DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '06 I => Topic started by: Gothick on March 07, 2006, 12:29:13 AM

Title: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Gothick on March 07, 2006, 12:29:13 AM
I'm in Heaven over the first two images from the Leviathan storyline today featuring Grayson Hall, first in Julia-goes-off-the-cliff mode, then in Julia-the-sly-artful-minx mode.  Heaven!

To me, Grayson Hall's acting is like Audrey Hepburn's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Givenchy dresses.  With such perfection, who needs anything else??

G.
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on March 07, 2006, 01:13:01 AM
And now that the slideshow has changed, here are copies of those two captures so that everyone will still be able to know what's being discussed:

(http://www.dsboards.com/eventimages/0305ds_8.jpg)
1970: Ep #964 - Julia is horrified to be confronted by Jeb in his
'other form' - however...

(http://www.dsboards.com/eventimages/0305ds_9.jpg)
1970: Ep #964 - ...Jeb wants Julia to try to help prevent him
from ever being his true form again.
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Julia99 on March 08, 2006, 04:01:39 AM
what**exactly** did Jeb want Julia to try??
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Sandor on March 08, 2006, 04:09:42 AM
I once knew an acquaintance who, when prompted for memories of DARK SHADOWS, would smile and say, "Remember Dr. Hoffman?!" and raise his hand over his face as if to block the "horror" before him... just like Julia. Did we ever count the number of times Grayson made that gesture on the series?
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: ClaudeNorth on March 08, 2006, 04:45:35 AM
I once knew an acquaintance who, when prompted for memories of DARK SHADOWS, would smile and say, "Remember Dr. Hoffman?!" and raise his hand over his face as if to block the "horror" before him... just like Julia. Did we ever count the number of times Grayson made that gesture on the series?

 ;D

We also need to count up the number of times Grayson sniffed, and the number of times Dr. Hoffman gave someone a sedative.
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Heather on March 08, 2006, 09:26:13 AM
Great captures lately MB...things like that make me smile after a long day...  :)

I once knew an acquaintance who, when prompted for memories of DARK SHADOWS, would smile and say, "Remember Dr. Hoffman?!" and raise his hand over his face as if to block the "horror" before him... just like Julia. Did we ever count the number of times Grayson made that gesture on the series?
We also need to count up the number of times Grayson sniffed, and the number of times Dr. Hoffman gave someone a sedative.

...or how many times she pulled taut/twisted her gloves...

Or pursed her lips...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/dsbabe/510-11.jpg) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/dsbabe/683-66.jpg) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/dsbabe/659-40.jpg)

Or gasped...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/dsbabe/659-25.jpg) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/dsbabe/683-35.jpg)

Or consulted her medical bag, twirled her medallion, etc, etc...

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/dsbabe/683-54.jpg)

That would make a fun homework assignment, doncha think?

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/dsbabe/683-42.jpg)

;D   :-    :-*
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Janet the Wicked on March 08, 2006, 12:16:04 PM
 [laughing4] [laughing4] [laughing4]
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Charles_Ellis on March 08, 2006, 03:02:59 PM
Sam Hall has gone on record (in one of the DVD interviews) that he told Dan Curtis not to end a scene with a CU of Grayson's face because of her "fish-face" pout (my words).

And let's not forget her blinking or her smoker's hack!
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Gothick on March 08, 2006, 05:58:04 PM
Heavens to murgatroyd!  In that first "gasp" (grey suit, in color), dear Julia appears to be having a very "personal" moment there in the drawing room.  Makes you wonder just what she's got below frame there...

G. the naughty
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: stefan on March 08, 2006, 06:04:10 PM
Julia's incessant neck rubbing is really irritating. I know she's a popular character but Grayson Hall could have used some director telling her to tone it down a bit. She was just fine as Julia in the beginning and I enjoyed her Natalie Du Pres. In fact, Natalie is my fav Grayson Hall character.
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Raineypark on March 08, 2006, 06:14:26 PM
Julia would have to rub her neck raw to catch up to the number of times Willie Loomis clutched the back of HIS neck.  And then, of course, there's the undisputed master of the annoying repetitive movement, Jeff and his hair grasping.

