Thanks for that excerpt, MB. I have to say that that certainly reads as if it would have played much, much better than what I recall of the train-wreck that was the ending I remember seeing, Like michael, the memories are vague, but I do recall my reaction to the ending as being: "What th' HELL?"
I still find the scripted ending to be over the top, but it just could have worked with the right handling.
I thought Brown had potential as Liz. They really, really needed to do a re-take of the scene where she welcomes Vicki to Collinwood, however. Everything about the scene as it exists is off-key.
Again, Hu didn't make enough of an impression for me to know how she would have played Julia. To me, Julia by definition has to have an edge. I've not seen Kelly Hu's other work to know if she can convey that kind of edge.
In the clips I have seen from the Burton/Depp film, HBC did have an edge, but as I wrote to another fan who solicited my opinion, it was more Shelley Winters than Grayson Hall.
salutations, G.