Another World Discussion Thread

[Xanthe]

There was 99 44/100% dead from 1974.

https://youtu.be/byyQSmf9wqU?si=iiTQc7lwQyPHzdZM

[Contessa Donatella]

WOMAN WITH A PAST

A 15 minute daytime serial, on CBS, M-F from 4-4:15, followed by THE SECRET STORM, from 2-1-1954 to 7-2-1954, so for 5 months, was the star vehicle for Constance Ford. She played the lead, Lynn Sherwood, a New York dress designer who had all these different adventures.

Constance Ford has long been regarded as one of the finest American actresses.

After a critically acclaimed career in the theatre, she was seen onscreen as Sandra Dee's memorably mean mama in A SUMMER PLACE, in Warren Beatty's film ALL FALL DOWN & in the Joan Crawford hospital drama THE CARETAKERS.

She's best remembered, however, for her dazzling intense performances in primetime. Shows included: KRAFT THEATRE; ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS; THE UNTOUCHABLES; NAKED CITY; EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE; TWILIGHT ZONE; DR. KILDARE & PERRY MASON.

Mona Kent was the creator & writer. Other actors known to me include Felice Camargo, Victoria Wyndham's sister, and Jean Stapleton. The Producer was Richard Brill. The Director was Marcella Cianey.

After it went off the air Connie played Rose Peterson on SFT and then Eve Morris on EON, finally landing so successfully on AW as Ada Davis Downs McGowan Hobson.

Constance Ford is my personal favorite actress.

https://rumble.com/c/c-6571365

Edited July 16, 2024 by Contessa Donatella
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[Mona Kane Croft]

Thank you!  I was completely unaware of this.  Same year Nancy McGowan was born, I believe.  

Thanks for sharing this.  I was thinking it might be "Woman with a Past."  

If I'm not mistaken, Ford played the sister of Don Knotts' character on SFT.  So that is the reference to SFT you mention in your post.  Might be fun to see Ada Davis and Barney Fife on screen together.  LOL.  

[DRW50]

I know that a hack like Carlivati would have done all kinds of callbacks to A Summer Place, camp sogging and clogging up the screen. I'm glad AW never did. 

The whole Pat/John breakup confuses me a bit too as I am not sure if he still expected to go back to Pat after sleeping with Barbara. He seemed to take Pat for granted. 

This story is so rich in layered drama - I wish we could see all of it.

Speaking of Dave Gilchrest, I notice that he was on for 4 years, which is longer than many Lemay introductions. Did David Ackroyd want to leave or was he let go? That's a long time for a character to not have any real stories or pairings. The number of women he hung out with or dated or was hot for is extremely varied - few men would date Pat and fall for Rachel. 

I wish we could see some clip of him. The most I've seen is that tilted camera Paley episode where he is at Iris' pool and is wearing a tight black Speedo.

[Xanthe]

Maybe some of Ariana Muenker's videos will include him. Marianne definitely interacts with him according to the 1976 synopses. 

[denzo30]

So true as far as Ackroyd's time on AW being a 4 year run.  We criticize many of the writers on AW over the years but Harding Lemay wrote them and in out probably more than any other writer.  I am just amazed the series stayed strong for as long as it did under him with the killing off or recasting roles. just my thought..

[Efulton]

According to the Another World Homepage David Ackroyd was on Another World for 2 years and 10 months. Not 4 years.

[j swift]

I was wondering if Harding Lemay did publicity for his book?  For example, did he appear on the Today Show, or similar shows?  Here's the NYT review (perhaps the Times selected the wrong choice of editor to review the book, but that's typical of their coverage of soap-related news.  God forbid, an editor for the Times admitted to watching TV in the 80s, let alone Daytime TV). 

https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/12/books/books-of-the-times-037956.html

"I wish I could report that we are relieved and uplifted when the break finally comes. But in truth so dismal has the story long since become - so clogged are the pages with Mr. Lemay's undigested anger - that we are, more than anything, numb by the end. Nor does it help much if one doesn't happen to be a fan of soap opera. For if one hasn't ever gotten to know the characters on ''Another World,'' then Mr. Lemay's desiccated plot summaries are not much fun. Of course, I am speaking strictly as an illiterate."