Being able to  ignore those annoying little ticks is a pre-requisite to watching soaps.... ::)
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: BuzzH on March 08, 2006, 06:19:53 PM
Julia would have to rub her neck raw to catch up to the number of times Willie Loomis clutched the back of HIS neck.  And then, of course, there's the undisputed master of the annoying repetitive movement, Jeff and his hair grasping.

I agree, that's what I LOVE about DS!  All the overacting, intentional or not.  Sometimes I think ppl DELIBERATELY overacted, but it worked!  I can't imagine Julia NOT gasping, clutching her neck and looking skyward every episode.  It's the one thing that, IMHO, was lacking from Barbara Steele's Julia in the NBC version.   ;D
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Julia99 on March 09, 2006, 12:58:37 AM
Sam Hall has gone on record (in one of the DVD interviews) that he told Dan Curtis not to end a scene with a CU of Grayson's face because of her "fish-face" pout (my words).

And let's not forget her blinking or her smoker's hack!

Sam Hall said not to end on Grayson because she couldn't do 'suprise' because nothing surprised her . ..the exact quote is:
I learned very quickly you could never end an act on Grayson's face, a surprise.  Because in real life Grayson was never surprised at anything, she got this horrific surprise look that would've been cut in any early non-talky.
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Charles_Ellis on March 09, 2006, 01:18:04 AM
I stand corrected.  Speaking of affectations, I'm sure we've all noticed Jonathan's tendency to drag out the last syllable of a sentence- heaven knows it's been spoofed in many a "Collinsport Player" skit!
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: stefan on March 09, 2006, 01:12:50 PM
Quote
I stand corrected.  Speaking of affectations, I'm sure we've all noticed Jonathan's tendency to drag out the last syllable of a sentence- heaven knows it's been spoofed in many a "Collinsport Player" skit!

LOL. I always attributed that to his Shakespearean theater training. I definately noticed that Frid draged out his words sometimes and though it never bothered me, it did seem a theater or "actor" -type affectation. However, I do believe Frid can sometimes have a beautiful way with words and, at his best, could blather the most beautifully phrased sentences of all the actors (I felt anyway). He recites the "Tell Tale-Heart" on one of my DS videos and his phrasing is quite spectacular.
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Fletcher on March 11, 2006, 02:31:07 AM
I'm really enjoying this conversation, and I know it's all in good fun, AND that all of us LOVE Grayson and all (or most) of the other actors.  However, I want to point-out that if the entire run of As the World Turns, or Edge of Night, or All My Children, or any other daily tv show that was done live on tape (or perhaps just live), were available on dvd, we'd see that nearly any actor under that much pressure day after day will develop affectations that would be noticable and laughable under the microscope.

This doesn't happen so much with the pressure of live theater because the direction is usually better (or at least more precise).  And it doesn't happen on modern soaps because they pretty much stop and start, and reshoot, and edit the heck out of a days work nowadays.

I'm not sure we always realize how lucky we are as fans of DS.  I've visited many soap message boards over the years, and you have no idea how many folks would love to have even a week's-worth of their favorite soap from the 60s or 70s.  It's a constant source of conversation on lots of soap boards.   We're lucky Curtis had the wisdom to keep those tapes (even if they were expensive).   But, I guess you all know that.

Okay, that's my admittedly unnecessary disclaimer.   ::)

Carry on . . .
Title: Re: The Voluptuous Horror of Grayson Hall
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on March 11, 2006, 09:33:41 PM
We're lucky Curtis had the wisdom to keep those tapes

It's a common misconception that Curtis preserved the DS episodes, but that's not actually true. Curtis has never owned them. ABC did and then ownership was transferred to Worldvision. ABC is who should be thanked for preserving them.  :)  However, we can thank Curtis for filing suit against ABC because, even though he didn't win, the result finally got the episodes released into syndication. A couple years ago I shared an article about the suit that appeared in Variety in 1975:

'Dark Shadows' Prompts Suit Against ABC And Worldvision