DAYS: Behind the Scenes, Articles/Photos

[Paul Raven]

August 85

 A worried Maggie returned to Salem after Melissa phoned her

[JAS0N47]

DEIDRE HALL'S 45TH ANNIVERSARY AS MARLENA...

In celebration of Deidre Hall's 45th anniversary as Marlena, fans will get to read complete details of her first few weeks of episodes for the first time! Each episode will post on the 45th anniversary of its airing. Next up: Marlena's second episode: June 23, 1976, which will be posted on June 23, 2021.

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: MARLENA'S 2ND EPISODE: 45 YEARS AGO TODAY: MARLENA MEETS DON CRAIG...

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

Episode # 2669: (June 23, 1976):

 

Mickey has sent for Marlena Evans, but when she arrives at the sanitarium, he doesn't want to reveal he needed someone. But deftly she listens and talks to him. He admits the world has closed in on him, he has nothing left, not even his son. Mickey confesses he feels Don Craig is stealing his law practice away from him. Marlena listens calmly, trying to help. Marlena emerges from Mickey's room, finds an irate Don, who has been told he can not see Mickey without a Miss Evans' permission. Marlena introduces herself, but things are off to a bad start. Don says he will go to Powell. Don comes back from Powell's office, raging. Marlena is waiting. He sarcastically asks if she will take the papers to Mickey that require signing. Marlena says of course, leaving a very uptight Don. Don and Marlena have a conversation, Don cooled down somewhat, as he begins to understand this is a very sharp lady, he is forced to grudging respect. They discuss Mickey, his need for Mike.

 

At Trish's apartment, the attempted love-making has been a flop. Mike is bitter at his impotence. Mike is dressed, angry at himself, angry at Trish for his failure as a man. He blames everyone, including himself, slams out, leaving a devastated Trish. Trish tries to call her mother, but there is no answer in Jeri's hotel room. Mike arrives at Linda's apartment saying he needs to talk to someone. She invites him in. Mike breaks down, confesses what happened between him and Trish. Meanwhile, Trish has called Brooke, tells her what happened. A very gentle Brooke tries to help, explaining these things happen, and it's harder on the boy. At that moment, Linda is telling Mike the same thing, relates her own first sexual experience, saying the first time is often a disaster, but Mike should not feel it's the end of the world. Mike is deeply grateful for Linda's compassion and understanding.

 

Jeri arrives at the Stanhope home, introduces herself to Kay. She has every intention of telling Kay the truth, but it's difficult, and when Ginny arrives home, impossible. Jeri leaves the Stanhope home, knowing she didn't accomplish her mission, but knowing she couldn't, even if it means losing Trish. Jeri returns to her hotel room, has a message to call Trish. Stanhope comes home, learns Jeri has been there, panics. And after Ginny goes to bed, he tips his own mitt, not aware Jeri left without saying a word. Kay is stunned, but Stanhope has blasted himself.

Edited June 23, 2021 by JAS0N47

[titan1978]

She’s so perfect as Marlena, especially the early version through her first exit, that it is easy to see why she was such a fan favorite and became beloved by fans.  She always had an easy charm and also showed a lot of empathy as a character.  One of the things I loved about Will’s coming out storyline was how well Marlena was used as both his grandmother, and her therapist roots.

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: 45 YEARS AGO TODAY: MARLENA'S THIRD EPISODE...MARLENA MEETS ALICE, MAGGIE & MIKE!

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

# 2671 (6/25/75):

 

New Day. Morning. Mike awakens in Linda's living room, having spent the night on the sofa. Linda comes out in a robe, to say breakfast is ready. The doorbell rings, it's Don with some legal papers for Linda. Mike is embarrassed but Linda accepts the situation calmly. Mike is ready to leave to look for an apartment. He hopes he hasn't fouled up things with her boss. Linda doesn't worry about her reputation which is bad anyway, and Mike shouldn't concern himself either. He says he wouldn't have made it without her last night. She tells him she'll always be here for him whenever he needs her. When Linda comes to work, Don asks her if she doesn't think Mike's a little young for her. Linda flares at him. It was an innocent evening but she doesn't care whether he believes it or not. Marlena Evans comes in, in the middle of their quarrel. Don goes into his office after lashing out at Marlena. Linda tells Marlena that she's been in love with Mickey for years and even tried to make him believe her daughter was his. When Marlena questions, Linda says this office couldn't stay open if it weren't for Don.

 

Jeri brings a very reluctant James Stanhope to see Trish. He admits he could be Trish's father but he doesn't care. His wife and daughter, Ginny, know the truth and now his life is ruined. Trish turns on Jeri for having gone to Mrs. Stanhope even though it was Stanhope himself who inadvertently blurted out the truth. Broken-hearted at the way things have turned out, Trish slams into the bathroom. Jeri tells Stanhope she's sorry she destroyed his world, but he destroyed hers years ago. Stanhope has gone when Trish comes out of the bathroom, ready to go to rehearsal. She and Jeri quarrel bitterly over the Stanhope situation. In the midst of it, Mike arrives, wanting to talk to Trish. She says she's fresh out of words and leaves. Jeri tells Mike what has happened and he says poor Trish has had it from all of them. At Doug's Place, Trish is looking over some music when Stanhope appears to tell her at least she knows now he could be her father, so her mother is not a liar. But he can't do any more for her. He leaves and Trish rehearses, singing a song that touches her own life, tears her to pieces. Jeri enters while Trish is singing, her heart breaking for her daughter. After the song, Trish goes to her mother, apologizes for turning on her. There is an emotional scene as they go into each other's arms.

