One of the best things about the first year of Dark Shadows is Nancy Barrett. Despite all of Carolyn Stoddard’s faults, not the least of which being her borderline incestuous crush on her uncle Roger, the emphatic range Nancy Barrett brings to her performances simply makes the character nothing short of enchanting. It’s here in episode 40 where such a quality is brought home to epitomize what makes Nancy Barrett so great in the role of Carolyn Stoddard.
There are a good many fans who only follow the show from episode 210 where the Barnabas era begins, and for this reason alone the first two hundred nine episodes remain one of the best kept secrets among Dark Shadows fandom. Yet for those who appreciate the fantastic performances of talented actors bringing characters to life with definitive depth, these early episodes contain some of the finest, most memorable moments in the entire series.
Here in episode 40, greatness abounds not only in scenes with Nancy Barrett as Carolyn Stoddard, but also in those with David Ford as Sam Evans. In the post for episode 41, we’ll recognize what David Ford achieves in one of his more magnificent moments on Dark Shadows; for now, let’s shine a light on what Nancy Barrett brings to define her portrayal of Carolyn Stoddard in the absolute.
At the very beginning of Dark Shadows, Carolyn Stoddard could just as easily have been disliked overall. She comes across as spoiled and self-centered, doesn’t seem to appreciate those who really love her, and is forever striving for what she could never have.
In his series outline Shadows on the Wall, original story creator and developer Art Wallace begins his portrait of Carolyn Stoddard with the following paragraph:
“The only daughter of Elizabeth Stoddard is now seventeen years old. An intense, attractive girl, Carolyn seems to derive her energies towards counteracting the gloom of the old house within which her mother had imprisoned herself. Armed with an air of independence, driven by the devils of rebellion, Carolyn’s romantic attachments have, for several years, been a source of distress for her mother and a constant fund of gossip for the housewives of Collinsport.” (Shadows on the Wall, p. 16)
As initially presented when the series first aired, the character of Carolyn Stoddard doesn’t come across as someone you could admire. For one thing, she treats her boyfriend Joe Haskell abhorrently; he’s even forced into making a public scene by erupting into a fight at the Blue Whale because of her insistence on dancing with every other male in the room.
(Joe Haskell mixing it up with one of Carolyn’s many Blue Whale dance partners in episode 2)
To make her appear even less like the type character the viewer would want to support in her many trials and tribulations, following the public fracas created in her honor, after arriving home Carolyn stomps into the spacious family drawing room and has this type of exchange with her mother:
Carolyn [smiles wistfully]: When I was ten years old I used to dream that a white knight would come along and rescue me from this dungeon. [smile fades to resignation] I guess white knights have gone out of style.
Elizabeth: I thought you like Joe Haskell. Carolyn, darling, all I ever pray for is for you to be happy. Joe loves you.
Carolyn: And I like him. But he’s not a white knight, mother.
That she doesn’t hold in esteem the very people who really love her, like Joe Haskell who will do anything to prove his devotion even if it means getting stone drunk and telling her mother off, is a serious shortcoming in character.
(Joe passed out drunk at Collinwood in episode 33)
It doesn’t help how in her first meeting with Vicki she shamelessly lets it be known that she has a huge crush on her uncle Roger.
Carolyn enthuses to Vicki about her uncle Roger in episode 3: “Oh, he sends me. He really does!”
With Carolyn at first being written as if to parody all the worst clichés of the decadent rich, it doesn’t help matters when the frequent flirtatious moments with her uncle appear to be entirely mutual.
(Roger greeting his “Kitten” at breakfast in episode 5)
Given these early instances as the main introduction to Carolyn Stoddard, it’s hard to find anything there to like. The turning point comes halfway through episode 5; partly it has to do with the bit of background you learn about Carolyn Stoddard, but mostly it’s the deeply touching range of Nancy Barrett’s performance.
Choked with emotion because she’ll have no one at Collinwood to talk to because Vicki has decided to return to New York, Miss Barrett maintains a fragile intensity as Carolyn begins revealing to Vicki the unfortunate circumstances under which she was brought up.
Carolyn: “I thought you knew about my mother.”
Carolyn then talks about her father, who walked out six months before she was born. This alone would go a long way toward explaining why Carolyn struggles in relationships as she does; how could she even consider settling down with someone when the man who sired her couldn’t even settle down with her mother, let alone be around for the occasion of her birth. The lack of a father figure would also explain why she is always seeking out the affections of older, more paternal figures like her uncle Roger and even Burke Devlin. It’s Nancy Barrett’s riveting performance that brings it all home not just in the way she fights back what seem like real tears, but also in the facial expressions that serve to emphasize what the character would be feeling.
