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]

Setting up the current sequence/scene - and we've reached the first instance where Grayson's and DC's scripts differ. But first up we'll deal with the way things play in DC's script, which, probably not surprisingly, is the way they mostly appear in the film:

54     EXT - MEADOW - DAY - LONG LENS                                 54        Quentin is not having an easy time of it.        Ulysses is far from a rocking chair.                                                 DISSOLVE TO: 55     EXT - FIELD - NEAR A PATCH OF TREES - DAY                      55        Quentin and the horse have finally come to terms and he is        now enjoying himself.  Suddenly, as if it were being        carried he hears the DISTANT SOUND OF CHURCH BELLS        TOLLING.  The horse begins to react badly as Quentin,        totally confused, rides closer to the trees looking for        the source of the sound.  It is then that we realize that        the old family cemetery is on the other side of the trees.        QUENTIN - CLOSE-UP        He has stopped the horse, and, although it is a cool        sunny day, his face is bathed with perspiration.  It is        obvious he is experiencing something.  TRUCK IN TO HIS        EXTREME CLOSE-UP and then                                                   CUT TO: 56     QUENTIN'S P.O.V. - EXT CEMETERY - 1810 - DAY                   56        SUBCONSCIOUS MEMORY CUT        The wind blows the empty branches, the rain pours down        on the assembly standing in front of the mausoleum.        Silhouetted below the cemetery is the black hearse.  The        six pallbearers carry the coffin up the hill toward the        mausoleum. 56     CONTD                                               CONTD       56        ANOTHER ANGLE        The Reverend Strack stands at the head of the coffin outside        the mausoleum.  Gabriel, Laura, Mrs. Castle, and her small        daughter, Sarah, stand with other family and friends watching.        Sarah is the only one crying as she fingers a locket.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 20A/Scene 56 - Strack: 'Dust...to dust...ashes to ashes. Oh Lord, we beseech you to have pity on this sinner...for we all sin, knowing the mercy of our heavenly Father. So we commend to Him the flesh and spirit of Angelique Collins, beloved wife of Gabriel, loyal and loving sister-in-law to Laura.'

- comes up.

And though there are differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written, there aren't any notations in either for this sequence.

And as for any differences in the dialogue, Strack actually says "Oh Lord, we beseech Thee to have mercy on this sinner" and later "And so we commend to Thee the flesh and spirit of Angelique Collins".

And as for what is different when it comes to the directions and descriptions, Scene 54 does not appear in the film as it currently stands - the horse doesn't have any reaction to the bells in Scene 55, so perhaps it's only Quentin who hears them - and Quentin's face is not bathed in perspiration, but his face does take on an extremely shocked expression as the camera trucks in on his extreme close-up - and there are only four pallbearers in Scene 56 - and while Sarah is crying, we do not see her fingering the locket (which is too bad because it would have definitely added to the scene.

And the next post will deal with the way everything up to where we left off in the sequence originally played out in Grayson's earlier version of the script...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Grayson's script's version:

54     EXT - MEADOW - DAY - LONG LENS                    54        Quentin is not having an easy time of it.        Ulysses is far from a rocking chair.                                              DISSOLVE TO: 55     EXT - FIELD - NEAR A PATCH OF TREES - DAY         55        Quentin and the horse have finally come to terms        and he is now enjoying himself.  Suddenly, as if        it were being carried on the wind, he hears        the DISTANT SOUND OF A DRONING VOICE.                              STRACK'S                              TRASK'S VOICE                  Dust to dust ... ashes to ashes                  ... Oh Lord, have pity on this                  sinner ... for we all sin,                  knowing the mercy of our                  heavenly Father ...        The horse begins to react badly as Quentin,        totally confused, rides closer to the trees        looking for the source of the voice. - It is then        that we realize that the old family cemetery        is on the other side of the trees.        QUENTIN - CLOSE-UP        He has stopped the horse, and, although it is a        cool sunny day, his face is bathed with perspir-        ation.  It is obvious he is experiencing some-        thing.  TRUCK IN TO HIS EXTREME CLOSE-UP and then                                              CUT TO: 56     EXT - CEMETERY - 1810 - DAY                       56        SUBCONSCIOUS MEMORY CUT                                          Strack        It is raining hard.  The Reverend Trask leads a        procession of FOUR MEN and GABRIEL as they carry        the coffin toward the family mausoleum.  SAMANTHA,LAURA        MRS. CASTLE, and her small daughter, SARAH, all        carrying umbrellas, stand with other family        friends watching.  Sarah is the only one crying.        Gabriel opens the mausoleum.                              STRACK                              TRASK                  So we commend to Thee the flesh                  and spirit of Angelique Collins,                  beloved wife of Gabriel.        CAMERA PANS to Gabriel.                                          Laura                  Loyal sister-in-law to Samantha...

