As I said, I had never heard of it, so I found what he had to say about it interesting.  I'll have to let him know about David Hurst.  I don't know if the Conjure Doll has ever seen PT 1841. 

I was living in a dorm room without a television set in 1978 and had to walk all the way across campus if I wanted to see anything. So, I saw very little television that year, or generally during the period from 1976 through much of the 1980s.

G.

Fans, a friend sent me the short review pasted in below of the DS TV movie CHILD OF GLASS earlier today.

I had never heard of the film, and I thought what he had to say about it was quite interesting.

If nothing else, worthy of note since Denise Nickerson was involved.

Best,

G.

Review by the Conjure Doll:

A couple of days ago I revisited the Walt Disney made-for-tv movie CHILD OF GLASS, with an eye toward the elements it shares with DARK SHADOWS.  Shot in late 1977 and released in 1978, the film is nominally based on Richard Peck’s book THE GHOST BELONGED TO ME (but the adaptation is an extremely loose one).  The production is by no means a Disney version of DS.  However, I am of the firm opinion that its screenwriter, Jim Lawrence, was aware of DARK SHADOWS, and scavenged bits and pieces of it while crafting his adaptation of Peck’s novel.  In particular, he borrowed liberally from Sam Hall’s presentation of Sarah Collins. [Note by Gothick:  I think the ghost of Sarah character was originally created by Malcolm Marmorstein--I just wrote to the Conjure Doll and explained about this.  Sam did write some or all of the episodes involving Sarah as a little girl in 1795.]

CHILD OF GLASS begins with a family moving into an old plantation house, and the ghost in the production is a young girl who died during the house’s glory days.  She implores the son of the new owners to help her break the curse which binds her to the house, so she can move on.  Obviously, she dresses in period costume, but she also carries a doll, and her appearances are typically marked in the musical score by a signature tune – Frer Jacques (not the same as Sarah’s London Bridge, but certainly quite close).  The film also features a drunken caretaker (in the mold of Matthew Morgan), a party which everyone attends dressed in garb from the time in which the house was first built, and a teenage girl played by DS’s Denise Nickerson (she’s actually the first person to utter a line in the film).  If the connections to DARK SHADOWS in this film are coincidental, they certainly are striking ones.
 

KLS is again running a holiday book sale on her website and facebook pages.  This time around, she's doing three different book combo sales.  This one includes a personalized photo and card:

http://kathrynleighscott.com/products/kathryns-super-secret-backstage-holiday-gift-bundle

She appears to have phased out the special offer which included her phoning you a personal holiday message.  That was a feature of at least one of her packages last year.

G.

That's a really silly list.  I also don't understand the omission of Nicholas de Brabant/Nick Knight, as portrayed by Geraint Wyn Davies on FOREVER KNIGHT which was a 1990s series that lasted three seasons.  In some ways, Nigel Bennett's Lacroix on the same show was even more significant since he was really scary in a coldly calculating way.  Brilliant acting...

I could mention a lot of other vampires.  Several of the ones that were included were just plain silly or only a blip in their respective series. 

Still, I'm sure most of the readership found the feature entertaining...

G.

Fans,

This is a pretty cool presentation of the 1968 View Master set.  (I think the set may actually have come out in 1969, but the storyline shown was originally aired in the Fall of '68.)

Too bad the drawings in the "folio" were not included by whoever did this.  After all, the drawings were characterized by "many somber colors."

http://viewmasterworld.blogspot.com/2012/05/dark-shadows-b503.html

G.

That's fascinating about Suicide Notations.  I wonder if that videotape still exists.  And I wonder if director J. S. Hall was identical to actor James Hall.  Taylor Mead, Ronald Tavel, and legendary Jackie Curtis were all part of Andy Warhol's circle.  Grayson acted in two plays by Ronald Tavel.

I did think there was something very "different" about James Hall when I finally got to see his episodes at some point in the 1990s... and that's very much born out by your notes and research. Again, thanks!

G.

Wow, Midnite.  This is awesome!  One of the fascinating aspects for me is that I read references to Grayson studying with Uta Hagen back in the early 1950s, I guess--and if I remember correctly, Grayson (then billed as Shirley Grayson) was Uta's understudy in the critically acclaimed play THE MAGIC AND THE LOSS, around '54 or thereabouts. Uta Hagen didn't do too many films, so far as I am aware.  She made a huge impression on me when she appeared on one of the talk shows (Mike Douglas, I think?) to promote that Tom Tryon film, THE OTHER.

Wonderful write-up! 

Thanks again,

G.

That's one of my favorite Thayer scenes from his non-Shadows work.

G.