(Nancy Barrett and Alexandra Moltke in a scene from episode 5)
From then on it’s okay to like Carolyn Stoddard no matter what her flaws; she’s a real person with real feelings who’s only trying to make the best of what she’s been given, despite that too often she seems not to be acting in the best interests of herself and those who care for her.
Nevertheless, the complex mixture of deep pain and burning desire that is Carolyn Stoddard can, in the capable hands of Nancy Barrett, lead to some truly amusing moments, especially when the situation concerns her main crush of the moment Burke Devlin; like when cousin David gets after Carolyn about her liking Burke and then teasing her about how Burke seems to like Vicki better. She turns around and calls him “a real solid fourteen-carat little monster” and finally when he won’t leave her alone erupts in a shout with ferocity enough to strip the fangs off a werewolf: “Get out of here!”
(Carolyn shouts at David to leave the room in episode 35)
That same episode she confronts Vicki about having what she believes was a serious dinner date with Burke Devlin, and as Vicki leaves the room after trying to make clear that there was nothing between she and Burke, Carolyn in a fit of anger utilizes the magazine prop in a comically enraged manner that only Miss Barrett could bring to the moment:
Episode 40 picks up the thread presented in episode 38 where Carolyn discreetly left her ring at Burke’s table in the Collinsport Inn restaurant for him to find. She had asked if she could accompany him on his drive to Bangor, and after being refused figured that leaving something of personal value behind would provide an opportunity for further interaction; here in this episode she is thrilled to receive the call from Burke she had been expecting.
Burke of course is on to Carolyn’s ruse, but is nonetheless amused as she puts on an act about how she didn’t realize she had left the ring at the restaurant or even that he had found it.
When Roger drops in at the restaurant for coffee, Burke baits him about how well he knows Sam Evans. While talking with Maggie Evans back in episode 28, Burke had a sudden illumination about Sam Evans and ten years ago, when Maggie said that this was the point when her father started drinking heavily. Burke suspects that some connection exists between his nemesis Roger and his old friend Sam, but as yet he can’t pinpoint exactly what this may be.
This chance meeting at the restaurant provides Burke with the opportunity to really give Roger something to worry about, that he has somehow come into possession of Carolyn’s ring, which as it turns out was a gift from Roger to Carolyn on her sixteenth birthday.
Roger arrives at Collinwood just in time to catch Carolyn before she heads out the door, and returns her ring so that Burke won’t have to.
After Roger tells her he doesn’t want her to see Burke, Carolyn makes it clear that she is determined not to follow orders.
Having gotten Burke to agree to her meeting with him again at the Collinsport Inn restaurant, she arrives at 12:30 so that they’ll have more time to talk before he leaves for his drive up to Bangor at one.
Even though Carolyn has her ring with her, she nonetheless tries to play up her ruse once more, with Burke taking her purse from her and producing the ring after which Carolyn pouts, “Alright, so I had it with me. Big deal!”
Still on a mission to resolve matters between Burke and Roger, Carolyn inquires of Burke straight out why he came to town and what he wants with her family.
When Burke assures her that his business trip to Bangor has nothing to do with her family, Carolyn wonders why she can’t go with him on the drive.
Not one to take no for an answer, Carolyn places a phone call to Collinwood and leaves a message with Vicki that she won’t be home for dinner because she has a big date.
I can’t get over how adorable Nancy Barrett is as Carolyn Stoddard in this episode; so captivating with her indefatigably determined spirit in pursuit of Burke Devlin. It’s enough to make a man envious… the beguiling flow of optimism pouring forth from Carolyn in these moments, her lighter than air buoyant manner as she steps outside Collinsport Inn to get in her car and drive to a destination known only to her in this instant; and I think how wonderful it would be, just to be the apple in her eye, so we could ride around in that sixty-six Plymouth Fury, drinking in a day you wish would last forever.
(Nancy Barrett in an early publicity photo, c1966)
Dark Shadows extras:
Episode 40 marks the third and final outing for Colleen Kelly, who played the role of Collinsport Inn restaurant waitress Silent Susie beginning in episode 22 and then again in episode 38. We bid Miss Kelly farewell with a special spotlight feature below by highlighting her work in a short-lived TV series which brought to Dark Shadows the actress who would play Silent Susie number two.
