And Now The Return of Another New Slideshow (Sort of) [**Now featuring alternate versions of scenes - see replies #60,#82,#116,#138,#157,#180,#224,#240,#280,#372,#526**]

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Thanks so much for the info, Darren. 

And

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And that's how thing's end in the current version of the film

Was that the original ending of NoDS?

No, no - as the film currently stands, it still has about 8 minutes to go. I meant that's where Scene 225 currently ends. 

[Darren Gross]

Thanks so much for the info, Darren. 

And

Thanks and you're welcome!

I haven't been able to get onto the board in awhile, and was unware of this huge thread, otherwise I would have commented as it rolled along.  I'l trawl through it over the next month or so and if I see any mysteries or questions I can answer, I'll do my best to chime in...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Picking up Scene 225 where reply #550 left off and repeating a bit:

Suddenly Tracy's SCREAM stops abruptly as Alex and        Claire ENTER THE SHOT, running toward Quentin.                              CLAIRE                  Where's Tracy?                              QUENTIN                  Help me with this door!        As Alex grabs the handle with Quentin, they both start        pulling.

And that's when Thursday's quote -

Page 104/Scene 225 - Quentin: 'She's in there! We've got to get her out!'

comes up, followed in the script by:

226    INT - ROOM - NIGHT - SLOW MOTION                  226        Tracy lies on the floor, barely moving, completely        enveloped in the white mist.  THERE IS NO SOUND. 227    INT - BASEMENT AT DOOR - NIGHT - NORMAL SOUND     227        as Quentin and Alex, in a last desperate effort        finally yank the door open.  The light pours into        the room as they run in.  The white mist which        envelopes Tracy disappears.  She lies there, her        eyes vacant with shock.  They bend to her as Quentin        cradles her in his arms.

And that's when Friday's quote -

Page 105/Scene 227 - Claire: 'Oh, my God, it was the same thing!'

comes up, followed in the script by:

As Tracy begins to come out of it, she begins to sob.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 105/Scene 227 - Tracy: 'It was so horrible...she was here!...she was here!'

comes up, followed in the script by:

Quentin looks around the room.

And as for the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, there's no way of knowing if anything is different in the 129 minute version. The only part of the above excerpt from the script that currently appears in the film is Tracy on the floor after the white mist has disappeared and an obvious cut to Quentin kneeling down to revive Tracy and cradle her as she sobs. (But unlike as scripted, those two bits of Scene 227 appear after Scenes 237 and 238, which are currently cut to right after Quentin begs Tracy to answer him in Scene 225. But more on that once we've reached Scenes 237 and 238 in the script...)

And just in case you might have said to yourself that you didn't recognize the shot of Claire that I used in Friday's graphic, that's because I cropped it from the following rare still -

- that, like this more familiar one from Scene 221 -

- was most likely taken during rehearsal or blocking given that they're wearing coats but they don't in the film.

And once again Grayson has notes in her script even though Carlotta doesn't even appear in Scenes 226 and 227, and once again they deal with Carlotta's reactions to what's happening to Tracy (though how she knows is anyone's guess - well, unless she has more of a psychic connection to Angelique than we're completely made aware). And the notes deal with how excited Carlotta is that Tracy is about to be gotten rid of, but then with the disappointment of Angelique being defeated.

[Darren Gross]

Happily all the above mentioned material (not the Grayson notes) is in the director's cut, ie: Alex and Claire running to help, Claire's line, Alex and Quentin interaction, etc.

[KMR]

Howdy!  The location for all the NODS basement scenes is actually the basement underneath the greenhouse.

Thanks, Darren!  I was wondering if the greenhouse would be a possibility, but I had no idea how much, if any, basement there would be.  The brick part of the building in the back is rather shallow, but of course I imagine they could have much more extensive basement running underneath the greenhouse proper...

[KMR]

Happily all the above mentioned material (not the Grayson notes) is in the director's cut, ie: Alex and Claire running to help, Claire's line, Alex and Quentin interaction, etc.

Oh, I do hope we'll get to see this one day!  I see that WB is opening up a bit more to licensing films to other parties for home media release, and my big dream is to see Criterion Collection put out a Blu-ray with all three known versions of NODS:  the official theatrical release, the slightly longer version that some theaters got by mistake (and which I got to see in Aug. 1971!), and the original director's cut.  Along with commentaries, of course!  And a feature-length documentary on the whole thing.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Moving on to the next two scenes:

228    THE BRICK WALL - QUENTIN'S P.O.V.                 228        BACK TO SCENE        as they help the still-crying Tracy to her feet,        Quentin crosses to the brick wall and stands looking        at it.  He thinks for a moment, then turns to them.                              QUENTIN                  That's it!        Alex looks at him.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 105/Scene 228 - Quentin: 'The brick! That was the sound! The sound of brick being laid.'

comes up, followed in the script by:

CUT TO: 229    INT - SMALL ROOM - NIGHT                          229        as Alex and Quentin have just about finished ripping        out the brick wall, the large iron door is revealed.        Quentin grabs the rusted bolt and unlocks it.        INT - ROUND BURIAL ROOM - NIGHT        as the door opens and light streams in, Quentin and        Alex stand in silhouette in the doorway.        THE ROOM - THEIR P.O.V.        The light of their candelabras reveal an aged pine        coffin covered with cobwebs and dust.  As they ENTER        THE SHOT and cross to it, they suddenly see the        skeletal remains of Charles Collins.  In the B.G.,        the girls appear at the doorway.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 106/Scene 229 - Quentin: 'So this is why Laura was laughing at the funeral. They were burying an empty coffin.'

comes up.

