DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '02 I => Topic started by: VAM on April 13, 2002, 10:46:05 PM
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I know Julia99 will love this post. My personal favorite of all Grayson's roles ( because of the range in characterization) was Magda. Here is an opportunity to evaluate each of Grayson's characters on DS and determine which one you consider her best and why.
Dr Julia Hoffman
Natalie DuPres
Magda
Julia Hoffman PT
Julia Collins
Constance Collins
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too easy VaM, too easy ..
Dr Julia Hoffman
Magda
Natalie DuPres
Julia Collins
Julia Hoffman PT
Constance Collins (luved the crazy over-the-top "JUST Kill me and get this incredibly stupid scene over with, so I can go home .. prat fall!) :P
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too easy VaM, too easy ..
I expected this answer from one who considers herself the ultimate reference source for Grayson Hall!
(Knew you would put that HYPO gal #1 ;))
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Contains SPOILERS...
Dr Julia Hoffman - Adored her. How could I not love a gal who fearlessly faces a vampire in just her nightgown, with nary a cross or stake handy? She had to bet that Barnabas would be interested in her offer of a cure, and she had nothing going for her but hope and guts.
Natalie DuPres - Josette's adoring aunt, you had to feel sorry for her to lose the girl who was as close as a daugther. Natalie tries to help Joshua cure Barnabas, but it's a dismal failure. The woman was love personified, and all the got was sorrow. I loved the way Grayson portrayed her.
Magda - Supposely Grayson's favorite role, and mine, too. Her remarks to Barnabas about waxing the Old House floor still make me laugh. And her sadness at the realization that she had cursed her own niece and nephew was very powerful acting on Grayson's part.
Julia Hoffman PT - A bitch with some seemingly lesbian tendencies, according to some, she was Angelique's PT gal all the way. When she was about to stake Barnabas, I was screaming--and then I screamed louder when OUR RT Julia showed up, whomped her on the head and killed her! Great acting here, she was so prim and staid, all the choking and other affectations gone.
Julia Collins - Not much to say here. She really didn't have much of a role, but like all her counterparts, she was all about love--and I sense Grayson's raison d'etre was love, too!
Love, Robin
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1)PT Hoffman--This character was extremely cold and cruel, not merely devoid of her counterpart's hysterics but of any emotion, save her dedication to Angelique. She was one of my favorite PT villains.
2)Julia Collins--I don't have any particular reason for ranking this character where I did. She was strong, but not overbearing and sympathetic, but not melodramatic. In a story line that I felt was lacking in most areas, I appreciated Julia's presence.
3)Magda Racosi--She had backbone and was clever. I enjoyed watching the development of her reluctant alliance with Quentin and Barnabas and only wish that we could have learned more about her final fate before returning to the present.
4)Natalie DuPres--An independent woman who spoke her mind more often than Joshua would have liked, I admired her spirit.
5)Dr. Julia Hoffman--As time went by, I felt that she deferred to Barnabas too often, and the brazenness that Julia displayed in her early episodes faded. While I greatly admire Julia's loyalty and firm friendship with Barnabas, I came to miss some of her earlier qualities.
6)Constance Collins--I'd practically forgotten this role since she played it for such a short time.
ProfStokes
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Dr. Julia Hoffman-loved her patience, especially with Barnabas. I give her alot of credit, especially considering the way she felt about Barnabas. If a man I was in love with treated me that way, I would have been long gone, but not Julia, she never left his side. A wonderful woman!
Magda-Couldn't help but love her! And I adored that accent!! [nuts]
Natalie Dupres-Loved how close she was with Josette. She had a real maternal instinct here and it really showed in the character.
Julia Hoffman PT-Good acting here, but I didn't really care for her mean character. [pissd]
Julia Collins- I don't really remember much about these last two characters.