(Colleen Kelly as Susie the waitress in episode 40)
Addendum:
Despite having been told by Dan Curtis during the previous day’s taping to stay out of the control room because she is not directing episodes at the moment, Lela Swift is still on hand to annoy her executive producer with the same type of complaining she began with the day before.
[waves]
Lela: Dan, David Ford is still slacking off. He’s not giving his performance enough drama.
Dan: Oh, Jesus, Lela. Why are you here in the control room when you’re not directing?
Lela: Dan, I need to keep on top of things, I told you…
In the middle of Act I, when Burke is shown in the phone booth in the Collinsport Inn restaurant, Dan has some complaining of his own to do:
Dan: That goddamn telephone booth is never facing the same way! [David Ford can be heard giggling from the nearby set] I’m getting sick of it… Goddamn sick of it! I’m going to have a word with Sy Tomashoff.
[scene has shifted to Collinwood foyer with Carolyn running down the stairs to answer the phone]
Lela: Dan, nobody will notice.
Dan: Well I notice! If my show is going to be perfect, I have to keep these little inconsistencies from happening. I still haven’t managed to do a blooper-free episode yet. If your set designer is creating bloopers, then there’s a problem…
[Act II, hotel restaurant, scene with Burke and Roger]
Lela: Colleen was checking out Mitch Ryan. Did you see the way she was looking him over?
Dan: Oh, Jesus Christ, Lela! Will you stop gossiping?
Lela: Dan, I wasn’t gossiping.
Dan: Lela, I’m going to have a word with you over the commercial break…
[Act III begins with the Collinwood foyer set, as Roger and Carolyn enter the scene]
Lela: …Dan, I was just making an observation.
Dan: Your observations are what’s driving actors off the show.
[Act III, hotel restaurant, scene with Burke and Carolyn begins]
Lela: Dan, Colleen likes Mitch Ryan. That’s all I was trying to say.
Dan: Why did you have to bring that up? I really don’t care about actors’ offstage interests. You know I don’t like people gossiping through the control room microphone.
Lela: Dan, I was only making an observation.
Dan: You and your observations. Lela, why don’t you just put a lid on it?
Lela [noticing the way Colleen Kelly frowns as she watches Mitch Ryan exiting the scene]: Colleen likes Mitch Ryan.
Dan: Oh, Jesus fucking Christ, Lela, will you leave the poor girl alone? She’s had a rough time here. She’s giving up her acting career because of us. I feel terrible about that…
[final scene, with Sam getting drunk and passing out]
Dan: David Ford plays a great drunk!
Lela: Yes, probably from experience.
Dan: Oh, Jesus Christ, Lela! David Ford is a great actor.
Lela: He’s a marvelous actor. He should be putting more into it.
Dan: I am getting sick and tired of your complaining! I want you to stay out of the control room.
Lela: I belong in the control room! Even when…
[end credits]
Dan: Jesus Christ, Lela. I am sick and tired of your constant complaining. If you can’t stop talking shit – [a bump in the closing theme with director, writer, etc., credits omitted] …you’ll leave me no choice but to replace you…
Bob Lloyd [ABC announcer]: Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis production.
Dan: I am sick and fucking tired…
Until next time, this has been The Dan and Lela Show.
Photo Gallery:
Bill Malloy walks in while Roger and Sam are arguing.
Bill to Roger: “Nice guy, Sam. Always liked him.”
Bill begins talking about Burke Devlin.
Bill shutters the lock on Sam’s front door after Roger leaves.
Bill is tired of coffee and wants for Sam to join him in a drink.
Sam drunkenly regrets the loss of his talent.
Sam confides that he can’t paint with a sad and frightened soul.
Sam begins talking about who has been tormenting him.
Sam reveals his big secret to Bill.
Sam finally passes out drunk.
Favorite Lines/Exchanges:
Sam: Don’t you knock before you come into a man’s house?
Bill: I did, but you two were makin’ so much noise in here you couldn’t hear me. You want privacy, should keep your door locked. Where’s your car Roger? Didn’t see it.
Roger: I left it in town.
Bill: You mean you walked out here?
Roger: Why are you here Bill?
Bill: Nothin’ much. Just drivin’ by, thought I’d drop in on Sam for a cup of coffee. Sure didn’t expect to run into a windmill.
Roger: We were just having a friendly argument, that’s all.
Bill: How about a refill?
