She was spending a lot of time that Summer working on her book, the Bennett Playbill.  I believe it was published in January 1970.

Gothick

Hi Vlad,

I think the Alexander Cort credit may have been from the lists compiled by fans over the years; I don't believe the actor received a credit in the end titles.  I have not a clue what the source was for a lot of the info about the identity of people who were extras, ghosts, Cassandra's wrinkled hands, etc.  I thought that some fans who were involved in the NYC theatre scene or hung out at the studio way back when may have received this information from the actors themselves who did this work.

As for Claude North, he was portrayed by the fabulous Brian Sturdivant.  From the scripts leading up to Claude's appearance, it would seem that the writers intended him to be a major character in the next arc of the story.  This would appear to be one of those cases where DC abruptly dictated a change in story direction, presumably because of complaints from the fans.

Gothick

Anyone deigning to reply to this query--please bear in mind that it is written by a self-professed luddite who does not actually own (and has never operated) a DVD player.  (btw one of my friends bought a DVD player, and was unable to connect it.  A "cable guy" needed to visit his home to check his cable connections and, while there, obligingly connected the DVD player for him.  Only thing is, Mr. Cable informed my friend that he could not have the DVD player and the VCR connected to the same unit. I'm sure this is not true but, since I do not know anything about DVD equipment, I'm unable to help out my friend.)

I was chatting with a friend (not the same one as above) last night, and she stated that she is looking forward to getting all the DS DVDs so she can go to a favorite scene in any given episode without fast forwarding.

I'm not sure that the encoding of the DS DVD set permits one to go directly to a specific scene in this manner.  Does anyone know about this?

Another thing that occurred to me is that if the disc is not set up with each act encoded as a chapter (or whatever), one might be able to "bookmark" specific scenes, if the DVD player were hooked up to the right kind of equipment (a computer, for example).

Any thoughts on this?

Gothick

Hi, My read on the Grayson/Jonathan relationship is pretty similar to Julia's.  I do think that Grayson was a strong, vivid personality and I'm sure that her sharp-edged wit had some cast and crew members bristling from time to time.  What tends to come through when you speak to people about her now is her warmth, her earthy zest for living, and her flamboyant personality, but I'm sure there were hours if not days when she could be hard to take, especially if one were in her line of fire.

I do think that Jonathan and Grayson were fond of one another to a certain extent.  In another fan interview from the early 80s she tells some of the same stories about how he had such problems with his lines, but then croons something like "He's a dear man, and I love him."  I think Nancy may be correct that Jonathan's refusal to do Night of Dark Shadows may have left some hurt feelings from Grayson and Sam.  (This would explain why Sam went out of his way in one interview to complain that critics panned "Murder in the Cathedral," the T. S. Eliot play which I believe Jonathan did in NYC while everyone else was off filming the second movie).

As for Jonathan, I have a video from a Festival (I think it was one of the late Dave Brown's tapes) where Jon says a propos of Grayson, "She saved my life every day in the studio."  I don't think they were faking in those photos you've seen where they're hugging one another and smiling; I think there was a lot of good feeling there.

Just my take on it.

Steve

Does Sam say anything we haven't already heard in the interviews?  I'd appreciate hearing about it if so.

I still do not have a DVD player, and the material given above about the chopping and changing of the price does not much endear me to the idea of buying the series all over again.

Gothick

I too saw the subject line and knew that it must be in regards to that shining light of the variety stage, Miss Amanda "QUUUWWWENNNTINNNNNN!!!" Harris.

Luciaphil's comment that CDT's portrait of Amanda-banna-danna must have been done for a tooth powder advert had my silently guffawing.  She calls them as she sees them.

I don't care what any of you say, I'll take Don Briscoe any day as Tim Shaw in those luscious Victorian threads (I know they owe more to flower power thrift store chic than to what a real gent would have worn ca. 1897, but wotthehell Archy).  There's actually a hysterical scene that I guess none of you will watch because you ff through Tim and CDT where the two of them are in the bar getting stoked and the way they play the scene, CDT clearly thinks Tim is coming onto him!  too funny!

Oh, yeah, and then there's that doe-eyed young man that CDT conjures up from beyond the rainbow, and Tim's reaction to him.

As for Amanda, weird to report it but I actually enjoy watching her scenes with Trask. They're a matched set--one operator going up against another.

And as for the plot lines--do they EVER make sense on Dark Shadows? this in particular was the period when a lot of people took a little pink pill half an hour before turning on the show.

Gothick

Thanks for this thread, John.  As you know, Satan in High Heels is one of my top ten favorite films of all!  It just keeps getting better and better. Grayson's performance is such a hoot. I try not to think about how much she hated the director and what a trial the filming was.  Also she was not pleased when it debuted in Times Square a year and a half after the filming had been wrapped, when she was featured in her first big Broadway musical, Subways are for sleeping, with Carol Lawrence.

I was tickled when I visited Sam and he showed me this video, remarking that the movie was a riot although his wife had not cared for it.  You know in the late Sixties she was flatly denying that she ever appeared in the film!

Steve

I second that emotion!

You guys deserve exec suites at the Dark Shadows Festival!  I know all 3 of you are the top in my book.

Gothick