Reviewing the DS Writers

[VAM]

DS had many writers a list that includes Art Wallace, Francis Swann, Ron Sproat, Malcolm Marmorstein, Joe Caldwell, Gordon Russell, Sam Hall, and Violet Wells. With this many pens at work there was at times confusion in the script but also an interesting variety of prose. Would anyone like to comment or compare some styles?

[Thom]

Ron Sproat created Angelique and I applaud him for quitting the show in 1968 when it had become too much of a cartoon - like the horrid Passions show is now - with werewolves, man made men and women, vampiresses wandering around the countryside in filmy green nightgowns etc. Dan Curtis obviously felt a great kinship with Sam Hall, but Sam is not one of my favorite writers. He was a little heavy handed where his wife's characters were concerned. The screenplay for House of Dark Shadows and the 1991 revival series were terrible because of Hall and his son Matthew.

[VAM]

Ron Sproat created Angelique and I applaud him for quitting the show in 1968 when it had become too much of a cartoon - like the horrid Passions show is now - with werewolves, man made men and women, vampiresses wandering around the countryside in filmy green nightgowns etc. Dan Curtis obviously felt a great kinship with Sam Hall, but Sam is not one of my favorite writers. He was a little heavy handed where his wife's characters were concerned. The screenplay for House of Dark Shadows and the 1991 revival series were terrible because of Hall and his son Matthew.

Thanks Thom for the inside information-especially about Ron Sproat.

[Luciaphile]

DS had many writers a list that includes Art Wallace, Francis Swann, Ron Sproat, Malcolm Marmorstein, Joe Caldwell, Gordon Russell, Sam Hall, and Violet Wells. With this many pens at work there was at times confusion in the script but also an interesting variety of prose. Would anyone like to comment or compare some styles?

Very much liked the work of Wallace and Swann--both understood the importance of complex characterizations and the quality showed.  

Marmorstein has a rap as being a terrible writer, probably because of an interview Sam Hall gave.  Watching the episodes he wrote, I have to say, I think that opinion is undeserved.  He did quite well.

I'm not overly wild about Sam Hall's writing.  Very overblown at times.  Not a lot of attention to character.  

Violet Welles was amazing.  David's dream sequence still stands out in my mind and it's been over a year since I last saw that.  I only wish she'd been around a little longer to soak up more of the show's history, only flaw I have to find with her.

As for Caldwell, Russell, and Sproat, I have to be honest, I haven't paid enough attention to differentiate between their work, but I will have to remedy that.

Luciaphil

[Nancy]

Ron Sproat created Angelique and I applaud him for quitting the show in 1968 when it had become too much of a cartoon - like the horrid Passions show is now - with werewolves, man made men and women, vampiresses wandering around the countryside in filmy green nightgowns etc. Dan Curtis obviously felt a great kinship with Sam Hall, but Sam is not one of my favorite writers. He was a little heavy handed where his wife's characters were concerned. The screenplay for House of Dark Shadows and the 1991 revival series were terrible because of Hall and his son Matthew.

Ron Sproat was such a creative force in DS, and I don't think he gets much credit for it.    Curtis often gets the credit for DS taking off as it did after the arrival of Barnabas, for example, but Curtis didn't want a sympathetic vampire - he wanted a totally evil character to be killed off in the first 13 weeks (a contract cycle).  He was away in Europe when Barnabas was cast and didn't have anything to do with the writing of the initial scripts for the character, or the fact the writers brought Frid to the DS studio to talk about how to develop Barnabas.  Ron Sproat was part of all that as well.  Of course, when Curtis returned to the U.S., there was already a viewer reaction to the new character so naturally he didn't put the kabosh on how things had developed without him.  He had the idea to create a vampire, but his idea was to have the standard, evil entity for a period of time to kick up the ratings.  

Thom, I agree with you that House of Dark Shadows is one awful movie (IMO).   I blame the lack of power in the revival series not only on the writers but the directors as well.  

Nancy

[VAM]

Thom, I agree with you that House of Dark Shadows is one awful movie (IMO).   I blame the lack of power in the revival series not only on the writers but the directors as well.  

Nancy

With all that blood and gore, it looked like they were trying to attract a whole different audience. I did not care for the revival series at all.

[VAM]

Violet Welles was amazing.  David's dream sequence still stands out in my mind and it's been over a year since I last saw that.  I only wish she'd been around a little longer to soak up more of the show's history, only flaw I have to find with her.

Wells was "amazing" and produced some snappy dialogue exchanges. No doubt, she was one of my favorite talents behind the scenes of DS.

[jase]

Violet Welles is God.  If DS had ever had anything resembling a head writer of today, instead of the bizarre 'left-hand-doesn't-talk-to-the-right-hand'writers' corps often led by Sam Hall that they seemed to have going, VW should've been that head writer.  She managed to bring EVERY character, no matter how drab, to life.

I really liked Ron Sproat and Malcolm Marmorstein -- their work pre-Barnabas and in '67 was absolutely brilliant and probably the show's writing peak, where every character had depth and all the lines were gold, and I wish I could see it again -- and the occasional Joe Caldwell script too.  Sam is a sweetheart, and was the better of the two de facto heads (I detested Gordon Russell's work with the heat of a thousand suns) , but not anything too special too often.

Anyway.

[RingoCollins]

You know, I think I have to give this discussion the Oscar for:

Best Thread in a Forum, Blouse or Waistcoat

because, believe it or not, I really enjoy the serious discussions of the elements of the show, and this thread and the posts have got me to thinking about a whole new aspect of the show.  I don't think I have paid attention to who wrote what, and the impact the writer of a given episode had on that half hour, and in turn the storyline if not the whole show.  I remember way back when I only knew about the Sci-fi board, it seemed I was learning so much every day about some angle or minutia of the show - and really had nothing to offer, except opinion [and the occasional distraction . Well some things haven't changed  but with you folks and enlightened viewpoints, and threads like the discussion on the current story line [with the year in the title]  the reasons why this little show keeps growing in interest for myself are 'witch slapping' me in the face   - and apparently alot of others too, with the ever-swelling activity here -

so, to wrap up the acceptance speech as the orchestra cuts me off....

Thanks for the insight!

and thanks to Gwyeth Paltrow for forgetting the top half of her outfit! [nice neck!]

----
How in the hell could 'Lord of the Ringo's' have lost for best picture?

and coming next year, a sequel to the winning [goofy, boring, typical, emotionally manipulative] 'Mind' movie: 'A Healthy Colon'

[VAM]

Thanks for the compliment...Thought they were reserved for  TLATKLS!