Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And yet two more stills to revisit:

When it comes to the stills I sort of associated with Scene 146 because they were taken in and around the cemetery set, after I came across the stills posted to AOL back in the '90s, I discovered a much better version of the one of Grayson Hall. Today I updated that post with the better version:

...

For a change it's not Nancy Barrett posing around a set/location that Claire didn't appear in, it's Grayson Hall posing at the cemetery set, where Carlotta never appeared, -

- and wearing one of two dresses she appears in stills wearing but she never wore as Carlotta in the film (but more on that at a later time). A somewhat cropped version of this still appears on page 172 of DS Memories.

...

And I also came across this one -

- which I'm sharing for the first time. And when it comes to it, I'm not aware of it having been officially published anywhere...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And even more stills worth revisiting:

And even though these have nothing to do with the cemetery set and were taken outside Lyndhurst, I've often wonder if these three stills were taken on the same day as the Lobby Card:

(Click here for a 800X1053 version)


(Click here for a 800X1235 version)


(Click here for a 800X1189 version)

A somewhat longer version of the top still was shared on page 190 of the Return To Collinwood book. I'm pretty sure I've never seen the other two officially published anywhere...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting yet another still:

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And a candid of Thayer David in nearly full (he's missing the gloves and hat) Strack regalia that -

(Click here for a 678X700 version)

- may have been taken on the day Strack's trampling was shot or Angelique's hanging. I'm not sure which, so I held off sharing it until now. As far as I know, it's never been officially published anywhere...

And finally, at least for this go around, another still directly related to Scene 146 - one that I've never shared before -

(Click here for a 867X576 version)

- and one that so far as I'm aware has never been officially published anywhere.

And a bit of trivia: eagle-eyed fans will notice the name Amos Ross on the tombstone, a tombstone that was apparently recycled from the daytime series. Does anyone besides me remember how it was used and in which storyline?

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

...

We do see the opening of Scene 143, up to and including that long moment while Quentin -

- stares up - however, everything beyond that point in Scene 143 is missing from the film, and is indeed on the list of unrecovered footage - and one thing that's interesting is how abruptly the background music ends before the film switches to the next scene that is in the film - but more on that in a later post.

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Here'a a video of how things play with the VHS/Laser:

The background music slowly fades and a footstep is heard.

And here's how things play with the Blu-ray/DVD:

No footstep is heard and an abrupt cut off with the music would make it seem as if things should have continued:

143    QUENTIN - HIGH ANGLE                                143        SEEN from third floor as he looks TOWARD CAMERA.  HOLD        FOR A LONG MOMENT until it seems he is about to start        up the stairs.  Instead, he turns and practically runs        down the stairs to the first floor and EXITS THE SHOT.        HOLD ON EMPTY CORRIDOR until the SOUND OF THE FRONT        DOOR can be heard OPENING AND CLOSING O.S

But Darren indicated on his Restoration Web site:

The following is a list of scenes that are still lost and which are not present in the 129 min version recovered in 1999.

...

HIGH ANGLE. Quentin runs from the house. EXT.COUNTRYSIDE. Quentin struggles, stops has flashback.

1971.COUNTRYSIDE.NIGHT. Quentin in trance returns to house.

And the missing material in indeed not on the recovered list. And all that makes it something of a mystery as to why the music abruptly cuts off if the missing footage wasn't a part of the 129 minute version, particularly with other examples of music being different on the Blu-ray/DVD versus the VHS/Laser it's because footage was cut during the marathon editing but it was recovered when the 129 minute version was found. But who knows...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 148 and the start of Scene 149 are scripted:

And picking things up with the next scene in the script:

148    INT - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT                        148        CLOSE ON TRACY as she lies in bed sound asleep.  HOLD        until she stirs, then WIDEN to reveal she is alone.        Through the window in the B.G. the tower can be seen.        A light glows there.  Tracy opens her eyes and,        noticing the light, she gets out of bed and crosses        to the window.  TRUCK IN ON HER as she tries to decide        what to do. 149    INT - STAIRWAY TO THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT              149        as Tracy comes TOWARD CAMERA PAN WITH HER as she        crosses to the tower stairs.  HOLD ON HER BACK as        she climbs to the door.  Hesitant, timid, she knocks.        THE SOUNDS OF MOVEMENT can be heard inside.                              TRACY                  Quentin!        There is no answer.  She raps harder.

And that's when Tuesday's first quote -

Page 70/Scene 149 - Tracy: 'Quentin!'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

The door suddenly opens, revealing a seemingly drunken Quentin staring down at her.  Past him she can see the rumpled cot.

And that's when Tuesday's second quote -

Page 70/Scene 149 - Tracy: 'I...I thought you weren't
coming back here...'

