Burke Devlin....like him or hate him?

Several ppl have mentioned Burke bossing Vickie around when I don't think he did.  He'd offer his opinion sure, but she did whatever the hell she wanted anyway, like continuing to be friends w/Barnabas, being interested in the past etc...when did he rule over her?  I don't recall that.  And she was VERY vocal w/him when he went too far and pissed her off.  Like when [spoiler]he had Barnabas investigated.  That did not sit well w/her at all, and she let him have it.[/spoiler]

 

I agree with this. She was furious with him, and he knew it! 

He did end up apologizing to Barnabas on Vicki's demand, so that's got to make you wonder, who's bossing who? LOL! 

He just came across as so obnoxious that it seems as if he's a bully.  

i don't think that it was so much that burke expected vicki to leave her job once they were married as much as it was that at the time a position as governess was suitable to an unmarried girl.it was clear that everyone,including vicki herself,was aware that she would be leaving the position if she ever got married.

also i don't think burke objected in general to vicki having her own hobbies and friends...just that he was rightly worried about her obsession with josette collins,the old house and the remote history of the collins family.he seemed to be the only one(besides dr.woodard)to see how dodgy barnabas' story was.his tone might have been bossy but he was certainly right in his objections to all the time vicki was spending at the old house.

i mean look what was being planned for her at the time.

I admit Vicki did get a bit carried away with the Josette thing but considering [spoiler]Josette's ghost did help her out when Matthew kidnapped her[/spoiler] I can understand why Vicki would be so interested in her.

Even though Burke's suspicions about Barnabas WERE correct, his attitude still rubs me the wrong way. And [spoiler]his reason to Vicki about becoming suspicious of Barnabas were pretty lame. Barnabas never talks about his life in England, so that makes him a guy who could have a shady past? PLEASE!!! I think Burke just wanted any excuse at all to have Barnabas investigated. And even though we all know Barnabas was as guilty as hell for kidnapping Maggie, Burke really had no real hard evidence to present to anyone. Maggie's remembering a tinkering kind of music which also happens to be the kind of music on Josette's music box is circumstancial. There are many, I am sure, music boxes with different kins of tinkering music.

The Niles Bradford could have been trouble for Barnabas, but Vicki brought up a great point, that Barnabas simply chose a name from the top of his head to shut Burke up.

Burke's mistake though was confronting Willie at the Old House, by doing that, he let Willie know how suspicious he was of Barnabas, Willie tells Barnabas, Barnabas tells Vicki and she tells Burke to back off or the wedding is off. Burke should have just kept his distance from there at that point, and thus he could have conducted his investigation without Vicki finding out and making him put a stop to it.[/spoiler]

Gosh, I sound like a defense attorney, don't I?

[spoiler]Burke's telling Willie of his suspicions was not as bad as Dr. Woodard confronting Barnabas about seeing his sister Sarah.  All he had to do was take the Sheriff to the secret room or wait for Burke to return from his first business trip.[/spoiler]

You are so right Joeytrom! 

[spoiler]Woodard's confronting Barnabas about Sarah instead of going to the sheriff first was dumb with a capital D! It's as if Woodard had a death wish.....[/spoiler] 

It's almost as if Woodard's IQ changed along with the change of actors.

[spoiler]Woodard's confronting Barnabas about Sarah instead of going to the sheriff first was dumb with a capital D! It's as if Woodard had a death wish.....[/spoiler]  It's almost as if Woodard's IQ changed along with the change of actors.

Yep, ITA w/you and Joeytrom!  He was just askin' for it and I found little sympathy for him in the end to be quite honest!  He was an IDIOT! 

He was an IDIOT! 

     

     This actor played the same character in the movie "Airport".  He was the perfect idiot in that one too.

     I liked both Burkes.  I found them both to be bossy but watch some of the sitcoms of that era.  I remember that Darren on Bewitched to be very domineering.  Maybe Vicki should have burned her bra in front of Burke.

Didn't like either Burke as characters-though I think the first Burke was a much better actor than Anthony George. When George later went to One Life To Live, he played the doctor the same way he played Burke, so I think he could only really play himself!

