Darlings, A Good Decade Before Alex Forrest, There Was Dorothy Conrad!!!!!!!!

                                    I have no doubt everyone reading on here knows Alex Forrest, the psychopath immortalized by Glenn Close 26 years ago  (can you believe it has been that long, girls?????) in the 1987 film, "Fatal Attraction."  And I have no doubt some of you out there copied Alex's stylish look--that Medusa like hair, the white on white look, overlapped by the black leather raincoat!  On the prowl, girls, just like Alex!!!!!!!

                                      "Fatal Attraction" is not something I can forget, but not because I think it is that great a movie, though it is still fun to watch.  I still recall the posters suddenly springing up in the subway stations, with the warning--"On the other side of drinks and dinner, lies a terrifying love story."  By the time the film opened, not only did everyone know what it was about, but many were already comparing it to an earlier film, Clint Eastwood's 1971 film, "Play Misty For Me."  Which not only marked Eastwood's debut as a director, but gave actress Jessica Walter one of her signature roles, as stalker Evelyn Draper.  I have to say I still consider 'Misty' a better film than "Fatal Attraction;" Walter is scarier than Glenn Close, and the film's ending is completely satisfying, unlike the later film, which was trying to pander to everyone.

                                     The thing about "Fatal Attraction that gets me is that it wants to have things both ways.  To me, the single most memorable image is the light flickering back and forth over a pair of "Madame Butterfly" tickets, as the camera cuts to a shot of Alex, slumped against the wall, pathologically lonely, and compulsively flicking the light switch on and off, almost as if she were not aware she was  doing it. Which, with her mental disorder, she may not have been.  My sympathy went to Alex at that, and other moments, but then, by the time she trashes Dan's (Michael Douglas) car, and THEN does the now famous bunny boiling, that was IT!!!!!!!  I was ready for her to be hauled off.  At this time, in 1987, I had heard about the "other ending," but had not seen it.  As for what I did see, on that first viewing, I was scared--not of the film, but of the audience around me.  With Ann Archer facing in the mirror, as soon as the door parted and Alex appeared in the steam soaked bathroom, people were screaming!  And when she and Michael Douglas went at in the bathtub, the entire audience was yelling "Kill the bitch!" with such bloodlust, I felt I was at a public execution!  Same thing with the tumultuous applause that followed, when it was revealed Ann Archer shoots Alex dead.

                                      And, of course, Beth (Ann Archer) takes Dan back, no questions asked.  I always wondered, after that last fadeout, how much the power in that marriage had switched, and that Beth is wielding it now. After witnessing what his wife is capable of, Dan had best be careful he not stray again.  Like the saying goes, Hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned.

                                        Over the years, and many viewings, my reaction to "Fatal Attraction", and Alex never changed.  It frustrated me that the filmmakers start out building a sympathetic case for her, while, at the same time, recognizing her pathology, then go all Hollywood three quarters of the way through, and turn her into an outright monster that people just want to see die!  So much for being ground breaking.

                                          As for the Original Ending, it was, to my dismay, as disappointing as what they used for the simple reason that it still did not indict Dan for being dumb enough to get mixed up with Alex in the first place.  For those who have never seen it, here is what happens.

                                            The morning after Dan has confronted Alex at the apartment, where he takes a knife, and just about chokes her, the police come to his house the next morning.  Alex has been found dead in her apartment--and Dan's fingerprints are on the knife!!!!!! As Dan is being dragged away, he tells Beth to call their lawyer (played by Fred Gwynne).  Beth runs upstairs to the den, and, while rummaging through Dan's things, looking for the lawyer's number, and finding it, comes also upon something else--a cassette tape we the audience have seen earlier, that says "Play Me--Alex".  Beth listens to the tape, where she hears Alex not only call her husband a cocksucker and faggot (though Dan is too dull for either!!!!!!!) she also hears her say, in effect, she cannot live without him, and that, if she can't have him, she will end her life. So, the death was suicide!  Armed with proof, Beth and Ellen, their boyish looking daughter, get in the car, to exonerate Dan.  Which means he still gets off scott free. The film fades out on a final shot of Alex, alone in her bathroom in the white dress, cross legged, with the knife in her hand.  To the strains of "Madame Butterfly" she commits hari kari, slicing her throat from side to side, blood dripping, slumping to the floor into unconsciousness, than death.  Big deal!  Again, because Dan gets off, the ending is still unsatisfying.