Sam: How about you? You haven’t even touched yours.
Bill: Oh, I’m a slow drinker, always have been. Never would even try to keep up with an old rummy like you.
Burke: Well, hello Roger. How are you this morning?
Roger: Oh I’m fine, thanks.
Burke: Why, I thought you’d be at your office working this time of day.
Roger: Well I don’t think that’s any concern of yours.
Burke: Well that’s hardly the way to talk to the man who brought your wandering son up to the castle last night. How is David?
Roger: He’s fine.
Burke: Still playing at being the amateur mechanic?
Roger: Burke, I’m talking about my family. David, Carolyn, all of them. I want you to keep away from them.
Burke: What if they don’t want to keep away from me? [taps the counter twice] Ever thought of that? [before turning to leave the restaurant, says cheerfully] Good morning, Roger.
[Roger enters the foyer as Carolyn is hurrying down the stairs]
Carolyn: Hi, uncle Roger. What are you doing home at this time of day?
Roger: Everyone seems to be keeping track of my working hours today.
Carolyn: Well, forget I asked you. See you later.
Roger: Oh, just a moment Carolyn.
Carolyn: Oh, I really don’t have time. I have this big date.
Roger: Well, let’s just let Burke Devlin wonder what happened to you.
[Burke exposes Carolyn’s ruse by opening her purse]
Carolyn: What are you doing?
Burke: I’m looking for a most elusive and important little ring.
Carolyn: Alright, so I had it with me. Big deal!
Burke: Good old uncle Roger.
Carolyn: Well, I tried, anyway.
Burke: I knew you would, I’ve been waiting for you.
Carolyn: You think you know everything, don’t you?
Burke: Oh, no. But I know that you just didn’t happen to leave your ring on the table. It’s an old play, Carolyn. Older than you and I.
Sam: I had real talent once, Bill. Did you know that? Real talent!
Bill: You’re still a darn good artist.
Sam: Thanks. You know what I think you’re doing? [giggles] You’re trying to get me drunk, that’s what you’re doing.
Bill [laughing along]: I thought all you great artists could hold your liquor.
Background/Production Notes:
Episode 40 marks the last where story creator and developer Art Wallace will be the sole writer of Dark Shadows. Beginning with episode 41, the task will be shared with playwright and novelist Francis Swann. In writing the scripts for the first forty half-hours, no other writer would ever come close to doing as many consecutive episodes.
In Act II when Burke places a call from the Collinsport Inn phone booth to a business associate in Bangor, he is speaking with Bronson. The character of Stuart Bronson was played in episode 27 by veteran stage, screen, and television actor Barnard Hughes. It could be that at the time the script for episode 40 was written, it may have been anticipated that Barnard Hughes might be returning to continue on in the role of Stuart Bronson. Bronson’s name will be mentioned again in episode 42 when Burke arrives for his business meeting in Bangor, by which time he will be dealing with a man named James Blair as played by another highly accomplished veteran of the stage and television, John Baragrey.
Bill Malloy and Sam Evans have been friends for around 30 years. Bill notes how proud Sam’s wife was of him.
Daily studio schedule for Dark Shadows in 1966
7:00-11:00 a.m. Lighting
8:30-10:30 Morning Rehearsal
10:30-11:30 Break/Make-Up
11:00-12:00 Engineering Set-Up
11:30-2:00 Camera Blocking & Run Through
2:00-2:30 Dress Rehearsal
2:30-3:00 Test Pattern
3:00-3:30 Episode Taping
3:30-4:00 Knockdown
3:45-4:15 Technical Meeting
4:00-6:30 Dry Rehearsal for Next Episode
4:00-7:00 Reset Studio
Set Design:
Episode 40 is the third where at Collinsport Inn the phone booth is located in the restaurant; in episode 22 it was facing the front door of the restaurant, in episode 28 it was facing the counter, and here in episode 40 it is facing the door to the hotel lobby.
Bloopers/Story Continuity:
In the opening scene, Frank Schofield and Louis Edmonds get their dialogue momentarily tangled:
Bill: Where’s your car Roger? Didn’t see it.
Roger: I –
Bill: …outside.
Roger: I left it in town.
A moment later, Frank Schofield says, “Sure didn’t expect to find a – run into a windmill.”
In Act I, while Carolyn is arranging to meet with Burke at the Collinsport Inn restaurant at 12:30, right after Mitch Ryan says the line “If you insist,” the honking of an automobile horn can be heard from the traffic outside the television studio.
