Dark Shadows - 1966 - PFF

Dark Shadows - 1966 - PFF

If you were lucky enough to be school-age anytime between 1966 through 1971, you probably came home from school and watched the Gothic soap opera named “Dark Shadows”. Or you discovered this gem the way I did, which was when the “SciFi Channel” first came on the air, they ran the entire series. This amazing little show had the longest run of any Gothic soap ever. With its rich storylines and great actors, it quickly became a hit and spawned 2 films, a revival series in 1991 starring Ben Cross as our brooding Barnabas Collins, many books and a run of audiobooks voiced by members of the original cast, as well as a film with Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins (I am still waiting for my handwritten apology note for this awful film).

This series had it all in its five-year run. There were werewolves, demons, vampires, time travel, alternate realities, love triangles, ghosts, and all the regular things that are in soap operas of today. The series starts simple enough, a young woman name Victoria Winters (Yes, I heard the opening of the series as well, it’s OK, you are totally normal) who lives in a foundling home (another name for an orphanage) in New York, who receives a letter stating that her services as a governess are requested for the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport, Maine. Though she is happy for the work, she is confused as to why they are asking for her by name, since she has no idea who they are. Could they know something of who she is? Are they related to her? Who knows. You will have to watch all 1225 episodes and figure that out for yourself.

The series centers around the Collins/Stoddard family that lives in the huge mansion Collinswood outside of the town of Collinsport, Maine. (Notice a trend? Yeah I thought you might.) Victoria has been hired to be the governess to the troubled young David Collins, son of Roger. When the series first started it was not all that well-received by critics who complained about the “overuse” of the unknown actress Alexandra Moltke, as well as the slow progression. The earliest episodes spent its time introducing the characters and there were no supernatural elements that made the show popular. As the series progressed, there were many new and mysterious characters along with multiple unknown actresses/actors that were commonplace on set. Due to budget constraints, most actors ended up playing multiple characters that would come back from the dead through flashbacks and parallel storylines. But more on that later.

The series is considered by some to be ABC’s first truly popular daytime TV show. It was quite popular with teenagers coming home from school. The series reached the height of its popularity during the 1897 story arc. (I can see why, it is the most engaging of all of the arcs throughout the show, in my humble opinion.) Sadly on April 2, 1971, the series came to an abrupt end. Due to this ending, many storylines were left unfinished. Though they were tied together nicely by a voice-over at the beginning of the last episode. Dark Shadows is one of the few classic soap operas to have all of its episodes survive intact, save one. The only episode that was lost is #1219, and that episode was reconstructed using audio, stills, and opening and closing scenes of the episodes that came before and after it. Most episodes had been released into syndication at one time or another throughout the years. That was until the cable channel SciFi (SyFy now) released the series almost completely in its entirety, they pulled the series just 2 weeks from showing all 1225 episodes. The entire series has since become available for purchase in one complete box set

What some people might not have realized is that almost every story arc in the series is based on a piece of classical literature, from Edgar Allen Poe’s “Cask of Amontillado” and "The Tell-tale Heart” to Dumas “The Count of Monte Cristo” and H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Cthulhu Mythos (Dunwich Horror)” Some of these will be pretty evident as you work your way through the series, others are a bit more tricky. But once you can puzzle out what goes with who… it becomes pretty clear.

We were discussing earlier that there were times that cast members ended up playing multiple roles for any number of reasons. On the other side of this coin, some characters ended up with multiple actors/actresses, usually the casting was pretty similar, but as in the case of Dr. Woodard and Sam Evans, the change could be a bit drastic and catch you off guard. As for cast members playing multiple roles, the record is held by the extremely talented Thayer David who played a total of 10 roles during the 5 years the series was in production.

