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Current Talk '17 I / Re: Laura: Out of Time...or TOO Much??
« on: March 05, 2017, 07:40:51 PM »
William Mann, who was once a DS fanfic writer and went on to become a professional author of books about film actors of the past, wrote a Laura backstory tale that I think was published in Dale Clark's INSIDE THE OLD HOUSE sometime in the 1990s.
Mann's speculation, which cleverly attempts to make sense of the confused material presented in Laura's two storylines, posits that Laura at one time--in her original mortal life--made a pact with the ancient Egypt sun-god Ra. (Laura might have had a father who was involved, a Dr. Murdoch maybe? I can't recall now and I have no idea where my copy of that zine is.) Laura's pact was that she would die by fire and be allowed to live again and go on, lifetime after lifetime, but her part of the bargain was that she had to offer up her own child or children in the flames of her own second hecatomb.
The Laura and David painting in 1967 does imply that David would have become immortal as well had Laura's plan succeeded. But the spirit of David Collins who speaks at Dr Guthrie's 1967 seance fairly conclusively--and horribly--refutes that idea.
Both the 1967 and 1897 storylines pretty much revolve around the premise that Laura's return has a time expiration date. It's possible that she expects to rise yet again from her own ashes once she has been successful in coaxing her own progeny into the flames. In the 1967 scenario, her life energy is supported by what must have been a sacred fire that was kept burning in the fireplace in the cottage. In 1897, they revisit this idea in a different and interesting form. In 1897, they particularly wrote it so that Laura's lifeforce began to wane once her "time" approached. The whole thing about Ra wasn't part of the original 1967 story at all, as far as I could see. But you could say it is implied by Laura's "soliloquy" (which Actress Diana Millay felt should be memorized and recited by every schoolchild--I really don't understand why, but she seems to have felt it was the most beautiful piece of writing she ever had the fortunate to communicate).
The original 1966-67 Laura storyline is perhaps the most chilling DS ever filmed. Really exceptional work on the part of everyone involved.
G.
Mann's speculation, which cleverly attempts to make sense of the confused material presented in Laura's two storylines, posits that Laura at one time--in her original mortal life--made a pact with the ancient Egypt sun-god Ra. (Laura might have had a father who was involved, a Dr. Murdoch maybe? I can't recall now and I have no idea where my copy of that zine is.) Laura's pact was that she would die by fire and be allowed to live again and go on, lifetime after lifetime, but her part of the bargain was that she had to offer up her own child or children in the flames of her own second hecatomb.
The Laura and David painting in 1967 does imply that David would have become immortal as well had Laura's plan succeeded. But the spirit of David Collins who speaks at Dr Guthrie's 1967 seance fairly conclusively--and horribly--refutes that idea.
Both the 1967 and 1897 storylines pretty much revolve around the premise that Laura's return has a time expiration date. It's possible that she expects to rise yet again from her own ashes once she has been successful in coaxing her own progeny into the flames. In the 1967 scenario, her life energy is supported by what must have been a sacred fire that was kept burning in the fireplace in the cottage. In 1897, they revisit this idea in a different and interesting form. In 1897, they particularly wrote it so that Laura's lifeforce began to wane once her "time" approached. The whole thing about Ra wasn't part of the original 1967 story at all, as far as I could see. But you could say it is implied by Laura's "soliloquy" (which Actress Diana Millay felt should be memorized and recited by every schoolchild--I really don't understand why, but she seems to have felt it was the most beautiful piece of writing she ever had the fortunate to communicate).
The original 1966-67 Laura storyline is perhaps the most chilling DS ever filmed. Really exceptional work on the part of everyone involved.
G.