Showing posts with label Grayson Hall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grayson Hall. Show all posts
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| Deborah Kerr and Richard Burton |
"Don't make me take steps, Dr. Shannon ..." -- Judith Fellowes.
The former minister T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton), who was locked out of his church, is now guiding ladies on a tour bus through Mexico. Young Charlotte Goodall (Sue Lyon) can't keep her hands off Shannon, inspiring the ire of her formidable guardian Judith Fellowes (Grayson Hall). Shannon takes the gals to a small hotel run by an old friend, Maxine Faulk (Ava Gardner), whose husband died a short while ago. While some of the tourist ladies put up a fuss, Maxine reluctantly admits the impoverished artist Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr) and her aged poet father, Nonno (Cyril Delevanti) to her hostel. As these characters interact and Shannon faces dismissal from the tour business, will the man finally find himself "at the end of his rope," like one of the iguanas tied to the stairs? Like many Williams' adaptations The Night of the Iguana is a mix of the poetic and the pretentious, but it does have some very tender moments. Burton, Lyon and Delevanti walk off with the acting honors. Grayson hall [House of Dark Shadows] is a bit overwrought, almost ridiculous at times, as Judith, but the whole idea of the fire-breathing repressed lesbian is terribly dated. Deborah Kerr [Edward, My Son] is good, but she doesn't quite get across the weary defeatedness of someone who is a caregiver to a man in his nineties [walking him around Mexico in the heat with little money could almost be considered elder abuse], and is apparently homeless besides -- where is the sheer desperation she would be feeling? Gardner [Seven Days in May] is not bad at all and suitably earthy; Bette Davis played the role on the stage. The poem that Nonno completes, written by Williams, of course, is beautiful. Despite its flaws, the movie casts a certain exotic and haunting spell.
Verdict: Imperfect but entertaining and well-acted, with some interesting characters. ***.
This is an interesting biography of stage, screen and television actress Grayson Hall, who was nominated for a supporting Oscar for The Night of the Iguana, but who will always be best-known for playing Dr. Julia Hoffman on the afternoon Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. The book looks into her early days before she reinvented herself as "Grayson Hall," her two marriages, her complicated relationship with her father, and the many people she knew and worked with in New York City. Jamison looks at the film that Hall denied she ever made, wherein she played a madame, Satan in High Heels, as well as the low-budget End of the Road, not to mention the two theatrical features based on Dark Shadows. Her stage work was eclectic and controversial: La Ronde, Genet's The Balcony, and even a couple of musicals. She was doing previews of The Madwoman of Chaillot when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. I remember watching Dark Shadows and wondering in how many different ways Hall could intone the phrase "I don't know" which she seemed required to say many times in every episode. Never conventionally attractive -- one might even say she possessed sublime ugliness -- Hall nevertheless proves quite glamorous in some youthful shots in the photo section. Jamison does a good job exploring the life and work of Hall, and suggests that back in the day she was almost some kind of gay icon.
Verdict: For Dark Shadows fans and theater enthusiasts. ***.
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| Grayson Hall and Thayer David |
In this first theatrical feature based on the popular Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, the storyline that introduced vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) is retold, although it ultimately goes off in its own direction separate from the series. Looking for treasure, Willie Loomis (John Karlen) stumbles across a coffin containing the centuries-old Barnabas and inadvertently releases him. Barnabas introduces himself as a cousin to the American branch of the Collins family, and is struck by the resemblance of Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott) to his lost love, Josette. While Barnabas feeds upon young ladies in the vicinity, and even turns Carolyn Stoddard (Nancy Barrett) into one of the undead, two people figure out his secret: Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall) and Professor Stokes (Thayer David). Julia discovers that there's a cell in Barnabas' blood that may be responsible for his condition and begins to cure him, falling in love with him as well. But when she discovers that the person he's committed to is not her but Maggie ..uh oh! Like the series, House of Dark Shadows benefits from some good acting, with Karlen, David and Scott being especially notable; Don Briscoe as Carolyn's boyfriend and Grayson Hall as Julia are also effective, as is Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins. Joan Bennett shows up now and then as Elizabeth Collins, wringing her hands and looking worried. Roger Davis is fine as Maggie's boyfriend, Jeff, and Dennis Patrick (Dear Dead Delilah) appears as a sheriff. While Dan Curtis [Curse of the Black Widow] could never be considered a great stylist, he keeps things moving and manages to build up some tension toward the end. Certain sequences are especially atmospheric and there is some good art direction, most memorably in a climactic sequence in Barnabas' misty basement. The tune that Josette's music box plays is evocative and the old age make up used on Frid is quite convincing. There are some unintentionally comical moments, and this hasn't the visceral impact of the best of the Hammer horrors, but it really isn't at all bad. Followed by Night of Dark Shadows.
Verdict: About a hundred times better than the Tim Burton version. ***.