 

Alice comes to the hospital to see Amanda. She talks about religious faith and the help found in the belief in God. Marlena goes to see Maggie at the Horton home to talk about Mickey. Maggie reacts to Marlena's youth and beauty. Marlena assures her she knows her job. Mike appears. Maggie leaves them alone. At first, Mike is antagonistic to Marlena because she is a woman psychiatrist, but Marlena wins his confidence when she says she wants to make Mickey ready for outpatient therapy as soon as possible. Mike says he'll get an apartment today so his Dad can spend time with him, and he'll get a job to pay for the apartment. Alice comes home. Mike leaves. Marlena and Alice talk about Mickey's condition and Mike's need for his father. Don goes to the hospital to introduce himself to Amanda, and to bring her a candy clown which makes her smile. Later, in Don's office, Marlena comes to apologize for being suspicious of him. They end up with Don asking her to have lunch with him, and Marlena accepts.

[DRW50]

Please register in order to view this content

 

[carolineg]

Lol at that promo.  But I like that they used Carmen as their background music.

[soapfave06]

Did JER explain Stefano's nightly visits to Marlena prior to the possession in detail? I found a clip where he is basically chilling in her armoire then takes a sleeping Marlena to an enchanted ball but next thing we see is her awaking from a dream? 

 

Did they go full supernatural or just leave it to viewer interpretation? 

 

Also, were the visits/trips connected to his underground city in Paris?

[j swift]

Stefano's nightly visits went on for weeks.  Marlena would talk about an evil spirit that had taken over her body, but some reason nobody took it very seriously.  In the beginning, there was some suggestion that Stefano was drugging Marlena.  But, it was explained by the priest during the exorcism that Marlena's own desire to explore the darkness of anger and jealousy, and not any power derived by Stefano, was what created her delusion.  Unfortunately so many episodes were preempted by the OJ trial that most fans would have missed the nuances that the same motives that drove Marlena to want to explore the darkness in her psychiatric patients is what drew her to the darker side of her own psyche.

 

As with many of JER's stories the show could not afford the special effects to produce his vision in any way that didn't look cheap and silly.  However, the underlying plot was rooted in the character's history and he rarely used stunts that weren't related to tons of groundwork laid months in advance.  It was not my cup of tea, but he used the traditional soap troupes of most other daytime writers to tell his tales, he just perverted them to biblical devices.

Edited June 27, 2021 by j swift

[soapfave06]

That's fascinating, I had not realized that they used her work with her patients as the driving force to the dark side. Thanks for the feedback!

[soapfan770]

Wasn’t 1994’s Queen of the Night story the first time it was revealed that Stefano was in love with Marlena? At least it was a nice twist to explain his obsession of her beyond just using her as a pawn against Roman & John. 

 

LOL I remember Kristen at the height being disturbed by Stefano having a gallery of Marlena portraits

Please register in order to view this content

[carolineg]

 

The seeds of Stefano's obsession with Marlena started at Maison Blanche when Marlena stripped for him to set John free.  You could argue that he's always been weirdly obsessed with her because he wanted to kidnap her and the twins after Roman died and did end up kidnapping her in 1987. 

 

I thought Jarlena's affair and the guilt of that and the end of her marriage left Marlena vulnerable to the devil.   Like cheating on your husband a couple of times is such a sin the devil just swooped right in, but I swear that was part of the narrative as well.

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: 45 YEARS AGO: MARLENA'S FOURTH EPISODE: MARLENA MEETS TOM & JULIE!

 

# 2672 (6/28/76):

 

Julie is working on Sharon's portrait, tells her Amanda is better and wants to go see her. Sharon says they should cut the sitting short anyway, her husband, Karl, is coming back today from his hunt for rare tropical plants in South America. Meanwhile, Don and Marlena have lunch at Doug's Place. Marlena asks Don to visit Mickey more often, seek out his advice as a lawyer, renew confidence in himself again. Don questions her personal life, finds out she's single. Mary and Bob are also having lunch, and when Mary sees Don's interest in Marlena, Bob tells her she must see other men. But no one compares to Don, she says. Brooke comes by and Bob tells her Adele pretended she was seeing another doctor, but caught her in a lie when she said she had just come from her first visit. A doctor couldn't give her a clean bill of health on a first visit. He wouldn't have the lab tests back. Brooke says that in a way she's glad her mother made it up, because if she had really gone to another doctor, it would mean only one thing: that she's feeling a lot worse than she let on. Don runs into Sharon at Doug's Place, is a bit curious and thrown by this rather strange lady.

