And Yet Another New Slideshow

[Lydia]

1972 - Barnabas: 'A vampire, madam. Yes. And most regrettably so. But more importantly, I am a Collins, and I give you my word of honor-neither you nor any under this roof need fear my cursed nature.'

And thus the movie leapfrogs over the whole business of Barnabas kidnapping Maggie and threatening David, and the Collins Family turns into the Addams Family (well, maybe).  If Barnabas (either Frid’s Barnabas or Depp’s Barnabas) had spouted that quote to Joan Bennett's Elizabeth, how would she have responded?

I like the relationship between Barnabas and Elizabeth in the movie - but it's definitely different from the relationship in the original series, which I also liked.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

For me the relationship between Barnabas and Elizabeth is one of the best things about the film. And given that apparently from the get-go the film's Barnabas never hid the fact that he was a vampire, for him it seems to make sense that he wouldn't hide that fact from Elizabeth after he's released into 1972. I mean, he didn't even hide from the children that he's the same Barnabas as in the portrait - though they didn't really believe him and were more willing to believe he was spaced out on something. At least that was Carolyn's reaction. David, on the other hand, seemed to take an instant liking to him.

And as for how the original series' Elizabeth might have reacted had Barnabas told her soon after meeting her that he was a vampire, well, we'll never really know. Though when it sunk in, initially at least, I strongly suspect she would have reacted the same way that the film's Elizabeth does: complete shock. One clue beyond that, though, could be the fact that one way in which both women are alike is that they're both fiercely loyal to family and extremely mindful of family honor. But something to keep in mind that makes them very different is that the original series' Elizabeth and the film's Elizabeth find themselves in extremely different financial situations. But I'd rather not get into that until after it's shortly dealt with in the slideshow.

[dom]

We got the Barn & Liz original relationship in house of Dark Shadows. I think the secret would have bogged down the film and rendered the Collins family kind of useless (as they practically were anyway, not to mention Julia) if the theme were still centered around Barn & Ange.

[Lydia]

The fact that Barnabas didn't have to lie to Elizabeth meant that one dimension of his character was removed, or at least downplayed - a dimension that was very important to many of the people who loved the original series.  This dimension didn't matter so much to me, but I don't know how many times I have read that there were gay people who identified with Barnabas because he too had a secret that must not be revealed.  (I hesitate to talk about other people's experience, but I trust I'll be corrected if I've misrepresented it.)

I keep thinking about how Johnny Depp loved Dark Shadows as a child, and I think about how he apparently loved it for aspects that were not the most important aspects of it to so many other people.  The original Dark Shadows series is a very big tent - to borrow a phrase from politics - and I suppose it can't help but be shrunk here and there in its succeeding incarnations.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Perhaps they chose to take a page from hoDS wherein the lie was barely introduced at all and it's not played up anywhere to the extent it is in the original series. Though by virtue of the fact that with a soap there's a huge luxury of time, but with a film there's so little time to get everything in, some things simply have to be sacrificed, and apparently the lie has basically been one of them.

I can only speak for myself in that it's much more important to me that in some way Barnabas express his guilt and revulsion at what becoming a vampire has done to him and caused him to do - and that is certainly touched upon on multiple occasions by Depp's Barnabas.

[Patti Feinberg]

On the Main Page, today's montage is a pic of JD/Barn telling Elizabeth that this was his particular favorite 'secret' passage.
LOVE IT!!! Loved the scene in the movie and love love seeing it here!!

Thanks wonderful Mods!!

Patti

[Patti Feinberg]

Elizabeth: "He means it seems like two centuries".

Two questions: first, were there pics of athletes yet on Wheaties cereal? (Actually, when was Wheaties cereal released?)

Second, what room are the actor's in; specifically, it looks like a life-sized painting behind Elizabeth; I remember in the early-mid '80s, there were wall paper designed to look like life-size settings (forest, beach, etc).

Thanks,

Patti

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Patti,

As to your first question, I think Wheaties Cereal has been around for many years.  I believe that there was a former US Olympian named Bob Richards (I think?), who was frequently featured on the front of the cereal box.  (Mr. Richards also used to do TV commercials for Wheaties Cereal.)

And, I once heard a story that when a 1950s episode of "The Adventures of Superman" was being filmed, actor George Reeves (as the "Man of Steel") was supposed to break through a fake concrete wall in order to save Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, but Mr. Reeves, literally, became stuck in the wall and allegedly quipped to his fellow actors: "Well, I guess that Superman forgot to eat his Wheaties today"!

On the second question, I'm not sure what room that was in the film, but it's certainly much bigger than the breakfast room in the original "Dark Shadows."

Bob

[michael c]

have you guys not seen the film yet?


they are in the dining room. in the film it was generally the gathering place for large group scenes featuring most of the characters during breakfast or dinner and there were several important character introductions here.


it was a fabulous set. the walls were covered completely with a painted seascape. sideboards were laden with ancient family silver. all of it suggesting the family in much grander days.

in the film's frequent nods to 1970's kitsch boxes of Wheaties and bottles of mrs. butterworth hung out in this atmosphere of faded baroque grandeur.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Today introduces the slideshow's first capture/quote from a deleted scene. And I'm actually quite disappointed that the scene wasn't included in the film because I think it illuminates so much about Elizabeth and Julia's relationship. But more on that as the quotes appear...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I forgot to mention that apparently some part of the end of the just previous dining room scene must have been cut because obviously in the film Barnabas doesn't make any sort of remark at all about the last bit that Julia says he did in her quoted dialogue:

[spoiler]1972 (Deleted) - Julia: 'It all seemed pretty bizarre to me. All that shit about family silverware, horses, feeding the Chevy.'[/spoiler]

Though honestly, I love how the scene ends simply with his quizzical expression:

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Of course, a major reason why this first deleted scene should hold a special place in all our hearts (and another reason why we should be very upset it was cut) is because not only does it feature yet another glimpse of the macrame closet, but throughout it depicts Elizabeth actually doing macrame:

What more could a forum that once saluted "Zen and the Art of Macrame" - as well as the close association macrame has to the male and female orgasm - ask for?! 

[michael c]

mb where are you getting these images and quotes???


they looks so cool and definitely would have fleshed out the barnabas/julia situation. are they on the blue ray?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yes, the scene is one of the deleted scenes on the Blu-ray. And among those scenes it's probably my favorite because it's so rich in character. And more on that shortly...

[Gothick]

It's too bad this scene, and anything else involving Pfeiffer and HBC, hasn't been made more widely available.

I do not mean to be unkind, but ANY scene without Depp and Green in that film is automatically more interesting and nuanced than scenes with one, the other or both of the terror tots--something about them just seemed to push Burton to go not just over the top, but, in the words of the much lamented Ralph Kramden, "To the Moon, Alice!"

G.