A Dark Shadows Kind of Morning...

[Patti Feinberg]

When I first got up this a.m., channel surfing and saw the last 2 minutes of "Rebecca." Then, when news on commercial, surfed back, and on TCM was "Portrait of Dorian Gray".

Hey new cousins...we've discussed movie correlations & DS before...can you name a few more movies TCM could've run that correspond to DS?

As long as you don't list the cross-plot to DS, I don't think it's 'spoilage'.

Have fun and WELCOME

Patti

[Philippe Cordier]

"Wuthering Heights" with the Catherine and Bramwell story.

Although this raises the question, did the DS writers tend to borrow from the books or from the movies?

In the case of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde motif, they definitely borrowed from one of the movie versions (I think it was the Spencer Tracy - Ingrid Bergman one) because DS closely copied the set for the laboratory, the round door going out the back, etc.

But there are instances that show the writers' literacy knowledge too -- e.g., Bramwell was named after the real life Bramwell Bronte, brother to Emily, Charlotte, and Anne.

[MsCriseyde]

But there are instances that show the writers' literacy knowledge too -- e.g., Bramwell was named after the real life Bramwell Bronte, brother to Emily, Charlotte, and Anne.

And perhaps how fuzzy their knowledge was since the Brontes' brother's name was actually Branwell, not Bramwell. 

[Mark Rainey]

And perhaps how fuzzy their knowledge was since the Brontes' brother's name was actually Branwell, not Bramwell.

Interesting; I never knew that. I've generally thought the "Bramwell" name might have be based on Bram Stoker, as a nod to Frid's previous incarnation as a Dracula-esque character.

--M
http://home.triad.rr.com/smrainey

[Miss_Winthrop]

I'm sure this is totally unrelated but I was just reading about a French artist named A. DuPre (1748-1833).  He was comissioned to do several medals honoring American Revolution heros.  I believe he designed the medals during the 1790's.

[Heather]

Hey new cousins...we've discussed movie correlations & DS before...can you name a few more movies TCM could've run that correspond to DS?

As long as you don't list the cross-plot to DS, I don't think it's 'spoilage'.

Have fun and WELCOME

Thanks Patti (hugs from W. PA) 

Hmmmmm....aside from what's been already mentioned (great examples all), a few more I can think of (or at least ones that I've seen recently - LOL) include Hitchcock's "Spellbound" (with Ingrid Bergman playing the "woman" psychiatrist ), "Vertigo" (great cinematography; the storyline parallels the Barnabas-Josette obsession in many ways)...and speaking of portraits, there's "The Portrait of Jennie" 

[Nelson Collins]

Food for thought, cousins;  while the Barnabas/Willie characters may be loosely based on Dracula characters, the actual Barnabas/Josette plot (as near as I can tell) was lifted from Universal's 1932 version of The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff.  Imhotep is awoken after x number of years and meets a woman that is the reincarnation of his lost love.  The plot then follows Imhoteps attempts to bring said lost love back to him.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, we have Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, which shamelessly cribbed the Barnabas/Josette plot (IMHO) as backstory/flashback material for the film, with Dracula's wife believing him dead and committing suicide, and Dracula meeting Mina Harker 5 centuries later and believing her to the the spirit of his lost Elizabetha reincarnated.

[Nelson Collins]

Hey, btw, Patti, shouldn't this thread be called "A Dark Shadows kind of Mourning?  

Apologies, couldn't resist.

[Heather]

Hey, btw, Patti, shouldn't this thread be called "A Dark Shadows kind of Mourning?  

Apologies, couldn't resist.

{groan} LMAO! 

[Philippe Cordier]

Interesting info about "A. DuPres," Miss Winthrop.  The 1795 Andre Du Pres (was that his name) wasn't an artist, was he?  Nevertheless, the association is interesting with David Ford (or was that the first Sam Evans?) playing a character named Du Pres in 1795 and an artist in the 1960s.

Nelson Collins -- interesting about "The Mummy."  I tend to look for more "literary" sources, no doubt overlooking some more popular (and less highbrow) ones.  

