First, to Magnus--Magda and Sandor got to live at the Old House because Magda had wormed her way into Grandma-mamma's graces as her "spiritual advisor."  The OH was regarded by the rest of the family as a wreck, since it had been abandoned after the deaths of Barnabas and Angelique.  While it is made crystal clear that Judith and Edward, in particular, despise the Gypsys (or Rom, to use one of the words more preferred by the Romanii diasporic peoples today) and Judith orders them off the estate immediately after Grandma-mamma's death, we get to see firsthand some of their ingenuity in staying put--plus, of course, dear cousin Barnabas is involved at this point.

I can't remember what I thought of her as a child (beyond always admiring the elegance and grace with which Joan Bennett invariably comported herself--to me, she WAS aristocracy), but as an adult, I do feel sympathy for Judith.  When we start to see her more devious side in the "LIttle Foxes" stuff, it adds extra layers of nuance to what is already a very complex character.  When she becomes the victim of Greggie-puss Trask, again our perception of her switches and I do feel particular sympathy for her in those straits.  Even if her own residual bigotry and intolerance were the weaknesses that made her such ideal prey for Trask.

Her return, and the denouement of her story, are just magnificent.  I'm really looking forward to watching these scenes again on the DVDs.  Despite all the endless whining and complianing about the final month or so of 1897, Judith's story in that period always has me riveted to my seat.

G.

Fans,

My copy of the 14th DVD set arrived last night, and despite my busy schedule, I was able to test-drive the first two discs in the set, watch some favorite scenes (gotta love Magda getting in Barnabas' face all the time--and grabbing her wig in that one scene!), and look at the set.  One thing that bemused me, however, was that in the booklet that comes with the discs, [spoiler]in the short description of the episode in which Jenny is murdered by Quentin; it says "Quentin ACCIDENTALLY kills Jenny," or words to that effect.

Now, I remember having a lengthy back-and-forth with a dear friend of mine the last tme Sci Fi broadcast these shows (it was her first chance to see them since her childhood viewing) and we both commented about how typical it was of Q to claim that Jenny's death was an accident when, the way Selby played the scene, it was quite clear that Q killed her very much in cold blood.

I can't recall whether Ann Wilson's episode guide in the DS Memories book (which I regard as the best of all the various episode guides available) also implied that Q killed his ex-wife "accidentally."  In general, Q's relationships with his past lovers do not paint him in at all an attractive light.  He obviously hated Laura at first sight upon her return (and she cordially returned the favor---the scenes betweeen these two have to be among the finest moments in the entire series!) and was even more vicious towards Jenny.[/spoiler]The original characterization of Quentin seems to have played off the late Sixties theme of the anti-hero--something that is very much out of fashion these days.  With Quentin even more so than with Barnabas, once the teeny-bopper adulation and the 16 magazine interviews began, they really seem to have softened and "rehabilitated" Q's character.

btw, on the first disc in this set, there's a great interview with Selby where he reveals that some more insistent fans were camping out in the lobby of his apartment building, demanding that he adopt them!  Great stuff.

G.

Hmmm--did the author of this piece time-travel back to 2006?  It mentions KLS working on a new project "timed to coincide with DS' 40th anniversary."

Thanks for sharing the link, though--and hope your convalescence is going smoothly!

G.

I have a close male friend who is about five years older than me and watched DS religiously up until sometime in 1968, when a mixture of hormones and boredom meant he was doing other things at four in the afternoon besides tuning into DS.  (I've been loaning him some of the DVDs so he can catch up with 1897--Laura is his favorite character and he was fascinated by her re-appearance then!)

Anyhow, when he was around 15 or 16 years old, from what he has told me, he had a huge crush on Roger!  He loved it all--the arrogance, the ascots, the pomposity, the fact that Roger always acted as if he owned not just the room, but all of Collinwood whenever he walked in, even though he was basically living there because of Liz's love for David.

My friend's spouse just got him a Netflix sub so he can rent all the early 1966 DVDs and recapture Roger in his regal glory.

In the later years of DS, Louis went off for a month or two at times to do theatre.  I believe this is why he wasn't around at all for some months of the Summer of 1970.

Do check out the late Craig Hamrick's marvelous book, Big Lou.  The real life Louis was NOTHING like Roger Collins, a fact for which we can all be grateful, fond though we may be of Roger's sneering and posturing.

G.

Hazel Court was sublime in Masque of the Red Death.  She brought a certain special touch to all her roles.

She would have been a marvelous guest player on DS--I can see her portraying an evil Baroness adept in Witchcraft who challenges Angelique ...

G.

It's a lovely page.  Beautiful work!

G.

HELP!  A hideous, implacable NOSE is chasing me around the deserted halls of Collinwood, threatening my sanity and the lives of All Who Live at the Great House!

Its ghastly, LEERING NOSTRILS are coming closer ... and closer ... and CLOSER!! No!  NOOOO!  NO-HO-HO-HO-HOOO!!!

*faints*

G.