David:  I presume you are talking about Angelique in the original series.  I did think Angelique in the 1991 version was possibly psychotic, or at the very least someone with "borderline" personality disorder and very likely a born sociopath. 

In the clips I have seen from the Burton/Depp film, she's so cartoon-like, and the sequence recounting her original love affair (if one can call it that) with BarnaDepp is so curtailed, that I hesitate to comment. 

I was disappointed in the Video Watchdog roundtable to see someone who apparently had seen either the entire 1795 storyline, or at least some substantial episodes from it, claim that Angelique was "obviously insane."  I don't agree.  I thought one of the best parts of that story (and I am talking about the ORIGINAL telling of it, not the 1969 re-tread)  was how layered and nuanced Angelique's character was and how complex her motives were.  It seemed clear that she was romantically obsessed with Barnabas, but there was also a side to her determination to get him to marry her that was about her need for status, privilege, and all the things that "Mamselle Josette" had and she didn't.

After her "death," she does seem gradually to go off the deep end and become more straightforwardly malevolent.  An interesting facet of her evolution as a character is that in the original story, her powers came from her understanding of herbs, of the laws of sympathetic and contagious magic, and, I think, from the sheer force of her own will.  When she reappears as Cassandra in 1968, all of a sudden there's talk of the Devil and how her powers come from him.  That wasn't part of the original 1795 narrative.

G.

Happy Birthday Midnite!  It must be BUNNIES!

xo Steve

Hey Cousin, that's very cool about Diabolique.  Can you post a review of the DS feature when you've read it?  I think the Harvard Coop, which is where I found VW, may also stock Diabolique.  They have a section of film mags.  Because VW is a smaller-sized digest format, it isn't shelved with the regular mags, but on a lower shelf where it won't get lost.  (When I say digest, I mean a size similar to an old-time TV Guide mag.)

Best,  G.

A short note to say I finished reading this amazing, and to my mind historic, round table discussion on DS.  Although there are a couple of brief references to house of DS, the 1991 remake, and the Burton/Depp film, these are in passing; the round table is focused upon the phenomenon of the original 1966-71 television series.  Perhaps the biggest surprise to me (and what a delightful one it was) was how much attention Joel Crothers got in the discussion.  The next biggest surprise was how *little* attention Angelique, and Lara Parker's performance as Our Favorite Witch, received.  Thayer David was not mentioned at all, except for in a special sidebar devoted to hoDS that is only available on the VW website (see link in hoDS/NoDS DVD release thread on the other board).  My nomination for the nuttiest moment, given these omissions, was when somebody spent a paragraph discussing Craig Slocum's work on the series.  It was great to see John Karlen receive very high marks from a number of critics for his work.  I thought Nancy Barrett's work should have been given more attention given just how much range she showed on the series.  I think only one of the participating critics had actually seen ALL the episodes.

I guess the last thing I would have to say is that I would have deleted all of Kim Newman's comments in favor of having the section on hoDS included in the print version of the article.  I ordinarily enjoy Newman's work, but he had only seen 2 or 3 weeks of the series and most of what he did was to express bafflement as to why anyone ever cared.

Despite my caveats, the issue is highly recommended and goes on my permanent DS shelf.

G.

I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled, to find a copy of this mag at the Harvard Coop a little earlier today on my lunch break.  The feature looks fabulous, and the issue includes some charming drawings by an artist named Belle Dee that have very much a Rankin-Bass flavor to them.  The 3 color cartoons depict Quentin and Angelique in 1897; Julia (really excellent work); and Barnabas, on the back cover of the mag.

My one complaint is there is NO shot of Thayer David anywhere in the article.  There are head shots of a number of the lead players:  Joan, Louis, Frid, Grayson, Nancy, and Joel Crothers are the ones I recall, along with production shots, candid shots outside the studio, etc.  There's an interesting photo of Frid with DC I don't recall having seen before.  It has a real Mad Men character to it--they're both smoking and both in dark suits.

Talking of Mad Men, somebody in the round table, possibly Darren, speculates that Louis' portrayal of Roger was the inspiration for another character named Roger on Mad Men.  I've seen the first season and I agree that the Mad Men Roger definitely seems to owe something to the DS Roger, except the Mad Men Roger isn't so colorfully arch and acid-tongued.

I will write more when I have had the chance to finish reading the entire round table.  Excellent, exciting work! And I am going to email Tim Lucas and request him to run a photo of Thayer David in the next issue of VW with a caption about how essential Thayer's contribution to DS was in making it as great as it was.

G.

I personally am much, MUCH more upset over WB's reneging of their promise to restore the NoDS film for the disc release than I am over anything to do with the Burton/Depp ... project. I am nearly as upset over various aspects of the handling of the October release of the films but won't go into that now.

I haven't spewed the vitriol here out of respect for the general tone of civility that MB and Midnite prefer to maintain here, but believe me, my opinions on the matter would sound right at home amongst the Collinsport longshoremen after a long day spent out in the boats.

cheers, G.

I agree michael.  It looks from the photos that have been shared as if in at least one major space, the decor of the room was provided by these giant standee posters from the Burton/Depp project.  Amanda's notes about Sharon's remarks are the first I've heard of the movie being explicitly mentioned.

It all seems quite strange...

G.