Episode 57: The Ripple Effect

As the news of Bill Malloy’s death ripples across Collinsport, it seems a cruel hand of fate that Burke Devlin is the last to find out, the one who had been counting on him the most and therefore whose lingering hope had held out the longest.

Different people have been affected by Malloy’s death in different ways, and this week of episodes presents a series of character defining moments for those most centrally involved. For Elizabeth Stoddard, after the initial shock of caretaker Matthew Morgan’s questionable deed in trying to cover up that Malloy’s body had washed ashore near Collinwood by pushing the body back out to sea, there is in keeping with a matriarch of her stature the necessity of maintaining the dignity of not only herself, but also of Collinwood by seeing to it that all members of the household are allowed to function normally while still maintaining a certain tone of mourning, especially with Carolyn having felt the loss more profoundly than most in having lost a key paternal figure which she has previously cited as the closest thing she has ever known to a real father.

Burke Devlin’s reaction is the most curious, in the way that he seems to view Malloy’s death as a fundamental flaw in human nature, as if fate had intervened specifically to prevent him from clearing his name. Unlike those who mourn the passing of Bill Malloy for the life he lived, Burke takes this grim occasion to eulogize on the death of honesty, in mourning for himself.

It’s a soap opera after all, a show about people and the troubled unsatisfied lives they lead, and no one is perfect, not even the man who seemingly has everything in the palm of his hand.

If there’s one thing that Burke Devlin has in rich abundance, it’s swagger. This is largely attributable to the actor who plays him, with Mitch Ryan bringing a touch of his Shakespearean stage background to today’s performance on daytime television like no other actor before him: elocution in a word.

While bitterly dismissing the virtue of honesty as some sort of fatal disease, he takes a single syllable and lets it rip at full volume, making the word explode like the thunderous boom that follows a Fourth of July firework in the late evening sky.

“…Say what’s on your mind!”

There’s something about Mitch Ryan’s portrayal of Burke Devlin that conveys an echo of familiarity profound enough to be almost archetypal. If you remember the show from the 1970s Hawaii Five-O, then you would know of the star of that series Jack Lord. Mitch Ryan bears a striking resemblance to Jack Lord, whose career had already been established from the early days of television. One look and listen to the clips below of Lord’s performance in an episode from The Fugitive and you’ll wonder, How did Burke Devlin happen to be moonlighting on ABC nighttime as a character named Alan Bartlett?

“I know what you told me. It’s all for Paul’s benefit. Have you talked to him yet?”

(Jack Lord with Marlynn Mason in “Goodbye My Love”; aired February 28, 1967)

“…What is it you’re really after?”

So this must be the secret of Burke Devlin’s success, or at least the formula that goes into Mitch Ryan’s portrayal:

Burke Devlin = Shakespeare + Jack Lord

Burke is uncharacteristically sentimental at the start of today’s episode in recalling his early days of working for Bill Malloy on the boats. In addition, he seems to have forgotten the suspicious timing and evident nature of Malloy’s disappearance as he waltzes into the diner telling Maggie about how when Bill gets back he’s going to “buy him the biggest and best meal he’s ever had in his life”; a bit like sitting in a lifeboat in the middle of the Atlantic just waiting for the Titanic to reemerge on the surface so the journey to New York can be resumed.

This presents a leap in continuity given how the day after the meeting at Roger’s office Burke is over at the Evans cottage first thing in the morning putting Sam through the third degree about how relieved he must have been when Bill didn’t shop up, and that he and Roger were the ones who would profit from Malloy’s apparent disappearance.

And since when has Burke even cared about Malloy as a person? If he really had revered Malloy for having given him his start as he claims today, then how come he didn’t buy Malloy that best meal ever upon his return to Collinsport, instead of just toying with him at the Blue Whale in episode 3, hanging up the phone on him in episode 9, and then deftly evading his questions before showing him the door when Bill payed an unannounced visit to Burke’s hotel room in episode 21?

The above three episodes along with number 57 were all written by story creator and developer Art Wallace, which shows that already by September 1966 Dark Shadows was reinventing itself storywise to such a significant degree that contradictions in continuity would present themselves even if episodes in question were written by the same writer. Burke did acknowledge to Malloy in episode 45, a Francis Swann episode, that he’d been a fair employer to him when he was just starting out working on the boats of the Collins fleet; but in keeping with the opportunistic nature of Burke’s character, this was only after Malloy had offered to make a deal with him, which Burke must have surely understood would greatly benefit his own interests.

