"Tales of Tomorrow - Frankenstein"

I just watched something I've heard a lot about over the years but never saw until now. This is the version of "Frankenstein" done by the "Tales of Tomorrow" TV show, broadcast live in 1952. Lon Chaney, Jr. played the monster, and oh, the story.

The way I'd always heard it is that Chaney, a known alcoholic, was blind drunk during the show and thought that they were doing a dress rehearsal, not the real thing. Some of his actions included not smashing things and then miming that he did and generally seeming confused the whole time. It's considered one of the lowlights of television history.

Well, I just watched it, and you know what? Chaney's pretty good as the monster in this. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that his make-up and performance here heavily influenced the Kenneth Branagh-directed version from 1994, featuring Robert DeNiro as the monster (a movie which I happen to think is highly underappreciated). Let's compare:

There's really only one time when Chaney grabs a chair, sets it down and then mimes smashing it. Rather than looking like a mistake, I think it looks like his mind is misfiring on all counts, and the actions make perfect sense in the moment. In his last scene, Chaney roughly knocks down a prop electrical transmitter, so if the story about his thinking the broadcast was a dress rehearsal is true, then someone clued him in before the last scene.

Really, the episode is not especially great, but it's okay if you consider these folks had 25 minutes to tell a version of the Frankenstein story in. This episode of "Tales of Tomorrow" is another example of the actuality being far less insane than stories handed down. Or a case of people's "false memories," as my bandmate Jeff Smith often talks of.