Hitchcock's "Spellbound" (with Ingrid Bergman playing the "woman" psychiatrist ), "Vertigo" (great cinematography; the storyline parallels the Barnabas-Josette obsession in many ways)

Funny you should mention "Spellbound".  That movie haunted me and intrigued me for years, as I had seen only the first half of it while in high school, and never knew the explanation for Gregory Peck's strange fears or the Dali-dream sequence until someone told me about it years later.  Then it was years later before I actually saw the ending -- I waited in vain for years and years for it to be shown on TV, then finally bought it on VHS a few years ago.  Recently watched it again, three times in obsession (oops -- I mean "succession").  I still love it, but the characters are really cardboard cutouts and don't impress much with repeated viewings beyond the "this is what the explanation" gimmick.  "Vertigo" I think has more depth in characterization and holds up better.  Not sure if either one is really a direct influence on DS, but there are some interesting parallels at least.

[ProfStokes]

I'm pretty sure that The Manchurian Candidate inspired the 1897 subplot with Evan Hanley, Tim Shaw, and Minerva Trask.

Also, a B-movie called The Thing That Couldn't Die very closely resembles the Judah Zachary plot.

Werewolf of London is the only movie I've seen that suggests a plant can cure a werewolf.  Maybe this was where the DS writers got the idea for the moon poppy?

ProfStokes

P.S.  When I was researching a project in high school, I stumbled across a reference to a Sandor Petofi, whom IIRC, was also an artist.  1897 had just begun airing, and I thought it was a funny coincidence.

[Josette]

Food for thought, cousins;  while the Barnabas/Willie characters may be loosely based on Dracula characters, the actual Barnabas/Josette plot (as near as I can tell) was lifted from Universal's 1932 version of The Mummy, starring Boris Karloff.  Imhotep is awoken after x number of years and meets a woman that is the reincarnation of his lost love.  The plot then follows Imhoteps attempts to bring said lost love back to him.

It's been a long time since I've see The Mummy and the overall story is so different that I don't know if I would have ever thought of that connection, but that is an interestig point!

[Heather]

Nelson Collins -- interesting about "The Mummy."  I tend to look for more "literary" sources, no doubt overlooking some more popular (and less highbrow) ones.  

Yeah...the Mummy draws some interesting parallels too.

Funny you should mention "Spellbound".  That movie haunted me and intrigued me for years, as I had seen only the first half of it while in high school, and never knew the explanation for Gregory Peck's strange fears or the Dali-dream sequence until someone told me about it years later.  Then it was years later before I actually saw the ending -- I waited in vain for years and years for it to be shown on TV, then finally bought it on VHS a few years ago.  Recently watched it again, three times in obsession (oops -- I mean "succession").  I still love it, but the characters are really cardboard cutouts and don't impress much with repeated viewings beyond the "this is what the explanation" gimmick.  "Vertigo" I think has more depth in characterization and holds up better.  Not sure if either one is really a direct influence on DS, but there are some interesting parallels at least.

Oh, I agree with you there Vlad.  Both are good, but Vertigo has more of a lasting appeal I suppose. I was just listing a few movies that when I'd watch them I'd think...'ahhh that reminds me of DS in an odd way.'  LOL
I know others have mentioned a few films that actually did influence DS---great examples everyone. The Manchurian Candidate is another fav of mine...weird I didn't think of that. I also remember reading how that inspired that subplot in 1897. Fascinating. 

[Heather]

P.S.  When I was researching a project in high school, I stumbled across a reference to a Sandor Petofi, whom IIRC, was also an artist.  1897 had just begun airing, and I thought it was a funny coincidence.

Wow...that is a cool coincidence indeed, ProfStokes. This was an artist, you say? Heck, I gotta look that up...

[Philippe Cordier]

On the other end of the spectrum, however, we have Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, which shamelessly cribbed the Barnabas/Josette plot (IMHO) as backstory/flashback material for the film, with Dracula's wife believing him dead and committing suicide, and Dracula meeting Mina Harker 5 centuries later and believing her to the the spirit of his lost Elizabetha reincarnated.

Nelson Collins, have you seen Dan Curtis's version of "Dracula"?  He brings the theme of a lost love reincarnated into the picture, so it's usually thought (by those familiar with Curtis' far superior version) that Coppola and Company took the idea from the TV-movie.