Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A reminder of how different Scene 177 is in the script vs. the film:

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177    EXT - COTTAGE BEDROOM - NIGHT                      177        as the CAMERA TRUCKS IN ON the sleeping Alex, all        of the SOUND SLOWLY DISAPPEARS until it seems as if        the sound track itself has been removed.  The feel-        ing this creates is one of oppressive dead air.        When we are on ALEX' EXTREME CLOSE-UP, HOLD as he        begins to writhe and thrash about.  All the following        ACTION WILL BE IN SLOW MOTION.  Finally, clutching        his throat, his eyes open wide as he tries to scream.        Although his mouth opens again and again, there is        no sound.        WIDE ANGLE - SLOW MOTION        With Claire asleep in the F.G., and totally oblivious        to what's happening, we watch Alex struggle with the        invisible horror.  Suddenly, the horror seems to        take on a visible entity, as a whole mist-like vapor        starts to envelope his body.  Slowly Alex' movements        begin to subside as the life is being drawn from him.        CLAIRE - CLOSE-UP - SLOW MOTION        Although still asleep, it seems as though she has        suddenly become aware of the danger,  As she opens        her eyes and tries to sit up, she is barely able to        move.  Through a tremendous effort, she is finally 177    CONTD                                      CONTD   177        able to turn her head to Alex.  WIDEN at reveal Alex,        now completely enveloped in the mist and barely        moving.  Claire tries to scream.  No sound can be        heard.  She is finally able to reach the bed table        between them and knocks over a glass.        GLASS - CLOSE-UP - SLOW MOTION        as it falls to the floor and shatters soundlessly.        PAN UP in time to see Claire finally reach a lamp,        turning it on.        WIDE ANGLE - NORMAL SPEED        as the lamp illuminates the room, ALL SOUND RETURNS.        The white mist disappears and Claire is quickly at        Alex' side.

And that's when the first part of today's quote -

Page 83/Scene 177 - Claire: 'Alex! Oh, my God, Alex!'

- is scripted to come up, followed in the script by:

Alex opens his eyes, gulping in all the air he can     handle, as he frantically gasps for breath.

And that's when the second part of today's quote -

Page 83/Scene 177 - Claire (sobbing hysterically): 'Alex! -- oh, Alex! ... Please be all right!...oh, Alex...'

- is scripted to come up.

End of sequence.

And as far as all the difference go, of which there are many, they'll wait until my next post (mostly because I haven't had lunch yet and I'm starving!  )

...

   And as far as "today's quote" goes, the two parts were from May 12th this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Resisiting what actually happens in the film's version of Scene 177:

...

... she sees what's happening to Alex - and after momentarily stopping dead in her tracks -

- and screaming, she reaches for the floor lamp but knocks -

- it over in her frenzy - but once she does turn -

- it on, the other light also comes back and the mist-like vapor that envelopes Alex' body -

- disappears - and as we can see in today's capture -

- she rushes to Alex side, desperately trying to revive him, until -

 - he does indeed revive. So, all that means that a lot of what's scripted to happen in Scene 177 doesn't actually happen in the film. And in some ways that's too bad because much of what was scripted would have been quite interesting to see. But who knows if things were changed because it would have been too costly or too complicated to shoot, or perhaps for some other reason? Though at least some of the planned effects were reworked and used. And actually, I think having Angelique's spirit arrive and transform into the mist-like vapor was actually better than how it was introduced in the script.

One thing that's very interesting, though, it that one can easily tell that there are three distinct cuts in the background music for Scene 177, so apparently it's quite likely that footage was removed for time during the marathon James Aubrey imposed editing. And that sort of ruins how things were to play in slow motion. But perhaps they still do in the 129 minute version...

It's interesting to note that I just checked my audio tape and the cuts to Scene 177 also appear in the 97 minute version of the film...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more interesting info regarding music scoring, this time for Scene 177:

It's interesting to note that I just checked my audio tape and the cuts to Scene 177 also appear in the 97 minute version of the film...

A discovery I made today requires me to clarify that statement. When I listened to the audio tape, I compared it to the 94 minute VHS/Laser version of the film, and they're the same. What I didn't do is compare it to the DVD/Blu-ray version. The cuts I was referring to the other day were the cuts made for time, not the three distinct cuts in the scoring that are obvious on the DVD/Blu-ray. I didn't realize until today that just as with Scene 176, the scoring of Scene 177 plays smoothly on the VHS/Laser -

- unlike how it does on the DVD/Blu-ray and every other version -

- with the three obvious cuts in the scoring. (You can also hear Claire obviously laments, "Darling!")

And before we move on completely from Scene 177, I want to revisit:

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(ADMIN: Edited to replace VHS video with Laser video)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the subtitles and closed captioning for the first part of Scene 177:

When it comes to the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 177 they both start off by acknowledging that Claire screams when she sees what's happening to Alex, though they do so in different ways:

The subtitles:

The closed captioning:

And after that the subtitles acknowledge that the sound in the room is supposed to be muted -

 - though the closed captioning does not.

And going off on a bit of a tangent, I never fail to be surprised by how starkly different/off the color can sometimes be on the VHS - I mean, just look above at the screen captures of Claire screaming - and also in this scene, just look at the difference when it comes to the way Mistelique looks in the Blu-ray -

- vs. the VHS -

To be continued...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the subtitles and closed captioning for the last part of Scene 177:

Wrapping up the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 177, after Claire is finally able to light the floor lamp and Mistelique disappears (it's definitely an interesting touch that I don't know that I've seen in anything else that a ghost must have darkness to appear and do its dirty work), as Claire makes her way to Alex and desperately tries to revive him, she laments, "Oh, my God. ... Alex! -- oh, Alex! ... Alex, please be all right!...Alex...oh, Alex...Alex!...Darling!..." - and for the most part both the subtitles and the closed captioning each reflects that, except for Claire's "Darling!" at the end - instead, both have -

- which is odd to me because it seems more than clear that she does indeed lament, "Darling!"

And after that the subtitles acknowledge that Alex begins to gasp -

 - though the closed captioning does not - and neither acknowledges Claire's sobs.

I don't think I'll ever understand why some things are acknowledged while other aren't...

...

And a comment:

Oh, and btw... "Mistelique"--I love it! 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting two stills:

Here's the first of two stills I want to share for Scene 177 -

(Click here for a 700X476 version)

- and a somewhat cropped version appears on page 182 of the DS Movie Book.

And here's a rare still for Scene 177 -

(Click here for a 946X700 version)

- though it seems like it might have been published somewhere because this version has shown up on the Internet -

- however, no one has ever cited a source.