                                             Which brings me now, to Dorothy Conrad,, who may have been as mentally disturbed as Alex, but was given a clearer back story, making her not only understandable, but more sympathetic.

                                                Dorothy Conrad was played by actress Joan Bassie (above) and was featured, for the duration of her story, on the NBC soap opera "Somerset," which I used to watch. Dorothy's story was aired during the Summer of 1975, and it was one of the highlights of that period.

                                                  But let's start with Jerry Kane, played by James O' Sullivan, who was no relation to Maureen.  He was supposed to be some hot thing, because of his history with women, but I did not see what was so great about him.  He comes to Somerset on the run from some tragedy in New York City.  It turns out he was a doctor, and he was unable to save his fiance, Wendy, on the operating table, so from that point on he abandoned medicine.  Though, as shall be found out, he really did not kill Wendy.

                                                      Jerry resumes medical practice in Somerset, becoming quite popular at the hospital. Eventually, he meets Eve Lawrence's (Bibi Besch) daughter, Heather (Audrey Landers), and, as on shows of this type, romance quickly blooms, and marriage results.  However, it becomes clear someone is not altogether happy with Jerry and Heather's marriage.

                                                        It starts with her dog, Muffin, being kidnapped.  We the audience can see Muffin is being cared for, in another apartment, by a strange woman, who is obviously taking care of him. So Muffin is OK, but who is this woman, and why does she have him?????

                                                          Next, a series of threatening notes are written to Heather.  No one in Somerset has any idea who it is, not even Jerry at this point, but we the audience know it is the strange woman.  One day, leaving the hospital, Eve gets into an accident, when the car brakes don't work, and the car crashes.  Injuring her enough to keep her alive, but hospitalized. While there, she receives flowers from an unknown person, and a note reading, "Sorry about the accident--it wasn't meant for you."  So, the strange woman has something of a conscience.

                                                            In the hospital lounge, over coffee with Dr. Teri Maritn (Gloria Hoye) Jerry says he knows who is responsible for all this--his ex-wife, Dorothy Conrad.  They met while he was young, and starting medical school.  Dorothy was already a registered nurse, and very much in love with Jerry. He thought he was, too, and, married and living together, she put him through medical school. Apparently, Dorothy's problems surfaced as the marriage continued, leading Jerry to divorce her. When he did, she was  devastated, especially after he used her to put him through medical school, (which Jerry admits, and, I am telling you, sane or not, Dorothy has a point there!!!!!!!)  lost her mind, and was eventually permanently confined to a mental institution.

                                                              When Jerry checks with the place where Dorothy is supposed to be, he discovers--guess what, girls?????--she has escaped.  So now Jerry knows who is behind all the notes,  the accident, etc  And it was Dorothy who murdered Wendy; that is why she ended up on that operating table, in the first place. .  But no one knows where Dorothy is.

                                                                  Shortly after, she tries to kidnap Heather, accosting her in her home. She tells Heather she loved Jerry, and still wants him. She points a gun at Heather, but Jerry and the police walk in. Dorothy turns, the gun goes off, wounding Jerry, and upsetting Dorothy, who is arrested, and hauled back to the asylum.

                                                                       They really dragged this one out. And Joan Bassie did a great acting job.  I mean, 38 years later, I still recall this role!!!!!!  But I have to say I felt sorry for Dorothy; all she wanted was to be loved.  So did Alex, but at least, Dorothy could keep it together for awhile.  It was only when threatened with loss of that love  that she came undone.  And if I had put someone through med or grad school, and they dumped me, I would be royally pissed, too!  So, I had some sympathetic feeling for Dorothy, much more than for Alex.  Plus, a part of me just hoped she would get Heather, because I absolutely could not stand Audrey Landers, who played her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                          What is it about insane women that fascinates us?  How about Zoe Cannell, Julian's crazy wife, on this show, played by the great Lois Smith? Or Emily Hunter, on "Search For Tomorrow," played by Kathryn Walker?.

                                                                               It's like a sage said about Joan Crawford as Lucy Harbin, in "Strait-Jacket:"  "We just LOVE that crazy bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"