A Thought about 1970 Parallel Time

[ClaudeNorth]

Currently watching the 1970 PT episodes and it occurred to me that it might have been more interesting if KLS played Quentin's first wife and Lara Parker his second.  I would have enjoyed seeing both actresses move out of their comfort zones and play roles that were truly different from their usual assignments. (Call me crazy, but I have the feeling that KLS would have no trouble playing evil...) Of course, I suspect that the notions of LP as villain and KLS as ingenue were etched in stone as far as Dan Curtis was concerned, as well as with many fans, but I think it would have given those episodes an added, and welcome, twist.

[Lydia]

What an interesting idea!  The storyline would have been drastically changed because of Kathryn Leigh Scott's participation in House of Dark Shadows.  We would have seen a lot more of wife #2 dealing with being Mistress of Collinwood, and possibly a lot more of the kidnapping subplot.  I would have enjoyed seeing KLS playing evil, but I'm not sure that Lara Parker as an innocent damsel in distress would have been convincing.

What we would have missed out on would be the unusual interactions of Grayson Hall's character with those of KLS and Lara Parker: in cahoots with Parker's character and tormenting KLS's.  I'm so glad we got those bits.

[Patti Feinberg]

What we would have missed out on would be the unusual interactions of Grayson Hall's character with those of KLS and Lara Parker: in cahoots with Parker's character and tormenting KLS's.  I'm so glad we got those bits.

Yes, this was good stuff. But, I think 'flipping the coin' would have been interesting as well. (I also agree that KLS as the damsel and LP as the villaness was in fact etched in stone    )

Patti

[ClaudeNorth]

Very true.  Logistically, it probably was necessary to keep KLS and LP in their traditional roles.  Also, I agree that seeing The Divine One and LP in cahoots was a highlight.  It really is a trade-off:  that pairing vs. KLS and LP playing against type.

And wouldn't it have been wild if they managed to coax Alexandra Moltke to come back as an evil PT version of Victoria Winters?

[Ronny G]

I'm watching PT, too!
I agree, it would be fun to see KLS play evil, but I don't think I would've like Lara as the ingenue.
I feel like we got a taste of Lara as an innocent character when she played Catherine Harridage(?), and I didn't enjoy her character as much.
I think Lara is about 7 years older, and acted more mature and cultured, and dressed in more sophisticated clothes than KLS. I don't remember her wearing mini skirts as much as KLS. If they switched roles, I would have liked them to switch wardrobes, too, and dress Lara younger and KLS in more chic outfits, but I don't know if it would work. KLS had such a baby face with the round cheeks and LP had more refined features.
I guess that's why they call it typecasting.

[Ronny G]

Well now I'm rethinking, and I remember that KLS played Josette and Lady Hampshire(?), so she can be sophisticated. That's not the same as evil. I guess I got off the subject.

[Uncle Roger]

It would have been fun to see KLS play the Alexis/Angelique scene in the mausoleum.

[Gothick]

If Moltke had come back to play a new character, especially an evil one, during the Tarrytown hiatus period, I think it would have made PT 1970 an even more nuanced and intriguing story.

We got Lara Parker as the ingenue in PT 1841.  I'm just as glad that she got to play a thoroughly psychotic version of Angelique in this storyline.

And this reminds me:  having finished the new comic book and seen the 2012 trailers, what is it with the evolution of the Angelique character into a psychotic slag with super-powers?  On the series, she was also a character with a lot of shadings and nuances and layers.  Yeah, Barnabas always ranted about how eee-vil she was, but we (the audience) got to see some of her doubts, her questionings, and even her desire for love as opposed to her obsessive need to have Barnabas come crawling to her on his hands and knees.

There is no answer to this... maybe the trend for apocalyptic villains with superpowers in the mass media is part of the reason for why the character seems to be written as she is in spin-offs and tie-ins.

G.

[quentincollins]

I'm reserving judgement on movie Angelique until I've seen the movie. I suspect I'll find her sympathetic if Barnabas uses and rejects her again.
I thought a real weakness of 1970 PT was how Angelique lacked shadings of grey and was largely unsympathetic. DS worked best when it's villains were complicated and likable, and the heroes very dark and flawed.

[Bob_the_Bartender]

I just regret that Maggie Evans-Collins did not get a frying pan and use it to whack her abusive husband, Quentin, right over the top of his head!   Jesus, talk about an extremely volatile and misanthropic Neanderthal man!

And, what about that "slightly" eccentric character/former boyfriend of Roxanne Drew, Claude North?  The guy actually lives in the secret room of the Collins Mausoleum.  (What did Claude use as a "water closet," the outside grounds of the Eagle Hill Cemetery?  Oh, there would have been hell-to-pay if the Eagle Hill Cemetery caretaker had caught Claude right in the "act"!)

And, I could never figure out just what the relatively penniless Timothy Stokes had given Mr. North in exchange for the "use" of Roxanne?   

No doubt, judging by Claude's diction, he had seen one-too-many Ronald Colman flicks over the years; I almost expected to hear Claude say: "If I were king," or "It is a far, far better thing I do..."!   

Sorry, ClaudeNorth, but the difference between the patrician PT Claude North and the regular-guy, "Real Time" Bob Rooney is sort of like the difference between Sir Laurence Olivier and Rodney Dangerfield! 

Bob

[ClaudeNorth]

what is it with the evolution of the Angelique character into a psychotic slag with super-powers?  On the series, she was also a character with a lot of shadings and nuances and layers.

When it comes to the characters on the original series, our perceptions of them are based on several years' worth of storylines, so other portrayals (HODS, NODS, the new film, etc.) will usually seem more shallow in comparison.  In the case of Angelique, it's easy to type her as a scorned woman using her powers to get revenge.  Also, I think the idea of someone having the ability to get revenge in such a spectacular way is appealing to a lot of people and a key factor in the character's enduring popularity.  So, given the constraints of a two-hour movie, I can understand a less nuanced rendering of Angelique.

[Willie Loomis]

KLS had range in her characters when she wasn't screaming to be let out of somewhere. 

I have been revisiting 1897 and i have noticed that her Lady Hampshire/Kitty Soames definetly has a nasty streak, something which KLS plays well (i.e.  "another brilliant diagnosis..."), but was never really given a chance to explore until Kitty Soames.  she could have played well with the angelique/maggie parrallell time switch.