Joan Bennett

[Gothick]

I just wanted to share that often when Dark Shadows comes to mind, I think of Joan Bennett saying "Bahnabas" and there's something about that regal, rich, velvet-smooth, patrician voice of hers that just drips class and refinement... THAT, for me, defines the tone of the series more strongly than any other element.

I caught Joan recently in "The Eyes of Charles Sand," a failed pilot that aired in the "ABC Movie of the Week" series, around 1972.  She looked so glamorous--she had very little to do, but her look reminded me of Liz in the 1967 period.  What a fabulous woman she was.

G.

[petofi]

Joan's metropolitan stage speech probably came, in part, from Edith Skinner, who, for years, instructed actors on proper speech for the stage. Some of Joan's dropping of r's, as in "Bahnabas" was also typical of the New York stage version of standardized American speech for many years, dating back to the 19th Century.

Petofi

[David]

Joan fans should keep their eyes on the TCM & Fox Movie Channel skeds, she does show up quite a bit!


In the next issue of Videoscope, coming soon, I have the honor of reviewing the new, restored DVD of her 1945 film Scarlet Street.
This is the film she should have gotten an Academy nod for!

 

[Raineypark]

I agree absolutely.  Her portrayal of a wicked woman was simply brilliant.  I wouldn't be surprised to learn that total strangers slapped her in the street after seeing that film.

Of course, having Fritz Lang directing surely helped a bit....

[michael c]

i totally agree gothick.

for me elizabeth collins stoddard is one if the defining characters.as soon as she walks into a scene the episode's status is instantly elevated.she simply brought a great sense of refinement that raised the bar on the material.

on dvd collection #20 there is some excellent commentary on joan from paula laurence.she says that besides her beauty and dignity that she brought a certain "weight" to the storylines that was necessary.that with all of the "nuttiness" going on having this unchanging core of a "respectable dowager" anchored the show in a way that was important.

that's an interesting way to think about it.that all of this was taking place on the estate of this patrician lady gave it an air of respectability that wouldn't have been there had it taken place elsewhere.even when liz isn't on the front burner storywise her presence is a vital part of the tone of the show.

[stefan]

I just love Joan Bennett on Dark Shadows. Naomi Collins is one of my favorite characters. In concurring with other posters, she played her with such simple dignity, kindness, and refinement that her presence automatically set the stage for the backdrop of "aristocratic quality" which helped give the Barnabas/vampire story its erie gothic weight. I also noticed that Joan Bennett was so confident and quietly assured that I never sensed she was in any way jealous of the younger female players and/or tried to upstage them. And this made her all the more beautiful. I also sensed the younger female players admired and thought her beautiful too. Not a small achievement, really, in the hectic youth-oriented culture of the 60's.

[Charles_Ellis]

About Scarlet Street- Joan's Oscar chances were severly compromised because her then-husband Walter Wanger (who produced the film) also happened to be the president of the Academy at the same time!  If she had been nominated, it would've been something of a scandal, like when Mary Pickford (an Academy cofounder, and then-wife of Academy president Douglas Fairbanks) won her Oscar in 1929.

Joan's voice was what was called a "Mid-Atlantic" accent.  Definitely a throwback to the days of Lynn Fontanne and Katherine Cornell.  Olivia deHavilland has used that voice to similar effect on and offscreen as well.  Here's a great story: during the filiming of The Sound of Music, it was decided that the children playing the vonTrapp kids needed to speak the same way because they came from different locales.  So, they came up with the young actors using the "Mid-Atlantic" accent.  Check it out next time you see the film.

It's a shame that daytime nowadays doesn't have actors who were brought up in the theatrical tradition as Joan was.  She set the standard for acting on DS, and where can you find actors like Jonathan, Grayson, Louis and Thayer now? 

[Raineypark]

where can you find actors like Jonathan, Grayson, Louis and Thayer now?

The same place THEY learned their craft: the Broadway stage. 

[Joeytrom]

Jane Wyman on Falcon Crest gave that show the same dignified and refinement as Joan did on DS and she was another true professional as Joan was.  I think the parallells of the two are very great.

I read in the The Bennetts  that Joan was good freinds of Mary Cooper, who played older Josette in PT 1841 long before MC came to DS.

[BuzzH]

I read in the The Bennetts  that Joan was good freinds of Mary Cooper, who played older Josette in PT 1841 long before MC came to DS.

Interesting!  I didn't know that.  Perhaps that's how MC came to be on DS?  I often wonder if that's how Keith Prentice came to join the cast as he and Louie Edmonds were good friends before he was DS. 

[michael c]

i'll add one more thing to the topic.

i'm watching the 1970pt storyline right now and i have to say that for the first time on the show joan seemed to be slightly off her game consistently here.

after turning in amazing work as judith during 1897 and liz during the leviathan storyline here joan seems unsure of herself and without direction.perhaps it was the strain of filming the movie simultaneously or just that her character was peripheral and without alot of purpose but she did seem slightly adrift.

i just never really get a sense of who this character is.

[MagnusTrask]

Was she an identical Liz in PT?   I can't even remember.    I think they got tired and made PT Liz the same as regular Liz, but I don't know anymore.

I think JBs apparent insistence on top billing over Mr. Frid made me a bit prejudiced against her as a kid back then.     Good point about her presence grounding the show.    For long stretches of time I get the sense she is cringing secretly at all the strange plots, but that might just be her straight-ahead acting that as she said, grounded things.

Judith she seemed to enjoy.    I think she must have been glad for Flora too, but had a bit of trouble being quite as ditzy and devil-may-care as she was supposed to be.   I don't mind.   I like that she's being given something different to do.

Anyone know her opinion on the "crazy" supernatural storylines?    I mean, was she inwardly cringing?     Many "serious" actors looked down on shows like DS.

[Sandor]

I'd read somewhere that many of Joan's old Hollywood pals respected her presence on "Dark Shadows," and would actually tune in to watch her. They realized the pace of a 5-day-a-week daytime serial was not quite equal to the comfort level of, say, shooting a movie for several months at RKO. Yet other DS actors have stated Joan Bennett always arrived prepared, never acted like a diva, was always interested in what the other actors were doing outside of DS... that she was basically a gracious and elegant lady, and her staid presence did indeed dignify the show. Everyone adored her.

[MagnusTrask]

That's great.... thanks, Sandor.

[Gothick]

"The PAHHHSST."

Whenever Liz uttered those words, a whole world seemed to form around them.  Reminding me once again why Joan Bennett was worth every cent they paid her on Dark Shadows.

G.