Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The Italian lobby cards give Gerard a more prominent place than he has in the actual film.

Isn't that the truth. 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Some observational posts worth revisiting:

I really love Kate Jackson in these sequences (well, in the whole film, actually). She was so good at playing the heartbroken wife, both here and in Making Love. It's a shame she didn't get more lead roles in theatrical films. Such a fine actor, who made every scene believable; the audience couldn't help but empathize with her.

Those head tilts, and the muted sarcasm disguised as concern, are VERY Grayson.

Excellent screen shots here!  Thank you!

Those head tilts, and the muted sarcasm disguised as concern, are VERY Grayson.

And very much fun to watch.   

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And revisiting more of how Scene 153 is scripted:

Continuing on, with Carlotta's response to Tracy saying something is wrong:

CARLOTTA                  Anything I've done? 153    CONTD                                      CONTD   153                              TRACY                  No...no...never mind.        Carlotta looks at her.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 73/Scene 153 - Carlotta: 'What is it, Mrs. Collins? You don't seem very happy here. Whereas Mr. Collins seems --'

- comes up, followed by today's second quote -

Page 73/Scene 153 - Tracy (flaring): 'I don't think that's any of you business.'

- coming up.

And so far as differences with the dialogue go, it's odd that Carlotta's "Anything I've done?" is crossed out in DC's script and replaced with "Is there anything I can do?", but not only does Carlotta say the original line in the film, the line isn't crossed out/replaced in Grayson's script - and when it comes to today's first quote, Carlotta only gets as far as "Whereas Mr. Collins --" before Tracy angrily cuts her off with today's second quote.

And so far as the differences with the descriptions and the directions go, there's nothing different - though something that isn't covered in the script is how Tracy settles back down in the chair as she waves away Carlotta's supposed concern that she may have done something wrong - and I do have to say that when it comes to Carlotta looking at Tracy, I love how Carlotta uses a turn of her head to emphasize that -

- Tracy doesn't seem very happy.

   And so far as "today's" quotes go, it was on April 24th this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the subtitles and closed captioning (with new screen captures) for Scene 153:

In Scene 153, after Carlotta learns that something is wrong but Tracy tells her to never mind about it, Carlotta persists by asking, "What is it, Mrs. Collins?" - and the subtitles reflect that - but the closed captioning simply has -

- without the "Mrs. Collins" part for some reason - and before Carlotta can complete her presumptuous opinion that Tracy doesn't seem very happy whereas Quentin does, Tracy cuts her off by flaring, "I don't think that's any of your business." - and the subtitles also reflect that - but strangely the closed captioning has -

...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen captures)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how the end of Scene 153 is scripted:

Wrapping up Scene 153, beginning with Carlotta's response to Tracy telling her to mind her own business, which was also yesterday's first quote -

Page 73/Scene 153 - Carlotta: 'Certainly. If that's the way you feel -- what time will dinner be this evening? --'

- followed by yesterday's second quote -

Page 73/Scene 153 - Tracy (ready to explode): 'I don't know what time
--'

- coming up, followed in the script by:

Carlotta crosses to the door, stops, turns and looks        at her.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 73/Scene 153 - Carlotta: 'Did you ever stop to think that perhaps you don't belong here?'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

She turns and leaves.       TRUCK IN ON Tracy as she rises, crossing to the       window, where she stands, fighting back the tears.

End of scene as scripted. However, once we get to the next scenes in the script we'll see that once again things play differently in the film. But that's not until when we next pick things up in the script.

For now, so far as differences with the dialogue go, Tracy actually delivers her quoted line more like "I don't know what...time --" - and Carlotta's second quote is actually delivered as "Mrs. Collins, did you ever stop to think that perhaps you don't belong here?", making it an all the more personal remark by addressing Tracy with her name.

