Luciaphil, darling,

Just a line to tell you how much I appreciate your writeup of Tom.  Excellent work!  Isn't he just the most fabulous thing?  They really should have drawn this story out a bit longer.  I'm so pleased that he went after the quality women (Julia and Liz) rather than insipid Maggie and brainless Vicki.

I kind of dig that peignoir that Julia had on, though it's completely out of character for her.  It seems very Miss Jean Brodie, somehow.

About to read "Kudos for Karlen" ...

Best,  Steve

Frankenstein: the true story instantly became one of my favorite movies when it first aired, and I was thrilled with this opportunity to see it again.  I know I saw a rebroadcast at least once in the mid 70s, but it's close to 30 years since I last got to see it.

It is one of those projects that is ripe for restoration on DVD.  A truncated 2 hour version was shown in European theatres.  It is clear that there was even more in the original director's cut above and beyond the 3 hour version that AMC showed on Sat.

Curiously, Leonard Whiting stopped acting almost immediately after completing this picture.  I wonder why?  His gorgeous nude scene in Romeo and Juliet remains a benchmark for luscious male pulchritude in the cinema (plus, I thought he was a wonderfully expressive actor, both as Romeo and as Victor Frankenstein).

Gothick

Golly, I'm OVERWHELMED!

I appreciate each and every wonderful wish and message of cheer.  I caught the start of all this as I was logging off on Friday and simply did not have the time to post my thanks then (I often just don't get online at all during the weekend). Just a few notes:

John (Claude North) your Mommie Dearest ref had me guffawing mightily!

And Ringo, yes, I've known for years that Mick and I share a day.  Believe me, it is the ONLY resemblance.

Robin, I sang what I regard as Dusty's version of "Just a little lovin' (early in the morning) for a friend last Sat.  That song makes me think of you, but I'm not saying why in public.

And Donna, don't sweat it.  Lots of my friends refer to me as "girl" when they're saying something affectionate (LOL!)

VAM--you got the right Babe to deliver the birthday greetings!  I think I'll have Tom, wrapped with a big glossy red ribbon, and nothing else.  

Cheers,

Gothick

Dom and John,

You both have me bustin' up laughing!  Now Dom, you know you're not supposed to let people KNOW my terrible secret.  I sleep with the key to Tom's boudoir ...er, I mean crypt ... around my neck at all times.

And it is a vicious LIE that I am the first vampire victim in history to leave hickeys on my be-fanged honeypie.

Dom, I'll be the next Vicki Winters, as long as YOU will be my Liz.  Because you CHOOSE to do so!

Getting all batty,

Gothick

Hi Julia,

I'm ba-ack from my trip to Maryland.  Sorry to hear about your computer woes.  I hope everything is all sorted out now!

In the Seventies, Grayson suffered from osteoperosis, and I think if you look carefully you can already see signs of a stoop in her Sixties episodes on Dark Shadows.  One fan who spent some time with Grayson in the early Eighties told me that she thought a big reason why G avoided attending the DS conventions that they held then was because she was worried about pushing, shoving fans such as she had been around on certain occasions in the Sixties.  She could have easily fallen and suffered another major break (she broke an arm in 1977 and her hip in 1980).

In addition, I have been informed that an actress who did stage work with Grayson recalls her wearing a back brace.  I don't have a time frame for that but I imagine it was in the Seventies, possibly at some point in the early Eighties.  

One last note on this topic--I believe that in the script for the conclusion of the 1995 Parallel Time sequence, Barnabas was supposed to pick Julia up from the floor and carry her up the Stairway through Time.  If you play the tape you'll see that they settled for having her lean on him.  I suspect that back issues may have been responsible for how they played that scene.

Given all this, it is truly remarkable that Grayson seemed so limber and physically vibrant in the video of the Suicide production in 1980.  She had just recovered from a broken hip when she did this!

She was, in every sense of the word, a truly REMARKABLE woman.

Steve  

I often think of Jeff Clark and his relationship with Vicki as the true Curse of Collinwood!

Gothick

Mark--always happy to be of service!

Best wishes,

Steve

Boy, am I finding it difficult to concentrate since looking at the Montage today and that luscious, delectable shot of hunk Tom Jennings helpfully proffering his neck for our fave B*tch-on-Wheels vampire chick, Missus Angelique Collins.

It's a lucky thing I wasn't in the room, cuz I would have shoved her aside and said "Outta my way, WITCH!  I get to hickey that man FIRST!"

Gothick who's wondering why on Earth the mortician buried Tom in his ... hospital pajamas???