End of scene and end of sequence. And the sad thing is, even though Scene 228 was recovered with the 129 minute version of the film, Scene 229 was not. And again, sort of similar to how the rewrite of Scene 218 drops all reference to Quentin having trouble breathing on the night of his dream even though a big thing is made of that in Scene 103, it's odd that Scene 52 makes a point of having Gerard do brickwork so that Quentin will have the sound of it in the back of his memory, yet because all future references seemingly save for Quentin suddenly putting 2 and 2 together (even though we have no idea that he's been trying to place a sound because Scene 218 is not in the film and may not have even been shot) it makes Quentin's eureka moment come from out of nowhere. Not to mention that Scene 229's revelation of the discovery of Angelique's and Charles' remains would certainly seem like a major plot payoff. But apparently not to DC. And as we know only too well, ours is not to fathom DC's thinking. Instead of how things were scripted to build up, we simply get Quentin delivering the scripted "The brick! That was the sound! The sound of brick being laid", presumably along with "Charles Collins is in there!", which DC added to his script.

And similar to cropping Claire out of a still to use in Friday's graphic, I cropped the coffin/skeleton out of the following frequently seen still -

- (though for some strange reason I can't seem to locate the actual version of it that I used that shows more of the skeleton). And I also want to share this rare still of David Selby posing with Quentin's former self (or is it Angelique, as we got into in reply #34 - who knows?)

- an alternate version of which appears in the 30th Anniversary Tribute version of the DS Almanac on page 141.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oh, I do hope we'll get to see this one day!  I see that WB is opening up a bit more to licensing films to other parties for home media release, and my big dream is to see Criterion Collection put out a Blu-ray with all three known versions of NODS:  the official theatrical release, the slightly longer version that some theaters got by mistake (and which I got to see in Aug. 1971!), and the original director's cut.  Along with commentaries, of course!  And a feature-length documentary on the whole thing.

When you dream, you definitely dream BIG, KMR - and I love it!!

 

[Uncle Roger]

Moving on to the next two scenes:

228    THE BRICK WALL - QUENTIN'S P.O.V.                 228        BACK TO SCENE        as they help the still-crying Tracy to her feet,        Quentin crosses to the brick wall and stands looking        at it.  He thinks for a moment, then turns to them.                              QUENTIN                  That's it!        Alex looks at him.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 105/Scene 228 - Quentin: 'The brick! That was the sound! The sound of brick being laid.'

That line was quoted in the 1989 Collinsport Players skit, The Night Before. It's followed by an interjection from Claire: "Really? Who's Brick?" That wacky Mrs. Jenkins!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm probably misremembering, but I recall that the FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND "filmbook" of this movie which had nearly the entire story set out in text and photos (so why bother to go see it, some may have asked) ended with the scene of Tracy screaming in the basement room.

I checked the article today (while I was searching with no luck for the longer Quentin/Charles' skeleton still) and the plot summary ends at the point that Quentin goes back to Collinwood for his paintings. But it does tease:

He should not have.
See the picture and find out why.

And actually, I'd forgotten how nice an article it is so more than likely I'll scan/share it after we finish with the script...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

That line was quoted in the 1989 Collinsport Players skit, The Night Before. It's followed by an interjection from Claire: "Really? Who's Brick?" That wacky Mrs. Jenkins!

  That's too hysterically funny!! 

And you know, I was at the '89 Fest, so I may have actually seen that skit. One of these days I'm going to have to dig out my fanzines and read up on it to remind myself...

(But right now I promised myself I was going to start decorating for Christmas today, so I'm off to do that... )

[Uncle Roger]

The skit would be a perfect fit for this thread, as it was set on the making of NODS and recreated some of the missing scenes, including the infamous Gregory sequence. It segued to the Academy Awards where DC is furious that Fiddler on the Roof got nominated instead of NODS. (Can you imagine? Yeah, I can too!)

"Fiddler on the Roof!?! My movie had Carlotta on the roof!"

[Patti Feinberg]

In the B.G., the girls appear at the doorway.

What's the 'B. G.'?

         

Patti

[Gothick]

BG usually means background.

Love that candid shot of Selby with the skeleton.  I do not recall having seen that one before.

Also, excellent notes from Darren!  I'm in awe of the degree to which you and MB have studied this film!

cheers, G.