In Act II, David Ford says, “I want to know why you think Roger Collin came here if it wasn’t to buy a painting.”
In Act III, as Carolyn stands in the drawing room saying “How did you know?” to Roger, the shadow of the camera moving in from the foyer can be seen against the back of Nancy Barrett’s coat.
In Act III, after Mitch Ryan says the line “It’s an old play, Carolyn. Older than you and I,” the sound of another automobile horn can be heard from outside the television studio.
Carolyn’s Plymouth Fury has a New York state license plate: 5Z 2961.
The end credits are cut short; following the listing of actor names, the credit roll jumps to the wardrobe listing, with the frequently occurring blooper where Ohrbach’s is spelled Orhbach’s.
Propspotting:
This episode features multiple close-ups of the preliminary portrait sketch of Burke as drawn by Sam during their initial sitting.
Although no story time has elapsed, this prop shows a great deal more detail and development than the rough sketch that was first evident in episode 39.
Food & Drink in Collinsport:
After dropping by at Evans cottage unannounced, Bill Malloy imposes on Sam for first one cup of coffee and then another. Bill likes that Sam makes good, strong coffee.
Having tired of coffee, Bill then demands that Sam pour him a drink.
Getting Sam to join him, Bill eagerly provides refill after refill to Sam’s glass.
At the Collinsport Inn restaurant Roger orders from Susie a cup of coffee, but is not seen to drink any nor is there a cup shown to be set down on the counter.
Dark Shadows Cast Member Spotlight: Colleen Kelly
(Colleen Kelly as Silent Susie serving Burke Devlin a breakfast plate at the Collinsport Inn restaurant, episode 38)
Originally scheduled for broadcast during the 1965-66 television season, the Cold War spy drama series Coronet Blue was put on an indefinite hiatus when the CBS network decided against canceling Slattery’s People.
Having finally aired between May and September 1967 as a summer replacement, the series might have been given an extended life span of renewal had its star, Frank Converse, not already signed on with ABC for a regular co-starring role on the new police drama N.Y.P.D.
Colleen Kelly had a recurring credited role as “The Waitress” of a New York City coffee house (The Searching i, aka “the i”) where the Frank Converse main character Michael Alden works as a dishwasher.
Colleen Kelly’s most prominent appearance on Coronet Blue was in the episode Man Running (aired July 17, 1967). Miss Kelly has a speaking role in this episode, with a voice that resonates with the warmth and charm of the mid-twentieth century Midwest.
(Colleen Kelly in the Coronet Blue episode Man Running)
“Listen, prince. Help me with these napkins?””
(Colleen Kelly as “Joanie” the waitress)
This Coronet Blue episode has other telling parallels with Dark Shadows, having been written by Art Wallace…
…with a familiar name providing wardrobe.
Most interestingly, this episode has a scene just past the twenty-two minute mark where a character named Margaret Crowell (played by Juliet Mills) is staring pensively out the window on a forlorn rainy night, with Michael Alden approaching from behind to say, “A watched pot never boils.”
You’ll recall that this was also the first line of dialogue spoken on Dark Shadows as written by Art Wallace in the first episode, with Roger attempting to shake Elizabeth out of a deep reverie as she stands by the drawing room window staring out into the night in anticipation of the arrival of Victoria Winters.
(Juliet Mills and Frank Converse in the “watched pot never boils” moment)
For another Dark Shadows crossover, one Coronet Blue episode (Faces; aired July 10, 1967) features Mitch Ryan as a guest star.
(Mitch Ryan as Oscar Davis in a Coronet Blue episode)
Coronet Blue had as guest stars in various episodes a number of other actors who would later appear on Dark Shadows, including Dennis Patrick, Addison Powell, and House Jameson.
Coronet Blue also has the distinction of featuring both actresses who would play Susie, the occasional Collinsport Inn restaurant waitress (The Presence of Evil; aired August 7, 1967):
(The two Silent Susies of Dark Shadows together in one episode of Coronet Blue; Colleen Kelly as the Waitress and Carol Crist as the Folk Singer)
(Colleen Kelly as Susie the waitress in episode 40)
Parallel Collinsport, 1966:
Because the closing credits for episode 40 are cut short, you hear ABC announcer Bob Lloyd saying that Dark Shadows has been a Dan Curtis production but not the usual promo note about Where the Action Is following in the 4:30 pm Eastern time slot.