And so far as the differences with the descriptions and the directions go, DC's script has a note that before Carlotta asks what time dinner will be, she crosses the room as the camera pans with her, and that's exactly what happens - and as we can see in yesterday's second capture, as Tracy is telling Carlotta that she doesn't know what time dinner will be, she jumps out of the chair (as she says "I don't know what"), turns her back on Carlotta -

- and stands beside the chair (as she finishes with "time") - but afterward Carlotta doesn't cross to the door to then stop, turn and look at Tracy because she continues to stand in the exact same spot as she asks if Tracy has ever thought that perhaps she doesn't belong at Collinwood - at which point Tracy turns around to look at Carlotta -

- in complete disbelief that Carlotta would have the audacity to ask such a question - and it's not until after they stare at each other for a bit that Carlotta turns and makes her way out of the room, and I do love the slightest touch of a smile on Carlotta's face -

- as she exits, having said exactly what she's been dying to say to Tracy as she leaves Tracy standing in shock - but after Carlotta has exited, the camera doesn't truck in on Tracy as she rises because she's already standing - however, Tracy does cross to the window, but she doesn't stand, fighting back the tears, because, as can be seen in the following capture, she actually -

- sits on the window seat as she fights back the tears - and DC has another note in his script that says that Tracy turns to look at Angelique's portrait, and that's exactly -

- what happens. It's interesting that Angelique's portrait is almost as much of a character in the film as the real Angelique is because it frequently stands in for her...

   And as far as "yesterday's" quotes go, they were April 25th's this time around, and "today's quote" is indeed today's, April 26th's, this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Given that I've revisited the Italian Lobby Cards, I figured we should probably revisit the Mexican Lobby Cards as well:

... Here's a photo provided for an online auction of them:

(Click here for a 1000X770 version)

And just as I did with the Italian Lobby Cards, here's a breakdown of which NoDS Editor's Portfolio stills were used in each Mexican Lobby Card:

| #24, #16 |	| #24, #16 |	| #24, #16 |
| & #36    |	| & #14    |	| & #32    |
|==========|	|==========|	|==========|
| #24, #16 |	| #24, #16 |	| #24, #16 |
| & #33    |	|  & #1    |	|  & #7    |
|==========|	|==========|	|==========|
| #24, #16 |	| #24, #16 |	|          |
| & #23    |	| & #42    |	|          |

And it's interesting that unlike how everything was colorized with the Italian Lobby Cards, the Mexican set only colorized Still #24, which appears in the bottom left corner of each card.

And, BTW, the Mexican title translates to The Sinister Curse - again with the curse. Hmmm...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

You'll notice that the next foreign poster I'm sharing has the same name as the Mexican Lobby Cards -

(Click here for a 1468X2156 version)

- though in certain circles it's identified as being the poster for Spain's release of the film. But the interesting thing with that is that when NoDS was released on VHS in Spain, its title was Una Luz en la Oscuridad not La Maldicion Siniestra -

...

... whereas most releases of NoDS on VHS used quite different graphics and copy from the US release, I was surprise to notice today that the VHS release in Spain is extremely similar, right down to using those same Quentin/Tracy and Angelique stills -

...

Spain:

(Click here for a 750X533 version)

- and interesting how they made the Quentin/Tracy still narrower but the Angelique still wider. And while the copy for Spain's release is virtually identical when translated, I don't know what to think about the title of the film being changed to A Light in the Dark or them using the tag line "200 years later...She came back to knock on his door" on the front cover... 

I can suddenly picture the scene of Angelique's spirit knocking on the door to Collinwood and Carlotta welcoming her with open arms as the NoDS equivalent of Mrs. Johnson greeting Barnabas in hoDS...

...

- so something is not quite right somewhere. 

The freely accessible NoDS section on IMDb used to have a listing of all the alternate titles NoDS had in foreign markets, but that list is no longer available in that section. Perhaps it was moved to IMDbPRO. I don't know - and I'm no longer an IMDbPRO member, so I can't check, and I'm not about to pay to become a member again just to check. But then, as we well know, not everything on IMDb, regardless of which section it is, is 100% accurate...

And before I wrap up this post I do have to say that given how I hate the fact that the US Posters all have incorrect grammar because they say "HUNG AS A WITCH 200 YEARS AGO" when they should say "HANGED AS A WITCH 200 YEARS AGO," I definitely appreciate the fact that that poster, whichever country it's from, has copy that when translated says "HANGED AS A WITCH 200 YEARS AGO... THE RETURN FROM THE TOMB IS THE BEGINNING OF LUST."    In Spanish, "Ahorcada" means "hanged" - if they'd wanted it to say "HUNG AS A WITCH 200 YEARS AGO," it would have said "COLGADA POR BRUJA HACE 200 AÑOS."