Other cast members with multiple roles were Joan Bennett (4), Louis Edmonds (6), and Nancy Barrett (6) just to name a few. Now because of the multitude of characters that were being portrayed by a small cast, and the fact the show was done usually in one take, this multiple character situation could end up causing unintended comedy. Because of this “one take” model, there were quite a few “outtake” situations that made it to air. There is a credits sequence (I don’t remember the episode number off the top of my head) in which you see Jonathan Frid walk in front of the camera in street clothes with a cigarette between his fingers. Louis Edmonds was the king of the “Wrong name outtakes”. There were multiple times after the 1897 story arc that he calls characters by the wrong names. This, though funny, lends to the endearing quality of the show. During the show, many famous faces were already established or in the fledgling stages of their career. A few of these were Kate Jackson, Dana Elcar, and the film legend Abe Vigoda. So watching this series and seeing faces that I knew from my childhood made it a fun experience. As far as casting went, for the most part, Dan Curtis decreed that no more than five characters could appear in a single episode, though this mandate was relaxed during sweeps weeks when plot twists were usually aired.

Fun Fact: Barnabas Collins was only supposed to be in a few episodes, but when word got back to Dan Curtis and the rest of the writing staff at his popularity, he was kept on and made an anti-hero. This made Barnabas the first example of a sympathetic vampire to be seen in film or television. His heartbreaking backstory that is only hinted at until the 1897 story arc made many people feel for the unwilling vampire who was in an unfamiliar time and unable to be with the ones that he loved. Jonathan Frid played this character with class and dignity. It was very similar to the way that Christopher Lee had portrayed Dracula in the late ’50s and early ’60s. For more than a year and a half after the appearance of Barnabas, scriptwriters did not use the term “vampire”, they used “He’s one of the undead”, and “He’s not alive!” as a few substitutes, it was not until episode 401 that the term ‘vampire” was used. The character of Quentin Collins was actually created at Jonathan Frid's request, so there would be a second villain to help take the load off of him. A funny fact about Barnabas and his fangs. The first time he was to bite someone, he rushed onto the set and only had a matter of seconds to put his fangs in, which resulted in them being upside-down and he ended up chewing them to bits.

Ok enough about the story, let’s talk about the cast that brought these stories to life. And first, we are going to talk about the Matriarch of the Collins family, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, played by the beautiful Joan Bennett. Elizabeth is Carolyn’s mother and Roger’s sister. She is also the woman responsible for bringing Vicky to Collinswood to care for her troubled nephew, David. Elizabeth is a bit of a shut-in, having not left Collinswood, except only once, since the departure of her husband Paul Stoddard, 18 years before. She is a tormented woman who just wants to do right by her family but insists on bearing her burdens alone as well as taking on the burdens of other family members. She is more of a mother figure to David than his aunt, having filled that role since the departure of David’s mother. Her relationship with Vicky is almost maternal, at times, rather than that of employer and employee. Though she gets rather defensive when Vicky goes looking for answers as to why she was chosen. The beautiful and talented veteran actress Joan Bennett does a beautiful job of bringing Elizabeth to life. Joan had roles in numerous films and TV shows before she became the head of the Collins family. She had roles in such films as “Bulldog Drummond” (1929), “The Trial of Vivienne Ware” (1932), “Little Women” (1933), as well as series like “Somerset Maugham TV Theatre” (1951) and “The Best of Broadway” (1954). After Dark Shadows ended, she continued with roles in the 1977 Argento classic “Susperia” and her last film “Divorce Wars: A Love Story: in 1982. Sadly, she passed away in 1990 at the age of 80.

