Sam Hall interview on tvparty.com site

Is saying someone was miserable an insult?

If someone told a lot of people that I had a "miserable life" I would take that as an insult, yes, especially if the person was just a colleague and not someone who would really know one way or the other.

Another thing, as fans we ache to know what these people really think, then they tell us, and then we blame them for it.   I can blame someone for feeling contempt or judging or assuming unfairly, but not for expressing it.

I am probably in the minority but I don't really want to know the petty thoughts of any performer or creative person about a colleague.  I don't care.  It's one thing to say you didn't along with so and so but quite another to speculate about what that person's personal life must be like.

I don't like his opinions, and I suppose I don't like him much, but I'm glad he's capable of being hard-edged and "snotty" at 88!   That's what I'm hoping for!

There are a lot of people like that in prisons and asylums.  Oh no, did I say that!

No it could not have been me that said that.

Actually I was worried that that post of mine would seem critical of you, Nancy, and I almost didn't post it.  Then I decided I was worrying too much.  Sorry.

There should be no shame in having an unhappy life.

I don't like his opinions, and I suppose I don't like him much, but I'm glad he's capable of being hard-edged and "snotty" at 88!   That's what I'm hoping for!

There are a lot of people like that in prisons and asylums.  Oh no, did I say that!

Alright, now I feel less sorry.

Oh I'm glad you realized you were worrying too much.  I didn't take your post to be critical of me at all.

Nancy

I enjoyed reading a little bit about Grayson and how she enjoyed cooking. I wonder what her favorite recipes were?

She is on my list of people I would have liked to have met as she sounds like a really cool lady!

Interesting interview.  Sam sounds more like Truman Capote than ever.  I get that he did not like D. C., but from my one afternoon I spent with him, I recall that Sam used the words "madness" and "madman" in a way that denoted a kind of curious respect.

The one other thing I'll say about this is that if you survive to be very old, you get to say what you think as bluntly as possible and to hell with the consequences.  It may not be pretty or respectable, but I see it as one of the perquisites of the very old.  Just my personal two drachmae.

I spoke with David Selby a couple of times about Grayson, and he always spoke of her very fondly.  I had no idea about the situation to which Sam alludes in his interview.

One of the people with whom Grayson, at least, remained friendly after the series went off the air was Joan Bennett.  I remember Grayson's housekeeper telling me about the time Joan came to visit in Rhinebeck.  Grayson was a guest at Joan's 65th birthday party in '73.  I just love to think of these two ladies, each elegant in her own special way, talking over martinis and cigarettes.

G.

Gothick, I was just going to post the same; if you're 88, you get to say what you want to say.

I found the article very interesting.....Gore Vidal, Paris, Grayson.

I like that he mentioned Erika Slezak as nice!

Patti

I wonder about the disrespect for DS, considering he wrote so much of it.   It comes across as sniping just a bit, but could it be more a sort of self-deprecation or insecurity over his own work (which almost everyone is bound to have sometimes)?   Perhaps the bluster is a sort of cover for that.   Just a thought.

It's a valid thought Magnus, I know I am critical of my work too!  I was thinking the same thing this morning when reflecting on the article!

It may also be that it was a comparative reference.

I tend to think not, Magnus.  I've read interviews with Sam Hall and heard others comment about things he has said (he didn't start the negative, out-spoken thing at 88, he's been at it for decades) and I don't believe he had that much pride in his work on DS.  To be fair, DC made working as a writer on that show a very difficult thing to do.  DC was always pushing them to do something bigger and better each day which makes crafting a storyline hard.

Nancy

The one other thing I'll say about this is that if you survive to be very old, you get to say what you think as bluntly as possible and to hell with the consequences.  It may not be pretty or respectable, but I see it as one of the perquisites of the very old.

That would be me...

I had watched the interview with the actress who played Hannah Stokes before I read the article and she stated that she knew the Halls and was a friend of Graysons.  She remarked that Sam had been sending her husband, who was in the theatre world, plays and that they were not up to par so when he talked about being a playwright as preferred over being a mere daytime t.v. writer I had to laugh. 

what's funny is that hall sort of implies that frid did his career a disservice by refusing to appear in NODS...not exactly oscar worthy cinema.

realistically,i doubt it would have made a difference either way.

I remember reading an interview with Sam Hall (I don't remember the year) sometime after DS went off the air.  He mentioned something about Frid not wanting to do another DS movie but chose instead to do a play. Hall sniped that the play got "bad reviews" and he was sure Frid regretted his decision.  I researched the reviews on the play and they were good reviews so I don't know where he got that information to form such an opinion.  I don't really know what kind of reviews NODS received.  I don't recall that HODS got wonderful reviews either . . . According to interviews Frid gave post-DS, he didn't regret being in the movies or taking on work in the horror genre.  It might have played out differently if Frid was someone who actually liked horror films or had an interest in the supernatural but neither is the case.

nancy

You came flying out of the womb wicked.  We know this.

nancy

That would be me...