Tales of Tomorrow: Ice from Space & The Bitter Storm

Neither Paul Newman nor Joanne Woodward ever appeared in horror film, so, sadly, it is likely they both considered their acting careers to be failures. At least, they had a smidge of science fiction. Of course, Newman was in Robert Altman’s Quintet, but both thesps also appeared in separate episodes of the early 1950s sf anthology, Tales of Tomorrow, neither of which is discussed in the upcoming 6-part HBO Max documentary, The Last Movie Stars.

Tales predated The Twilight Zone, which you might think could have co-starred at least one of the power couple, but neither did (just family friend Robert Redford). The earlier show is lesser-known, but it remains a cult favorite, because it was written by science fiction writers, for science fiction fans. Frankly, “Ice from Space” (written by E.H. Frank and directed by Don Medford) is a lot like TheThing from Another World, but instead of an alien, it features a mysterious block of ice. Somehow, it seeped into an experimental rocket on its return to Earth and is now freezing the isolated desert military base into a frozen wasteland. It is up to Major Dozier to stop its freezing effects, before it expands to more populated areas.

Unfortunately, the loud-mouth Congressman Burns will berate and bully Maj. Dozier every step of the way. Given its heroic portrayal of the American military and the crass, mean-spirited behavior of the observing politician, it is not surprising “Ice from Space” does not figure prominently in Newman’s profile. It is definitely an outlier in his filmography, but it is a cool, unconventional alien invasion story, boasting an excellent performance from Edmon Ryan as Maj. Dozier. Newman has a minor role-playing Sgt. Wilson, but you can tell from his cocky side-long glances into the camera that he believed he was a star in the making.