chauvinsim in the credits...and did she phone it in?

[michael c]

i've been watching the late 1966 episodes and something suddenly struck me about the closing credits...

specifically some of laura collins introductory episodes.while diana millay is clearly the "star" of the episodes in question,with major screen time going to kathryn leigh scott and david hennessy(alexandra moltke,of course,gets her own ending credit),it is david ford as sam evans who gets the first credit despite his relatively minor role in these eps.

in other words if joan bennett(who,again of course,gets her won starring credit)is not in a particular episode does the next adult male in line "star" in that episode according the credit run?certainly it can be argued that grayson hall,lara parker and other actresses owned particular episodes but,simply by being women did they have to play second banana to the boys in the cast?was there some good old fashioned male chauvinism in play here?

the episodes i'm watching are also from the "my name is victoria winters" era where alexandra recites the opening voiceover whether or not she actually appears in the episode itself.there were several in laura's opening eps where she does not and i'm wondering if they actually made alexandra come into the studio to read a thirty second voiceover or if the producers knew she was off for a few days allowed her to "prerecord" them in advance and were thus inserted into the episodes later?

does anyone know?

[Gothick]

These are all good questions, and I have no answers.

I have seen references in the PomPress books about the opening narration from the post Summer '67 period that it would be taken on by "anyone available, so long as they weren't in that first scene," but of course since Alex was doing ALL of them during the first year or so, they must have been able to allow for pre-recording in at least some cases (e. g., she was onscreen bound, gagged, and at the mercy of mad Matthew Morgan while her voice was reciting the latest sheaf of purple prose overhead). 

Since Alex was paid for doing those voiceovers even if she wasn't in the action of the episode, they may have expected her to come over specially each afternoon to do them.  Or she may have been able to do several at one go and then have them get added along with the music cues on Sybil's giant vinyl records during taping.

As for the billing, I don't think that was maintained consistently for the entire five years.  I've certain seen episodes where Grayson's name came first even if Joan was absent and there were other male actors on scene.

The whole thing about the contracts, or lack thereof, is a fascinating subject that I've heard various rumors about over the years.  Quite a few of the players on the show worked without a contract.

G.

[Gerard]

At the 2003 Fest, John Karlen stated during the question-and-answer period that he was one of the main performers who worked without a contract, saying his agreement with Dan Curtis was based "on a handshake and five dollars."  (Or was it two?)  He didn't mind - or fear- not having a contract one bit because it allowed him to come and go throughout the series to do other projects, knowing that he would always have a job back on DS when he completed whatever else he was doing and so was pretty much constantly employed during the four years he was on (and off) the show.

Gerard

[MagnusTrask]

So, maybe DC wasn't the capricious maniac I've been coming to think of him as.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Given the overwhelming evidence, I suspect few would doubt that he wasn't. 

[Lydia]

I just want to know: am I the only one who had to stop and take that sentence of MB's apart in order to understand it?

[Sara Monster]

I just want to know: am I the only one who had to stop and take that sentence of MB's apart in order to understand it?

 nope 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Blame a number of my English teachers who, through the years, were fond of changing things up and beginning sentences with prepositional phrases/clauses. They ingrained their lessons in my head. And somewhere they are smiling that those lessons live on in me. 

But we're getting way off topic...

[MagnusTrask]

So.... not a maniac?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

OK - let me restate the sentence with the implied ending from Magnus' post included:

Given the overwhelming evidence, I suspect few would doubt that he wasn't a capricious maniac.

In other words, many would believe he was one.    There are posts after posts here on the forum as well as on other Web sites giving specific examples of just how difficult DC was to work with. It's not like any of it is a secret. 

And to answer Magnus' question, more people would be likely to say, "yes...a maniac."

[Gerard]

But then who, other than a brilliant maniac, could come up with such a brilliant show!  As Alfred Hitchcock answered when someone asked him from where he got his inspiration for so many chilling films:  "I was educated in a Jesuit school."

Gerard

[Nancy]

An actor's billing is usually decided in a contract.  Joan Bennett was a name people recognized so it would make sense she would be given star billing.

nancy