Intent on finding out everything he can about what led to Malloy’s death, Burke goes to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff knows when Malloy was drowned based on the time when his watched stopped.

Sheriff Patterson still doesn’t know who telephoned Malloy at his house at ten thirty the night he drowned, because Mrs. Johnson the housekeeper doesn’t know who it was, and because Patterson isn’t bright enough to check with the phone company.

Given what Burke knows about the particulars leading up to the meeting Bill arranged at Roger’s office, it seems ironic to the point of insult that he should find himself being questioned as a potential suspect in Malloy’s death.

It may seem odd that Burke should be a suspect in the matter, given what the viewer knows about the events leading up to the meeting. But what the sheriff knows in this case may be limited to what Malloy may have told him about Burke just days ago. Recall that in episode 32 Malloy had paid a visit to the sheriff’s office. We don’t know why Malloy was there, because the sheriff took the opportunity to ask Bill for advice in his investigation of the missing brake valve from Roger’s car.

Bill and the sheriff were on a first name basis, and Malloy may well have confided that he saw Devlin as a potential menace to the Collins family and that he wanted to stop Burke from carrying out his vendetta against them. As far as the sheriff was concerned, Malloy could have ended up in the water because Devlin may have seen him as a threat and needed to get him out of the way so as to carry on with his plans for revenge against the Collins family.

Could it turn out that Burke may be convicted yet again for a crime he didn’t commit? Only among the damned of Collinsport could lightning strike twice in such a similar way.

Still, despite that he’s having his most difficult day since arriving back in Collinsport, this won’t prevent Burke from taking yet another opportunity to hit on Victoria Winters. No sooner does he walk back into the diner to order his third cup of coffee of the day when he sees her there and tries for a lunch date: “Will you join me little governess?”

It seems that lately Burke is always trying for a date with Vicki, like back in episode 31; after having brought David home to Collinwood along with the brake valve from Roger’s car that David had tried planting in Burke’s hotel room, even with the house in a state of uproar over the revelation of what David had done, Burke is only thinking of himself and what he wants; and what he wants, it seems as much as anything he has returned to Collinsport for, is for Vicki to join him for dinner.

Unlike Carolyn Stoddard, Victoria Winters doesn’t appear all that easy to impress. Rather than being flattered by the attention of an older man, Vicki always has something else on her mind, somewhere else to go, and something more important to do, as if a Burke Devlin could never fit in with her plans.

After she has turned him down for the second time and leaves the diner, Burke returns to the counter for his coffee, making a cryptic remark that makes you wonder whether Burke genuinely likes Miss Winters, as he had claimed back in episode 31, or whether he only sees her as another opportunity to be conquered for his own amusement: “Nice girl… It’s too bad she’s always walking into the lion’s den.”

Sometimes you really have to wonder about Burke Devlin, what his intentions truly are and what he really thinks about the people around him, as his thoughts tumble forth into the familiar warm comfort of a coffee cup, perhaps wondering what a nice girl like Victoria Winters is doing in a town like this while possibly recalling an obscure song lyric:

 

Let the wind

Never speak your name…

Hidden audio:

With The Dan and Lela Show on a temporary hiatus, below are some hidden audio highlights from recent episodes.

In episode 46, Alexandra Moltke is in the control room during the opening scene telling executive producer Dan Curtis that she wants to leave Dark Shadows.

As Roger is in the foyer picking up the telephone, you can hear background discussion coming from the control room:

By isolating that control room discussion and amplifying the sound, you can make out what Dan is saying:

Dan Curtis: Alex, come on. Pull yourself over it…

In addition, Dan has other matters to contend with, such as in the opening scene of episode 47 when line producer Robert Costello takes him to task for having Bill Malloy killed off, which Costello claims would prove harmful to Frank Schofield’s future prospects as an actor:

Robert Costello: Now!… I want to know, from you, why you had to ruin Frank Schofield’s career.

You can hear Costello shouting encouragement to Schofield as he enters the Collinwood foyer at the close of Act II in the previous episode:

Victoria Winters: Mister Malloy.

Bill: I want to see Roger Collins!

Robert Costello: Go Frank!

Did you catch the “Go Frank!” at the end of that clip? Here it is isolated and amplified:

Robert Costello: Go Frank!

