Okay, okay…

Thursday, April 8th, 2010 • Horrorthon Posts

No, it’s not actually Angelina Jolie starring in Space: 1999 as Dr. Helena Russell (below); it’s the one and only Barbara Bain, Martin Landau’s then-wife, whom I described in my “Bringers of Wonder” review as “the most dreadful actress ever to step before the cameras or audience in any medium ever including industrial training films and voice-overs for technical school television ads.”

What’s especially interesting (as I’ve realized in my most recent viewings) is that the part of Dr. Russell on paper is actually very well written. The character has a coherent point of view and an intriguing, competent approach to the situations she confronts on the show. Dr. Helena Russell is a legitimate sci-fi character; it’s just that Bain is so God-awful you can’t tell. (She can’t even memorize the medical jargon; she’s conspicuously reading cue cards whenever she’s got to deliver a prognosis). At a certain point I started imaging what it would be like if, you know, somebody talented and charismatic had been given the role. Hence, Ms. Jolie.