Ye Gods, what kind of fan am I?  I don't remember that scene with the "my own innocence" line.

Any hints as to where I would find it in my MPI tapes?

Thanks,

Steve

The whole thing about Jebez's life in the 1790s was never properly fleshed out.  The appearance of Peter Bradford's ghost happened very last-minute.  It was supposed to be the ghost of Paul Stoddard, but Dennis Patrick had another commitment and wasn't available for those shows.

I always thought Dan insisted on the story snippet cited above out of sheer spite because Alexandra had defied his wishes and refused to come back to the series.  Dan did sometimes dictate specific story developments, according to interviews with the writers.  They'd protest that the developments conflicted established continuity or simply made no sense, and he'd say something like "I can always get somebody else to write this show, you know."  I think this kind of thing explains why the series got more and more chaotic over time.  Lela Swift began to play this game when she became producer in 1970, too.  The final Angelique/Barnabas storyline was supposedly her idea.

G.

That Julia & Liz story was just... THE BEST.

When I was watching DS as a child, although I started in 1968 and had missed the whole intro of Julia, I never questioned why the family had her living on the estate.  Apart from the fact that they all appeared to be quite fond of her, they were all so dependant on her sedatives that it would have been a real nuisance to have her suddenly living off the estate!

Yes, gang, Julia WAS Dark Shadows' very own "Dr Feelgood"!

groovin' on,

Gothick

What exciting news!  A dear friend was kind enough to share the old video of The Girl in Blue with me, and I can attest that it provides a truly superior showcase for David Selby's gorgeous, abundant... talents!  (Why are you staring at me like that... what did you EXPECT me to say?)

I do hope a new print has been prepared for this release.  I can just hear the ladies (and certain gentlemen!) firing up their scene capture software even as we speak...

G.

I'd like to comment just how fine Joan Bennett is in certain of these scenes on Dark Shadows.  I particularly think of some of the Liz '66 storyline, the Jason Maguire sequence, Naomi mourning her daughter's death in 1795, and Judith in 1897.  As Flora, it was fascinating to see JB play a frivolous lady's novelist in the early weeks of 1840, given that I doubt JB had a frivolous bone in her body.

Not to mount the soap-box, but as I have written before, I think the whole concept of "realism" in acting is given far too much critical emphasis.  Only occasionally did a more muted, "realistic" style of acting play well on Dark Shadows... in the case of Grayson, you see this in some of her scenes as Hoffman in PT 1970.  By and large, DS was a big, theatrical canvas which had to be played with a carefully mixed blend of style, elan, and emotional commitment.  The commitment the regulars showed to the scripts, even when the latter went off the cliff, is truly inspiring.

G.

The original stage play was markedly changed for the film version.  I think the play was set in the 1930s and there was a German family staying at Mismaloya...  I still can't get my mind around Bette Davis on Broadway playing the role taken in the film by Ava Gardner!

G.

ANGELIQUE: (voiceover) At this moment, dear Nicholas has no idea that I just pinned a "KICK ME" sign on the seat of his trousers...