''Tales of Frankenstein'' is an unsold

TV pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

filmed in 1958. It was a co-production of

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve clas ...

and

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. The film is a mixture of elements from both the Hammer and

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

versions of

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...

, based on

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...

's 1818 novel ''

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, creature ...

''. The episode title, which does not appear onscreen, is "The Face in the Tombstone Mirror". The film is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

Plot

Baron Frankenstein sends his servants away every night, even in the worst weather, so he can be alone with his experiments. One night he brings his creation to life, but having the brain of a murderer, it tries to strangle him. In the struggle it is accidentally electrocuted. He decides he needs to find a new brain, from someone more intelligent. That night, Paul and Christine Halpert arrive in the village, to visit the Baron. They are hoping he can cure Paul's illness, but the Baron refuses, telling them that a hospital can do more than he can. The couple stay at a local inn and consult the village doctor. It is no use; Paul dies. The Baron pays the cemetery groundskeeper to leave the grave unsealed the night after the funeral. Christine finds the grave defiled the next day, with a locket that was buried with Paul lying on the ground. Christine coerces the groundskeeper to tell her who paid him to leave the grave open. He tells her it was Frankenstein. Frankenstein has by this time transplanted Paul's brain into the body of the Monster. As Paul discovers his new body, he becomes violent and pursues the Baron. Christine arrives at the castle to find out what the Baron did with Paul. The Baron tries to feign ignorance until the Monster smashes into the room to kill Frankenstein. Paul chases the Baron outside, through woods and old castle ruins before catching up with him. Christine stops him from harming the Baron, reminding him that the Baron had only done what they asked. She tells him he was a good man and begs him not to throw it away just because of a hideous body. Paul throws himself down some castle ruins, and is buried. Frankenstein tries to dig him out, but the constable arrives to charge him with

body snatching Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from ...

. As he is being arrested, the Baron tells the policeman, "You have your job to do, and so have I – and I don't think either of us would let anything stand in the way of our respective destinies...time is a small matter... there is always tomorrow."

Cast

Anton Diffring Anton Diffring (born Alfred Pollack, 20 October 1916 – 19 May 1989) was a German-born character actor who had an extensive career in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1980s, latterly appearing in international films. He appeared in ove ...

... Baron Frankenstein Diffring Frankenstein

Helen Westcott Helen Westcott (born Myrthas Helen Hickman, January 1, 1928 – March 17, 1998) was an American stage and screen actress and former child actress. She is best known for her work in ''The Gunfighter'' (1950). Early years Westcott was the daughte ...

... Christine Halpert *

Don Megowan Don Megowan (May 24, 1922 – June 26, 1981) was an American actor. He played the Gill-man on land in ''The Creature Walks Among Us'', the final part of the ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' trilogy. Early life Don Megowan was born in Inglewo ...

... The Monster *

Ludwig Stössel Ludwig Stössel (12 February 1883 – 29 January 1973) was an actor born in Lockenhaus, now Austria, then Hungary. He was one of many Jewish actors and actresses who were forced to flee Germany when the Nazis came to power in 1933. Biography St ...

... Wilhelm * Richard Bull ... Paul Halpert *

Raymond Greenleaf Raymond Greenleaf (born Roger Ramon Greenleaf; January 1, 1892 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor, best known for ''All the King's Men'' (1949), '' Angel Face'' (1952), and '' Pinky'' (1949). Early life He was born as Roger Ramon Gre ...

... Doctor *

Peter Brocco Carl Peter Brocco (January 16, 1903 – December 20, 1992) was an American screen and stage actor. He appeared in over 300 credits, notably ''Spartacus'' (1960) and '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975), during his career spanning over 60 ...

... Gottfried—Cemetery Caretaker * Sydney Mason ... Police Chief * David Hoffman ... Head in crystal ball (archive footage) (uncredited) * Ben Wright ... Narrator (uncredited)

Production

Hammer and Columbia planned to produce a series of 26 episodes, with each studio handling 13 episodes. The producers wanted the series to be about Baron Frankenstein and his experiments. Director

Curt Siodmak Curt Siodmak (August 10, 1902 – September 2, 2000) was a German-American novelist and screenwriter. He is known for his work in the horror and science fiction film genres, with such films as '' The Wolf Man'' and '' Donovan's Brain'' (the l ...

argued that "You cannot carry a whole show with nothing but Frankenstein stories."

Michael Carreras Michael Henry Carreras (21 December 1927 – 19 April 1994) was a British film producer and director. He was known for his association with Hammer Film Productions, Hammer Films, being the son of founder James Carreras, and taking an execu ...

intended the series to introduce Hammer to America, and wanted to give it a good chance. He enlisted

Jimmy Sangster James Henry Kinmel Sangster (2 December 1927 – 19 August 2011) was a British screenwriter and director, most famous for his work on the initial horror films made by the British company Hammer Film Productions, Hammer Films, including ''The Cur ...

