Classic Horrors Club

Writer | Mel Goldberg
Story | Henry Kuttner
Director | Charles S. Dubin
Air Date | Feb. 8, 1952

These days, if someone told me they had what I need, I’d think either I was being set up for a scam, they’d be peddling something I absolutely did not need, or they wouldn’t want to know what it is I really need. In 1952, though, the proprietor of Peter Talley Curios (Edgar Stehli) has a machine in the back room that knows exactly what his customers need, even if they don’t know themselves.

In the main example demonstrated, the object that persistent freelance report Tom Carmichael (William Redfield) needs is a big ol’ pair of scissors. They come in handy when his necktie is caught in a printing press and his head moves closer and closer to being smashed like a pumpkin. He knew something was up at the curio shop when he witnessed well-to-do men pay $5,000 for the items they needed.

At first, Talley wants to ban Carmichael from his store. He’s not interested in sharing a secret that Carmichael will make public. He doesn’t do it for the fame or fortune; he donates every penny to charity. And it’s a risky business… best to keep it in the back room. Talley relents and gives him a one-time item, the scissors, with the understanding that he never return. 

After he experiences the magic, though, of course Carmichael returns, blackmailing Talley to continue giving him the things he needs to prevent an untimely death. Talley sits down at his machine and sees into a future where Carmichael’s greed overcomes him and he murders Talley to steal the machine. What’s a kind-hearted old man to do? Will he he give him something he himself needs instead of his customer?

After adaptations of literary masterpieces perhaps a little ill-suited for live television, I’m glad to see Tales of Tomorrow return to the form I’ve enjoyed in the past. For me, that’s an unfamiliar tales with big ideas expressed through simple stories. “What You Need” is particularly effective withholding the secret from us. We discover it at the same time as Carmichael and aren’t sure how it will conclude. It also asks a big question: does one deed, good or bad, deserve another?

By | Frederic Brown
Adapted by | A.J. Russell
Director | Don Medford
Air Date | Feb. 15, 1952

Although the first form of the lie detector machine was created in 1921, scientists in the far future of 1965 have perfected it to the point that it can’t be fooled. A quick, simple test proves guilt of a crime and is enough evidence to immediately convict the criminal. Conversely, if someone passes the test, no matter how guilty they seem, they are released from custody.

We must accept this basic conceit to understand the conundrum when a man caught on film stealing from a safe, George Elwood (Skedge Miller), then passes the test. He’s deemed not guilty against overwhelming evidence. There must be a conspiracy! Larry Calhoun (Dennis Patrick, Dark Shadows) is sent to San Jose from the Bureau of of Scientific Investigation in San Francisco to investigate the theft of top secret plans for a new guided missile, and this is what happens when he catches Elwood redhanded.

Dr. Chappel (John McGovern) and his daughter, Irene (Phyllis Kirk) meet Calhoun to monitor the testing of all 580 employees of the facility from which the plans were stolen. There’s a red herring here or there; head of security Herbert Rand (Donald Briggs) refuses to take the test. When there’s no other option, we begin to think Dr. Chappell is involved, but he’s such a kindly old man. Why would he be involved with what turns out to be a national failure of the machines?

“Age of Peril” makes a fine pairing with “What You Need” because it asks a similar question: is it OK to do something bad if it’s for the greater good? In one, a character is  left to wrestle with the idea by himself and in the other, it’s left for others to decide. Unlike our first episode today, this one ends on a flat note… kind of anticlimactic. It’s like hamburger, while “What You Need” is steak.