And that's it for now.

Notice how:

• Grayson script actually says "Suddenly, as if it were being carried on the wind, he hears", as opposed to DC's script which is oddly missing the part about the wind and simply says "Suddenly, as if it were being carried he hears".
  
• The sound of the bell was originally Trask's/Strack's voice.
• Trask/Strack was originally supposed to lead the funeral procession of four pallbearers (the same number as in the film, as opposed to the six in DC's script) and GABRIEL as they carry the coffin toward the mausoleum.
• Originally Trask/Strack's "Oh Lord, we beseech you to have pity on this sinner" didn't include the "we beseech you to" part (though, as I mentioned in the previous post, there are even further changes in the film).
• There's no mention of Sarah fingering the locket.
• Gabriel was originally supposed to open the mausoleum before Trask/Strack was even finished with his prayer.
• Trask/Strack was originally supposed to say "we commend to Thee the flesh and spirit of Angelique Collins", as he does in the film.
• The part about Angelique being a "loving" sister-in-law to Samantha/Laura wasn't originally there - but thankfully they added it because that makes Laura's subsequent reaction (which we'll get into tomorrow) all the better!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I neglected to mention yesterday that when it came time for the Fest's 1999 Movie Calendar to pick something from Scene 56 for its July 28th quote, it picked one from the original version of the script and not DC's updated version:

NoDS: Scene #56 - Strack: 'So we commend to Thee the flesh
 and spirit of Angelique Collins, beloved wife of Gabriel.

And while for years I was thrilled to have the VHS copy of NoDS, these days I can barely look at it after now having the Blu-ray version of the film:

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing with DC's script's version of Scene 56, as well as Scenes 57 & 58:

TRUCK IN ON LAURA        She begins to laugh, lowly at first.  Gabriel grabs        her hand but her laughter grows as Strack continues.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 20A/Scene 56 - Strack: 'Angelique Collins has departed this life for a far better one - a world without tears or pain.'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

Laura's laughter builds.  Gabriel, tight-lipped, holds        her in a vise-like grip.  Sarah tries to run to stop her.        Mrs. Castle restrains her.  Strack looks hard at Laura.        She stops laughter.        ANOTHER ANGLE        Strack nods to Pallbearers, who pick up the coffin.  They        all watch as the Old Caretaker opens the gate.

And that's when today's second quote -

Page 20A/Scene 56 - Strack: (loudly, trying to top the laughter) 'And so we commend her spirit to a just and forgiving God. Amen.'

- comes up, followed by script continuing with:

They carry the coffin into the mausoleum. 57     EXT - CEMETERY - 1971 - DAY - NORMAL COLOR                     57        The sun is shining again and all is quiet.  The CAMERA is        shooting from the other side of the deserted cemetery and        Quentin can be seen still sitting on his horse on the other        side of the trees.  START A SLOW ZOOM IN AS HE SHAKES HIS        HEAD IN BEWILDERMENT.  Finally, he decides to take a closer        look.  He tries to spur his horse forward but he won't        move.  All of a sudden, it rears on its hind legs and with        a whinny of fear wildly gallops off in the opposite direc-        tion as Quentin tried futilely to control him. 58     EXT - ROAD - DAY                                               58        as the horse and Quentin charge into view  The        horse moving sideways and out of control, is        thundering toward the road.  Suddenly, a car 58     CONTD                                               CONTD      58        driven by CLAIRE JENKINS ENTERS THE SHOT just as        the horse runs into the road.  She slams on her        brakes.  The horse rears and as they almost        collide, Quentin finally regains control.                              CLAIRE                  Quentin!

End of scene and end of sequence.

And again, though there are differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written, there aren't any notations in either for this sequence.

And as for any differences in the dialogue, Strack actually says "Angelique Collins has departed this life for a far better world - a world without sorrow ... or pain" - and he directs the "or pain" part at Laura, which stops her laughter, so he doesn't need to say his next lines loudly to try to top her laughter.

And as for the differences when it comes to the directions and descriptions, we don't actually see Gabriel grab Laura's hand to stop her from laughing, but he does shake her - and we don't see Sarah attempt to run to stop Laura from laughing, so we also don't see Mrs. Castle restrain her, however, briefly, as the following capture shows -

- we do see both Mrs. Castle and Sarah look over at Laura as she laughs - and rather than nodding to the pallbearers, Strack simply steps out of the way as the caretaker opens the gate to the mausoleum and enters as the pallbearers begin to follow him - and from that point almost nothing plays as scripted because with Scene 57 we simply Quentin looking over in shock, then he rides the still quite tame horse over to the opening in the fence to the cemetery, dismounts, ties off the horse, and goes inside and begins to walk toward the mausoleum - and with Scene 58 we simply see Claire driving her car along the road, coming to a stop when she apparently sees Quentin, and then waving and calling out to him - after which Quentin turns in her direction as he stands at the gate to the mausoleum and then waves back - to which Claire motions him over - and after a look back at the gate, Quentin backs away and then turns to leave the cemetery.

