So true, Lydia.
Changing the subject entirely, I was just reading through some of Frid's letter to his mom that were written around this period because I thought they contained quite a bit of interesting info that might be worth sharing - and they do. I'll be posting at least a few of them, but the following letter, which, based on what's discussed, must have been written on July 28, 1967 (the studio was closed Monday, July 24th through Friday, July 28th, the NYT article was published Sunday, July 30th, and this ep was taped on July 17th and it was originally shown on August 4th), talks about the fire that took place off-camera in this ep during the scene in which Vicki and Barnabas are talking about Josette's music box and her obsession with the past, so that's why I've decided to share it here in this topic:
Friday
Dear Mother,
I've got myself a part-time secretary to a) answer fan mail and b) to send out publicity material (photos, resumes, xeroxed newspaper articles, etc.) It's a lot of work - just imagine her organized. And it's going to cost a good deal of money. I'm saturating Hollywood and New York with publicity.
She's due any minute and hopefully she has the New York Times article (several copies). This is only Friday and it doesn't come out until Sunday. But she's a go-getter. She went into the Times offices yesterday and got to see the "proof" before the article was even off the presses.
As for answering fan mail, she came up with some smart feminine advtce. She pulled out all the letters written by "Mrs.". It is the letters written by married women that are generally the most passionate. She says we shouldn't answer these at all. They are obviously written behind the husband's back. They could be trouble. Anyway, we are answering with an obviously mimeographed impersonal form letter - Very brief acknowledgement.
Right now I'm enjoying a few days off. The studio is closed while they make adjustments to go into colour. We all had colour tests last week and apparently I look better than ever - real enough so that I am accepted without suspicion but waxen and pale enough to look "odd".
I have a whole batch of scripts here and another heavy schedule ahead. They seem to think i will go into October. But they never commit themselves to a definite limit. They have a hold on me for a year to protect themselves. But that doesn't mean they'll use me that long. I think October is long enough for this sort of thing. That will be six months. You get into one some pretty glib habits. If I land up unemployed for a length of time, I'll regret this. But hopefully something else will come along as a result of all the attention.
I have just seen the Times article. It is quite a good one - a half page article. I was told they were not using a photo of Bennett and myself, but one of her and another member of the cast (a permanent member). They "expressed dismay" at the studio that The Times did not choose one of me since the article dealt at such length with the vampire. This did not upset me too much. However, the caption under the picture would lead one to believe that the pictured actor IS the vampire. This is stupid on the part of The Times. This happens all the time in the publications. Someone other than the writers of the articles does the captions for the pictures and does not read the articles carefully. Another annoying thing about the article is the mention of my having a listed phone number and that I get so many nuisance calls. This won't help the situation. I can only hope that Times readers are not the kind to make such calls.
Last week there was a fire in the studio right in the middle of taping the show - AND in one of my scenes ... I could see the smoke over "my proud beauty's shoulder" out of the corner of my eye, and the reflection of flames beyond some scenery. The fire was close to the main exit and it had never occurred to me to look for fire exits. There was all sorts of noise and scuffling. I kept on going since nobody from the control called "cut". They didn't know what was happening but they surely heard the racket. I stumbled and floundered as I worried about exits. I wasn't about to die in the service of "Dark Shadows". In the end they passed the taping as acceptable for airing. I was furious. But they're working on that tight a budget. I should have mentioned that the flames were put out before the scene ended. I dread seeing that show when it airs next week - right on top of The Times publicity.
Love,
JohnI'll also track down the NYT article - but the only copy I have of it is the version that was included in the Fest's The Introduction of Barnabas book, so I don't know how well it will scan...
And we've often joked that DC would have continued taping even if the studio was on fire or possibly even coming down around them. Well, this letter of Frid's is certainly one of the inspirations for those jokes. Though, sadly, I'm sure it wasn't quite as funny when it was happening in reality.