And Now The Return of Another New Slideshow (Sort of), Part 2 [**Now featuring alternate versions of scenes - see replies #18,#21,#23,#49,#64,#69,#76,#88,#90,#100,#105,#107,#115**]

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And here's the original draft's version of today's scene:

26     INT. FIRST FLOOR CORRIDOR - COLLINWOOD - NIGHT     26        Liz comes down the corridor and CAMERA PANS her into        the office where DAPHNE BUDD, Liz's secretary, finishes        working on the checkbook. Daphne closes it, rises,        starts to exit.  CAMERA TRUCKS into TIGHT TWO SHOT.                                  DAPHNE                  Mrs. Stoddard, will it be all                  right if I come in a little late                  tomorrow?                                  LIZ                  Of course, Daphne.  Take the day                  off if you want.                                  DAPHNE                  To much work to do.  The first                  of the month's bills are in.        She is at the door.                                  LIZ                  Do let me send you home in the                  car.                                  DAPHNE                  Thanks but I enjoy walking through                  the woods after a rain.  I guess                  I'm the last of the romantics.                  Unfortunately.  Goodnight.        She exits quickly.

End of scene for the first draft. But guess what - there's a second draft that was done before the rewrite in DC's script, and it also appears in DC's script. However, the only things that are different come after Daphne mentioning that the first of the month's bills are in:

She moves to the door.                              LIZ                  Do let me send you home in the                  car.                              DAPHNE    Thanks I drove here                  Thanks but I'd rather walk.                                       today - my car's at the stable        They both exit  by the camera down the hall.

And it's interesting that 1)DC crossed out Liz' line about sending Daphne home in the car, yet it's included in the rewrite and in the film, and 2)DC changed Daphne's last line but they decided to go with nearly a complete rewrite of the entire scene instead...

[Gothick]

The last time I watched the film (which was many years ago now, on my VHS tape from the old Laserdisc--a friend made the tape for me since I have never owned a laserdisc player), I noted one moment when Joan is turning to look at Daphne where she gave one of those looks that made me think of the old Liz from '66-'67.

Wonderful captures MB!

In one of JF's interviews from the 1980s--I think it was the one that was published in a Baltimore weekly which I used to read when I was a student at Hopkins--he referred to hoDS as "practically pornographic."  I think he found it all really distasteful.  My perception, rightly or wrongly, is that JF's career went into hibernation for several years because he really did not want to do horror projects or be associated in any way with the genre and that was the kind of work that would have been available to him.

I'm sure most have heard of this, but Malia Howard's career biography of JF has been reprinted now.  For those interested in finding out more about what he did after DS, I am sure it is the best source available.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops, it's happening again - last night I forgot to mention that even though it's not a part of the slideshow this time, this line from Daphne -

hoDS: Scene #26 - Daphne: 'I may be late in the morning.'

- was a part of the original hoDS slideshow because it appears on the Fest's 1999 Movie Calendar of quotes for January 13th.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

From topic "CAMPY FUN WITH DARK SHADOWS: HEIRESS OF COLLINWOOD"

Interestingly, though, especially in light of the recent discussions about HoDS, my vague (admittedly, very extremely vague) memories of the novelization of that movie make me think that the novel is actually quite superior to the movie, in regard to storytelling and characterization.

It most definitely is because it includes everything in the script that ended up getting cut, plus a few tidbits thrown in to help to strengthen the characters even more than the script does. IF ONLY the movie was as good as the book. But alas...

Truthfully, reading the novelization and seeing how all the cut stuff would have played into and greatly enhanced the story was one of the chief influences that caused me to almost instantly look down on the movie as much as I do.

[Uncle Roger]

Maybe I'm jumping the gun on this a little but I was wondering if the ending in the book was ever part of the HODS script or if it was something that Marilyn/Dan Ross came up with.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And now we need to deal with many, many dialogue free scenes in DC's script before tomorrow's entry in the slideshow comes up:

