Tales of Tomorrow: The Dark Angel

Tales of Tomorrow: The Dark Angel

Originally broadcast on ABC on Friday, September 28, 1951 at 9:30 PM ET.

Plot: A husband suspects something strange is happening to his wife after a broken rib heals after just two days.

Analysis: Oh boy, this one is a tough one.

As always, I try to keep in mind context and 1950s sensibilities when watching these shows, but once in a while, I’m just left shaking my head. The problem here is not plot though, that’s actually interesting. It is in the execution where we leave the rails. I am sorry, but it’s hard to maintain a sense of true drama and suspense when a dramatic musical sting undercuts every other sentence. It unfortunately reduces the show from sci-fi intrigue to overdone soap opera theatrics. It gets so bad, you are just waiting for the sting to punctuate the dramatic moment. It is also interesting to see how they execute moments on live television, in this case, the actor needs to get out of a chair, put on a jacket and enter another scene when the cameras switch. This is accomplished by having the camera push in on another actor and a recording of the original actors’ voice delivering exposition while the change is made. You can pick it out by the change in pitch of the voice.

This episode also kind of makes me wonder about the rules on violence in television. We have seen guns used on Westerns a few times and people shot and killed. What is interesting here is that it is established that there is a murder early on, but when we come to the actual murder scene, the camera pushes in on the actors’ face, so we never see the gun in the hand or see shots fired or a body hit the ground. Something that makes you scratch your head a little bit.

Another warning on this episode is the kinescope is in really bad shape with it being very dark at times, so dark you cannot even make faces out in some of the early scenes. This is in addition to the usual scratches and dings that come with time, of course.

The Bottom Line: Bear all of the above in mind when watching this one. As I said, there is an interesting plot here, but there is so much else going on that is distracting from a poor image to the over the top music moments that just cut the legs out from under the thing. Check it out if so interested, but buyers beware on this one.

The Dark Angel is one of thirteen other episodes from Tales of Tomorrow: Collection Two of Season One (http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Tomorrow-Col....3581521 &sr=1-3). It can be found for reasonable prices if you shop around from various Internet locations if your local store does not have a copy in stock.

Next time, we ride again with The Cisco Kid.