Constance Collins
Constance Collins
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Magda: What can I say? The theatricality that Hall often had worked so well here. Hall was enthused about the part; she and Thayer David worked really well together, and when they needed a moral focus for the show, she became it. Barnabas was well into his "hero" phase by then, but he was still doing the S.O.S. and screwing things up, and there's this one line she has where she tells him that he's "taken her Sandor from her," that had a nice bit of pathos in it.
Natalie duPres: You know, I got a kick out of her. A huge kick. From the moment she sailed into Collinwood with her ostrich plumes and looked down her nose at Joshua Collins, I liked her. See my comment above about theatricality. I think the writing helped too.
Dr. Julia Hoffman: I'm kind of surprised I ranked her where I did. Let's just say while I think the character had her definite moments, the occasional overacting of Grayson Hall could make me cringe. That and the writing that turned her into a dishrag.
Julia Hoffman PT: If you guys think I can be vitrolic now, just wait until we get to 1970 PT ;). Character is stolen straight from Rebecca except that the lesbian overtones are even more obvious here. It was an interesting approach to the character and it worked. What I really loved were Hoffman's scenes with people like PT Liz and Carolyn, before they were told to go back to their standard, blah, characterizations.
Julia Collins: I really hated the whole 1840 PT scene with a passion. The character didn't have much that made me sit up and take notice. By then it seemed like most of the cast had stopped caring, and Grayson Hall was no exception.
Constance Collins: I don't remember her too well, she was kind of standard, vinegary old spinster, right? Hard to formulate an opinion about her.
Luciaphil
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Dr Julia Hoffman A+Natalie DuPres B
Magda B (I rather detested the wig. )
Julia Hoffman PT A
Julia Collins B-
Constance Collins B
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I hate to say it but I found Grayson Hall very annoying when I was little. It wasn't until I finally got to see the 1897 episodes where she plays Magda that I started to really enjoy her. She seems to play these roles somewhat "larger than life," and that works best with over-the-top characters like Magda and the evil Miss Hoffman in Parallel Time.
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Magda's probably her best character -- she seems to have a lot more flow to her work in those episodes, without all the choppy, clipped setences and hesitations of the others. It all seems to flow more easily and you get drawn in far more, I think.
The best character Grayson played in "Dark Shadows" was Carlotta Drake in the second movie, simply because it's everything her television performances were not. She's restrained, accomplished, elegant, dangerous and really consolidates her best skills in a way that the hectic production schedule of the show always prevented.
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The best character Grayson played in "Dark Shadows" was Carlotta Drake in the second movie, simply because it's everything her television performances were not. She's restrained, accomplished, elegant, dangerous and really consolidates her best skills in a way that the hectic production schedule of the show always prevented.
PLUS she looooked GOOOOOD. .. just look at Stuarts avatar. I'll take a croissant and cappuccino please Carlotta!
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PLUS she looooked GOOOOOD. .. just look at Stuarts avatar. I'll take a croissant and cappuccino please Carlotta!
...perhaps laced with poison ;D
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Vam here's my list:
Julia Hoffman
Magda
Natalie
Julia Collins
Contance Collins
Julia Hoffman PT
i enjoyed most of her roles She was great !!!
jennifer
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Since I have an innate dislike for rankings, gradings, and those ENDLESS top 10 lists with which our media industrial military entertainment complex insists upon saturating us, I'll simply comment upon Grayson's different roles. I cherish every moment she was on the screen ... words spoken from the heart.
Dr. Julia Hoffman--the first role I saw her in as a child in 1968, and I instantly fell under her spell. Never had seen anyone like her before, and there never will be another like her again. My sister used to get annoyed by her distinctive "Julia" way of chopping up a sentence--note that that is JULIA's way of speaking, not Grayson's, because in other roles she didn't do this. I often wonder whether Grayson actually knew a woman doctor (or academic?) who spoke in this peculiar manner and based Julia's speech patterns upon her. Even as a child I loved her way of speaking; it turned even the most banal statements into little bits of poetry, to my ears. I also loved Julia's movements, a unique mixture of awkwardness and grace, that seemed to embody a rare spirit of courage, tenacity, and feistiness. I can't help thinking of Julia when Bob Costello described Grayson as "a gutsy broad" (and made it quite clear that that was also a description that came from the heart--he really doted on her).
