I'm a straight guy, so perhaps not qualified to speculate, but I think adamsgirl is on the mark. There's an essay floating around somewhere--I read it online years ago--by a gay guy who speculates on the nature of the gothic, the outsider-ness, use of solitary outcast characters whom society disapproves of, in fact outlaws, etc...it was a compelling argument to this student of literature.

If I were gay I'd love DS. Oh wait, I DO love DS...hmmm.

i noticed the strange camera angles and the horizontal squeeze right away. it is the camera doing that but i dont know if it was done on purpose or not. i notice the same effect much later in the series. i think it is in 1968 roger davis seems unusually tall and thin in some episodes. i think the angles they use (like shooting from the ground up)and that horizontal squeeze really added to the mood of that first episode and it makes joan bennett look so much more elegant for some reason.

Thanks for that info...I was hoping it wasn't some compression mistake on the DVD.

Also (off topic)--is there a way to edit posts? I'm the worst typist ever and I noticed I wrote "Nicky" instead of Vicky and "Davis" instead of David previously...ha ha...

I'm on episode 10 now and am realizing that the constant references to ghosts, goblins, hauntings, etc. are a metaphor for the troubled Collins family AND a suggestion that the house might actually be haunted. I'm loving the psychological complexity of the characters, esp. David and Carolyn...David is amazing. Alexandra Moltke was so beautiful...unconventionally so, thus all the more beautiful. There are relatively few characters at this stage, so everyone has LOTS of dialogue...and yet very few flubs.

Great stuff all around.

First off, I never saw these as a kid. I was 6 in 1966...I think we started watching in 1968. But I did catch them on the SciFi channel years ago and loved them. How cool to finally have them on DVD!

The first thing that strikes me runs counter to a major DS myth--that the supernatural element only appeared later in the show and at first it was a regular soap. In reality, within just the first 3 eps we already have some pretty heavy hints that Collinwood is haunted ("The House of Usher," "BOO!", "a mausoleum," etc.). Burke also says something along these lines in Ep. 1...anyway, along with the amazing Cobert score, it sure feels like a ghost story early on.

Great hint from Carolyn in #2 about Vicky's possible maternal side: just after calling Collinwood a loony bin, she says to Elizabeth "Vicky's mother must be crazy to let her come her." Hmmmm....

(And Carolyn's rather cringe-inducing desription of Roger..."He sends me!" Wow.....)

Love all the atmospheric location shots. And how thrilling to see the first-ever foyer shot...

One question for those of you who are watching the DVDs: do some shots look as if they've been horizontally compressed? At least in the first 3 eps it seems this is the case. Maybe it was just one camera? In any case it looks like people and objects are taller and skinnier than they really are.

Thanks folks...

Hey kids.

I love these forums, but about 90% of the time it is so slow and the navigation so jerky I can't really read anything. In case I am not clear the scrolling hesitates and opening new areas takes forever. 10% of the time it is just fine--fast, smooth scrolling, etc.

I am on a fast line so....what's up?

If this has been covered before, I apologize.

Scott

thanks!

Totally agree. I've only seen this storyline once (the original run!) so seeing Nancy act is a treat. I love her swooning characterization, as she (consciously) overacts the part of the proper 18th century single woman. "My reputation is ruined!"

But Pansy rocks the most.