Dark Shadows: What WAS it about Barnabas, anyway?

"My name is Victoria Winters. My journey is beginning. A journey that I hope will open the doors of life to me, and link my past with my future. A journey that will bring me to a strange and dark place ... to the edge of the sea high atop Widow's Hill. A house called ... Collinwood. A world I've never known ... with people I've never met. People, who tonight are still only shadows in my mind. But who will soon fill the days and nights of my tomorrows..."

And so it began.

Long before Twilight and Edward Cullen, indeed long before she who would become Mrs Meyer summoned up the courage to favor Mr Meyer with that first shy smile that would set the world hurtling along the irreversible course of events set in motion by their decision to reproduce, a decision that resulted, as we all know, in the birth of their little daughter Stephenie, even long before Anne Rice, surrounded as she was by all kinds of spirits in the antedeluvian days of that modern-day Atlantis, the City That Was New Orleans, smiled a secret smile to its venerable old ghosts, and picked up a pen and a clean spiral notebook, long before any of that, there was Dark Shadows.

It is said to have begun with a dream about a young girl on a train, one of those little New England towns that at first glance, look like nothing, but upon closer examination seem shrouded in mystery, a veritable rookery of secrets and ghosts.

"My name is Victoria Winters," began the voiceover of every episode. Innocent young ingenue, "raised in a foundling home," new governess, spooky old mansion, and all those secrets..

The first 200 episodes or so were painfully slow-moving, yet strangely compelling, kind of like a dark and brooding Hills shot in black and white.

As may be imagined, it was not doing well in the ratings. The atmosphere, the cast, the script, were there, but neither the original storyline, nor the first year or so of episodes contained any "supernatural" content at all!

It was all tease and no payoff!

Nevertheless, as I am reminded as I watch those first chapters again after forty years, it is fascinating to see how so many episodes containing so little plot advancement can form such gripping storytelling!

Most viewers, however, were nowhere near gripped, and with the wolves of cancellation at the door, the team went into action, "went supernatural" as producer Dan Curtis would later put it, first a ghost, then a flaming Phoenix, and then, I think it was episode 211 or thereabouts - a simple-minded handyman opened a dusty old coffin, and Barnabas Collins rose up out of it, and nothing would ever be the same - not for a fortyish, virtually unknown Canadian stage actor named Jonathan Frid, and not for the millions of tween n' teen girls who suddenly began to literally run home from school every day, to catch ABC's 3:30 PM airing of the first ever - and to date still the only - gothic soap opera.

After-school "extracurricular activities" were kicked to the curb by such a large number of kids, especially girls, that some schools were obliged to re-arrange everything and have them at night, while others, especially in smaller communities, simply let them fall by the wayside, and stopped having a school paper, a girls' softball team, a glee club, drama club or squad of baton twirlers.

Like all soap operas, Dark Shadows featured some pretty, pretty people. And like many, it teamed them up with seasoned and accomplished actors. Just about every Dark Shadows character had their share of loyal fans, but to the surprise of many, especially Jonathan Frid himself, the real superstar who would that emerged from those Dark Shadows, and who would become one of the great iconic characters of that age and this - the Baby Boom's Edward Cullen - was Barnabas Collins - the reluctant vampire!

Recently, I received a present of a sort of Dark Shadows "center slice," the episodes comprising what many consider the "best part."

In the course of its 5-6 year run, Dark Shadows featured not only vampires, but werewolves, ghosts, time travel (both ways), & a parallel universe, so, as is the case with The Hills, not everyone agrees on what the "best part" is, and frankly, while I thought of the "center slice" I received as my idea of the best part, I had not even gotten halfway through it before realizing that I was as firmly "hooked" now as I had been as a young girl, and the "best part" is the part I am currently watching! :D

In reality, Jonathan Frid was so not a hottie - by the standards of that time or this. He had not been chosen by focus groups of young girls asked to rate his relative hunkiness against that of a series of other shirtless and manscaped candidates.

Yet he became, almost instantly, the object of adolescent crushes every bit as intense as those today enjoyed by Robert Pattinson! And if you think you like Edward Cullen, just wait till you meet Barnabas Collins!

Dark Shadows was, for its time, a very different kind of show, redolent of several genres, yet not fitting into any of them. Like the inexplicable but undeniable appeal of Barnabas, it was unique and unprecedented.

For the past several months, the internets have been abuzz with rumors, some confirmed and some not, that no less than Johnny Depp is interested in a revival of Dark Shadows - because HE wants to be Barnabas!

Jonathan Frid is in his eighties now, still very active, and frequently appears at the annual Dark Shadows Convention - yes, after 40 years, there is still an annual convention - and attendance, and interest, the Convention itself - have all steadily grown as the years have passed.