 

[Uncle Roger]

That Spanish poster is without a doubt the weirdest thing for this or any movie. I'm not sure how that image was going to entice people into seeing the film. Maybe they just do things differently in Spain.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I did some more research and discovered the Spanish release DVD for NoDS and, lo and behold, it has the same title as the Spanish VHS -

(Click here for a 424X620 version)	(Click here for a 433X620 version)

(And like the Italian release, it has packaging very similar to the US release, right down to the tag line "ONE BITE IS NEVER ENOUGH" on the back, as well as the summation of the plot - though unlike how the last line of the US release says, "Step into the dark dread of this full-length Shadow," and the Italian release says, "Experience the dark terror of this feature film based on the series Dark Shadows," the Spanish release says, "Step into the complete terror of this Darkness." - who knows why they each say something different, but I guess Warner Brothers had their reasons)

- and it is also not titled La Maldicion Siniestra - in fact, after checking that title and that poster, I discovered NoDS had that title not only in Mexico, but in Argentina, Columbia and Venezuela, and several sites selling that poster actually attribute its origin to Argentina, not Spain - so, given all that, I'd say it's pretty clear that the notion that poster is the Spanish poster for the film is an incorrect one and the film was most definitely titled Una Luz de la Oscuridad in Spain - and that is actually confirmed on several international NoDS sites that list some of the titles the film had in other countries:

Maldição das Sombras (Brazil) - translates to Curse of Shadows (again with curse)
Das Schloß der verlorenen Seelen (Germany) - translates to The Castle of Lost Souls
Una Luz en la Oscuridad (Spain) - translates to A Light in the Dark
La Casa Delle Ombre Maledette (Italy) - translates to The House of Cursed Shadows
La Maldición Siniestra (Argentina, Mexico) - translates to The Sinister Curse
暗影之夜 (pronounced Ànyǐng zhī yè) (China) - translates to Shadow Night
Ночь темных теней (pronounced Noch' temnykh teney) (Russia) - translates to Night of Dark Shadows
Kara Gölgelerin Gecesi (Turkey) - translates to Night of Dark Shadows

Also, while checking out various sites where the Una Luz en la Oscurida DVD/Blu-ray is available for sale, I came across this Spanish dubbed video of Angelique's hanging - it's definitely a hoot for the main reason that the man dubbing Strack delivers his lines with what can only be termed enthusiasm, but it's also interesting because it's different from the Spanish dubbed audio on the US DVD/Blu-ray release:

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   I forgot to mention what a shame it is that the DVD release didn't also use the tag line "200 years later...She came back to knock on his door" that was used on the front cover of the VHS ... NOT!

Also, I meant to mention that apparently those Latin countries must have loved Gerard! Just as Uncle Roger pointed out, the Italian Lobby Cards give Gerard a more prominent place than he has in the actual film, the Mexican Lobby Cards as well as the Poster feature Gerard all over the place! His still with Carlotta is on every one of them, and he's featured in 5 out of 8 of the main stills. And that Poster -

That Spanish poster is without a doubt the weirdest thing for this or any movie. I'm not sure how that image was going to entice people into seeing the film. Maybe they just do things differently in Spain.

- now we know it's not the Spanish Poster, but whichever country's (Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela, or who knows what other Spanish speaking counties' other than Spain) Warner Brothers promotional department came up with it, certainly came up with a rather unique way to promote the film by using Gerard and Angelique. Though I suppose given his actions in the film, Gerard definitely is a major big bad character, even if he doesn't have major screen time...

But then, there's also that two stills featuring Gerard are on the front cover of every WB DVD/Blu-ray release, so maybe it's not just the Latin countries' promotional department that must have loved Gerard...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Another comment worth revisiting:

What a great scene.  Fab image for today's line.

And the screen capture and line are -

Page 73/Scene 153 - Carlotta: 'Did you ever stop to think
that perhaps you don't belong here?'

- which are an incredible moment in an exceptional scene.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scenes 154 through 157 are scripted:

Moving on to the next four scenes as scripted:

154    INT - MASTER BEDROOM - DAY                         154        Through the open door, Tracy can be seen still at the        gallery windows.  Finally, she turns and walks toward        the bedroom.  She walks up the three steps, crosses        into the room and sits on the edge of the bed.  TRUCK        IN ON HER CLOSE-UP as she looks up at something O.S. 155    TOWER - THROUGH THE WINDOW - TRACY'S P.O.V.        155        TRACY - CLOSE-UP        as she stares at the tower.  Finally, averting her        gaze, she looks through the open bedroom door.  Some-        thing catches her eye O.S. 156    QUENTIN'S JACKET - TRACY'S P.O.V. - WIDE ANGLE     156        Trough the bedroom doorway, Quentin's jacket is        seen draped over the back of a chair in the gallery.        ZOOM IN. 157    INT - GALLERY - DAY                                157        as Tracy enters from the bedroom, she looks down the        hall, making sure Carlotta is not there, and then        crosses to the jacket, where she reaches into his        pocket, comes out with Quentin's keys.

