Happy Birthday Retzev!  Wishing you much joy of your solar return!

G.

I think of Violet Welles as THE unsung heroine of DS.  There's only that one interview with her (so far as I know) which Dale Clark published in his zine, and really ought to be republished in one of the PomPress books (except we know that KLS never, ever pays a red cent to anyone for anything--oops, did I say that with my outloud voice?)  Apparently Welles came back to write practically the entire final month of the series, so anything that's decent in '41 PT probably comes from her violet quill.

I agree that I, too, never tire of watching Laura and Ange duke it out.  I even love watching Ange order Magda to bring her a mirror!  She's so imperious in that scene.  What fun.

xo G.

For some reason today, I was recalling Laura and Angelique's big confrontation scene in 1897.  When Laura says to Our Favorite Witch:  "What does it feel like to succeed as a ... whatever you are... but to be a failure AS A WOMAN?"  I think it is one of the bitchiest moments in all DS history.

One of the tragedies that's bugging the hell out of me right now is that NoDS is being released in its unrestored form.  I was really looking forward to seeing the restored piano scene with its exchange between Laura and Angelique, where the spiteful witch informs her rival:  "Oh, he knows what's happening, Laura my darling, and for *the first time in his life* he's really enjoying it!"

In some weird alternate version of the DS multiverse, this second scene (which takes place in the AU world of the movies) could be see as Angelique's payback for what Laura taunted her with in 1897.

G.

Funny, Dark Lady, I watched this episode a few weeks ago and I had the same thought--where's the light coming from in the Secret Room?

Even if there was a grille masked as some sort of ornamental feature of the rear exterior of the mausoleum (which is a likely explanation of the presence of light and air in the Secret Room), the kind of lighting seen on camera suggests an overhead source.  Fluorescent light from beyond the grave?

G.

Not much to say beyond the fact that I have had similar thoughts to those you have voiced.

Yet to see Depp Shadows so I won't comment.  I have seen the 1991 series and the 04 pilot and neither was an artistic success, though for what it is worth, I do think the 1991 redaction had some wonderful moments, thanks in large part to Barbara Steele, Julianna McCarthy, and occasionally Ben Cross (miscast and poorly directed in his role, just my opinion).  Some of the others had good moments but these three performances were the main standouts in what rapidly slithered into an unwieldy mess.  Again, network interference in the plotlines and the production seems in part to blame.  I haven't followed the respective histories all that carefully but I have the impression that a "too many cooks" situation may also be to blame for the difficulties of the 04 WB thing and the Burton/Depp fandango.

I personally don't grok the concept of DS as a "franchise."  To me, the original series, a weird, underbudgeted, oddball little adventure, more or less ignored or misunderstood by network suits and much of the ABC publicity arm, busting out to become this huge cultural phenomenon that became part of the late Sixties countercultural scene, is way, way ahead of--and more interesting than--any of the attempts at a reboot.  Maybe part of the reason for that is the extraordinary calibre of the original cast, and the fact that some of the writing was so literate, with that Victorian gothic texture that made it all so memorable.

Just my thoughts.  I do think that fans of the various versions could give more accurate accountings since they are more familiar with the quirks of the situations involved in the production of each successive attempt at a revival.

G.

And for later 1840... the Barnabas/Julia scenes are among the elements that stand out, for sure,  I particularly like the scenes [spoiler]in the episode when Angelique has lifted the curse from Barnabas; there are a couple of wonderful scenes where Julia is at her most vulnerable and later, with Gerard, her most world-weary and reflective.  Great stuff.[/spoiler]

You'll notice that after Barn has declared his "one true love" for our Favorite Witch, it's still Julia who takes care of Barn and cleans up the mess.

"Faithful old Aunt Julia..."  glad the show never went on long enough for us to hear THAT line.

G.

DarkLady, I actually love 1995/Summer of 1970 too.  Even though it is at times repetitive, there are some incredible moments.  Mad Carolyn in 1995 is one of Nancy Barrett's finest hours on the show.  We were on vacation during the 1995 period back during the original broadcast in 1970 and that has always given a certain special quality to those shows for me.  I never saw them until the actual year 1995, in fact, if I remember aright.

In 1970, there are so many haunting elements... the night of the sun & the moon ... Gerard's green flag ... Daphne's heavy lilac perfume... the oppressive sense of evil that Julia senses whenever Gerard is near... the weird appearance in town of Sebastian and Roxanne... it's all kind of surreal because a lot of it is never really resolved, and then when 1840 starts up the story goes in a direction quite different from what we had been led to expect.

G.