Edited July 17, 2024 by j swift

[DRW50]

Thanks. I meant to type 3, not 4.

[Xanthe]

According to this summary, Felice Camargo (Victoria Wyndham's sister) played Ford's daughter in the series. I don't recall having heard of that connection. 

https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1950s/woman-with-a-past/

[Contessa Donatella]

Obviously I knew Felice was in the cast but no, I had no idea she played the daughter of the lead. Very interesting! 

[DRW50]

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Seeing the Marianne in the 1975 and 1976 clips makes it all the more remarkable how completely extinguished she feels by this point (not that long before her exit). The P&G soaps at this time really seemed to want to age up and drain their ingenues. 

The scene at 20 minutes between Jamie and Pat (Pat's last real scene on the show) is an absolute knockout. I am not a huge fan of storylines where people wring their hands over what's written about them in books, but Pat's response to "James" (switching to Jamie as she becomes more vulnerable) here is surprisingly layered - not just the feeling of betrayal and of humiliation, but that he got so inside her head that she wrongly assumed he'd had actual conversations with her about her crimes before writing his book. It plays into the power of fiction, and the power of soaps, especially with long running characters. We think we know what is inside their head and we try to shape what they say or do with our own experiences. It reminds me of Kathryn Hays talking about how she felt like Irna Phillips knew her secrets when she played the early material for Kim.

Beverly Penberthy has such an ethereal directness (similar to Jacquie Courtney) that makes any scene improve and is truly put to good use when she gets the chance. There's something deeply sad in knowing this is her last time to be able to use that chance, but also satisfying - she is showing the ageist, brain dead execs just what they've given up. 

And Richard Bekins is wonderful, as he often is, not downplaying the arrogance and naivete of Jamie, but imbuing him with such a soulfulness. He can do so much with his eyes as the camera just latches onto his beautiful face, making the moment where Pat finally gets him to see just what he's lost all the more devastating.

If they hadn't fired Beverly, I wonder if they might have paired up Pat and Jamie instead of Susan and Jamie. They have surprisingly potent chemistry here.

Edited July 18, 2024 by DRW50

[vetsoapfan]

A critic who takes it upon himself to "review" a book about a TV series (or play or film or album or artwork) which he has never seen, heard, nor has any knowledge of whatsoever, cannot be taken seriously as a credible voice of analysis.

This dithering piece shames the NYT more than it does Lemay.

This is a mesmerizing scene between Pat and Jamie. Beverly Penberthy was the kind of gem (like Jacquie Courtney) whom TPTB should have moved heaven and earth to hang onto, particularly because by 1982, she was one of the few, comforting links remaining to the past.

By now, the long-standing idiocy and incompetence of TPTB is well documented, but it never fails to disappoint how willfully and consistently they crippled the soaps over the years.

Thanks for sharing this.

Edited July 18, 2024 by vetsoapfan

[Contessa Donatella]

Of course, I said this and then I thought. I have one of the injokes. In Dec. 1991, on DAYS, Chip says to Julie that he once met the guy who sang 'The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and Julie replies that she dated him. 

Of course, it was Bill Hayes who recorded that song. 

[Mona Kane Croft]

This may be a strange question, but ...  Does anyone know if Beverly Penberthy's salary was used by TPTB in any obvious or identifiable way, after she was fired?  Considering she was the longest running cast member at that time, and I believe she was listed third in the closing credits, she was likely one of the higher paid cast members. So were there any expensive actors hired just as Penberthy was leaving?  And which character sort of moved in and took up Pat's screen time, after she left?  Do these questions even make sense?  

Edited July 18, 2024 by Mona Kane Croft