Magda was Grayson's favorite role, and I'm often amazed by the subtle moments she weaves into the brash, extravagant, proud gestures, the fiery speeches, the deft put-downs, the peppery bits of Rom wisdom. Sam came up with the role of Magda, one fan who knew the family told me, because Grayson actually had Rom bloodlines in her heritage.
Natalie is wonderful to watch because Grayson played this kind of role onstage so much (and, incidentally, Magda may have had a bit of her 1962 role in The Buskers in her). She could have easily let Natalie's humane wit and emotionality get lost in those huge costumes, those endless bits of business with the tarot cards, beauty marks, and so on, but from start to finish, you never forget that Natalie is a woman with a fierce loyalty to her family and her own unique code of conduct.
I personally think that some of Grayson's finest acting on the series was in her scenes as housekeeper Julia Hoffman in Parallel Time 1970. What Stuart said about her performance as Carlotta is even more true of her work as Hoffman; for some reason I like Hoffman better as a character, perhaps because they were not able to excise Hoffman's essential attachment to Angelique (in the NoDS film, it is Carlotta's physical body that enables Angelique to materialize in this world, and whenever Angelique and Quentin make love, she feels their passion within her own being--these scenes were cut from the final version of NoDS).
My favorite scenes of PT Julia Collins (1841) were the very early ones at the tail end of the 1840 storyline. I loved seeing G with long hair, and I thought it would have been more interesting if she had played the Matriarch as seemed to be suggested by the fact that she was originally "MISSUS Collins." In the actual PT 1841 storyline, I liked her scenes with Kendrick (John Karlen) best because both actors seemed to be on the same page, and G got to play Julia's genuine desire to keep her niece from getting hurt.
Constance was hardly more than a walk-on, but she did have a bit of fun with it. I enjoyed seeing her in the costume and do (even if it seemed completely wrong for 1660--oh well!).
Goddess, what a screed! I did try to avoid posting to this topic ... now you see why ...
Gothick
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Thanks for your wonderful discussion of Grayson's roles in DS, Gothick. I have also been avoiding this topic for the same reason--I love Grayson in EVERYTHING she did.
And I agree with just about everything you have to say about her. :D
Thanks to VAM for asking the question too. It's great reading everyone's comments about the Glorious Grayson.
Bette
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I'm another viewer who finds it impossible to grade Grayson's roles-she shined in every one of them. To decide on a favorite is, for me, just not possible. She portrayed such diverse characters and made each of them unique and believable.
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The 1795 Countess and Magda were great and show what a wonderful actress Grayson Hall was - two characters on opposite ends of the spectrum, but she was convincing and found the essential humanity as both. Her Dr. Hoffman is truly a unique characterization - she made what could have been a standard, Van Helsing like character (the character was intended to be a vampire destroyer I believe) into a truly original creation. The tilt of her head and the short quick steps she takes always make me think of a bird.
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The tilt of her head and the short quick steps she takes always make me think of a bird.
When I belonged to Grayson Hall's fan club way back in the 60's, I remember her president ribbing her about her "patented duck walk." So I guess this observation wasn't lost by her loving fans then, either!
I have a black and white photo of Grayson from that club, autographed from her to me, signed, "Love, Grayson." I cherish it!
Love, Robin
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I have a black and white photo of Grayson from that club, autographed from her to me, signed, "Love, Grayson." I cherish it!
Love, Robin
Robin,
How fortunate that you had the opportunity to meet her!
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I'm not really grading Grayson, but I'll list my favorites among her characters, in order of preference:
Magda
Dr Julia Hoffman
Julia Collins
Natalie DuPres
Julia Hoffman PT
Constance Collins
Brian