Barbara recalled in a commentary for a different release... I think it's on a video interview she did with David del Valle on the Nightmare Castle DVD... that she found working with Dan on DS extremely frustrating. He insisted on her giving a very strictly defined performance and she wanted to be much more stylish and expressive--which she did finally get to do when she played Natalie (I've commented before that Barbara's version of Natalie comes off more like a florid, flamboyant bordello madam than a French countess to me). And she got to play Natalie like that, evidently, because Dan had stopped directing the shows at that point.

Interesting point about Barbara not working on AHS. I personally do not care for what I have seen of those stories, and it may be that she doesn't either, but who knows. It would indeed be a bit strange if she had not been approached to work on it. I think some people find Barbara "way too much"--she's quite flamboyant in real life. In the documentary from circa 1981 about the Chelsea Hotel (in which I think Barbara may appear briefly--it is on y.t.), there's this scene of somebody talking to her small daughter and saying "you know, she always exaggerates everything, just like Barbara Steele." Funny because Matt Hall used to complain about how his Mom loved to describe everything in inflated, overly colorful terms, back when she was living.

G.

On the comments thread on one of Danny Horn's blog entries about the Claude North episodes, some fans report more gossip about Frid's relationship with Brian S. I did think Brian had a very intriguing presence on camera, so it's a shame he did not pursue acting, though it is always possible he continued to act on stage. Lots of actors did that, such as Marilyn Joseph, Chris Pennock's wife at the period when the show was in production. Marilyn appeared briefly as Collinsport strumpet Lorna Bell, who I always want to call Lorna Doone whenever the topic of her character comes up.

Talking of Pennock, loved yesterday's shot of Sebastian Shaw. Trippy, man!

cheers, Gothick

Yay, it's a Brian Sturdivant close-up! One of the very irregular players who is almost never discussed or acknowledged.

I've wondered if the Claude North character was one of the victims of Dan Curtis' bouts of sudden story switching midway through an established plotline. He's given such a huge buildup and then he's gone in 3 or 4 episodes. And so little is actually done with the character. Perhaps there was an issue with the actor. His career did not last very long... somewhere or other recently, I read that he was a personal friend of Jonathan Frid's.

G.

That's an unusual list. No significant Quentin episodes, for starters.

G.

Great shot from a great episode. For some fans, this is THE episode.

"Not without you... Never without you."

Thanks, MB!

G.

I was surprised, upon looking him up, that IMDB says Lombard appeared in a total of 4 episodes on the show. So he must have reappeared, and I've forgotten that fact. A good excuse to re-watch Leviathans!

G.

Wow, MB, what a fabulous shot of Magda! Beautiful!

Gratefully, Gothick

My buddy Curt, who watched this show during its one and only airing, has researched it. He sent me this note last night:

"...that blogger's statement about the chapter numbering in the series is a bit misleading.  He's correct that none of them started with Chapter One (which is very confusing to a new viewer), but it was done intentionally.  The producer thought it would be a good idea to emulate George Lucas' STAR WARS which had been a huge hit a year and a half earlier. Lucas wanted to evoke the feeling of the old Universal serials, so despite being the first film in the series, he opened it with the "Chapter IV: A New Hope."  CLIFFHANGERS did the same thing, giving bogus numbers to their opening segments (supposedly to make viewers feel they had jumped right into the action).  Confusing and, all in all, a bad idea.  Honestly, it's amazing that recordings of CLIFF-HANGERS (rough though they may be) are in circulation these days."

G.