And so the interesting thing here is that nearly everything that's scripted to happen in these four scenes does indeed take place in the film, except it's all set in the Gallery and not the Master Bedroom and the Gallery:

After Tracy's unscripted action of looking at Angelique's portrait, she gets up, crosses to the side window, and looks out -

- and up to the Tower Room -

- after which she turns back to look at Angelique's portrait -

- (though we don't see it this time) and then her attention is captured by -

- something off screen in the room, after which the camera pans down to reveal Quentin's jacket-

- draped over a chair - and after quickly looking back at the tower room -

- (though we don't see it this time), Tracy crosses over to the jacket (with no need to make sure Carlotta isn't around), picks it up, and begins to go through the pockets -

- and once she finds Quentin's keys -

- she soon sees that the tower room's key -

- is on the ring, whereupon she puts the jacket back in place and moves to exit the room.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've discovered the packaging for two more foreign DVD releases. First up, the Turkish release -

(Click here for a 927X620 version)

(And like the other foreign releases, it has packaging very similar to the US release, right down to the tag line "ONE BITE IS NEVER ENOUGH" on the back, as well as the summation of the plot - though it has yet another different last line because it says, "Step into the dark past of the feature-length Shadow." - it's really interesting how Warner Brothers had a different last line for each release)

- unfortunately, though, when it comes to the German release, I could only find the front cover -

(Click here for a 438X620 version)

(It's extremely interesting how the most prominent title is Night of Dark Shadows in English and the German title Das Schloss der verlorenen Seelen is secondary. It's also interesting that the German title has "Schloss" and not "Schloß," which is how I see it everywhere else - who knows what that's about? - but it translates the same - And since I haven't come across the back cover for this, I don't know what the different last line is)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scenes 158 & 159 are scripted:

...

158    INT - STAIRS TO TOWER - DAY                        158        A frightened Tracy stands at the door, key in hand.        Finally unlocking the door, she opens it and ENTERS        THE ROOM 159    INT - TOWER ROOM - DAY - TRACY'S P.O.V.            159        The painting on the easel is covered.  The room is a        mess.  The cot looks as if it had been slept in.        Tracy ENTERS THE SHOT, leaving the door open.  She        crosses to the easel.  She lifts off the cover and        is shocked by what she sees.  The picture is now        completed.  The reality of the situation shocks her.        It is obvious Quentin has been completing Charles'        unfinished portrait.  The picture now includes a man        who looks very much like Quentin and who stands in        front of the half-clad Angelique.  In his arms he        carries the limp figure of a girl.  The girl's face        is Tracy's.  It seems she is an offering to Angelique.

...

And when it comes to what's different with the descriptions and directions, DC actually added additional info for the setting of Scene 158 -

158    INT - STAIRS TO TOWER - DAY - LOWER TOWER          158

- so no doubt that's why we actually see Tracy come up the tower stairs, after which she comes to a stop at the door, hesitates, looks down at the key in her hand, but then reaches to unlock the door, though she doesn't enter the room - and Scene 159 is not shot from Tracy's P.O.V. because, as can be seen in the following capture, it starts off -

- with a shot of the door from the inside (as we hear the key turn in the lock), and then after the door opens, we actually see Tracy -

- peer inside - and after she enters she looks about the room, but we don't see that the cot looks as if it had been slept in because we don't see the cot at all because almost immediately Tracy crosses to the easel and uncovers the canvas - and from there things progress as scripted ...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Recisiting a post related to Scene 159:

... here's the start of a preview of a major thing that transpires in Scene 159:

First up, the Lobby Card -

...

(Click here for a 930X738 version)

...

 - and then the still -

(Click here for a 700X476 version)

- a cropped version of which appears on page 180 of the DS Movie Book

Note that the quality of the lobby card is very close to that of the still, so who knows what Heritage Auctions did when they scanned the first and third lobby cards?