It was episode 70.  Her maiden name was not du Pres originally--I've been wanting to look this up for you. It was something like Franiere, I think?

Patti, vampires were big business in 1902.  I believe the first stage dramatization of Dracula was around this time; Melies made some vampire themed films, and of course, the novel Dracula, originally published in 1897, continued to sell briskly.  Vampires figured in the early 19th century paintings of Henry Fuseli, and a big bestseller during the "penny dreadful" craze of the 1840s was the very long thriller, Varney the Vampire (which includes some themes familiar to DS viewers, such as a mysterious old portrait to which the vampire bears a curious resemblance).  Moving forward a bit, some readers feel that the best vampire tale of all remains the novella, Carmilla, by the Irish writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu.  It has been filmed several times and was first published in 1871!

Arencha glad ya asked!

G.

Why should MPI "care" about anything other than selling DVDs?

As Grayson used to say, the thing about show business is, it's a BUSINESS.  (and she was a socialist!)

I wonder how good the sales on the old "Collectors Edition" VHS tapes were?  My guess is that among other things, they're hoping to generate some buzz for product that's viewed as not moving terribly well in the first place with the pre-Barn shows.

On with the motley!

G.

Oh I'm a bad fan and I don't have time to look up this character's name, but I REALLY wish we had seen the gent Liz wanted to come back to work for her in 1966.  He had been a beau of hers, but she wasn't interested... at the time.

I think it would have been cool if the stylish gentleman from Boston Sam mentions in his wrap-up of the storyline, who comes to Collinwood and eventually marries Liz, would have been this person.

It would have been fun to have had Mrs Johnson's daughter come for a visit.  Characters we only saw once but needed to see a lot more of--Portia Fitzsimmons tops the list!

G.

Thanks for the prompt report, Bette and all!

I read in an advertisement that the Iguana disc is supposed to include "archival commentary from John Huston."  Is that an audio track you access from a menu, or do they mean film footage included in the feature on him?

If you look carefully, you can catch glimpses of Grayson (no good shot of her and I don't think you really see her face clearly) in the "On the trail of the Iguana" featurette.

Steve

Hi MSC,

I was very surprised to learn when I looked it up that Julia Child's first series actually started around Feb. 1963.  I didn't even know WGBH existed that early!  A friend copied some of the shows for me and I really enjoy watching them.  Even as one of Julia's hated vegetarians, I learn a few things from watching her work.  And I love all her droll comments.

I was delighted to find a short biography on the PBS website that began with some line like, "to her many fans, she was just JOOOLIA."  I wonder how many of them were related to Tom Jennings!

cheers, Steve

Many thanks to MB for today's montage!  The shot of Julia and Cassandra *fiercely* rules, both in the stunning outfits those two glamourpusses are wearing, and how savagely Julia is working that one glove.  Truly swoonworthy!  I love Julia's choice of scarf, and how glamorously she's wearing it.

AND we get the infamous "When will the madness STOP!?" closeup of Julia on the phone.  And we know what comes next; Barnabas yelling through the door "Remember somebody!" followed by Dr Lang muttering "Dave Woodard!"  Too rich.

Dark Shadows '68... ALL Glamour, ALL the time!  Leaves "Project Runway" in the dust, IMNSHO!

G.