Original Settings and Design

[Josette]

Something occurred to me tonight that I had never thought of before.  I was wondering about things like set design, in this particular case, the grandfather clock.  I was wondering if Dan Curtis had specific ideas of things like that and perhaps wanted that, or if the original set designer just happened to come up with that as something fitting for this type of house.  There were times when it played a part in the plot, so it would make a difference if it were there intentionally or if it just happened to be there and the writers took advantage of it.

[Brandon Collins]

I would think that the set designers probably came up with the clock being included in the foyer of Collinwood rather than Dan or another producer specifically asking for it to be there. I'm sure the writers took advantage of its availability to write it into the plot (like when Julia hides her notebook there). I'm sure there's other example we could think of that were taken advantage of by the writers as well.

Regardless of how it ended up there, the clock definitely fits in with Collinwood and it would not be the same without it!

[The Doctor and K9]

I'd check the Shadows on the Wall story bible. Did Art Wallace describe the proposed sets? I don't know where my copy is at the moment. I'll have to see if I can find it.

[Josette]

Brandon's thoughts are what I'm also assuming, but thought it would be interesting to find out.

[Philippe Cordier]

It does seem more likely that the grandfather clock came as part of the set design ... if it is mentioned in "Shadows on the Wall," I don't think it's given any significance, just part of the set description, though I don't really remember anything about how the set may have been described. But you're right, the clock really does figure in the story - often just to let us know that it's midnight or early morning hours and people are still up at Collinwood ... or sometimes the clock gives us a countdown to some plot situation, like the Barnabas/Forbes showdown, if I remember correctly. It's interesting that clocks often have some symbolic significance in stories by Poe, thinking of "The Masque of the Red Death," for example.

[Gothick]

Not related to the grandfather clock, but I seem to recall in the original edition of KLS's DS Scrapbook a quote from Sy Tomashoff about including a secret passage in the Collinwood drawing room set (and then doing the same for the Old House drawing room when that was first designed, around episode 70 I think). There was no specification in the script, he said; it was simply that they were creepy old houses in a Gothic melodrama so he felt it went without saying that there HAD to be secret passageways.

G.

[Gothick]

Also, to note that ornate grandfather clocks show up in all the grand manor houses in all the Gothic films of Hollywood yesteryear... so, it was certainly one of the significant elements that Sy would have sought out when working on the sets. I've wondered just where he bought the furniture and some other props... and what happened to them afterwards.

There's actually a list of a bunch of furniture and props from the Canadian soap Strange Paradise that were sold at an auction sometime around June or July 1970, if I recall aright... I can look for it and post it in this thread, if people are curious. Inventory lists of this kind are often curiously fascinating to peruse.

G.