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How sad that another classic is being desecrated by Hollywood.  I shudder to think what the movie moguls will do to "I Capture the Castle."  Good though the Disney cartoon is (it's one of the very few I can still watch without getting a queasy stomach as an adult), the novel Hundred and One Dalmations is inexpressibly better.  I loved the sequel, The Starlight Barking--just beautiful.  I have no idea where you'd be able to find a copy today, of course.

There's a biography of Dodie Smith that came out some years ago.  She was a friend of Christopher Isherwood's, and, I believe, of other literary lights as well.

Gothick

There are probably technical people around who could be interviewed about the making of the film.  I think Hampton Fancher is still alive as well, and he was there.  The ones *I* want to hear from though are those two maracas-shakin' beach bunnies.  You just know they must have some great stories to tell.

How weird that Grayson isn't mentioned in current write-ups of the film.  Even though she didn't get top billing, she shows up at least three times in the trailer for the movie.  I have a whole collection of reviews of the film from the original 1964 release, and she is often mentioned as the ONLY thesp to turn in a worthwhile performance in the movie!  I agree with those who give all of them good marks, but Grayson deserved special recognition.

I have several favorite anecdotes about the making of it.  One was after Grayson did the telephone scene, Ava Gardner asked her how she did it so convincingly.  Grayson said something like I just pause and imagine the other person speaking on the other end of the line.  Ava apparently shrieked, exclaimed "Oh NO, that's TECHNIQUE!" and went barrelling down towards the beach to jump in the surf.  I suspect  the Divine One may have exaggerated just a tad in telling that story.

Also, there's a story in one of the big glossy magazine interviews where Grayson and Burton were in a bar one evening and Burton was making googly eyes at her and asking if he could stay with her (he had just signed a contract to do Hamlet in NYC) while an amused Liz looked on.  According to the reporter, Burton told Grayson:  "YOU, love, are an ACTRESS."

Gothick

Davis wins hands down. Pennock had several extraordinarily good scenes over time on the show.   Plus I thought he was damn sexy, while Davis is simply ... nauseating.

Gothick

Hi Rainey,

Ever been to this site:

http://www.luckymojo.com

I visited the actual real-life shop that runs this site and met the gracious, friendly and knowledgeable proprietress, Cat Yronwode.  I purchased her book on Hoodoo.  It has LOADS of fascinating herbal lore. For instance, did you know that there are varieties of orris root (remember when Julianka needed the blood of the orris root for her spell?) known as Queen Elizabeth Root and Queen Jezebel Root?  The Curse of Jezebel cast with the latter is enough to make one's blood curdle.

If you have pets, I hope you keep them well away from that Monkshood!

Gothick

Connie's DS tabloid trash has this tired puppy rolling in the aisles.  What a hoot!

This is one fan who devoutly prays that A & E and E! stay well away from DS.  The accounts of the Sci Fi Sciography tape and the sordid sensationalism of its tone made me shudder but I frankly expected nothing but the worst the moment I heard about that project.  Anything produced by the other two networks mentioned would be bound to be even more lacking in taste than the lamentable video rubbish-heap spooled together by Sci Fi.  I've suffered through some of these productions in the past and they are an embarrassment to behold.

If you want good stories from behind the scenes at DS, get the MPI tapes such as DS: 25th anniversary and 30th anniversary or DS: behind the scenes.  There are also some good fan video compilations of Festivals way back when (going back to the Eighties thanks to the late Dave Brown).  Watching these is a lot more fun and informative than giving DS the kind of Whacko Jacko treatment that is the fare meted out by the cable networks these days.

Just MHO,

Gothick

Hi Joe, gaol is the British spelling of jail.  In the 1790s I believe Americans were still using the British spellings for most words.  I forgot when the whole thing with adopting American spellings came about; it was a govt response to actual practice, obviously.  Noah Webster (now when did he live?) was an advocate for it, I believe.

Just another bit of trivia on an otherwise very dreary rainy afternoon here in Boss-town (heh, heh).

Goth

Homepage for the Julia List (the name was changed a couple of years back to Julia B and J list, an unspeakably cumbersome locution the point of which I find strangely elusive)--fans refer to it as the J List for short, and please, no comments about J-Ho:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Julia-B-and-JList/

It is mainly fanfic and chatter; only occasionally does a post touch upon Grayson and other aspects of her career beyond her roles in DS.

John, do you have the audio tape of Grayson performing in Happy End?  She did sing a Bertolt Brecht song in that, The Ballad of the Lily of Hell.  It's more Lotte Lenya than Dietrich.  And she is FABULOUS in it.

Steve