at it. 

Ignoring any safety concerns, they eventually get the door open on the ship.

The passenger is pulled out, he seems to be sick with some sort of illness.

The Corporal offers up an observation after studying the bacteria under a microscope, and with a device to detect brain waves (that's one Hell of a hunch there Brainiac!).

You mean?!.. Yes, each bacteria has a little brain and life force, and they're attacking all the men on the base!

And now, there's no trace of the bacteria on the passenger!.. What the?!

The men are dropping like flies!! Corporal Turner, Ward's pal, starts freaking out, saying that he doesn't want to die, he tries to run away but is shot down by a guard! Ward's on a bummer, he calls in to see how many men are left alive on the base. The answer is 13 out of 2000!!

Welp, it's time for some old time religion, first off, toss that booze bottle into the trash!

There is only one thing to do, call in an A-Bomb strike on the base!!.. Yeah!!

Ward watches as the plane passes overhead... Like I said, only one way to stop the spread!!

I thought this was interesting, we got a TV a year later. It's amazing how basic this ABC logo was at the time, and times have changed (for the worst)!