Curtis has also had to deal with dissent from actors like Thayer David, whose character is central to the recent change in story direction. Having heard that Thayer is not on board, here in episode 51 (Act III, during a pause in dialogue after Elizabeth exits the drawing room and as Roger goes to the phone to check in with Sam Evans) Dan addresses associate director John Sedwick through the control room microphone to remind Thayer what they’re after; you can hear Thayer David responding in a loud whisper at the end of the following clip:

Dan: Attention, John. Remind Thayer of what we’re going for.

John Sedwick: Thayer, I need you to go for menace –

Thayer David: Of course I know… I know that!

As the taping of episode 53 gets underway, director Lela Swift informs Dan that Alexandra can no longer face returning to the same dressing room day after day because of what took place during the taping of episode 20 (amplified 8x):

Dan: Goddamn that fucking Mark Allen for ruining my show like that!

Lela: Dan, what are we going to do?

Dan decides that to keep Alexandra on the show, they must change studios. Lela is against this idea, and during Act II amidst a break in dialogue in the drawing room scene with Joe Haskell and Vicki, Lela’s objection can be heard (with the sound at normal volume):

Lela: No!

Dan: Lela, we have to…

Here is the above clip, amplified and put on a loop, five times back to back:

Lela: No!

Dan: Lela, we have to…

As if that weren’t enough, episode 54 brings conflict between Lela and one of the actors. After his final scene for the day, Mitch Ryan has from the soundstage told Lela what she can do after she has been continually haranguing him throughout the taping for drunkenness and missed lines. In the clip below, as Elizabeth Stoddard goes to the front door as Roger is entering the foyer, Lela can be heard reacting from the control room, first at normal volume:

Lela: What did I just hear?!

The above clip, amplified and repeating five times:

Lela: What did I just hear?!

Preview from the next installment of Hidden Audio Highlights, featuring episode 55:

Dan: Lela you’re…

Lela: You’re a favoritist, Dan!

Set Design:

The roaming phone booth has found yet another location in this episode. At the beginning of Act I when Burke is on the phone calling in to the sheriff’s office, the view from the hotel lobby is straight through the doorway to the diner, which would place the phone booth for now smack in the middle of the front desk. With only the lobby phone booth in use, today that part of the set didn’t need to be fully dressed.

Bloopers/Story Continuity:

Toward the end of Act I when Burke returns to the diner after having telephoned the sheriff’s office, Mitch Ryan says: “[The] deputy didn’t say – didn’t seem to know anything either.”

During Act I, there is a striking adjustment in lighting over the diner set. First it’s turned up bright like an operating room, so that you can clearly make out the lettering on the menu boards at the back wall behind the counter…

…then in the next instant it’s turned back down. Then again, this could have been an adjustment made on that one camera.

At the start of Act II as Maggie concludes her phone call with the sheriff, there’s a huge boom mic shadow against the wall at left, just above the coffee maker, which is seen being pulled back out of sight as Maggie hangs up the phone.

In the sheriff’s office in Act III, some fans think it’s a blooper when the sheriff is questioning Burke about the last time he saw Bill Malloy and he begins by saying, “Malloy, Burke, when did you last see Malloy?” The perceived blooper is when it is assumed that Dana Elcar calls Burke “Malloy” at first, but to this reviewer it sounds more like a “header”; that is, a way of directing the course of discussion, with words unspoken, like “[Now about] Malloy; Burke, when did you last see Malloy?” However, it could have been a “look-ahead”; that is, when the actor is looking ahead in his mind at the whole line to be spoken, and then accidentally inserts something from toward the end of the line and says that instead first. Tough call, but I’d opt for the former.

Early in Act IV, as Burke recounts for the sheriff his movements the night Bill Malloy drowned, Mitch Ryan says, “I left the Blue Whale about 10:45 and drove to the Collin canneries.”

As Burke flags Vicki down before she leaves the diner, a thick boom mic shadow races to get there first; you can see it coming to rest there in the corner to the left of the front entrance.

As Burke turns to head back to the diner counter to close Act IV, the camera angle catches the glare of one of the studio lights.

Food & Drink in Collinsport:

As can be seen from the menu boards on the back wall behind the counter of the diner (in that moment when they switch the lighting up super bright momentarily in Act I; see bloopers section above), in 1966 a beef burger went for fifty-five cents and a cheeseburger sixty-five cents, which translates respectively to $4.36 and $5.15 in 2019 currency. Roast pork at the Collinsport restaurant in 1966 was $1.05, but would go for $8.31 in 2019.