It’s fun doing spotlight features for WTAI in the occasional On the Flipside section; but because the series has thus far not been released in the retail market, not all the episodes are available through collectors.
So this new section has been created to further celebrate the music from the era in which Dark Shadows was made.
In collecting all the episodes that can be found, one thing I’ve noticed about WTAI is that it mostly excludes the widely popular British pop acts of the time and instead restricts the focus to acts from the U.S. only, though English duo Peter and Gordon did appear on WTAI in February 1966 performing their hit I Go To Pieces and in April British R&B group the Yardbirds were on to perform their recent hit For Your Love and again that month for their current hit Shapes of Things; and in May one show featured a performance by Marianne Faithfull and another show featured an appearance by the Zombies. But otherwise there would be a song performed on WTAI that was a hit by a British act, like Look Through Any Window by the Hollies, but instead it would be performed by a U.S. artist like the Robbs (August 9, 1966), a frequent guest group that also covered Manfred Mann’s hit Pretty Flamingo (August 31, 1966); or WTAI house band Paul Revere and the Raiders doing a cover of the then current Beatles hits Day Tripper and She’s A Woman in addition to the odd Rolling Stones cover (The Last Time; April 7, 1966); WTAI regular Linda Scott would also be featured performing a number of Beatles covers.
One glaring omission from the WTAI performance lineups was England’s Dave Clark Five. Paul Revere and the Raiders did in one episode perform a cover of one of the DC5’s current hits Over and Over (March 10, 1966), but the Dave Clark Five in person would have been just perfect for that show.
In collecting out of print CDs of the early albums of the Dave Clark Five, it’s easy to see why they were so huge in the mid-sixties. Prolific in their songwriting, their musicianship was first rate. Even their songs that weren’t hits or even released as singles are worthy of repeated listening – such as the song Any Time You Want Love from the third album they put out in 1964 (American Tour; released July 20, 1964 on the Epic label [#BN 26117]). Despite that it’s buried deep as the fourth track on side two, Any Time You Want Love has all the quality of any of the non-45 rpm Beatles album tracks of the period:
Any Time You Want Love
(Dave Clark, Lenny Davidson)
When you’re feeling blue
All you’ve gotta do is call me
Any time you want love, I’ll be around
Any time you want love, it can be found in me
I’m tellin’ you
Every time you go
There’s something you ought to know
Any time you want love, I’ll be around
Any time you want love, it can be found in me
If you want I’ll prove it to you
Then you’ll know how much I love you, yes I do
Now I’ve said it all
Just remember these few words
Any time you want love, I’ll be around
Any time you want love, it can be found in me
If you want I’ll prove it to you
Then you’ll know how much I love you, yes I do
Now I’ve said it all
Just remember these few words
Any time you want love, I’ll be around
Any time you want love, it can be found in me
It can be found in me
It can be found in me
It can be found in me
By 1966 English diva Dusty Springfield was peaking in popularity, having scored a huge top five hit with You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me that spring. This was followed up on July 1 (after having been recorded a mere two weeks earlier on June 15) with the 45 rpm release of Goin’ Back, a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The B-side of the single was co-written by Dusty Springfield herself, a ballad in the soul style in which Dusty so frequently flourished called I’m Gonna Leave You. By chance were you around at the time to hear it on the few occasions it might have been played on the radio, or is this tune as new to you now as it was to me in the mid-2010s while collecting every available Dusty Springfield release?
I’m Gonna Leave You
(Madeline Bell/Lesley Duncan/Dusty Springfield)
I’ve been trying hard to see
Just what you want of me
But it’s no good boy
I’m setting you free
‘Cause I need you so much more
With each day that passes by
You don’t seem to care
It’s making me cry
So I’m packing up my bags
Gonna make my getaway
Get myself together
I can’t go on this way
Oh, baby, baby
I’m gonna leave you
I’m gonna leave you, baby
This lonely feeling deep in my mind
‘Cause I can’t turn back
If I leave you behind
But I gotta do it now
Yes, I gotta turn away
Hold me one more time
Don’t ask me to stay
It’s so hard so say goodbye
But it’s you I’m thinking of
It would never work out
I know you’re not in love with me
Oh, baby
I’m gonna leave you
Said, I’m gonna leave you
It’s over and I’m walking out on you
You’ll never get the chance to feel untrue
Though I love you
And I need you
And I want you
I’m still walking out on you
Darling, though it hurts me so inside
I can’t take no more
Gonna lose my mind
So I’m packing up my bags
Gonna make my getaway
Get myself together
I can’t go on this way
Oh, baby, baby
I’m gonna leave you
Said I’m gonna leave you, baby
Yes I’m gonna leave you, baby
Oh, I’m gonna leave you baby
Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh
The above song by Dusty Springfield can be found on the double-CD compilation Complete A and B Sides 1963-1970…
…a collection which presents these songs in their original 1960s mixes, that is to say, as heard when each 45 rpm disc was first released.