- comes up.

And when it comes to what's different with the dialogue, Tracy actually says "I...I thought you said you weren't gonna come here anymore..."

And when it comes to what's different with the descriptions and directions, in DC's script he's added to the setting on Scene 148:

INT - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT - FROM WINDOW SIDE

And right below that he's also added:

148A   P.O.V - TOWER

However, he doesn't make any changes to the descriptions, so it's interesting that his Scene 148A doesn't begin close on Tracy as she lies in bed sound asleep - nor does it hold until she stirs, then widen to reveal she's alone - and neither is it the case that through the window in the background the tower can be seen - and all that is because the scene actually begins with a shot through the window with the tower being seen with a light coming from it - and after that we do not see Tracy opening her eyes because when we see her her eyes are already wide open. And considering that so much of how the scene is scripted to open is not actually in the film, it begs the question of whether or not the background music in what is seen of Scene 143 is cut so short because at one time Scene 148 did open as scripted but, as a part of the enforced editing, what is missing was cut for time? But whatever the reason for the abrupt ending of the music is, from the point we see Tracy with her eyes open, Scene 148 plays as Tracy gets out of bed and crosses a few steps to the window - however, the camera doesn't truck in on her as she tries to decide what to do because Scene 149 begins immediately after that - however DC made changes to that setting, too:

3RD FLOOR LANDING INT - STAIRWAY TO THIRD FLOOR - NIGHT

And right below that he's also added:

149A   INT - LOWER TOWER

So, it will probably come as no surprise that things here don't exactly begin the way it's scripted. How things actually play is that in Scene 149 and shot from the 3rd floor landing we see Tracy coming up each section of the stairs -

and then she hesitates a few moments as she looks at the third floor ahead of her -

- and then after having moved closer to them, Tracy hesitates for just a fraction of a second -

- before making her way to the tower stairs. And then when it comes to DC's Scene 149A, Tracy isn't seen ascending the stairs from behind but rather -

- from her front - and after Tracy knocks on the tower door for the first time, we don't actually hear the sounds of movement from inside - in fact, when there's no respons from her second knock, she actually turns away from the door -

- and is about to start down the stairs before Quentin opens the door -

- and stares down at her - however, Quentin doesn't seem as if he's drunk - and after she brings up that Quentin had said he wasn't going to come to the tower anymore (and I do love the nervous little smile Tracy shows before -

- she mentions that), it doesn't appear that Tracy somehow sees a rumpled cot. We certainly don't see it.

  And so far as "Tuesday's" quotes go, they also appeared on a Tuesday this time around, but on April 16th.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Beginning to revisit the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 149:

When it comes to the subtitles and closed captioning for the opening moments of Scene 149, it's interesting that each interprets Tracy's calling to Quentin differently - the subtitles have -

- with a "?" - whereas the closed captioning has -

- with a "!" - and that way is actually how the script intended it to be.

Also, after Quentin does finally open the door, what Tracy says to him is, "I...I thought you said you weren't gonna come here anymore..." - however, the subtitles and the closed captioning present her line in slightly different ways - the subtitles have -

- with the "I...I" hesitation ignored in favor of a single "I" - and the closed captioning has -

- with the hesitation intact but with "gonna" changed to the grammatically correct "going to," even though Tracy actually says "gonna."

...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen captures)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

More of how Scene 149 is scripted:

Continuing with Scene 149:

He does not answer.

And that's when Wednesday's quote -

Page 70/Scene 149 - Tracy: 'Quentin, what's happened to you? What's wrong? There's...there's someone in that room with you, isn't there?'
(Along with the graphic for anyone who might have missed it.)

- comes up, followed by today's quote -

Page 70/Scene 149 - Quentin: 'Tracy, why don't you go back to bed.'

- coming up.

And when it comes to what's different with the dialogue, Tracy actually says "Quentin, what's happened to you? ... What's wrong? ... There's someone else in that room, isn't there?" - and Quentin drops the "Tracy" in his quote, and it's chilling how emotionlessly he delivers it.

And when it comes to what's different with the descriptions and directions, what's scripted is exactly how that plays out, but there are some things that aren't scripted. For instance, the camera slowly trucks in on Tracy as she delivers her lines - and she reaches out to Quentin before -

- she asks him what's wrong - and she looks up into the tower room before she states that someone else-

- is in there. (Though we still have mo idea if Tracy can see a rumpled cot. To me things play as if she can tell intuitively that someone is in the tower besides Quentin.)

   And as far as "Wednesday's quote" goes, it also appeared on a Wednesday this time around, but on April 17th, and as for "today's quote," it was April 18th's this time around.