27     EXT:  COLLINWOOD ENTRANCE - NIGHT                 27        WIDE ANGLE        Daphne exits the house and starts walking along the        drive.  There is the SOUND OF DISTANT THUNDER. 27     CONTD                                       CONTD 27        DAPHNE - CLOSE UP        CAMERA TRUCKS IN FRONT OF HER as she walks along drive.        There is more thunder.  She stops, looks up at the sky        and starts walking again.  This time a little faster.        She hears the DISTANT SOUND OF A DOG HOWLING.  She        quickens her pace. 28     EXT:  COLLINWOOD DRIVE - NIGHT                    28        WIDE ANGLE                                          to the stable           LONG LENS THROUGH THE MAIN GATES of Collinwood, with        Daphne in the distance walking rapidly towards camera.        She wants to reach the lighted main road that runs        parallel to the grounds. 29     EXT:  WOODS - NIGHT                               29        Daphne can be seen through the trees walking rapidly        along the drive.  CAMERA TRUCKS keeping pace with her.        It is as if someone is moving with her and watching her        through the darkness from the trees.        DAPHNE - MEDIUM ANGLE        CAMERA TRUCKS IN FRONT OF DAPHNE as she suddenly stops.        She senses something in the woods and AS she turns to        camera right looking into the woods, CAMERA TRUCKS        BACK ARCING TO ITS LEFT FRAMING HER IN THE FOREGROUND        SILHOUETTED against the woods.  There is the SOUND OF        THE HOWLING DOG.  This time CLOSER.  Sensing danger        she suddenly starts walking very fast exiting the shot.        CAMERA HOLDS ON WOODS for a beat and then                                                CUT TO: 30     DAPHNE'S FEET                                     30        CAMERA TRUCKING ALONG SIDE THEM.  Suddenly the camera        stops.  The feet exit the shot and we truck in to the        bushes at the side of the road until a pair of MEN'S        BOOTS fill the FRAME.  The boots begin to walk through        the underbrush.        DAPHNE'S FEET - TRUCKING SHOT        as she walks faster and faster, CAMERA SLOWLY ALLOWS        her to get in front of it, PANNING up her back and as        she looks around she is framed in CLOSE UP.  Hearing        the SOUND OF THE FOOTSTEPS in the underbrush, she        starts running as fast as she can.                        STABLE  31     EXT:  COLLINWOOD DRIVE - NIGHT                    31        LONG LENS THROUGH THE GATES AS Daphne is running full        speed toward camera.  CAMERA STARTS SLOW ZOOM until it        holds her in as tight a closeup as it can.  Picture        is suddenly blacked out by something stepping between        the camera and Daphne.  In actuality it is the back        of her PURSUER.  SHE SCREAMS.                                                CUT TO: 31A    CLOSE UP OF DAPHNE'S HEAD AND SHOULDERS           31A        A MAN'S HAND with a large black ring on the forefinger        has her by the throat.  She is SCREAMING in terror.                                                CUT TO:                                       DRIVE 32     EXT:  ROAD OUTSIDE COLLINWOOD GROUNDS - NIGHT     32        LONG LENS up the road as headlights of an approaching        car enters the shot. 33     INT:  MOVING CAR - NIGHT                          33        JEFF CLARK, a handsome young man, is behind the wheel.             STABLE 34     COLLINWOOD GATES - JEFF'S POV                     34        (THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD)        The headlights illuminate the gates as the car        approaches them and then passes through them. 35     EXT:  CAR - HOOD MOUNT SHOT                       35        as Jeff's face suddenly registers alarm. 36     INSERT SHOT                                       36        His foot hitting the brake.

And that's it for now. But coming up we'll get into what in the film is different in all that...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Maybe I'm jumping the gun on this a little but I was wondering if the ending in the book was ever part of the HODS script or if it was something that Marilyn/Dan Ross came up with.

We shall see...   

[Uncle Roger]

Is it safe to assume that HODS Barnabas bypassed munching on the local livestock and headed directly for the jugular of the ingenue?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And now the differences between the DC's script's versions of Scenes 27 through 36 and how they actually play in the film:

Scene 27: We don't see Daphne exits the house and starts walking along the drive - and there is no sound of distant thunder anywhere in the scene - what we do see at first is Daphne on the drive from a distance -

- and Daphne's close-up is more of a medium shot - and when she stops, she doesn't look up at the sky because she looks to both the right and left of her -

- as we hear the sound of a dog howling.

Scene 28: Rather than seeing anything having to do we Daphne, we simply see her car on the other side of the gate -

- to the stable.

Scene 29: Here is where we actually see Daphne's feet -

- but soon Daphne comes to an immediate stop as she hears the loud call -

 of a night bird - and soon after she begins to move again she hears more of the howling dog -

- which causes her to stop again and this time look behind her - then as she walks along the drive we seem to see her as if from the P.O.V. of someone -

- in the bushes.

Scene 30: Here rather than seeing Daphne's feet we see her legs -

-as she quickly walks along the drive, but as the dog's howling can be heard again, the camera pans up to Daphne's frightened expression -

- as she stops yet again but soon begins to move even faster - and then we see the men's boots (and a cane) as they walk -

- through the underbrush - and Daphne does indeed begin to walk faster and faster while looking about her, and once she hears the sound of footsteps in the underbrush, she does indeed begin running as fast as she can, at one point dropping her coat and purse -

- but leaving them behind as the camera lingers on them on the ground -

- as they get farther away, until...

