11056
Current Talk '24 I / Re: Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows
« on: September 28, 2021, 03:05:09 PM »As for Sam's remarks, well, we know the length of the version of NoDS that they showed MGM was 129 minutes and not 165. However, at one point there may have been a 165 minute version because it's common practice for a director to assemble a fairly long "rough cut" of a film and then to whittle it down to something much more manageable.
While looking for something else entirely different (which is usually when I come across these things) I suspect I came across an explanation. Back in the days when Darren Gross had his NoDS Restoration Web site, he wrote this in the "NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS: LOST SCENES NOT INCLUDED IN THE RESTORED 129 MIN VERSION" section:
"the fine cut of the film which included virtually every scene shot for the film had a running time of around 150 minutes. This was screened for production personnel but obviously deemed too long and ambitious for a commercial horror film. Though very happy with the 150 minute version, Dan Curtis trimmed around 20 minutes from it to produce the more commercial 129 min version which he presented to MGM. That version had 35 more minutes hacked from it before theatrical release."
I also came across this in the "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)" section:
"97 MINUTE (R-Rated) PRINT OF NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS FOUND! . We are delighted to report that after an extensive search, one of the original 97 minute theatrical prints of NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS has been located. As discussed elsewhere on this page, both 97 and 93.5 minute versions were released back in 1971. Unfortunately MGM did not hold onto any of the longer, more explicit theatrical prints and cut the intermediate materials so they have been without this longer version for 29 years. (The video, laserdisc and television broadcasts have been of the 93.5 minute version.) During a worldwide search of international film archives, restoration producer Darren Gross located an original English-language print of the 97 minute version. While the 129 minute version contains all the scenes in the 97 minute version, the restoration is an extremely costly project. In case the restoration of the 129 minute version doesn't happen, fans can at least look forward to a 2.5 minute longer version being eventually released. (Although referred to in references as 97 minutes, this version actually runs 96 mins 01 second.)"
I'd completely forgotten that a copy of the 97 minute (R-Rated) version had been found. And if only the 2012 DVD/Blu-ray release of NoDS had been that version. Given WB wasn't willing to pay for the full restoration, one might think releasing the 97 minute version wouldn't have cost them anywhere near as much. But alas, WB had other and even cheaper ideas in mind...