And my next post will pick up where we left off yesterday and will deal with the remainder of the ways the sequence differs in Grayson's earlier version of the script...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing with Grayson's script's version of the rest of Scene 56 and beyond:

Laura        CAMERA PANS to Samantha.  She begins to laugh,        lowly at first, Gabriel grabs her hand, but her        laughter grows.  She is hysterical.  Trask Strack        stares at her, in panic, as the child tries to        run and stop her, but Mrs. Castle restrains her.        Finally, her laughter fades as Trask continues.                              Strack   Strack                              TRASK                  And so we commend her spirit                  to a just and forgiving God.                  Amen.        They carry the coffin into the mausoleum. 57     EXT - CEMETERY - 1971 - DAY - NORMAL COLOR        57        The sun is shining again and all is quiet.  The        CAMERA is shooting from the other side of the        deserted cemetery and Quentin can be seen still        sitting on his horse on the other side of the        trees.  START A SLOW ZOOM IN AS HE SHAKES HIS        HEAD IN BEWILDERMENT.  Finally, he decides to        take a closer look.  He tries to spur his horse        forward but he won't move.  All of a sudden, it        rears on its hind legs and with a whinny of fear        wildly gallops off in the opposite direction as        Quentin tried futilely to control him. 58     EXT - ROAD - DAY                                  58        as the horse and Quentin charge into view  The        horse moving sideways and out of control, is        thundering toward the road.  Suddenly, a car 58     CONTD                                    CONTD    58        driven by CLAIRE JENKINS ENTERS THE SHOT just as        the horse runs into the road.  She slams on her        brakes.  The horse rears and as they almost        collide, Quentin finally regains control.                              CLAIRE                  Quentin!

Notice that:

• Missing from Grayson's script is Strack's "Angelique Collins has departed this life for a far better one - a world without tears or pain."
  
• Her script refers to Laura as becoming "hysterical," which DC's does not.
• Her script, unlike DC's, also refers to Trask/Strack staring at Samantha/Laura in a panic as Sarah tries to run and stop Samantha/Laura from laughing.
• And in her script there's no reference to Trask/Strack nodding to the pallbearers, who then pick up the coffin.
• And, of course, there's no need in her script for the caretaker to open the gate to the mausoleum because Gabriel has already opened it.

So that's all for now. However, part of Scene 59 also differs in Grayson's and DC's scripts - but more on that once we get to it...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you've never seen/read the NoDS Pressbook, you might find this blurb interesting because it relates to Scene 56:

(Though not one of those actors was in the funeral scene.)

And does anyone know what the bit of trivia is that relates the first day of shooting on NoDS to the first day of shooting on hoDS?

[Uncle Roger]

Wasn't the first day of location filming for HODS also for a funeral? Carolyn's?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yes, that's a big part of it - but there's a tiny bit more...

[Uncle Roger]

Was the rainfall man-made on both films?

[KMR]

I believe the Fire Dept. was called in to make rain for the funeral scenes. (Which is not at all uncommon--it has to rain pretty hard for it to register well on film.)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Setting up the current scene:

59     INT - JENKINS'S COTTAGE - DAY        Alex, Claire and Quentin are having a drink.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 22/Scene 59 - Alex: 'Imagine! Running down the Master of Collinwood.'

comes up, followed by today's quote -

Page 22/Scene 59 - Quentin: 'On his first day, too...before he's even put out the rules of the manor.'

coming up.

And as far as differences in the dialogue go, because Scene 58 was completely reworked in the film, Scene 59 begins differently. For one, those two quoted lines were completely dropped. For two, two lines from a bit later in the scene become the first two lines delivered. And for three, the dropped lines are then replaced by two completely new lines. But I'm not going to get into any of that just yet because the actual first line of the scene in the film is tomorrow's quote in the slideshow...

And so far as any differences in the descriptions and directions go, as can be seen in the following capture -

- in the film there's actually an exterior scene establishing the Jenkins' cottage before Scene 59 begins - and when Scene 59 begins, before anyone says anything, Alex, Quentin and Claire are seen having a good laugh, as can be seen -

- in the above capture.

And while there are no differences at this point between the ways Scene 59 appears in DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts, DC's script does have two notations at the outset of the scene. He writes that a typewriter, etc. should be there in the cottage (and as can be seen in the following capture -

- there is indeed one located under the painting and on a desk behind where Quentin is sitting), and then he mentions something that will come into play later in the rewoked section of Scene 59, so I'll hold off mentioning it until then...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing with Scene 59 as scripted:

Quentin is looking at a painting over the mantel.        It is one he gave them for a wedding present.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 22/Scene 59 - Quentin: 'I see you still have that.'

comes up.