Scene 31:  We do indeed see Daphne running full speed toward camera -

- but rather than a slow zoom to hold Daphne in as tight a closeup as possible, the camera actually zoom back to show Daphne is running to her car -

- in the foreground - and after Daphne rushes to get inside -

- her car, the camera then zooms in as she locks the driver's side door and turns to attempt to -

- lock the passenger side door, but her pursuer opens the passenger door, momentarily blocking view of her, though we hear her screams.

Scene 31A: Though we soon see a man's hand with a large black ring on the forefinger has Daphne by the throat -

- as she continues to scream in terror.

Scene 32: Plays exactly as scripted and changed by DC.

Scene 33: Plays exactly as scripted. Though from the outside we also see the car turn a corner and then go back to Jeff inside the car.

Scene 34: However, we do not see the gate through Jeff's windshield because what we actually see is Daphne illuminated by headlights -

- in front of Jeff's car.

Scene 35: And as we see Jeff's face suddenly register alarm in this scene, it is not shot with a hood mount but exactly as Scene 33 -

- was shot.

Scene 36: And this scene is not an insert shot of Jeff's foot hitting the brake but is a shot through the windshield of Daphne as she -

- is blinded by the cars headlights.

   That post was a workout to compose! But it was also a good deal of fun. 

And coming up before too long (after I have something to eat): the version of all that as it plays in the original draft. And as we'll see, much of it is similar - but much of it is also different, too...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Is it safe to assume that HODS Barnabas bypassed munching on the local livestock and headed directly for the jugular of the ingenue?

I would say that it is indeed quite likely that he bypassed the local livestock.    Either that or he was awfully, awfully, awfully thirsty if he had livestock as well as Willie and Daphne!! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And here's the original draft's version of Daphne's stalking, attack, and her discovery by Jeff:

27     EXT. WOODS - NIGHT                                 27        Daphne walks through the woods.  There is the SOUND OF        DISTANT THUNDER.  There is a flash of lightning.        Daphne stops, looks at the sky, begins walking a        little faster. As she does she hears the SOUND OF        SOMETHING - OR SOMEONE - IN THE BUSHES at her side.        She stops, turns, looks.        DAPHNE'S POV - THE BUSHES        The branches move as if someone has passed by.  But        then again, it could have simply been the wind. 28     DAPHNE                                             28        CAMERA TRUCKING IN FRONT OF HER.  She starts to walk        quickly.  Not running.  She hears the SOUND OF A DOG        HOWLING.  THE SOUND IS SO MOURNFUL that she stops.        Then she hears the sound OF A TWIG SNAPPING behind her.        The bushes RUSTLE.  She suddenly is afraid.  She runs        TOWARD CAMERA. 29     EXT. ROAD LEADING TO MAIN GATE - COLLINWOOD -      29        NIGHT        SHOOTING THROUGH GATES LONG LENS.  Daphne running down        the lane to the gates, opens them.  She passes through        them, closes them carefully. 30     EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - OUTSIDE MAIN GATES -           30        NIGHT        Daphne approaches a bench by the side of the road.  Ob-        viously this is the bus stop.  She looks up the dark        road for signs of the bus.  She checks her watch ner-        vously.  There is THUNDER, LIGHTNING. 31     SERIES OF FAST CUTS                                31        Daphne looks up the road, hoping desperately to see        lights.  She hears the SOUND OF THE GATES CREAKING.        She turns to them.        One of them is now open.        Daphne starts to walk toward Collinsport.  She walks        very fast.  The CAMERA TRUCKS ALONG SIDE of her.  We        see her in profile as she strides along the road.        CAMERA STOPS TRUCKING with her as she EXITS SHOT.        - it ZOOMS into the bushes to a PAIR OF FEET - MALE        - IN BOOTS.  The feet do not move.        Daphne's feet as they walk along the roadside. 31     CONTD                                        CONTD 31        The boots, starting slowly to walk.  They step on a        twig.  BREAK it.        Daphne hears the sound.        The boots walking.        Daphne, a SOB ESCAPTING HER LIPS.  She starts to run.        The boots quickening their pace.  The SOUND OF THE        HOWLING DOG is CLOSER.        CAMERA is in front of Daphne.  She hears the NOISE OF        RUNNING in the bushes, looks over her shoulder.   32     REVERSE - ZOOM TO CLOSE UP DAPHNE                  32        as she sees someone or something.  She stops, frozen        with fear.  A HAND with a RING on it, a large unforget-        table ring, worn on the first finger, grabs her by the        throat.  She is SCREAMING, struggling.  A SECOND HAND        joins the first.  The hands are strangling her. The        SCREAMING stops. 33     EXT. CEMETERY - GATES                              33        LONG LENS THROUGH THE GATES, UP THE ROAD, HEADLIGHTS        beam into CAMERA. 34     EXT. CAR - NIGHT - HOOD MOUNT SHOT                 34        JEFF CLARK, handsome, young, drives his convertible,        listening to the ROCK and ROLL BLARING FROM THE RADIO.        His face suddenly registers alarm. 35     INSERT SHOT                                        35        His foot hitting the brake. 36     JEFF'S POV THROUGH WINDSHIELD                      36        A woman staggers across the road.