The glass-domed pie stand near the cash register is stacked with donuts, but nobody’s ordering today.

In the opening scene, Burke seats himself at the counter of the diner and orders a cup of coffee, black.

In Act I, Maggie provides a refill after having broken the news about Malloy’s death.

Toward the end of Act I, Vicki arrives at the restaurant for lunch.

Maggie rattles off some suggestions, including lobster roll, clam chowder, and hamburger. Having opted for two of those items plus coffee, when Vicki insists on paying for her lunch, Maggie tells her not to bother; the clam chowder was two weeks old and the lobster roll was from the previous year.

In Act III while preparing to question Burke, Sheriff Patterson gets a cup of water from the cooler. He asks if Burke wants some water and Burke declines.

Back at the diner for the remainder of Act IV, Burke orders yet another cup of coffee, his third of the day, and asks Vicki if she’ll join him, but she says she doesn’t have time.

On the Flipside:

Between 1963 and 1967, the ten o’clock hour on ABC nighttime belonged to The Fugitive, a product of QM Productions. Of note, the series was narrated by William Conrad, who would eventually get his own Quinn Martin series in the early 70s with Cannon.

(The intro and opening theme for The Fugitive, from season 2)

The above intro is taken from the 1965 episode “Brass Ring” which guest stars Angie Dickinson as Norma Sessions.

“Brought to you by…”

“…Listerine antiseptic. Keeps your breath fresh, hour after hour. And by…”

“…Bayer aspirin.”

“Bayer is pure aspirin, not just part aspirin.”

“Bayer aspirin. Bayer works wonders.”

As Quinn Martin himself admitted, The Fugitive was a “sort of modern rendition of the outline of Les Misérables,” with Police Lieutenant Philip Gerard’s obsessive pursuit of escaped convicted and condemned murderer Dr. Richard Kimble. In fact, Lt. Gerard is named directly from the novel’s Inspector Javert.

(Right, Barry Morse as Lt. Gerard, with Paul Birch as Captain Carpenter, plotting the possible whereabouts of Richard Kimble in “Smoke Screen”; season 1, episode 7; aired October 29, 1963)

In following the template drawn from the 19th century novel by Victor Hugo, a glaring lapse in continuity is created when set against the backdrop of 20th century U.S. law enforcement. As a detective, Gerard may be a lieutenant, but from the small town of Stafford, Indiana. One would think that as soon as an escaped convict becomes an interstate fugitive, it would then be a matter for the FBI. Yet, Gerard inexplicably assumes the authority of an FBI agent with every police jurisdiction he visits while on Kimble’s trail, like in Chicago where he presses on one of the officers to check their files for more information relating to the one-armed man. The officer, a sergeant, says he’s already had a long day and is looking forward to taking his wife out to dinner. Gerard then asks the sergeant if he should have a word with his captain.

(Lt. Gerard pulls rank on Sgt. DeSantis, played by Paul Picerni, in “Search in a Windy City”; season 1, episode 19; aired February 4, 1964)

Kimble himself is searching for the one-armed man by roaming America’s transient underbelly, assuming aliases and working menial jobs to evade capture, having arrived in Chicago after receiving a tip from an influential big city newspaper reporter who has always believed in Kimble’s innocence.

(Kimble encounters the one-armed man, played by Bill Raisch, in “Search in a Windy City”)

The curious thing about Kimble’s travels is that he is always saving lives wherever he goes. Sometimes he is called upon to enlist his medical skills as a doctor, other times it is the sudden obligation to be a good Samaritan, like when by chance he happens upon a schoolbus full of kids that has just caught fire and because the bus driver has had a heart attack, only Kimble can save the lives of the children aboard. Kimble himself is injured in the aftermath of the accident while pulling the bus driver out of the wreck last when an explosion blows them clear. When he comes to, in the home of the sheriff whose son was among those that Kimble saved, he must struggle to maintain his cover after everyone in town wants to know more about the local hero.

(Dr. Babcock, played by Ian Wolfe, attends to Kimble in “Nightmare at Northoak”; season 1, episode 11; aired November 26, 1963)

Eventually though the truth of Kimble’s identity becomes known to the locals, which should be helpful to Gerard who, when after being tipped off, travels to this Massachusetts town to take him back to Indiana. But while Kimble is in custody in the local jail awaiting extradition, someone gets the key to his cell so he can escape.

