Darren's NoDS Presentation

[Gothick]

Just a short note to say that of the programming at the Festival, by far the highlight for me was Darren's presentation of the footage he has recovered from the missing half hour (plus) of Night of Dark Shadows.

I must say, I was shocked to learn that one of the suits at MGM informed Sam Hall and Dan Curtis that he hated Grayson and wanted her entirely removed from the finished movie!  They had 24 hours to edit it down from the completed running time of 2 hours 7 minutes to 90 minutes so MGM could program it with Scream, Blacula, Scream in drive-ins.

Due to equipment issues, the footage did not play all that well in the ballroom, but Darren was kind enough to assure me that what he recovered is in pristine condition and, when the restoration is complete, will look as it would have done on premiere day in 1971!

Among the missings scenes, I enjoyed a tender boudoir moment between Quentin and Tracy, and the gloriously catty scene with Angelique at the piano (probably Diana Millay's best scene in the movie).  There was a great, long scene filmed on that railroad bridge between Quentin and Alex, which did a lot to define the strength and substance of the two men's friendship (I'll just say that I was whispering my own "text" to the dialogue to my neighbor during the screening!), and was beautifully photographed with some great close-ups of these two stunningly handsome actors.

He also found another cat-and-mouse scene between Carlotta and Tracy, and, for us Grayson fans, another scene between her and Quentin as well.

To my eye, however, the seance sequence is the most stunning of all.  It is undoubtedly the centerpiece which is what everything in the movie was leading towards, and the images even without soundtrack do a lot to make sense of what was happening throughout the rest of the movie. Cinematographically and dramaturgically, it may be the best piece of film Dan Curtis ever directed.  I can understand the bitter heartache he felt at being forced to remove it from the release print of the movie.

After the screening, Diana, John, David and Lara came onstage and shared some memories about making Night of Dark Shadows.

G.

[ClaudeNorth]

I agree.  The NODS presentation was a definite highlight of this year's Fest.

In their current forms, I feel that HODS is the better of the two films.  It is action-packed, fast-paced, and overall, a fun vampire movie that is perfect for rainy Saturday afternoons.  However, I do feel that if NODS is restored, it will emerge as the richer film.  The direction and cinematography, particularly in the deleted scenes, come across as ambitious and rather "art house" in quality.  The quiet scenes, although presented without sound at the Fest, indicate that DC and Company were quite concerned with character development and its importance to the story.  I wonder if DC saw NODS as his chance to prove himself capable of making great films.

Hopefully, the restoration will happen and we'll finally see NODS as it was meant to be seen.

Regards,

John

[Julia99]

I must say, I was shocked to learn that one of the suits at MGM informed Sam Hall and Dan Curtis that he hated Grayson and wanted her entirely removed from the finished movie!

One wonders what favor that Exec asked that she refused. .    I'd love to see that MEMO!

[Connie]

NODS presentation - Definitely the most interesting thing I saw.  I too was enamored with the Selby/Karlen bridge scene.  Was very frustrated at not being able to hear the exchange between them.  (Wish I'd been sitting next to Gothick for that).  LOL

Can't BELIEVE all this stuff that was cut out.  None of it was dispensable IMHO.  All an integral part of the movie, providing important background and build-up.  Would have been a MUCH better movie had it not been massacred.

 :-