, fresh off ''

The Revenge of Frankenstein ''The Revenge of Frankenstein'' is a 1958 Technicolor British horror film made by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews (actor), Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and Eunice Gayson. In ...

'', to write a pilot, "The Single Minded Black-Mailer". Other writers provided five more scripts depicting an amoral Baron Frankenstein in the Hammer style. Friction developed between the two studios because Columbia at that time held the TV rights to the

Universal Monsters Universal Classic Monsters (also known as Universal Monsters and Universal Studios Monsters) is a media franchise based on a series of horror films primarily produced by Universal Pictures from the 1930s to the 1950s. Although not initially concei ...

film series through their ''

Shock Theater ''Shock Theater'' (marketed as ''Shock!'') is a package of 52 pre-1948 classic horror films from Universal Studios released for television syndication in October 1957 by Screen Gems, the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures. The ''Shock The ...

'' film package and wanted to use that version of Frankenstein. Hammer, on the other hand, wanted to base the series on their own ''

The Curse of Frankenstein ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' is a 1957 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions, loosely based on the 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus '' by Mary Shelley. It was Hammer's first colour horror film, and the first of t ...

''. The only real input Hammer had was in the choice of

, who played Frankenstein very much like

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

. Diffring went on to star in Hammer's ''

The Man Who Could Cheat Death ''The Man Who Could Cheat Death'' is a 1959 British horror film, directed by Terence Fisher and starring Anton Diffring, Hazel Court, and Christopher Lee. Jimmy Sangster adapted the screenplay from the play '' The Man in Half Moon Street'' b ...

'' the following year. Since the series was intended for an American audience, Columbia rejected all six of Hammer's scripts in favor of one written in-house. The film was co-written by

Henry Kuttner Henry Kuttner (April 7, 1915 – February 3, 1958) was an American author of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Early life Henry Kuttner was born in Los Angeles, California in 1915. Kuttner (1829–1903) and Amelia Bush (c. 1834–1911), the ...

and his wife

C. L. Moore Catherine Lucille Moore (January 24, 1911 – April 4, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, who first came to prominence in the 1930s writing as C. L. Moore. She was among the first women to write in the science fiction and ...

with

, a veteran of Universal horror films, including '' The Wolf Man'', who also directed. Another script, "Frankenstein Meets Dr. Varno", was written by

Jerome Bixby Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby (January 11, 1923 – April 28, 1998) was an American short-story writer and scriptwriter. He wrote the 1953 story " It's a Good Life", which was the basis of a 1961 episode of ''The Twilight Zone'' and was included ...

. The Monster was the flat-headed

version popularized by

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

and was played by

, primarily a Western actor. Megowan also played the creature known as the

Gill-man The Gill-man—commonly called the Creature—is the main antagonist of the 1954 in film, 1954 black-and-white science fiction film ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' and its two sequels ''Revenge of the Creature'' (1955) and ''The Creature Wal ...

on land in ''

The Creature Walks Among Us ''The Creature Walks Among Us'' is a 1956 American monster horror film and the third and final installment of the ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' series from Universal Pictures, following the previous year's ''Revenge of the Creature''. The f ...

''. Disgusted with their lack of input, Carreras went back to England, leaving

Anthony Hinds Anthony Frank Hinds (19 September 1922 – 30 September 2013

to represent Hammer. Soon, he also gave up.

Legacy
Though the series was never produced, Anthony Hinds commissioned several scripts that provided Hammer with material for their later Frankenstein films. In one story by A.R. Rawlinson, Frankenstein created a beautiful woman with no soul (''
Frankenstein Created Woman ''Frankenstein Created Woman'' is a 1967 British Hammer horror film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein and Susan Denberg as his new creation. It is the fourth film in Hammer's ''Frankenstein'' series. Wher ...
''); in another by
Peter Bryan Peter Bryan (born 4 October 1969) is a British serial killer with schizophrenia who committed three murders between 1993 and 2004. Early life Bryan was born in London on 4 October 1969, the youngest of seven children of immigrant parents from ...
(''
The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set i ...
''), Frankenstein hires a mystic to hypnotize the Monster (''
The Evil of Frankenstein ''The Evil of Frankenstein'' is a 1964 film directed by Freddie Francis. The third instalment in Hammer's ''Frankenstein'' series, it stars Peter Cushing, Sandor Elès and Kiwi Kingston. Plot A child witnesses an intruder steal the corpse of o ...
'').

References

Sources
* * *

External links
*
''Tales of Frankenstein''
is available for free download at th
Internet Archive
{{Hammer Horror Frankenstein films Television pilots not picked up as a series