 

Amanda is discouraged about her progress in speech therapy when Neil comes to visit. He works with her through the therapy "word cards" and finally she is able to say a word. Delighted, he also tells her she'll be able to go home soon and keep up her therapy as an outpatient, and that her bandages will come off tomorrow. Amanda clasps her head in devastation, turns away from him, tears in her eyes, and Neil is at a total loss to understand her reaction, thinks she is fearful of leaving the protection of the hospital, fears facing the outside world. Julie runs into Neil outside Amanda's room and realizes, as a woman, that what is bothering Amanda is that she'll have to leave tomorrow without a wig. But Julie, to the rescue, has the wig box with her. She goes in to see Amanda, who is thrilled and grateful that Julie remembered and got there in time with the wig. But Julie is devastated when Amanda tries to ask with the word cards and her slate if there is a man in her life. Later, Julie tells Tom about Amanda's questions. Tom says it's up to Neil and Greg to make the decision just how much Amanda should be told. Don and Marlena arrive, meet Tom and Julie. Tom and Marlena go off for their appointment and when Julie tells Don about Amanda, he says perhaps he'd better hold off seeing her right now. As her attorney, he'd be expected to tell Amanda things that should only come from Neil and Greg. Tom sees a forceful woman in Marlena, but they like each other immediately. She tells him she wants Mickey to spend time away from the sanitarium, increasing the time away as they go along, get the man out in the world again. Tom is impressed with this girl who pulls no punches. When Marlena leaves, and Neil comes in to answer Tom's call, Tom tells him that Amanda is asking about any man in her life. Tom says Neil and Greg must talk it over. Could Neil step aside so that Amanda could have Greg, a man who loves her, and is unmarried. Neil is deeply torn. Tom makes some strong points as to what it could do to Amanda to discover she's in love with a married man.

 

Mary comes to the boutique to take over for Phyllis while she goes to lunch with Neil. Don enters and asks Mary what kind of a gag gift he can get for a lady who must eat crow. Mary is shaken by his interest in the girl she saw him have lunch with. Neil and Phyllis have lunch. He tells her what is happening with Amanda and asks what he should do. Phyllis says she can't ask her husband to pretend he's only Amanda's doctor. It's up to him. Neil admires Phyl in her attempt to understand, speaks of how far they've come in their marriage, how good it fells that he can talk about something like this so openly with her. Phyl, touched and in tears, escapes to the powder room, and Brooke comes over and asks Neil why he hasn't sent any bill for her mother. Neil tells a startled Brooke that Adele has been seeing Tom Horton. Brooke is deeply shaken, knowing in her heart that it means her mother is feeling worse than she's letting on.

[JAS0N47]

FROM THE VAULT: 45 YEARS AGO: MARLENA'S FIFTH EPISODE: MARLENA & DON'S DATE NEARS...

 

Please register in order to view this content

 

# 2674 (6/30/76):

 

At Doug's Place, Bill finds a heartbroken Doug who tells him about his situation with Kim and Julie. Bill tries to cheer him up, but he's too wrapped up in his own troubles with Mike and Laura. Mike is busily at work at the garage where he's gotten his old job back when Brooke shows up to talk to Mike on Trish's behalf. Alone at her apartment, Trish can't keep her mind off Mike. Bill goes to Trish to ask her about Mike and learns that Mike has moved out, but not why. Trish gives him a number where Mike can be reached in case of an emergency. At the coffee shop over coffee, Brooke only succeeds in alienating Mike further. Mike walks out on her, telling her to mind her own business after Brooke tells him she knows about his not being able to make it sexually with Trish.

 

Marlena drops in on Linda, who's at home on her day off. They discuss Mickey and his treatment as an outpatient, also his love for Mike. Later, Bill confronts Linda about Mike, wanting to know where the boy is and why he is staying at her apartment. She tells him that if he and Laura really cared about Mike, they wouldn't have waited so long to tell him the truth. She says Mike is falling apart emotionally and is even questioning his own manhood. Brooke tells a dismal Trish that she botched things with Mike, but she only meant to help. Mike and Bill have a confrontation at the garage. Bill tells Mike that Laura is on the verge of a nervous collapse.

 

At Don's office, Kim tells Julie that Doug thought he had been divorced from her when he married Addie and that she is leaving Salem and will get a quick divorce because she knows she can't win back Doug's love. Don interrupts with some filing for Julie, and he and Kim go into his office to discuss her divorce. Don confronts Kim with that fact that there is no island, only a cottage, and that Kim knew exactly what she was doing when she picked him for her attorney. But it won't work this time. Doug is serious about marrying Julie. Don asks Julie to take a letter, which he dictates. It is to Brent Douglas at Doug's Place, and he says that his client misrepresented some information to him. Brent Douglas does not own half or any part of a Polynesian island. Julie excitedly tells Don she will run the information right over to Doug, to which he agrees. They both know she could never type the letter correctly anyway. They'll close the office because he has a date with Marlena Evans, and Julie wishes him luck with the lady psychiatrist just as Marlena walks in. At Doug's Place, Julie arrives to ask if Doug is available...for a lifetime.

 

[victoria foxton]

A 5 mins clip centering on Marie Horton's shooting. From May 6, 1983

Please register in order to view this content

Edited June 30, 2021 by victoria foxton