Classic Horrors Club

Written by | Raymond Z. Gallun (story), David Karp (adaptation), Frederik Pohl (writer)
Director | Don Medford
Air Date | Oct. 24, 1952

Andy (Gene Raymond) tells his son, Jack (Clifford Sales), that his science experiment won’t work because there’s no electricity running to it, yet Jack warns him not to touch it. He tells him a man named “Mr. White” talks to him in his head and told him how to make it. Where does Mr. White live? “In the moon.” 

Andy is nearly electrocuted and when Jack shows his parents a picture of Mr. White that was sent to him, they recoil in terror. He looks like an alien that we might be used to seeing today, but people in 1952 weren’t. Jack’s mother, Jane (Flora Campbell) thinks the picture came from a magazine, but Andy believes it just might be real. 

Sending a picture is one thing, but actually coming to Earth is another… unless Jack’s experiment is meant to facilitate the trip. Or, is it meant to send something to Mr. White? Andy thinks so and sends him a booby trap that creates “a magnificent eruption” on the moon. 

The episode is called Many Happy Returns because it takes place on Andy and Jane’s anniversary, and it does one of the better jobs of depicting a loving American family. Little touches made me become more invested in the outcome than I have been in other episodes, proving you don’t need to make a big show of it. Instead, simply sprinkle humanizing touches throughout.

Writer | Frank De Felitta
Director | Don Medford
Air Date | Dec. 12, 1952

At the Experimental Plant Station in Brazil, Dr. Alden (Victor Jory) and his young assistant, Merriman (Don Hanmer), examine a carnivorous hybrid. Merriman fails to realize the historical significance of such a discovery. That’s probably because he can’t stop complaining about how bored he is. 

He thinks if he buys one of Alden’s letters from home and pretends it’s for him, he’ll feel better. Alden agrees to the deal, but when he becomes curious and later asks who it was from, Merriman replies that it’s none of his business. The letter is legally his; he bought it. Alden soon has a bigger problem (or a solution to his existing problem) when the carnivorous plant grabs him. 

After the break, we learn the plant has consumed four hens and a suckling pig. Alden decides it’s time to give it a name: Emily. This reminds him of his sick wife back in the United States and he begs Merriman for the letter in case it’s from her. Instead, Merriman uses it to mentally torment him. 

As Alden becomes more desperate, and Merriman becomes more despicable, I predicted how all the pieces are going to come together. It doesn’t happen soon enough, though. Why is Merriman there if he hates it so much? We get an inkling of an answer in the closing moments, but it doesn’t quite pack the punch I had hoped…

Because Dr. Alden has heart issues and is continually grabbing his chest and twisting his body, I suspected the letter might contain some urgent news about his condition. Or, I thought it might warn that Merriman was an escaped pscyhopath. Neither is the case, although the letter leans closer to the latter. Still, I enjoyed The Fatal Flower. Who can resist a carnivorous plant?