Recommended Reading:
Joan Bennett’s 1970 autobiography (original front and back covers).
The Bennetts: An Acting Family, the 2004 biography (front cover).
From the page I created for Dark Shadows Wiki:
Dark Passages is a novel written by Kathryn Leigh Scott and published in 2011 by Pomegranate Press, Ltd.
Set in the 1960s, Meg Harrison leaves her native Minnesota for New York to pursue a career in acting while working as a Playboy Bunny in New York’s Playboy Club. After changing her name to Morgana Harriott, she soon lands the role of Margie, a restaurant waitress and daughter of a local artist, in the new daytime TV serial Dark Passages. The show will eventually feature a vampire, but the catch is that Morgana is one in real life.
The characters described on the sets of Dark Passages resemble quite vividly those on Dark Shadows and the actors who played them. The diner set where Margie works is greatly similar to that of the Collinsport Inn restaurant on Dark Shadows.
For the back cover, Jonathan Frid wrote the following blurb: “Reading DARK PASSAGES was like being back on the sets of DARK SHADOWS, except with real vampires behind the scenes!”
Recommended Listening:
In this eight-CD box set of composer Robert Cobert’s series soundtrack, every music cue used on Dark Shadows is available, including the full-length original recordings of the guitar instrumentals heard at the Blue Whale.
Since 2006, UK production company Big Finish has been extending the Dark Shadows legacy with audio dramas offering new stories featuring cast members from the original TV series. My favorite is the 2015 audio drama …And Red All Over, in which Mitchell Ryan reprises his role as Burke Devlin to the backdrop of an eerily compelling backstory on how he came to acquire his wealth in business. Also starring Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans, with original series themes and music cues composed by Robert Cobert. A must listen for any fan of the first year of Dark Shadows.
Coming next: Episode 41: The Day That Became Last Night
— Marc Masse
(aka PrisoneroftheNight)
© 2018 Marc Masse and Dark Shadows
from the Beginning. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of
the content herein is a violation of the
terms and standards as set forth under
U.S. copyright law.
Dark Shadows from the Beginning 
re. Roger calling Carolyn ‘Kitten’
In Father of the Bride, Stanley Banks (Spencer Tracy) called his daughter, Kay (Elizabeth Taylor), ‘Kitten.’ Her mother, Ellie, was played by Joan Bennett. Could this nickname for Elizabeth Stoddard’s daughter have been something Louis Edmonds ad libbed, as a nod to his co-star’s film career?
Wow, Laurence Olivier a fan of the Dave Clark Five, that’s amazing!
Have you ever seen the 1965 movie Bunny Lake Is Missing? Olivier is in a scene that features another of my favorite English pop groups, the Zombies. Here’s the 1965 movie trailer:
When I saw the Zombies in concert in 2017, lead singer Colin Blunstone recounted their appearance in the movie, adding that just as their performance was appearing on the TV screen in the bar where Olivier’s character Superintendent Newhouse was talking with the Carol Lynley character Ann Lake, Olivier got up from his table to switch off the TV — which in fact isn’t true, but never let the truth get in the way of a really amusing anecdote.
Prisoner, I was just reading about a PBS Great Performances episode titled, The Dave Clark 5 and Beyond. It includes commentary from famous DC5 fans including Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Ian McKellen, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Ozzie Osborne, Elton John, twiggy, Dionne Warwick, Bruce Springsteen and Steven van Zandt and … Gene Simmons from KISS. Simmons said, “It (DC5) was like modern electric church and I just wanted to yell ‘Hallelujah’.”
Makes me wonder how different the Carolyn and Uncle Roger flirtation would have seemed if a more handsome actor had played Roger. Like Anthony George, for instance. Would it have been more acceptable for Carolyn to have a slight crush on her good lookin’ uncle and for him to call her Kitten while flashing that Anthony George smile. It seems unlikely that Carolyn would have a crush on Louis Edmonds’ Roger. He just wasn’t that appealing, especially in these beginning episodes.
