Fans,

Most of us prefer not to think of DS in the "soap opera" category; yet, historically,this was the format under which it was produced and the lens through which its home network of ABC viewed it.  (Two of the most entertaining clips on the DVDs are interviews with a gentleman who was put in charge of publicity for ABC's daytime schedule during the mid to late 1960s. His story about what happened when a couple of board members insisted on watching an episode of DS and were subsequently baffled by "Uncle Barnaby's" teeth is hysterical.)   

One of the mainstays of the soap opera format is the Bitch character that audiences love to hate.  I believe the most celebrated of these women in the entire genre was played by an actress (probably retired now) who is famous for having been nominated for an Emmy 20 times but never winning.  If memory serves, this actress had to go mano a mano with Sarah-Michelle Gellar when SMG was a deceptively innocent-appearing young actress on the soap. 

I was thinking about Angelique (known to a certain circle of my friends as "the WB," short for "Witch Bitch") and how she does, and does not, conform to the soap opera stereotype of the Bitch.  Probably the original portrayal of Angelique in 1795 comes the closest to the archetypal Bitch although in a more literary way than I think is common on soaps.  Ang doesn't just want Barnabas; she also wants the entitlement, privileges and status enjoyed by her mistress--"all the pretty things I have been denied" (there's a wonderful scene with Ben Stokes where she goes on about how she's going to have it ALL).   Her occult powers add an extra edge to her role as the conniving villainess, but initially, the character is a wronged woman who has been stepped on (if only in her own mind) by others and is determined to get revenge.

Cassandra upgraded the bitch elements an extra knotch.  She wore clothes that were more chic and fashionable than even Joan Bennett's, manipulated her husband outrageously, was two-faced and duplicitous. and went through some turn-on-a-dime mood swings.  When she crashed and burned, she ravaged the scenery brilliantly.

Probably the most classic soap bitch of all the Angelique characters was the PT1970 version.  A friend who's a huge Angelique fan actually refers to this one as "certifiably insane."  The whole Angelexis business allows for even more blatant instances of duplicitous, equivocating, manipulative behavior.  Manoeuvring Maggie into wearing the same dress she herself had worn at last year's ball was a classic Bitch sequence. 

The thing I find compulsively watchable with how DS handled the "bitch" stereotype is that the writing and acting always gives insights into why these women behave this way.  So, they never degenerate into cardboard cutout stereotypes.  With other "bitches" on the show such as Laura Collins, Minerva Trask, Samantha Collins, and the superbly unforgettable Suki Forbes, we've always understood that each woman had her own take on what had happened to her and a good reason (even if only in her own mind) for acting the way she did.  I think it's one of the aspects that sets DS apart from other soaps. of that day or any other.

cheers, G.

Thanks for the link, MB.  Ugh, what an abomination.  I really feel for the fans of those shows.  Soap played an important role in the history of gay men's representation in the media, too, from what I can recall--I was never able to watch the series.  It was what launched Billy Crystal's career, wasn't it?

G.

Hi JS,

The Hand was in the box when Magda first showed it to Barnabas, upon her return from her trip to Boston in 1897.

G.

My own previous viewings also left me underwhelmed.  I watched the first half hour on Wed. evening and kept thinking "I can't believe I never noticed how good it is."  The VHS release was really awful--I remember not being able to get through it because the pan and scan was so bad.

I keep hoping that The Gorgon will be released over here.  On a completely non-genre note, I'm thrilled and excited that the Two Fat Ladies is doing to see a US release on 29 July.  I really hope they include the documentary about legendary chef Jennifer Paterson.  I can imagine her and Grayson having a ball talking about food and how insane, in general, people are!

G.

Fans of classic British horror films, and fans of the DS Judah Zachery storyline, will want to see the new DVD release of the 1965 Amicus studios production, "The Skull."  The movie boasts a stellar cast that includes Uncle Peter Cushing in the lead, Uncle Christopher Lee as a wealthy aristocratic occultist, the unjustly neglected Patrick Wymark as a seedy dealer in occult relics, and juicy roles for Michael Gough and Patrick Magee.  The score by Elizabeth "twelve-tone Lizzie" Lutyens is evocative of Bob Cobert's subsequent work on DS without really sounding like something that influenced Cobert (whose work tends to be more lyrical).  And, as if all that weren't enough, one of the demons mentioned in the film is Balberith, the name given in some sources for the dark Master of Nicholas and Angelique in the 1968 storyline's forays to the Underworld.

The DVD finally allows us to see this movie in something closer to the correct aspect ratio, though I'm not sure they managed to get it completely right.  I'm hoping to see a write-up by Tim Lucas with technical critique.  I also wonder who was really responsible for the screenplay. Milton Subotsky got the onscreen credit but the dialogue seems far too literate and complex to come from the hand of a hack producer.

G.

I was thrilled that Julia99 and friends recovered these images.  The photo published in Theatre Arts magazine wasn't nearly as nice as the images the college kept in their archives.  Here's to archivists and librarians, a truly under-regarded profession in our dismally decadent nation!

Another DS connection with this production is that Frank Schofield, our own Bill Malloy, had a role in it as well and had at least one scene with Grayson (they obviously never worked together on DS).

My special thanks to Julia99 for her enthusiasm, energy, and hard work in saving Grayson's artistic legacy for us all!

G.

Funny you mention this--at lunch a few weeks ago, one of my buddies shared that he had just viewed the Jackie Curtis documentary, Superstar in a House Dress (I think that's the title) and how *good* he found Curtis to be as a performer.  I asked if any clips from Women in revolt had been included, since I saw a scene from it at a Guggenheim show about Warhol and his circle--I was there (in another DS connection) because they were screening Grayson Hall's French film, Qui etes-vous, Polly Maggoo?  (now out on DVD, of course, in the William Klein box).

I had no idea that Candy referenced our beloved Mistress of Collinwood in that scene.  Priceless!

A late friend of mine loved the moment when somebody says to whoever was playing Candy Darling, "I'm kidding, Candy!" in the film, Who Shot Andy Warhol.  I think it was Stephen Dorff.  Whatever happened to him?

Candy came across in Who shot... as a rather earnest, innocent individual completely bedazzled by the world of media stardom.

cheers, G.

Wow, it lasts 20 minutes, and yet somehow, I watched till the bitter end.  I did get a cackle out of him holding up the DVD set and the big red scare letters DON'T BUY THIS appearing on the screen.

I wonder which classic series/movie MGM will mangle and desecrate, uh, I mean, release on one of their lovely DVDS next?

cheers, G.