Master of Dark Shadows Blu-ray

[Uncle Roger]

MB, is that the promo narrated by Paul Frees, soon to become the Ghost Host at Disney's Haunted Mansion?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yes, Frees does indeed do the voiceover. He did the voiceovers for several early DS promos. And apparently there are other rare early DS promos on MoDS, but I don't have it yet to know exactly what ones they are. However, I plan to give my friend his birthday present when I see him on Easter, so you can bet we'll open it up and watch those promos at some point during the day. 

[Uncle Roger]

One of the promos that I remember vividly, perhaps because it played almost constantly, had the narrator (maybe Frees?) saying that two women had already fallen to their deaths at the foot of Widows' Hill. Legend says that a third would fall. The promo ended with a very pensive close shot of Alexandra Moltke.

[Miranda]

  Uncle Roger, that promo about Widows Hill is on the Blu-Ray, too.

I bought the DVD, thought it was pretty good, don't mind adding it to my collection.  However, if you don't want to buy it you can rent the documentary itself from Amazon Prime video for 3.99. or buy it for 12.99.  (I think anyone can rent videos on Amazon even if you don't have prime.)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm pretty sure I never saw the Widows' Hill promo. It doesn't sound familiar at all. I'll look forward to it.

The funny thing about the promo I did mention was that I only saw it whenever my local ABC affiliate was running their own programming. (During something like Dialing For Dollars, which, if you never had that in your area, was a program that ran movies in the afternoon, and they would cut up the local phone books, put all the names in a barrel, spin it around, reach in for one, call that person, ask if they were watching, and if they were and they knew the answer to whatever they were asking that day (usually the secret word), they would win money - and if they missed the answer, the money amount would keep building until someone did get it right.) I never saw the DS promo once during ABC's own programming hours.

[KMR]

OMG, Dialing for Dollars! We had that in our viewing area in mid-Michigan, channel 5 or 7, I think. What a hoot remembering that.

Looking forward to getting Master of Dark Shadows someday soon. In Blu-ray.

[dom]

That's awesome, MB. I know the feeling. That's exactly how I felt when I ran across my first DS video. And when I saw the Collectors Series I  thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

[Uncle Roger]

I don't recall Dialing For Dollars on any of the NYC stations that I watched. The ABC affiliate did run a very similar program called Prize Movie. It was hosted by former starlet and future Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman actress Gloria Dehaven. Prize Movie aired during the morning, so I never saw it. It does have a place in DS history, as on one occasion, Jonathan Frid, dressed in full Barnabas regalia, swooped in to attack Gloria. Prize Movie aired live, so I doubt that any video exists. A publicity shot of Gloria and Jonathan that has been published numerous times may be the only evidence that it happened.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

For those who may not have had a version of Dialing for Dollars in there area, here's a link to an article that reminisces about one New England version:

Who Remembers…Dialing For Dollars?
(Providence, RI/New Bedford, MA)

And an overview of the show (which lists the Boston version):

Dialing for Dollars

But the main reason I'm posting this is to share transcripts of two promos Jonathan Frid did for Boston's old WNAC (which no longer exists) back when, by popular demand, DS was returning to the Boston ABC affiliate on January 13, 1969 after parent/religious groups had it banished in Boston to a UHF station that showed it at 2:30pm before kids got out of school (lest kids be corrupted by the "satanic plots" and "mayhem" ). The Dialing for Dollars connection will become obvious:

Scene:	Billowing fog/smoke as Barnabas slowly steps out into the open.
Announcer:	Barnabas Collins lives in the tiny fishing village of Collinsport, Maine. He has lived there all his life. For 175 years. He has been able to live this long on a select diet because Barnabas Collins is a vampire.
Barnabas:	Welcome to the supernatural, where the night is my ray of hope. In the dark shadows of nightfall I make my presence known. I strike with cold steel, my prey is the living. In the dark shadows of night you will see and hear my presence. I am Barnabas Collins. If you crave the mysterious, the strange, you can see me every weekday at four pm right after Ed Miller's two o'clock Dialing for Dollars movie on Channel 7.
Announcer:	Join Dark Shadows Monday through Friday at four pm on Channel 7. You'll see Barnabas Collins at work. This way he won't see you first...

And a shorter, slightly different version:

Scene:	Billowing fog/smoke as Barnabas slowly steps out into the open.
Announcer:	Barnabas Collins lives in the tiny fishing village of Collinsport, Maine. He has lived there all his life. For 175 years. He has been able to live this long on a select diet because Barnabas Collins is a vampire.
Barnabas:	If you crave the mysterious, follow me on a journey to the unbelievable. In the dark shadows of the night you will see and hear my presence, for I am Barnabas Collins. Join me weekdays at four following Ed Miller's two o'clock Dialing for Dollars movie on Channel 7.
Announcer:	Join Barnabas Collins weekdays at four pm on Channel 7 before he joins you...

Unlike with Gloria DeHaven, I've never seen any photos of Frid with Ed Miller. Though Frid/Barnabas did make an appearance on Dialing for Dollars to promote the return of DS to Channel 7.

It's too bad MPI doesn't share more of these local DS promos/appearances. Though who knows if footage of them may even still exist or, if so, if DCP might even have copies?

