Review Of Dark Shadows: The Beginning, Vol. 5

[Mysterious Benefactor]

At least this time around the reviewer at DVD Talk freely admits that he's come late to the DS Appreciation Society (and he only has "some rather foggy memories of visiting the series sometime circa 1970"), which certainly explains how he frequently gets some of his facts so wrong, but for the most part I agree with everything he has to say in this review. I particularly love his assessment that there are "enough high strung histrionics to make Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf look like a quite night among the Middle American rabble."    (Though it's still aggravating that he's still laboring under the misimpression that DC preserved the DS eps, and so he continues to spread and reinforce such misinformation throughout the world.  )

Check out: Dark Shadows: The Beginning, Vol. 5

[retzev]

So who is responsible for preserving DS? Why did they do it?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The short version is that ABC preserved the DS tapes because they apparently saw the syndication possibility in the show. Where things get interesting is that DC believed he owned the master tapes and he thought that ABC was supposed to turn them over to him. He sued ABC over ownership/possession, but he lost. Due to some legal restrictions back in the '70s, ABC had shifted ownership of the master tapes to WorldVision, but it was actually the resolution of the suit that paved the way for DS to be released into syndication. And the rest is history...

It's amazing how many people simply assume that because DC held the rights to DS, that meant that he owned the master tapes and they were in his possession - but that has never been the case. Though the myth lives on. But then, it's often the case that some people prefer to believe the myth rather than the truth...

There are topics on the forum that go into all this in greater detail (including one in which I transcribed a report from Variety about the suit), which is why I'm not doing it here.

[Taeylor Collins]

Very interesting to know.  I would love to see the Variety post. Can you point it out??

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A simple search (again, the search feature is our friend ) using search terms like Variety and ABC will definitely bring up the topic. Look for a topic called "The Producers" that was started by Patti.    (I forget exactly what year it was posted, but you don't really need to know that to find it.)

[Taeylor Collins]

AGAIN...sorry I am learning!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oh, no problem. Sometimes people forget or don't even realize that the search feature is even there. But it's quite possibly the most important and the most useful feature on the forum. I suspect Midnite and/or I use it almost every day in some capacity or another. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's another review of this collection (one that also mentions the Fest and the Depp/DS film): Dark Shadows: The Beginning, collection 5.

I love her remarks about Diana Millay's interview. Apparently she's never met her in person. 

[Taeylor Collins]

Speaking of this collection IN GENERAL.  I was most pleased to see Alexandra take part.  I know she doesn't do the fest so it was great to see her and hear her take on the show.  She looks great too. I can't wait to get this complete collection.  Getting ready to buy the 3rd one. I did think the extras on VOLUME 2 were very slim though!!

 As for the interview LADY, Dark Shadows found the secret of "ETERNAL" life a long time ago. I don't know what ROCK you been under!!!!!!!!!    It is a supernatural cockroach.  EWW..talk about scary!!  Sorry!  Weird thought! And I have never met Diana but I can tell from interviews what you mean. 

[Gothick]

Actually, Diana really WAS Laura Collins.  We just don't discuss that fire in that apartment house in Phoenix, and all the other unpleasantness involved....

*wink*

G.

[buzz]

I've just gotten the first disc from Netflix (who provide super service, the day it was announced on sale it was in my mailbox). Ican't say this is my favorite part of the show, mainly because of its focus on Laura Collins. Diana Milay was not my favorite actress on the show and the emphasis on her is overwhelming at this point. While its obvious that the writers later transfered some of her powers to Angelique, I would have loved to see Lara Parker in this part instead of Millay. While its nice to see supernatural elements seeping in, I missed the sub-plot of Burke (which, while not eliminated, is downplayed to focus on Laura). I look forward to the coming of Jason McGuire on the next (and final) collection.


Nick   

[GooberCollins]

I got my copy from Amazon yesterday; I've watched the extras, but none of the episodes. I'll be perfectly honest here by saying that I found the interview with Diana Millay a little creepy, but in a likeable way. Her comments on Louis Edmonds were surprising to me, as I had heard nothing but positive things. For those who don't have the set yet, she said [spoiler]that she loved him as a person, but as an actor, he, according to her, frequently stepped on her marks and often forgot his lines.[/spoiler]

Ron Sproat's interview was just sad. That poor man.

Malcolm Marmorstein didn't really deliver any new insights on the show, unless I missed something. I did quite enjoy his interview on Set 4, where it seemed he wanted to take most of the credit for the character of Barnabas and give little of it to Dan Curtis and none to Jonathan Frid.

Leonard Wolf's interview I honestly found a little boring. We've heard all of the stuff about sexuality and vampires before.

[Taeylor Collins]

That dissapoints me about Diana.  Oh well. 

[Joeytrom]

When they first went about casting for Angelique in 1795, did DC ask Diana to return to play her?

[alwaysdavid]

Diana did say that she and Louie were great friends and she was with him up to his passing.  It was an interesting interview and one wonders if she were always like this or playing Laura brought it on.