The part that’s most creepy about it is Nancy doesn’t play Carolyn like a teen who would crush on anybody. She’s more like a young woman, inexperienced, yes but, able to hold her own with an older man like Burke
Then on the other hand, we’re expected to buy into the appropriateness of the Burke-Vicky romance when Vicky and Carolyn appear to be the same age, if not the same maturity level.
No, apart from their big hit song Beth, which I liked at the time, I was never a fan of theirs.
Coffee was replaced with sedatives on demand once Dr. Hoffman blew into town.
Thanks Prisoner, I’ll check out that DC5 compilation set. You were born the same year as my younger sister and her favorite band was KISS. Were you ever a fan of theirs? 🙂
Would Carolyn’s “crush” have been seen in 1966 in the same light as here in the next century? I’m guessing not; and it’s played as an innocent thing, I was reading it as more of a ‘push’ by Carolyn for Vicki to see Roger as a prospective romance. And Roger’s nickname for Carolyn is telling – why doesn’t he endear her with ‘Princess’, for example? Given her status, it would be more appropriate. ‘Kitten’ implies that he still sees her as a child (no doubt he’s called her that for years), and- since his return to the great house to find not just a girl but a young woman – it probably strokes his male ego to think that his pretty niece is so flirtatious with him; and that he might think of himself as a ‘teacher’ for her, giving insights to her for when the real thing comes along. And remember that for Carolyn growing up, Roger was as close as she could come to a father figure, so a bit of Electra could apply to her attitude?
From today’s perspective it seems incestuous and wrong, but I believe it was intended as playfulness rather than the decadence of the idle rich (though that element is there). At least it seems that that’s the way Nancy Barrett and Louis Edmonds are playing it (and continue to do in future episodes).
Thanks so much for saying, Samantha! I was born in 1966, but my favorite eras for music span from the mid-1950s to 1980. After 1980, music just doesn’t sound right; too many high-tech production values just squeezing all the life and dynamics right out of the music. I’m glad you like the new music/audio section; it’ll be a pretty regular feature in these posts as we go along.
Matter of fact, I’m listening to the DC5 right now this moment as I type this. Just got this a couple weeks ago; it’s a compilation called The History of the Dave Clark Five — and the song I posted has just started (Any Time You Want Love)! It’s 2 CDs and spans their singles and standout album tracks from 1964 to 1970. You can get it online through Amazon. The seller is Foreign Books & Finds — 50 DC5 songs for only $24.99!
I had no idea the Collins family were the Habsburgs of Maine. Don’t have a crush on your uncle, Carolyn! Bad, very bad!
Prisoner, thanks again for yet another interesting, informative and thought provoking entry. I completely agree with you & the Count about the overlooked jewel that is the pre-Barnabas era of Dark Shadows. I only wish my DVD set included these early episodes.
The part of Nancy Barrett’s performance that I appreciate most is that she didn’t dumb Carolyn down into a rebellious seventeen year old. Honestly, I always assumed she was as old as Vicky, just more spoiled and used to getting her way because she was a Collins in the one town in America where that was a big deal. She gave Carolyn enough maturity to keep the scenes with burke from being creepy yet she never lost that youthful vulnerability that kept us all on her side.
I also want to thank you Prisoner for the Dave Clark 5 reference. I bought 2 of their albums when they came out in the 60’s – they were my favorite band. I liked them even more than I liked the Beatles. I remember seeing them on the Ed Sullivan Show but, where else? I assume they were on American Bandstand? Anyway, I’m inspired to buy some DC5 CD’s now. I’m Glad All Over that I read your new special music section!
Yes, and thanks to Bill Malloy for stopping in at Sam’s cottage to caffeinate this episode. Someone cut together a good deal of the coffee references from Dark Shadows to produce a 7 minute video that’s both entertaining and hilarious:
The Collinsport Inn restaurant lasted only a few weeks into the Barnabas era. In fact, I believe Barnabas was the last paying customer for coffee. This was in the 220s episodes, which was the first time the coffee shop appeared since Jason McGuire’s arrival in episode 195. By the 220s, they added this low hanging chandelier to the middle of the set that seemed more of a distraction than a decoration.
Much as I love Dark Shadows all the way through, I really developed a special fondness for these early episodes the more I watched them as well, especially for the way they made it seem like Collinsport was a living, thriving full-dimensional backdrop to Dark Shadows as the stories unfolded — and the Collinsport Inn restaurant set is always a sentimental favorite with me.