One has to consider that if Kimble’s wife hadn’t been murdered and if he hadn’t escaped from the train en route to the death house, no one would have been around to save all those children; in fact, many other lives across those four years on the run would have been lost as well. Every town he passes through, the percentage of potential jurors who would convict him drops dramatically, as a sympathetic supporter lets him slip out the back door just in the nick of time, until finally the only person left willing to see that Kimble’s sentence is carried out is Lt. Gerard himself.

(Gerard is outnumbered by Kimble’s many supporters in “Nightmare at Northoak”)

From time to time Gerard does manage direct contact with his quarry. In one episode he convinces local police to set up a roadblock when it’s determined that Kimble is driving a truck for an outfit in the area. Kimble manages to escape into the woods nearby, but not even the police will follow as those woods are known to be inhabited by a team of bootleggers and it’s known that those who enter those woods tend not to ever return.

Kimble encounters one of the bootleggers, who brings him into their camp. At first Kimble is in hot water, especially given the fact that it’s a Bruce Dern character. As a rule of thumb, whenever there is a crazy psychotic Bruce Dern character roaming about in a 1960s TV drama, trouble is sure to follow.

(Bruce Dern as Cody in “Corner of Hell”; season 2, episode 21; aired February 9, 1965)

The ringleader of the group soon takes a liking to Kimble once his medical skills become useful in saving one of their own with the convenience of not having to travel to the outside world for help, and also when it becomes known that Kimble as well is evading police capture, which naturally isn’t helpful to Gerard when he finally stumbles onto their encampment.

(Lt. Gerard being prepared for lynching by the bootleggers in “Corner of Hell”)

Occasionally even members of Gerard’s own family encounter Kimble while he’s on the run and as a result come to believe in his innocence. Having tracked the one-armed man to Northern Wisconsin, Kimble must evade arrest by the local sheriff who along with Gerard are close on his trail. Ironically Kimble manages to escape by stealing a car, which not only turns out to belong to Gerard, but also contains Gerard’s son who was hiding in the back.

(Kurt Russell as Philip Gerard Jr. in “Nemesis”; season 2, episode 5; aired October 13, 1964)

At one point Gerard takes a break in his endless pursuit of Kimble and agrees to go on a vacation with his wife, but then breaks their plans when he receives a fresh lead on the case. Frustrated, Mrs. Gerard goes off on her own, boarding a bus among whose passengers turns out to be Kimble. She is temporarily blinded when the bus crashes, so he agrees to look after her and they travel together until they arrive in a town that has been abandoned due to an approaching flood. Mrs. Gerard however reveals to Kimble that she knows who he is, having glimpsed him prior to the crash.

(Barbara Rush as Marie Lindsey Gerard in “Landscape with Running Figures: Part 2”; season 3, episode 10; aired November 23, 1965)

There are even those rare instances where Gerard does manage to catch up with Kimble and even arrest him, like when Kimble is working as part of a migrant community in South Texas. A severe windstorm however delays their departure and during the night while taking shelter with workers in a creaky shed, Gerard is severely injured and must be tended by Kimble and at last even he is impressed by the selfless humanity of the fugitive he has been eager to bring in for so long.

(“Ill Wind”; season 3, episode 24; aired March 8, 1966)

A compelling serial drama, The Fugitive is also a time capsule tour of the U.S. that was, from its sprawling big cities to the sleepy small towns and all the lonely highways in between, with Kimble inadvertently finding trouble even from the wrong side of the law.

(Kimble gets caught in the middle of a hold-up while working at a gas station in “See Hollywood and Die”; season 1, episode 8; aired November 5, 1963)

(J. Pat O’Malley as Ray, the gas station attendant, second from right)

When a young woman pulls into the station during the hold-up, the thugs force her to drive them along with Kimble to Los Angeles.

(Brenda Vaccaro guest-stars as Joanne Spencer in “See Hollywood and Die”)

One of the show’s more significant contributions to the culture of television is that it was among the first to feature non-Caucasian actors and characters in prominent roles. In the 1963 episode “Smoke Screen” Kimble finds himself working in the onion fields of Southern California.

(Kimble under the alias of Joseph Walker in “Smoke Screen”)

The workers are enlisted to volunteer their help with a forest fire in the hills nearby, but even in the selfless bravery of heroic teamwork, Walker/Kimble’s co-workers torment him at every opportunity.