Maybe it's just me, but I actually find the series of shots section to be rather thrilling. But when it was changed to Daphne having brought her own car, that obviously eliminated the need for her to go out to wait for a bus and all that followed there. And if Jeff had been listening to music in his car, I wonder what Robert Cobert tune would have been playing? And it's interesting that both here in the original draft and in DC's script's version there is supposed to be a hood mount shot with Jeff and an insert shot of Jeff's foot hitting the break peddle of his car, but nothing like either makes it into the film. And I also find it interesting that Scene 36 here in the original draft is actually very close to how Scene 36 actually plays in the film...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Setting up the current scene:

37     JEFF'S POV THROUGH WINDSHIELD                     37        OVER JEFF'S SHOULDER        as Daphne on the road, he skids to a halt and runs        to her.  She turns, sees him, screams and tries to        run from him.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 13/Scene 37 - Jeff: 'Hey, wait! What's wrong?'

- comes up.

And when it comes to the dialogue, Jeff actually says "Hey, Daphne!", and he actually says the -

"Hey"

- part at the end of Scene 36 and the -

"Daphne"

- part as she collapses on the ground, which actually does a number on the way the rest of the scene is scripted. But we'll see more about that tomorrow...

And when it comes to the differences in the directions and descriptions, we can barely hear the sound as the car skids to a stop, and because it's so dark, we can barely see Jeff as he gets out of the car - and because Daphne is already collapsing as Jeff calls out her name, we don't see her turn, we don't see her see him, we don't hear her scream, nor does she try to run from him.

[KMR]

But when it was changed to Daphne having brought her own car, that obviously eliminated the need for her to go out to wait for a bus and all that followed there.

But my god, are the Collins family so cruel that they make their employees park a half mile away from the house?  (And why is their stable so far away anyway???)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wrapping up Scene 37:

DAPHNE                       (running from him)                  Don't touch me!  Don't touch me! 37     CONTD                                       CONTD 37        She runs.  She trips and falls.        Daphne        lies there on the ground sobbing hysterically as Jeff        enters the shot.  Jeff recognizes her as he turns her        to him.                              JEFF                  Daphne!?  What is it!?  What's                  happened!?        CAMERA TRUCKS into a TIGHT SHOT of her face and neck.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 14/Scene 37 - Jeff (O.S.): 'Oh my God!'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

We see the blood pouring from the two gaping holes in        her neck.

And when it comes to the dialogue, with the exception of today's quote, all the rest of the dialogue was dropped in the film - and as can be seen in today's capture -

- Jeff actually says his "Oh my God!" on screen.

And when it comes to the differences in the directions and descriptions laid out above, obviously Daphne doesn't run from Jeff because as we pointed out yesterday, she has already collapsed on the ground - and since she's already on the ground, we don't see her trip and fall - and as she lies on the ground, we don't actually hear her sobbing because she seems to have passed out - and given that he'd already called out her name, Jeff had already recognized her before he got out of his car - and while the camera does indeed go into a tight shot of Daphne's face and neck, DC has a note that the camera would zoom in on the holes in her throat (Dick Smith's fantastic makeup) -

- which is indeed what happens (though previous to that it also zooms in on Jeff), but as we've already gotten into, Jeff's line is not delivered off screen during the shot of the wound but with Jeff in close-up.

And coming up shortly, the original draft's version of Scene 37 as well as Scenes 38 and 39 because, unlike DC's script's version, the original version is scripted over multiple scenes...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

But my god, are the Collins family so cruel that they make their employees park a half mile away from the house?  (And why is their stable so far away anyway???)

Excellent questions!! Although, at least Liz did offer to send Daphne home in the car. But maybe Liz should have actually offered the car to give Daphne a ride all the way to her car!!    But then, think of the thrilling sequence we would have missed out on if Liz had offered that ride...