This story reminded me of those stories in "Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine." Some supernatural or alien force has dropped a device that would be a great boon to humanity. Unfortunately, the people who have the device are a doctor who, if caught, could spend the rest of his life in prison, and his shrewish wife. Down on his luck and trying to appease this woman, he takes his last possession, his medical kit, to the pawn shop. He gets $25 bucks for it, but the pawnbroker, feeling sorry for him, gives him another bag, one that was left on his doorstep a long time ago. After another confrontation with his witch of a wife, a woman living in the apartment building brings in her daughter, who is on the verge of death from a form of encephalitis. He knows what it is and that he can't do anything about it. He looks in the new bag and finds a syringe and a chart. It tells him what to do, but once the injection is performed, the syringe refills itself. To their amazement, the girl recovers immediately. There are two mysterious factors. The bag has a date way into the 21st Century and a warning that anyone unauthorized to use the bag found using it would be punished to the full extent of the law. We can sort of predict what will happen because the doctor has developed a really good practice but nothing he earns can satisfy the wife. It's just a really good little story.
3 Reviews
Like many great tales of the supernatural, it's a critique of human nature.
planktonrules16 October 2012
This episode of "Tales of Tomorrow" is about a nice but down-and-out doctor. It seems he's done something to ruin his reputation and the show is about his redemption. When he is at his lowest, he obtains a magical sort of medical bag--a bag from the future! Using it, he saves people from all sorts of fatal illnesses! As time passes, he's become successful but never loses track of his humanity. Unfortunately, this is NOT the case with his wife. She is an evil shrewish wretch whose only concern is money and power. She sees the bag as a way to wealth and she will allow NOTHING to stop this pursuit. Where will it all end? See this show.
While the plot has been replicated in later shows (such as in "Night Gallery"), this is the first and probably the best. It's highly enjoyable and original--and well worth your time. And, like the best shows in this genre, it says a lot about the dark side of human nature. See this one! And, if you want, download it for free from the IMDb links to "Tales of Tomorrow".
While the plot has been replicated in later shows (such as in "Night Gallery"), this is the first and probably the best. It's highly enjoyable and original--and well worth your time. And, like the best shows in this genre, it says a lot about the dark side of human nature. See this one! And, if you want, download it for free from the IMDb links to "Tales of Tomorrow".
"I want medicines and I get a lecture!"
classicsoncall15 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
As simple as the sets and actors were in these "Tales of Tomorrow", the stories proved to be quite original in the way they were scripted. In this one, a disgraced doctor has reached the end of his rope, with no money and a shrew of a wife who harasses him to find a worthwhile job. He decides to pawn his last meaningful possession, that being his personal medical kit. Dr. Arthur Fulbright (Joseph Anthony) accepts twenty-five dollars for the kit, and trades back five of it for another medical bag, which I thought was rather odd since he already got rid of one, but I guess it was necessary for the story. A medical syringe in the new black bag proved to be instrumental in saving the life of a young girl who would probably have died with a form of hemorrhagic encephalitis. Upon inspection, a note in the bag stated that it came from the year 2450!, and that it should only be handled by someone who would use its contents ethically, or else tragedy would befall its misuse. For two years, the doctor successfully treated his clientele while his wife delighted in their new found wealth. But when the doctor decided to share his knowledge of the bag and its miraculous cures with the medical profession, Angie Fulbright (Vicki Cummings) would hear none of it. In a pique of rage, she stabbed her husband, feeling that she knew enough about the mysterious equipment inside, having served as a nurse in her husband's practice. At that point, the medical kits' promise was fulfilled, as the contents turned to straw, and she was quite literally left holding the bag.
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