Many of the workers are illegal immigrants, and because Kimble doesn’t seem to them to be a true laborer, they suspect him of being with the police going undercover to bust them, which Kimble himself finds ironic enough to be amusing when he finds out.

Once they learn of Kimble’s true identity, he becomes their brother.

One of the worker’s wives, who is eight months pregnant, has followed her husband up to the hills.

(Paco Alvarez, played by Alejandro Rey, and his wife, Maria, played by Pina Pellicer)

The fire rages increasingly out of control, surrounding them on all sides at one point. Maria goes into labor prematurely and only a caesarian section will save the life of both her and the baby, but all the roads leading to help are blocked. Kimble then has no choice but to reveal his identity to the attending nurse on duty.

(Beverly Garland co-starring as Nurse Doris Stillwell in “Smoke Screen”)

(Dr. Kimble congratulates Paco on the birth of his son)

“Next, The Fugitive, in color.”

In kicking off its fourth season, The Fugitive was another of those programs that fall to make the transition to color. On the same date that Dark Shadows episode 57 aired, Tuesday September 13, 1966, The Fugitive episode “The Last Oasis” once again featured a multi-ethnic cast, showing that in addition to great warmth and compassion, social criticism could also be approached with a sense of humor.

Set mostly on an Indian reservation, Sam (played by Jaime Sánchez), a Native American, is out driving with his young son when they encounter Kimble in the desert, who has been wounded while fleeing from local police.

Sam: This is America…

(Sam, addressing Annie Johnson’s students, offers an impromptu lesson in American history)

“Indian brothers! We have gathered here around our campfire to welcome our revered white brother David into our tribe. This happy occasion happens to fall on the anniversary of another glorious event. The great war between the states. On this day, over a hundred years ago, the great American people grew weary of beating up on their red brothers and turned instead to the task of thinning out their own herds…”

Annie Johnson, the schoolteacher on the reservation, is played by Hope Lange, who by the end of the decade would be co-starring in her own series with The Ghost & Mrs. Muir.

There are occasional daytime crossovers to be found in The Fugitive, with episodes featuring actors who would later be on Dark Shadows, including George Mitchell…

(as Wm. Sturgis, with episode co-star Pat Crowley, in “The Witch”; season 1, episode2; aired September 24, 1963)

…and John Lasell, who played Dr. Peter Guthrie in Dark Shadows episodes 160 to 185. On The Fugitive Lasell appears several times, usually as a well-to-do family man whose semi-neglectful parenting skills result in one of his offspring running afoul of the law.

(John Lasell, center, as Mr. Lee in “Death Is the Door Prize”; season 4, episode 2; aired September 20, 1966)

The series finale of The Fugitive, a two-part episode that aired in August 1967, set a record at the time for highest viewership among homes with television sets: 72%. The other 28%? Well, their TV sets were either broken or in the shop for repairs, so they had to go to a friend’s or relative’s house to watch; you wouldn’t have wanted to be the one left out of what the other three were talking about.

I understand they remade The Fugitive some decades later, but I have no interest. You can remake The Fugitive from now until the 30th century, but there will never be another David Janssen.

(Closing theme for The Fugitive)

Parallel Collinsport, 1996:

During the week that Dark Shadows episode 57 aired, English singer Petula Clark was performing on Where the Action Is, the music program hosted by Dick Clark which followed Dark Shadows in the 4:30 pm Eastern time slot, having enjoyed one of her biggest stateside hits that summer with the top 10 single, I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love.

Tina Mason, one of the regular singing starts on WTAI, had earlier that summer performed on the show a song previously recorded and released as Petula Clark’s third single on the U.S. charts, You’d Better Come Home.

Dick Clark: Let’s take a little stroll in the park now with a pretty gal…

Tina Mason had also that summer appeared on Dark Shadows as a Blue Whale extra, most prominently in episode 33.

Around September 1966, Tina Mason was releasing a 45 rpm single called Finders Keepers on the Capitol Records label. The B-side was Any Way That You Want Me, a song written by Chip Taylor, who is perhaps best known for Wild Thing and whose work has been recorded by such accomplished artists as Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield.

Recommended Reading:

Joan Bennett’s 1970 autobiography (original front and back covers).

The Bennetts: An Acting Family, the 2004 biography (front cover).

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 returning is the actress who played 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 58: Dead Man’s Holiday

— Marc Masse

(aka PrisoneroftheNight)

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