Tales of Frankenstein is an unsold TV pilot filmed in 1958. It was a co-production of Hammer Film Productions and Columbia Pictures. The episode title, which doesn't appear onscreen, is "The Face in the Gravestone Mirror". The film is in the public domain.
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 him on the ground. Christine demands from the groundskeeper who paid him to leave the grave open, and he tells her it was Frankenstein.
Frankenstein had by this time transplanted Paul's brain into the body of the Monster. As Paul discovered 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.
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 of small matter... there is always tomorrow."
Cast
Anton Diffring ... Baron Frankenstein Anton Diffring as Baron Frankenstein
Hammer and Columbia planned to produce a series of 26 episodes, with each studio handling 13 episodes.[1][2]The producers wanted the series to be about Baron Frankenstein and his experiments. Director Siodmak argued that "You cannot carry a whole show with nothing but Frankenstein stories."[3]
Friction began between the two studios because Columbia, at that time held the TV rights to the Universal Monsters film series through their Shock Theater film package, and wanted to use that version of Frankenstein. Hammer on the other hand, wanted to base the series after their own The Curse of Frankenstein. The only real input Hammer had was in the choice of Anton Diffring as Frankenstein.[2]
Legacy
Though the series was never produced, several scripts were written which provided Hammer with material for their Frankenstein films for years to come. In one story, Frankenstein created a beautiful woman with no soul. (Frankenstein Created Woman) In another, Frankenstein hires a mystic to hypnotize the Monster. (The Evil of Frankenstein)[2]
Narration
"From the beginning of time, many men have sought the unknown, delving into dark regions, where lie those truths, which are destined to destroy him.
"Of all these eerie adventurers into darkness, none was more driven by insatiable curiosity, nor went further into the unknown than the unforgetable Baron Frankenstein.
"So infamous were his exploits that his name stands forever as a symbol of all that is shocking, unspeakable, forbidden. Thus, in our day, many a story, which chills the soul and freezes the blood, is truly a tale of Frankenstein.
"Now, join us in the mystery, the excitement, and the stimulation that comes when we tell a story so weird, so dark, so harrowing, that it deserves to be called one of the many TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN."[2]