[Gerard]

When I was a kid, we had Dialing for Dollars on both radio and TV.  One local radio-station had it and announced how much money and if it called you and said you had the right amount, you won.  Our local CBS affiliate did the same thing.  It happened at twelve noon.  So we had the old radio and the Admiral TV set on at the same time and my mom would run from the kitchen (with the radio) to the TV set (in the living room) to write down and the winning numbers and then wait with baited-breath for the phone to ring.  No one was allowed on it during that time.  Both the radio and TV stations would shred the white pages out of a phone book and pick a slip from the pile. 

Gerard

[Gothick]

MB, those 1969 promo transcriptions are AWESOME. Thank you!

I still don't own a "Blu Ray" player. And I know that if and when I ever buy one, we will instantly be told "throw out all your Blu Rays and starting buying the Scarlet Pimpernel radiation crystal. It's the ONLY WAY to see movies!!!" Or whatever.

Nothing I have read thus far about the new disc excites more than a very abstract interest but I'm glad fans are having fun with it. Of course, had Grayson's Playtex commercial been included, that would have been another matter. But clearly, the individual in charge of these releases does not care either about Grayson Hall OR her fans, so we're left to rot in obscurity and chew wet cigarette butts in the dark.

Happy Easter! Does that mean the bunny smiley orgy is going away soon??

cheers, GothEEEEEEK (wailing on the way down Widow's Hill)

[The Doctor and K9]

Of course, had Grayson's Playtex commercial been included, that would have been another matter. But clearly, the individual in charge of these releases does not care either about Grayson Hall OR her fans, so we're left to rot in obscurity and chew wet cigarette butts in the dark.

Do you know if the commercial still exists? I heard that some of the iconic ads from by gone eras were never saved. I'd also heard that some of the "Johnny Smoke" PSAs were only saved because they happened to be on kinescopes of shows that aired them. If they do exist, I wonder who they'd have to contact to get the rights. Are they in the public domain? These might be factors that have prevented them from appearing.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Nothing I have read thus far about the new disc excites more than a very abstract interest but I'm glad fans are having fun with it. Of course, had Grayson's Playtex commercial been included, that would have been another matter. But clearly, the individual in charge of these releases does not care either about Grayson Hall OR her fans, so we're left to rot in obscurity and chew wet cigarette butts in the dark.

After I saw that the Vicki promo (which I saw at my friend's yesterday - and it was just as exciting seeing it as I remember it being back in '68) is on MoDS, I thought "Now, if only we could get a copy of Grayson's Playtex commercial!" But I didn't mention that because I didn't want fans like you to feel bad when I was feeling so elated that the promo I'd been waiting years to see on an MPI disc was finally on one. But perhaps there's still hope. I remember Grayson's commercial being shown during all sorts of programs on all three of the major networks. I'm certain there's a copy of it somewhere. If not on one or more of the DS Master Tapes, definitely on the Master Tapes of some other show. It's a matter of someone recognizing it for what it is when they see it.

Happy Easter! Does that mean the bunny smiley orgy is going away soon??

You know you'll miss them. 

[Philippe Cordier]

Does anyone who has viewed the disk have any comment on Art Wallace's "The House"? That was mentioned earlier in this thread, but yet somewhere else it was mentioned with the comment that it can be seen on Youtube. I have wanted to see this for years. Now, I've watched the first 15-minutes (about half or a little more) on youtube and have to say it's a bit of a letdown after all these years of anticipation.

This was the first time I had ever heard that "The House" was an episode on a series called "The Web," which I had likewise never heard of. Also, I hadn't known (or don't remember hearing) that the episode is basically an early version of the Jason Maguire storyline. The actor is not very appealing and the episode, at least to half way point, is not exactly compelling. So I'm feeling less than inclined to purchase the DVD (it is available in regular DVD format, isn't it?).

[Gothick]

Hi Philippe,

From what I have read, the DVD and the Blu Ray have identical content, EXCEPT for some extras. I thought the half hour version of "The House" from The Web was included in both formats, but I guess it is something to check. I have to wonder if Blu Rays can hold more content than DVDs which is why we've seen these "Blu Ray only" extra situations in some releases over recent years.

The half hour version of "The House" dates to around 1954. On websites, it's been specified that Art Wallace based his original treatment for the 1966 launch of DS on a 1957 re-write of the play, which expanded it to an hour running length:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0591214/

An incredible feature of this one is that it would appear that the offbeat character actress Hope Emerson (who I loved as "Mother" on the original PETER GUNN series of the late 1950s) starred in what was to become Joan Bennett's role--somewhat unexpectedly, in "The House" the mother was named Caroline, while the daughter was named Elizabeth (I hope I've got that right). I don't think anyone has found a copy of this 1957 show to date, and I suppose it might be lost. A lot of TV from the 1950s and 1960s is in various stages of missing in action. Some of it is supposed to be preserved in studio vaults but at this stage in the scheme of things, if a film conservator hasn't worked on the material, the condition might be dubious.

It was stated long ago that somebody did have a copy of the 1957 show "The House," and it was going to be screened at a Festival, but initially that did not happen. It may be that what had been found was the same as the one included on the new home video release.

As for Grayson's Playtex commercial, fans have recalled that it was shown as a DS commercial break a few times in 1970, and I think I did see it back then (though that's a vague memory and I question whether I might not be remembering something I never saw). If the original DS videos kept in storage do have all the original commercials, it's on those tapes. Of course somebody would have to go into a screening room and watch a bunch of them to find it.

I'd happily volunteer but of course nobody has asked me...

Best, Gothick