DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '02 I => Topic started by: Midnite on June 09, 2002, 10:34:29 PM
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Fangoria's online magazine currently has a feature interview with Dan Curtis. From their main index page at http://www.fangoria.com/index.htm click on "The DARK SHADOWS of Dan Curtis" (to the right on your screen). In the article, Curtis discusses his view on what made DS a success, his desire to do a new DS movie, and the status of a Kolchak: The Night Stalker remake.
There's also a very brief article on the DS Vol. 1 DVD in Cinescape's Video News section (under Notable New Releases) at http://www.cinescape.com/0/Editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Video%20&%20DVD&action=page&obj_id=34725
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Thanks for the links!!!
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Great Midnite, Thanks for the links!! :)
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Midnite,
Thanks for sharing the links :D
I thought it was a total crack up when I read what
Dan Curtis had to say about J. Frid turning down the
role of Barnabas in the second DS movie.
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Midnite,
Thanks for sharing the links :D
I thought it was a total crack up when I read what
Dan Curtis had to say about J. Frid turning down the
role of Barnabas in the second DS movie.
I thought it was a hoot too. D. Curtis obviously not getting that maybe some actors would rather not work again than do yet another lousy movie with the same director/producer. Evidently, Curtis didn't care about the crappy stuff he did. Others do care about what they do. Too bad because Curtis had some great ideas.
Thanks for the links, Midnite. They were interesting!
Nancy
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I thought it was a hoot too. D. Curtis obviously not getting that maybe some actors would rather not work again than do yet another lousy movie with the same director/producer. Evidently, Curtis didn't care about the crappy stuff he did. Others do care about what they do. Too bad because Curtis had some great ideas.
When I read the article, it brought to mind what I've read about how Dan Curtis reacted when KLS quit DS. What was it he was quoted as saying? You'll never work in this business again. It seems like his standard
reply when someone turns him down.
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When I read the article, it brought to mind what I've read about how Dan Curtis reacted when KLS quit DS. What was it he was quoted as saying? You'll never work in this business again. It seems like his standard
reply when someone turns him down.
LOL, I didn't know that. That's pretty funny. I imagine though a producer might be a little embittered if his cash cow decides to stop working for him. It certainly would not inspire love.;)
Nancy
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Thanks for the links Midnight!!!
I enjoyed reading the article on Dan Curtis and reading what he said to Barnabas about quitting the show.
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very good Midnite!
thanks
jennifer :)
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Enjoyed the article. The first couple of paragraphs quoting Mr. Curtis seem verbatim from other interviews, but I suppose Curtis could recite the spiel backwards by now. He may take a swipe at Mr. Frid, but unfortunately the remark he says he made to Frid proved prophetic, more or less. I know Mr. Frid has continued to work as an actor, but his subsequent work was relatively low profile.
It was interesting to read Curtis' take boiling down the theme of the entire series. Taking that theme of lost love and using it in a supernatural atmosphere could result in a very good film. I would hope this might be done. No horror movie or thriller has interested me since "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Other" -- maybe the Omen (I lost interest in the genre as a middle schooler when "Carrie" came out, unleashing a gorefest that shows no signs of abating twenty years later) -- though I hear that the recent "The Others" had much in keeping with some of the classics like "The Haunting" and "The Innocents."
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Enjoyed the article. The first couple of paragraphs quoting Mr. Curtis seem verbatim from other interviews, but I suppose Curtis could recite the spiel backwards by now. He may take a swipe at Mr. Frid, but unfortunately the remark he says he made to Frid proved prophetic, more or less. I know Mr. Frid has continued to work as an actor, but his subsequent work was relatively low profile.
It was interesting to read Curtis' take boiling down the theme of the entire series. Taking that theme of lost love and using it in a supernatural atmosphere could result in a very good film. I would hope this might be done. No horror movie or thriller has interested me since "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Other" -- maybe the Omen (I lost interest in the genre as a middle schooler when "Carrie" came out, unleashing a gorefest that shows no signs of abating twenty years later) -- though I hear that the recent "The Others" had much in keeping with some of the classics like "The Haunting" and "The Innocents."
Vlad,
I just posted this excerpt on another thread as this kind of thing about Frid was being discussed - why his career hit a wall after DS ended. The idea of an actor saying if I can't do what I want in the business, I will just get out of it instead isn't something too many people would understand. I agree with what John Karlen said about Frid - he could have gone on to do the kind of roles Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and others of the "gothic" genre did at the time. But he didn't want to do that and wouldn't be cast in other things so he left. I think he could have made a bundle in the process.
But . ..
In this except of a 1998 Q&A following a charity performance, Frid talked about what could have been . .and why he didn't pursue what could have obviously made him money and a bigger star.
JF:
To tell you the truth, I love my acting profession, but I refuse to bow to being shaped into a business property. I wouldn't do that; I got out of all that. [after DS] That was quite deliberate. I had no interest in that at all, even if I missed making millions, I didn't care. I just had no interest in that sort of thing. I was just wasn't going to be a toy to these guys. I just have my own way of acting. I loved being flexible and private, and I had this great way of doing it with these One Man Shows. This is why they are my very favorite part of my career. And by
the way, people say, isn't there some part you've always wanted to play and never, and every
actor's been asked, and most actors say yes, they do have a part that I haven't played yet and
I'd love to do. I don't have that problem; I just put them in my Readers Theater and do it.
[laughter and applause].
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Nancy,
Thanks for sharing JF's comments with us. It confirms
what I have always thought reguarding him, that
for him it wasn't about being a star. That he took his
pleasure from practicing his craft.
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He also appears to have had a happy life doing this rather than some of the"stars" who have been miserable![coolb]Good for Him!
jennifer
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He also appears to have had a happy life doing this rather than some of the"stars" who have been miserable![coolb]Good for Him!
jennifer
That's true. That's one reason I admire him as a person. He actually feels sorry for the superstars and other "celebrity" types who have no privacy which to him means "no life." Once you are a celebrity or superstar, you have to hire people to maintain that momentum and for JF all that was simply too much effort and he couldn't be bothered.
Nancy
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Yes I've seen this, it's good news!
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Vlad,
I just posted this excerpt on another thread as this kind of thing about Frid was being discussed - why his career hit a wall after DS ended.
Thanks -- I did notice that thread after posting my comments here. Frid doesn't shrink from speaking his mind, does he? I admire his integrity and his resistance to "selling" himself. It must take strength to do that. What the world deems as success in the end may be only dross.
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Thanks -- I did notice that thread after posting my comments here. Frid doesn't shrink from speaking his mind, does he? I admire his integrity and his resistance to "selling" himself. It must take strength to do that. What the world deems as success in the end may be only dross.
It also depends on if you have a family to feed. Sometimes you have to make professional choices that are more lucrative but less satisfying to fulfill those obligations. Frid admits he didn't have that issue so he could be more particular about what he would and would not do. I don't find it surprising that he would prefer to not act at all as opposed do doing material he did not like. Very early in the 1980s Frid outlined plans to do a lecture tour and other more academic things since his original goal was to be a drama professor. The one-man shows provided him with the perfect solution to his professional dilemma: he wanted to work but under his own terms.
To me, that's success. I'm sure many of us would love to be able to do that.
Nancy
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I enjoyed reading the articles, they were good. I used to buy Fangoria and Cinescape a lot when I was a teenager. The first issue I bought of Fangoria in 1980 had Jack Nicholson from "The Shining" on the cover. I noticed a picture of him from "The Shining" too when I clicked on the linked. What a trip! :)