Today's Robservations Slideshow

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Love the two-shot of Stokes and Julia from episode 835 (1969) posted on Robservations today in the slideshow (...).  Not only is it an atmospheric shot of the two (although the lighting and angle could be improved for Stokes), it somehow sums up a lot of what so fascinated me about the series back in the day.

Here it is:

I love it too. And I also think that occasionally and deliberately having characters (like Stokes there) in half-shadow and/or low-level colored lighting was very effective and atmospheric.

[Gothick]

Thanks for sharing that image here, MB.  I agree about the atmospheric use of shadowy lighting and chiaroscuro on the show.  If I'm remembering correctly, it was very unusual to have such lighting effects on a soap opera in 1966--another area in which the series production team pioneered.

It's not quite as dramatic but I do love today's shot from episode 314 of Julia and Willie.  It underlines how subtly these two actors played many of their scenes together.  I always love watching them do their thing on the show.

G.

[Gothick]

And tonight, there's an even more fabulous snapshot of Barnabas and Julia from episode 315 which encapsulates the dynamic between the two in the original 1967 story even more dramatically than yesterday's still from 314 with Julia and Willie.

Barn gloats, and Julia struggles to hold her ground--but still has an ace up her sleeve.  Love it.

G.

[Gothick]

Tonight's highlights for me are a wonderful shot of Edmonds and Bennett having a chin-to-chin confrontation in the Great Hall from 1966, and Julia looking like she's coming very slowly out of the hangover that ate the Universe in 1897 with a worried Edward and Pansity hovering nearby.

Fabulous shots. Thanks MB!

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

So that people will still be able to tell what's being talked about, here's the shot/caption from Ep #314:

1967: Ep #314 - Dr. Hoffman encourages Willie to keep what
he's learned a secret from Barnabas for David's sake.

And here's the shot/caption from Ep #315:

1967: Ep #315 - Dr. Hoffman tries to persuade Barnabas not
to harm David if he finds him.

(The expressions on their faces do indeed perfectly encapsulate their '67 relationship.)


And while we're at it, I have to add that I love this moment from 9/8's Ep #54

1966: Ep #54 - Burke accuses Roger and Sam of having set
him up.

(Love the expression on Roger's face.)

And this moment from 9/8's Ep #836

1969: Ep #836 - 1969: After Julia declares that David is dead,
 Quentin's laughter fills the room.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Tonight's highlights for me are a wonderful shot of Edmonds and Bennett having a chin-to-chin confrontation in the Great Hall from 1966, and Julia looking like she's coming very slowly out of the hangover that ate the Universe in 1897 with a worried Edward and Pansity hovering nearby.

And so that people will still know what these are about, here they are:

Ep #55

And Ep #837

[Julia99]

I really really wish this last one was on "Caption This". . . I might offer up something like this--
Edward-listen Pansy, I've found a third for tonight.

[michael c]

i haven't seen the 1897 storyline in years so could someone please refresh my memory?

how did julia end up in 1897? and why? wasn't one grayson hall character(magda)enough?

at least she traveled with her plaid coat. the characters were always so vulnerable,so defenseless to whatever supernatural shenanigans the writers could cook up that sometimes i think that they wore heavy,stiff wool and tweed coats year round almost as a defense mechanism. almost like some sort of armour. it made them feel somehow less exposed.

it's a thought at least.

[Julia99]

how did julia end up in 1897? and why? wasn't one grayson hall character(magda)enough?

via the I Ching 'cause Barnabas writes to her (and she finds the letter in that secretary in the front room of the Old House) that he is trapped and going to die.  She throws the wand and ends up passed out on the front lawn of Collinwood in her scandalous short skirt and short hair.  

And 1 Grayson character enough?  What are you tempting the gods today?    

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I really really wish this last one was on "Caption This"

Your wish is my command:

Re: Episode #0837

One slight correction, though:

She throws the wand

She actually sits down in front of the wands that Barnabas had already thrown and arranged, which is interesting because it appeared from the explanation of the I Ching that the person was supposed to throw the wands themselves. But hey, DS would hardly be DS if it always stuck to the rules. 

[Gothick]

The final image in today's Robservation slideshow includes a shot from what I recall as having been Clarice Blackburn's final appearance on the series.  It seems fitting somehow that what we are shown is a moment from a scene with Grayson; I always thought the two actresses had wonderful chemistry onscreen whenever they worked together.

It's nice to reflect that Clarice's debut on the series as Sarah Johnson in 1966 will be coming up soon, I believe (I may have missed it already).  Maybe there'll be a shot of her handing Maggie Evans a dime and saying something like "Thank you dear; you've been very kind.  Now, don't spend it all in one place."  Maggie's expression at that moment is really worth the price of admission...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A bit late, but here it is:

1970: Ep #1104 - Under Gerard's influence, Mrs. Johnson
lies to Julia that she had a dream that Barnabas is in danger.

[Gothick]

In tonight's new slide-show for Robservations, I love the first image for episode #69, and the first one for episode #330.  A gimlet-eyed Mrs Sarah Johnson hits the scene with a bang (did I miss her big scene in Sheriff Pat's office yesterday?) and Burke is understandably both delighted and maybe a little intimidated by this determined new ally.

The capture at the start of the four for episode 330 is a wonderful shot of Julia wearing THE coat--why on Earth she wasn't allowed to keep this one, and why they made her switch to that other nubby horror, has always mystified me.  (Of course I sometimes wonder whether Grayson simply walked home wearing this coat and conveniently forgot to bring it home--but I don't think that grey was her favorite color, judging from the candid snaps I've seen of what she wore on her way to and from the studio.)

I loved the image of Julia and Ben that figured in yesterday, or the day before's sequence from 1840. Julia looked just like a little girl at a party being told she couldn't have any ice cream when Ben was laying down the law about going anywhere near Barn's coffin.

G.

[Midnite]

That is a beautiful coat!

[Gothick]

The first image in the slideshow for episode 85 really captures the flavor of the early months of DS.  Liz is in the infamous roll-neck lime-green shroud, Carolyn has her hair up, and both women are absorbed in a heated discussion about the dating life of Miss Carolyn Stoddard and the not so minor peccadilloes thereof.

Just a marvelous moment that seems worthy of note.  Thanks for continuing this series, MB!

G.