"Good luck to him (Depp)," Jonathan has blogged, and we may make of that what we will, but if anybody can pull it off - well, it's hard to think who else besides Johnny Depp would even have the balls to attempt it!

Even at its purplest, the narration, even the dialogue in some cases, was still evocative and poetic, with a beauty of language seldom associated with either soap operas or teen TV favorites.

Angelique's "yours is the hand I will use when mine is too small" actually makes a sweet wedding vow, if one can manage to remove it from its original context, which was - no, I don't think I will tell you. That would be a spoiler!

Low budget production goofs notwithstanding, there was an attention to detail in production values that belied the occasionally shaky door, and the costumes of the 1795 storyline have not been surpassed today, even by multimillion dollar productions with actual research departments.

The original Dark Shadows tapes have been remastered, ready to enchant a whole new generation of impressionable tweens n' teens - and delight their mothers and grandmothers and aunties - and a most respectable chunk of fathers and uncles et al - with a deliciously nostalgic voyage back to another time - most appropriate for a show that incorporated time travel into so many of its story arcs!

But a word of warning to younger viewers who are intrigued enough by the challenge implicit in my "if you think you like Edward Cullen" hmmphing to lay in the appropriate supply of snacks and pillows, and settle in for some serious Dark Shadows Center Slice viewing - television was very different back then.

In the Olden Days, all TV shows were in black and white - and this includes almost the first 300 episodes of Dark Shadows.

Around #295 or so, they made the Great Transition - complete with proud voiceover announcement appended to the famous intro of Robert Cobert's eerie theme and the waves breaking against the black cliffs. ( Those cliffs and waves were actually shot in Kennebunkport, Maine, for you trivia buffs).

Although the quality of the remastered product for the bulk of the series is excellent - in fact, it actually looks better today than it did then, but that could be because I am watching it on a much better screen than was available to me (or anybody) in 1967, the masters for a handful of episodes have been lost, and all that is left is the black and white Kinescope version, even of episodes that aired in color.

Dark Shadows is not only unquestionably Great Art, but a fascinating repository of 1960s fashions and hair - but not the tie-dye and waist-length "natural" styles associated with the outward aspects of movements for social change celebrated in the famous broadway musical, but the look rocked by the more traditional "silent majority" sector, as they struggled to emerge from the bright red lipstick, pincurls and crinoline skirts of the 1950s and embrace what was called back then "the natural look."

That name takes on new meaning for modern viewers of old movies and TV shows, and for younger folks, it can be a little disconcerting to see actors with natural noses, natural lips, natural teeth, even natural bustlines!

Even older actors, (Grayson Hall's admitted age was about 45 and Joan Bennett's was 57 or so when the series began) both male and female, have full use of facial muscles (there was no botox then which gives them the ability to be wonderfully expressive with their faces!

Each actor had his or her own unique look, and so each character will be distinguishable one from the other even on first viewing. This will actually be an advantage, as even someone who had never even heard of Dark Shadows will be able to instantly differentiate one character from another without that initial fumbling period of getting straight on which blonde is which that accompanies most modern day shows.

But at the time, "natural look," depending on one's hair DNA, meant trying to sleep on hair wound around soft drink cans, enduring long, painful sessions with heated metal combs and grease (it's not fried, it's Shake n' Bake!)even longer salon sessions where hair never intended to be anything but stick-straight was painstakingly sculpted and pinned into sausage curl-festooned updos for prom.

On Dark Shadows, even the hairstyles of the younger generation actresses are different from each other - and in the "modern times" scenes, it is even their own hair!

And Oh, what hair it was!

How many young prom-goers modeled gown & hairstyle on Josette Collins! "Fashions Courtesy of Ohrbachs" said the credits.

And Oh what fashions!

From Carolyn's near-platinum, low-light-free weapons-grade "flip" to Dr Hoffman's immovable cartoon puppydog ears, to the elaborate curlwursted confections adorning the defenseless heads of Vicky and Maggie, and the more matronly architecture sported by Liz Stoddard, the Dark Shadows hair story ran the gamut from classic simplicity to rococo to comical.

If the sixties fashion of the "modern times" episodes are enjoyed today as high camp, in the 1795 era costumes we are treated to are some of the most breathtaking clothing ever seen on stage or screen.

Even compared to the most lavish costume design, then, before or since, the "1795" wardrobe in which the cast was arrayed at the very least rivals Barry Lyndon, and surpasses, in sheer beauty, any and everything ever done by Merchant Ivory and certainly anything ever acted in by Emma Thompson.

