parallel time carolyn

i just completed the 1970pt storyline and last night i rewatched some of carolyn's episodes.

i have to say nancy barrett was amazing here.the character didn't appear in alot of episodes but she really made the most of what she got and created i think one of her most memorable characters.she has a few genius scenes.especially after she falls prey to alcoholism.i really wanted to see more of this character.

it must have been great for nancy to play something so different than the spoiled and petulant "real time" carolyn stoddard.she seemed to be having fun playing charity/pansy faye during the 1897 storyline but that character was kind of silly.here she brought great pathos to the role.

by contrast i thought pt elizabeth and roger were very poorly written and directed characters.they introduced them as "poor relations" but never really followed through with that.true the actors were away filming the movie much of the time and weren't that central to the plot but half the time they acted like rt liz and roger and the other half it was hard to tell who these characters were supposed to be.joan bennett especially i thought seemed tired and off her game here.

but nancy barrett was genius.

I think that PT Roger Collins' main "function," was to walk around Collinwood all day, really-blitzed, and treat Maggie Evans-Collins with great "deference" and "cordiality." 

Of course, [spoiler]Roger does have greater significance toward the end.[/spoiler]

she seemed to be having fun playing charity/pansy faye during the 1897 storyline but that character was kind of silly.

I have to say, although I like Charity/Pansy, I'm SICK of that damn "I'm Gonna Dance For You" song!  Doesn't she have another one to sing!  Sheesh, it's like watching the movie "That Thing You Do" and hearing THAT song incessantly

I think PT 1970's Carolyn Loomis may be Nancy Barrett's best work on the series (although I have to confess to being very fond of her work as RT's Carolyn, as well--we really get to see her grow up on the show).  There was a sophisticated edge, a depth to the character, that was brought alive beautifully in Barrett's performance.  Her last two or three shows in that storyline in particular have a kind of quiet pathos that stands in sharp relief to a lot of the OTT stuff going on around her.

Brilliant work. Thanks for starting this thread.

Steve

there was alot of depth to this characterization.i felt i knew something about her even though she only appeared in a few episodes.she's biting and sarcastic and also very,very sad all at the same time and it works.

contrast this to her early work as carolyn.she seemed like a teenager in the 1966 episodes and here she had a world-weary quality that made her seem like she was in her thirties(and worlds away from "drunk carolyn" of the buzz storyline).

i'll also amend my original post.after reading some of what has been said here i was reminded that in fact roger did have a few stand out episodes.i think perhaps the writing was uneven more than anything else.

I love how they styled her hair during PT.  Combing it back gave her an older, more sophisticated look, and I had the sense that PT Carolyn's hairstyle came about because she was always pushing it back as a way of handling the stress in her life.

All of Nancy Barrett's portrayals on the show impressed me, even ones that annoyed me (Millicent, Pansy Faye - at first). I think pretty highly of her PT Carolyn. She's one of the very, very few PT characters that kept my attention.

I really feel that Nancy Barrett was the best actress on the show. In terms of performance and believability...she's fantastic.

I love PT in general, but Nancy Barrett was absolutely riveting as PT Carolyn.  After you-know-who died...I just couldn't stop watching.  So much pathos and misery!

I really feel that Nancy Barrett was the best actress on the show. In terms of performance and believability...she's fantastic.

Not to take anything away from any of the other leading ladies--KLS, Lara, Joan and *especially* Grayson--but I have to agree w/this as well.  All of Nancy's characters (maybe w/the small exception of Pansy and Leticia, who were very SIMILAR) were very different from each other.  Even all the different Carolyn's she played--early '66, later '70 (married Carolyn), PT Carolyn, 1995 Crazy Carolyn and even HODS Carolyn--had something unique about them.  She could somehow find something DIFFERENT about each person she played!  She was amazing!

I concur.  Nancy Barrett is a fantastic actress.  I enjoyed all of her performances on the show.  I'm sure her current, periodic stage appearances are a treat as well, although I regret that I have never seen her perform on stage.