Our next character is Roger Collins, played by Louis Edmonds. Roger is Elizabeth’s younger brother, Carolyn’s uncle, and David’s father. He also runs the day to day operations of the Collins family businesses for his sister Elizabeth, since she does not leave Collinswood. Roger is a no-nonsense kind of a man, who has his own demons to deal with. He has a strained relationship with his young son, David, who feels this tension and acts out because he feels unloved by his father. I have always found the “early” Roger (Pre-Barnabas), to be a horrible man, that is completely unlikable or sympathetic. I found as the series progressed, Roger seems to start to warm up to his son, though always keeping him at arm's length. I suspect that would be because of his suspicion of who the boy’s father really is. Louis spent most of his career in front of Television cameras. He had roles in the 1954 Television movie “Richard II” as well as roles in such well-known Television series as “All My Children”, “I, Spy” and “The Goodyear Playhouse”. Now while Louis was known for his roles, he was also known for his personal life. Louis Edmonds was “outed” as a gay man in the biography “Big Lou”, though he never really hid his sexuality from anyone. His friends and family were aware of how he had chosen to live his life and were supportive. Louis was also remembered for his tireless efforts when it came to the cause closest to his heart. That was AIDS, due to the death of his nephew Michael from the disease. Louis and his sister worked for many years to reduce the stigma of AIDS and bring attention to this tragic disease that was considered the “Gay man’s and druggies” disease for many years. Tragically, Louis was called home on March 3, 2001, at the age of 77 from respiratory failure. Louis was the “king of outtake material” that made it to air during his time on Dark Shadows. Especially after the 1897 story arc when some of their “alter ego” characters were introduced. It was not uncommon when he was “flustered” to call Elizabeth, Naomi or mix up another character's name. When he did misspeak, he was usually pretty good about just rolling with it. Though I can think of one instance off the top of my head that still makes me giggle to this day. At one point, Roger and Joe are looking for a missing David and they end up inside the Collins Mausoleum and just as they are getting ready to leave. Roger asks Joe to wait, making the statement “Several of my “incestors”, to which he snickers and repeats the word almost as a question “incestors?”. And then corrects the line “Several of my ancestors are buried here.” The fact he was able to make a joke about his misspoken line made him seem even more human. He will always be missed.

Of course, you can’t really talk about Dark Shadows without talking about the man whose name is synonymous with the series. That would be Barnabas Collins. Barnabas was the first “television” vampire, as well, as the first sympathetic vampire. He was only originally supposed to be part of the series for a few episodes, but due to his popularity, he ended up being the main “antagonist” for the Collins family and the citizens of Collinsport, Maine. Barnabas was known for his dark stare that could almost look through you, that was captured so wonderfully on film, that even 50 years later, there are some scenes that when he looks to the camera, he looks like he is looking straight through you. There was never another actor that could get that effect during the entirety of the series. Jonathan would be the face of Barnabas Collins though the television series as well as the two films that starred the original cast. He would be replaced as Barnabas when the series was revived in 1991 with Ben Cross playing our beloved Barnabas, though the series was not as well-received as the original and was canceled after 12 episodes. Many people complained that Cross did not have the look or the ability to fill the shoes of his predecessor. After the failed revival of Dark Shadows, it again slid into obscurity, known only to those who loved the series and were willing to pay for the DVD sets to see their favorite vampire. Barnabas was “revived” again in 2012, by Johnny Depp for the Tim Burton disaster “Dark Shadows”. Many fans of the original series who originally were looking forward to this film, hoping that Mr. Depp would do our beloved vampire justice were horrified at the mockery that was made of the entire series. Made even more insulting by the fact that Mr. Depp claimed to be a huge fan of the original series and of the original Barnabas Collins. The ring that is worn during “Sleepy Hollow” is a replica of the ring worn by Jonathan’s Barnabas.

Now I will admit for one brief moment it was amazing seeing original cast members together again on film. There is one scene in the new “film” where there is a party and “Barnabas” greets his guests at the door. Standing at the door are Jonathan Frid (Barnabas), Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie), Lara Parker (Angelique), and David Selby (Quentin). Sadly this was Jonathan’s last film role as he died just a few months before the film was released. It is rumored that when Dan Curtis turned Barnabas into an anti-hero of sorts, he is the character that single-handedly saved the show from cancellation. No matter what you thought of the series as a whole, it is hard to find fans of the show that do not have a soft spot for our favorite “unwilling” vampire. Jonathan passed away on April 13, 2012, at the age of 83 in his beloved Canada. He was loved by so many and is remembered every year during the Dark Shadows Reunion that happens every June.

No matter if you were able to see this series every day as it originally aired, or you were like some of us and had to wait for it to become syndicated, you are part of an amazing community that shares their love of all things Dark Shadows and are accepting of fans no matter how they were introduced to the series. There are many Facebook groups for lovers of all things Dark Shadows as well as fan clubs (lifetime member here) and as I said earlier there is a reunion every year where you can meet some of your favorite cast members and live Dark Shadows for an entire weekend. If you have not had the chance to visit Collinsport, I highly recommend it. Just be careful when leaving the Blue Whale at night, watch for things that go bump in the night. And should you see a distinguished English gentleman with a dog’s head cane. Go back inside and wait until daylight.

Happy 50th Anniversary Dark Shadows!!!