Grayson could have become a fixture in supporting roles in Seventies H'wood films, but by the time 1971 rolled around and DS was finished, she'd already had it with all the Hollywood bullshit.  I think the fate of Night of Dark Shadows was the last straw for her--a film she'd done a couple of years previous to that had had what she regarded as her best scenes left on the cutting-room linoleum.

I think the same thing goes for Frid.  He did not have the temperament to deal with the inflated egos and PNP (play-and-party) culture in H'wood.  I do think that his roles in Seizure and The Devil's Daughter show he could have done stellar work onscreen--regardless of what one thinks of the films themselves, his work in them is very good.

The actress I think should have done more in film is Nancy Barrett.  I think for personal reasons she chose to remain in NYC and do soaps.  Thayer David *did* have a very busy career in film and television in his few remaining years, and had he not died when he did, Nero Wolfe could well have been picked up as a regular series with TD in the starring role he so richly deserved.  I'm really sorry Clarice Blackburn chose to go more into writing in the Seventies as I think she was so wonderful--really one of the best, most subtle actresses on the series.

As for Karlen, I thought it was very revealing that he recently commented that he often had more to do, as an actor practicing his craft, on a given episode of DS than he did in all his years on Cagney and Lacey.   He was not very well treated on the West Coast and I've wondered whether his agent might have been partly to blame for that.  who knows.

G. 

Even buried in his wonted obscurity, I just know the glory of a resplendent birthday shall sing out over the Land!

G.

Hey Arashi, great to see you back!  don't be a stranger--come up and see us more often!

A fan who is friends with Ed told me at the Festival last year that Ed's decided to take a break from doing the Halloween get-togethers at the Norwalk mansion (sorry the name of it went right out the remnants of my brain).  Perhaps somebody else will take up the gauntlet, especially since it sounds as if the Dark Shadows Festival committee is officially shutting down as of next year.

I imagine that MPI will release the 1966-67 episodes on disc once they have followed the current cycle down to the end.  You could call their customer service # and inquire about their plans--it would be interesting to know whether they have a plan about this.

Best wishes,

Gothick

Johnny, contemplating another long day shooting one on one opposite Roger Davis tomorrow, decides there's no such as thing as TOO MANY g & t's.

Diana's voiceover:  Waterproof Lancome means *I* laugh when others cry... and cry and cry and CRY! *hahahaha*

Comment from Gothick:  does anybody recognize the gent in the top hat?  I think the woman to the far right is Clarice?

Those captions are fun, but does it matter that the picture shows Beth's ghost with Chris Jennings?

Agent:  But Grayson, I really don't think Dan Curtis will go with giving you top billing over Joan Bennett...

I agree with you about the scene where Maggie visits Collinwood.  It's an amazing scene, and you are right about how effective the camerawork is.  Given how quickly they had to stitch these togethers, it's amazing there aren't more closeups of weedy antimaccassars than there already are.