And as far as what's different with that bit of dialogue, Quentin actually says "I see you've still got that crazy eye of mine" - and as mentioned yesterday, it's actually the first line of dialogue in the scene.

And so far as any differences in the descriptions and directions go, as can be seen in today's capture -

- (as well as several others that have been posted recently), the painting is not over the mantel but is actually on the wall behind Quentin so, in actuality, as can be seen in the following capture -

- Quentin has to turn around to look at it before he can comment about it to Alex.

And it's an interesting bit of trivia that Quentin gave them the painting as a wedding present. Too bad that's not actually brought in any of the dialogue.

And speaking of trivia, I'm still wondering if anyone knows what tiny bit more there is when it comes to the shooting of the hoDS/NoDS funeral scenes? 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And continuing with more of Scene 59 as scripted we have today's quote -

Page 22/Scene 59 - Alex: 'A place of honor, old buddy -- wherever we go -- so how's life in the castle? Have you seen Miss Drake smile yet?'

- however, it doesn't play at all like that in the film.

So, as far as the differences with that bit of dialogue go, at first Alex actually says "Yes sir, buddy -- wherever we go, that goes" - to which Quentin replies with an unscripted "Oh" - and then the first scripted line of dialogue for the scene is reworked for Claire when she says "Imagine finding the Master of Collinwood roaming around a cemetery" - and then Quentin's dropped dialogue is reworked when he says "Hey, Alex - they've got tombstones in that place that are over 300 years old" - and it's not until after that that Alex actually asks "Tell me, how's life at the old castle? Uh - have you seen Miss Drake smile yet?" - to which Quentin replies with an unscripted "Once."

And considering there aren't any descriptions or directions in Alex' quote, nothing could possibly be different from the script with regard to descriptions and directions. However, as can be seen in the following capture -

- Claire puts her hand on Quentin's knee when she remarks about finding him in the cemetery - but then, considering it's an unscripted remark, that action couldn't have been scripted, now could it? 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And catching up with more of Scene 59 we have Sunday's quote -

Page 22/Scene 59 - Claire: 'She had no reason to smile at you, Alex. (turning to Quentin) The first time he meets her he asks if the place is haunted.'

- followed by yesterday's first quote -

Page 22/Scene 59 - Quentin (smiling): 'Is it?'

- followed by yesterday's second quote -

Page 22/Scene 59 - Claire: 'Not according to her.'

- followed by the first part of today's quote -

Pages 22/Scene 59 - Alex: (having fun with it) 'We'll go to the Blue Whale Bar some night. There's a Cap'n Russel that will tell you a (MORE)'

59     CONTD                                               CONTD       59

- followed by the second part of today's quote -

Pages 23/Scene 59 - Alex (Contd): 'different story. Seems there's a beautiful young servant girl who roams the halls of Collinwood.'

And as far as the differences with the dialogue go, Claire gives an unscripted laugh before she tells Alex that Carlotta had no reason to smile at him - and when it comes to today's quote, Alex actually says "Yeah, well, one these nights, uh, we're gonna to go to the Blue Whale and I'm gonna introduce you to a Captain Russel who'll tell you a different story. Seems there's a young beautiful servant girl who roams the halls of Collinwood."

And considering that once again there aren't any descriptions or directions, nothing could possibly be different from the script with regard to descriptions and directions.

But before we close this post, two points about what's said. Quentin is quite serious when he asks if Collinwood is haunted. And, of course, the audience knows why that is even if Alex and Claire don't. And more interestingly, is it that the young beautiful servant girl seen roaming Collinwood is Sarah Castle? It seems unlikely anyone would refer to Angelique as a 'servant girl, beautiful or otherwise. So, if it is Sarah, in what capacity is she seen?[spoiler]One would presume it can't be Sarah's ghost because she has been reincarnated as Carlotta. And while Quentin will soon have a memory of seeing Sarah in the window of her 1810 bedroom when it was also Carlotta who was in the window at the same time, Quentin, as the reincarnation of Charles, was also a part of the events that Sarah lived through. But presumably the people who might have seen Sarah at Collinwood would have no such connection to Sarah or Carlotta, so how would they come to see Sarah?[/spoiler]Some interesting points to ponder...

[Uncle Roger]

Interesting. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think that the ghost of the servant girl was meant to be Sarah. We aren't given a lot of information about Sarah but, while it is made clear that her mother was a servant, nothing indicates that Sarah was one also. Also, it seems to me that the Castles would have been residing in the servants' quarters, not in a room that would be occupied by young Elizabeth Stoddard.