LOL, rainingwolf!  And AG had already played a character in the early 60s that was identical to his Burke Devlin and Will Vernon (geez, the names even sound alike) in "The Alfred Hitchock Hour."  When my local station replays the first season of The Untouchables, I must check it out to see if Agent Allison is the same outwardly patient yet subtly manipulative perfectionist. 

As I am currently watching the 1st season, my opinion of Burke Devlin is this:
I love Mitch Ryan's portrayal of Burke Devlin. He is suave, debonaire, and ruthless. I love the interplay between him and Mrs. Stoddard - power against power. And that power absolutely corrupts power. Howz that go? Anyhow, I would have loved to seen Mitch Ryan grill Barnabas about his past and his affection for Vicky. I am sure Ryan would have played it much differently than Anthony George. Ryan's Burke Devlin would have hired his stoolies to look into Barn's past. And I doubt he would have been so insecure as to wonder at Vicky's love for him.
I also would have loved to see RM play Jerimiah. It would have been a good twist. I would also love to have seen more interaction between Mitch Ryan's Burke and Willie. Mitch Ryan would have roughed Willie up a bit, where as George's Burke was just an interrogator.
Yep. Mitch Ryan as Burke Devlin rules.

mscbryk, I thought what you wrote about Burke as the forgotten hero of the show was very interesting.  He was so central to Art Wallace's original concept, but at this stage of the game, when the old chestnut of a new DS gets trotted out, we NEVER hear fans discuss what should be done with Burke, who should play him, etc.

Even less remembered by fans is my candidate for Vicki's fiance, Frank Garner.  Apparently Conrad Fowkes' request for a raise led to DC ordering the character to be written out of the series, according to reports of Mr. Fowkes' statements at the last Festival (I missed him, unfortunately).

I first encountered Burke Devlin in one of those silly "Marilyn" Ross novels.  At the time, I assumed that Devlin was a creation of Ross.  It wasn't until 1976 and the airing of the original Barnabas storyline in a local syndication market that I got to see the Anthony George version of Burke.  I think my first exposure to the Mitchell Ryan characterization (apart from brief clips on the original Ressurection of Barnabas Collins MPI videotape) was in the late 1990s when a mysterious, kindly gentleman sent me a package of 1966 tapes from his remote estate in the countryside.

Like Adam, Burke was a character defined initially by a pronounced streak of monomania.  Unlike Adam, the writers actually allowed Burke to grow and change.   Perhaps the character was too realistic for the "wild and woolly" tone of post-1795 DS.  Had he remained involved, his romance with Vicki would have at least given Moltke a little more to do than stare at Cassandra and complain that she didn't understand.

I do love this scene where Burke and "Miss" Hoffman are talking turkey in the drawing room.  There's such an old boys night out atmosphere in the way that scene is written and played.  This was in the era of Anthony George, who was a friend of Grayson Hall's in real life.

G.

Imagine what a scene with Burke and Nicholas Blair would be like, or Burke & Cassandra!

What did you think of the character of Burke Devlin as a whole? Did you root for him or were you glad to see him go?

I liked the character as a whole because he didn't buy into anyone's crap. Especially Barn's. He could see that there was something fishy there. One of the few that didn't like Barn. Notice what happened! (Burke is dead right? I'm sure that Barn had something to do with that plane going down!!! And all because Burke didn't like Barn.) Also, Burke took the heat for Roger and didn't kill him. Now there's a champ for ya!

I loved Ryan's portrayal. He was so ascerbic towards Barn. Remember the conversation they all had about the House by the Sea? Barn's going on and on about how romantic and lovely, etc. Then Burke chimes in with "Yeah, but I'm accustomed to HEAT."

MaineGirl

I loved Ryan's portrayal. He was so ascerbic towards Barn. Remember the conversation they all had about the House by the Sea? Barn's going on and on about how romantic and lovely, etc. Then Burke chimes in with "Yeah, but I'm accustomed to HEAT."

Um, yeah, but, Anthony George was playing Burke by the time they went to that house and he was saying he liked heat.