Whether, as the years passed, we were aware of it or not, Dark Shadows did a lot more for the fashion philosophy and sense of Baby Boom TweenznTeenz than any fashion magazine - those 1795 costumes were and are a veritable university of knowledge there for the osmotic absorption for even the most clueless on the subject of what colors go with which human color palette, even given that most of the world's people will have to do a smoosh of extrapolating - the population of Collinwood was very ethnically homogeneous.

It will not always be possible to readily apply these lessons as one wanders through the racks of today's ready-to-wear, however.

Though those with peach and cream skin and chestnut to auburn hair may readily understand from that wonderful dress of Josette's that they can stop looking for "their color," because it has been found, its name is it is butternut (and it should be accented with true cream and deep purple, deeper than royal purple, but well short of aubergine) may not have much luck locating their color. It is not "popular" at the moment, but it should be perennially so, and those who are familiar with the costume I am referring to know why.

I would go so far as to say that anyone whose human color palette is even in the same family as Kathryn Lee Scott should consider it, along with that true cream, as "their" neutral!

Kathryn is one of the great beauties of the age, (though today her hair is blonde) :) and I have no idea what her "natural" color is, but the auburn-kissed chestnut one-color head she had in 1967 is the one that suits her best.

Lara Parker, another great beauty, may remind some younger viewers a little of AnnaLynne McCord, and if AnnaLynne is lucky enough to grow up to look like Lara Parker she will officially pass from schoolgirl kawaiihood into serious, grown-up, weapons-grade Beauty.

The wardrobe designer wisely put Lara in a lot of neutrals and muted colors, even her most elaborate gowns served as a backdrop for her face, the color of a blush rose, a huge pair of those eyes that go from green to oceany and back again and shades of blonde that I don't think they make anymore but they should! The remarkable edifice of sausage curls that was fastened to the crown was about 4 shades lighter than the smooth wings of "front hair," and appeared slightly less uni-colored than most sixties hair.

The lessons for brunettes may be more subtle in some ways, but we tend to know almost instinctively which colors set off our monochromatic color scheme to best advantage.

For us it is always about the undertones, and colors either make us look fabulous or flu-stricken. The main color lesson I remember getting from Dark Shadows is that a bright royal blue bow in dark hair looks great.

Alexandra Moltke and Joan Bennet both had brown hair, sometimes lit to appear amost black, and their costumes were usually centered around the rule of blue and brown, the same principle that dictates blue eyeliner and mascara for true brunettes!

And the most fashion-forward brunette (Xtreme or otherwise) brunette viewer of today will need no more than a glance at Joan Bennet's aqua print lavender print dress with the perky little scarf of bright lavender at the neck - Just one look. You will know what to do!

If the eighteenth century rainment worn by the characters in the drawing room was elaborate, in the show's the "modern day" phases, the sartorial star of the show was sleepwear, which took center stage in all those scenes that required the actors to get out of bed to investigate ominous knocks on doors and strange noises!

This was a time when ladies in all walks of life slept in long, flowing, ribbon-and-lace-trimmed night-dresses usually involving several filmy layers. These were sold - and used - with matching peignoirs, and sometimes slippers. ** The most common material used was nylon, though the closets of wealthy people, especially outside of the US, and people with close relatives who sewed usually included at least a few "sets" made of silk, (or in the case of sensible people in warm lands, cotton batiste).

On TV, the peignoir was removed only at the last second before actually getting under the covers, upon which she would lay the peignoir carefully on the foot of the bed, to be put on, along with her bedroom slippers, if she got out of bed for any reason, whether to get a drink or escape a fire.

In real life, especially in the warmer climates, the peignoirs were more likely to show up at breakfast, or pre-bedtime TV time (when only family was present for either event) and only very old ladies actually put on either peignoir or slippers, or "house shoes," as they were called, if they got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

Because they were made of sheer material (although with all those layers the concept was rendered somewhat academic) and frequently featured wider, lower-cut necklines, the peignoir would not be worn in the presence of guests, even to the limited extent that had been permissible with its ancestor, the "dressing gown," and should by no means be confused with the "hostess" or "patio" gown, which was designed especially to be worn for casual entertaining. Hostess gowns were long and flowy, but neither sheer nor layered.

** The slippers that came with a night-dress and peignoir set were typically sort of flimsy, more ornamental than useful. In the west, the actual "house shoes" people wore were made of light colored or pastel leather, comfortably padded inside, usually made by Daniel Green and ugly as sin. In the east, whether leather or fabric, they were (and still are) works of art, but with little or no padding, and in some places, there is little if any distinction made between house shoes and regular shoes.

Oh, dear, have I digressed?

I will try to make up for it next time.