Mamorstein & Swann

[Joeytrom]

Was there ever an explanation for their departure from DS?

Mamorstein was writing up until around September 1967.  I thought his episodes were good.  The team of Mamorstein/Sproat/Caldwell kept things from going too far out.

[Gothick]

Joey, I don't have an answer for you, but will just comment that I personally found the scripts of Marmorstein and Swann on a stellar level rarely attained by Sproat, whose writing seemed much more workmanlike--serviceable but not much beyond that.

It's interesting that Sam Hall detested Marmorstein as a writer--I remember Grayson complaining about his scripts.  She had a couple of his shows to do when she was first on.  So far as I can figure out, Sam replaced Marmorstein as a writer for the show.  Gordon Russell joined around July 1967, I believe.

G.

[wes]

I don't know the answer either, Joey.  (Could this be a trend?)  I do have a Swann book to read.  I'll probably read it next month.  I just skimmed thru it, and it seems not much like Dark Shadows.

It is (c) 1966.  It has a gold border layout like the DS books' color.  It is a gothic.  Takes place in the 1800s.  Has a lead character named Burke.

It says here, it (ROYAL STREET) is "now being made into a major motion picture."  So, maybe Swann left Collinwood for Hollywood?
 

[Patti Feinberg]

Well, I went to imdb, no mention of Royal Street, even with me entering Swann's name.

Patti

[wes]

I couldn't find the Swann movie, either.  The book says "being made" -- so, maybe it stopped?  Or maybe the title "Royal Street" was changed.  I bet you could find Mamorstein's movie, though!  I have that book, too.  It came out after the movie.
 

[Luciaphile]

Swann had a fairly lengthy and at times prestigious career. Way back on the old Vantagenet board, I posted some biographical material I found on him, but no time to re-research and reconstruct that now. IIRC, he wrote a hit play, some screenplays, etc. I think his career peaked and he started doing screenplays for B pics and then soft gothics. He may still be alive (can't find my passwords to check Contemporary Authors at the moment).

Don't know much about Marmorstein.

If I have time tomorrow, I can try and see what I can find out if anyone has an interest.

Frankly, I think both of them were superior writers to Hall, Sproat, and Russell.

[Patti Feinberg]

Luciaphil...off the top of your head, do you remember which parts he wrote (ie, 1795 or specifically, the witchcraft trials of 1795)?

Patti

[Julia99]

Frankly, I think both of them were superior writers to Hall, Sproat, and Russell.

Of course perhaps they got an easier producer to deal with. . one wedded to one particular storyline and let them work with it. . the later authors seemed to have gotten a manic guy who jumped from idea to idea. . .

[Luciaphile]

Luciaphil...off the top of your head, do you remember which parts he wrote (ie, 1795 or specifically, the witchcraft trials of 1795)?

Patti, IIRC, Swann was gone way before those. He succeeded Art Wallace and wrote some of the 1966/67 stuff (Laura, for instance, I think). Marmorstein wrote some of the early Barnabas material but was succeeded by Sam Hall fairly early on.

Both of them had a pretty good with dialogue and a better sense of pacing, I think.

[Luciaphile]

Okay, here's what I found.

Francis Swann was born July 16, 1913 in Maryland. He went to Princeton and Johns Hopkins. Later, he served in the military. Among other professions, he's worked as an actor, musician, and stage director. As far as I can tell, he's still alive.

Broadway credits:
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=61549

Screenwriting credits:
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:113356~C

If you look at his career chronologically, it appears that after he wrote the Broadway play "Out of the Frying Pan," it was made into a movie, for which he wrote the screenplay. He went to Hollywood, made a living, and then gradually ended up writing gothic novels. A number of these sound very DS like so it's not surprising he wrote for the show.

The Brass Key: "young woman goes to Maine searching for her birthright."
http://www.waterborolibrary.org/maineaut/setinmaine3.htm

Contemporary Authors Online, Gale 2002

Malcolm Marmorstein seems to have done a stint as a stage manager in the early 1960s. He wrote a play called "Will the Real Jesus Christ Please Stand Up?" in 1965 and then after DS, a number of adaptations including "Return to Witch Mountain." Most recently looks like he wrote the screenplay for "The Velveteen Rabbit."

Broadway credits:
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=99071

Screenwriting/directing credits:
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:101340~C

[Philippe Cordier]

Thank you for the information on Swann, Luciaphil.  I had been doing some checking at the university library, and the only item listed for him in the catalog here is the comedy "Out of the Frying Pan ..."  And unfortunately the copy is missing from the shelf, though I'll ask circulation to check on it.

I didn't know he had written Gothic-flavored novels -- I don't think that had been said during our previous discussion of him.  I had speculated last year in the Victoria Winters thread that perhaps some other work of
Swann's could shed some light on his ideas relating to the VW mystery.  That's sheer speculation, I know.  But with your information, I may try to track down some of those other works.

[wes]

I will probably get to read Swann's "Royal Street" next month.

I'll look for "Dark Shadows"-connections.

Vicki was the daughter of Elizabeth Collins.

[Luciaphile]

I found a couple of Swann's novels extremely cheaply through either http://www.abebooks.com or http://www.bookfinder.com Haven't read them yet and I think they're in the storage unit somewhere so it may be some time, but IIRC, they were a couple of bucks each. And of course there is always interlibrary loan (which Vlad, you are certainly eligible to do  ).

[Philippe Cordier]

Luciaphil,

The IBDB source you cites says Francis Swann died in 1983.  What a pity.

I've never seen him mentioned -- other than maybe just his name -- in any interviews by DS producers, etc.

I'll let you know if there are any Vicki parallels once I get ahold of "The Brass Key."  A young woman goes to Maine in search of her birthright.  Gothic novel.  Well, I guess there are parallels!  And this was published in 1963 ...  Could it have been an unacknowledged inspiration/source for Dark Shadows?

[danfling]

I had been having trouble in posting for several days.   I was going to say that Mr. Swann had passed away in 1983.

He is my favorite Dark Shadows writer.

I beleive that he lived in Florida or had retired there.

He had written a number of movie screenplays, including a Tarzan screenplay - not the one in which Diana Millay had appeared.

I think, though, that the person who stated that he had been a stage director and a singer may possibly have him confused with Art Wallace, who did have a very varied career.    As far as I have ever known, Frances Swann was only a writer.

I was not aware of his novels before my reading of this post - only his plays and screenplays.

I would have LOVED to have seen a soap opera (one more traditional such as The Edge of Night or Hidden Faces) written by Mr. Wallace and Mr. Swann!