Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

... after the two women walk away, Alex is left with Quentin - and that's how the sequence currently ends - though if I remember correctly, in the 97 minute version, Alex does deliver his remark about the train - however, DC's script has a note that Alex would actually say, "Well, it looks like the old B and M will be running late tonight," and "B and M" stands for Boston and Maine ...

A bit more info about Alex' changed line, which apparently wasn't even delivered as DC's script indicates because, while looking for something entirely different, I just came across this that Darren shared back in 2016:

...

In the final filmed version of the Gerard fall to his death, Alex says, "Looks like the old Bangor local is gonna be running late tonight." Thankfully we have that audio as well.  His face is off-screen for the tail part, and if we didn't have the original recording, we would have looped it as "B&M" which would have been unfortunate.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Some behind the scenes material worth revisiting:

... I still have some material I want to share related to the shooting of Scenes 206 - 215.

In this post I'm sharing three behind the scenes photos Darren Gross had shared on his now defunct NoDS Restoration Web site (along with his original captions):

David Selby chatting with
the crew between setups on the set
of NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS.
(Photo courtesy Yvonne David)

I could be wrong, but it looks to me like James Storm is sitting next to Selby.

James Storm puckers up for a kiss after being doused with stage-blood.
(Photo courtesy Yvonne David)


Make-up artist Reginald Tackley liberally applies stage-blood to James
Storm in order to create the effect of a glancing bullet wound. Please note
Alex Jenkins' (John Karlen) as yet undamaged car behind them which
Gerard will later drive off the road. (Photo courtesy Yvonne David.)

It's interesting that they had yet to shoot Scenes 193 - 196 when the second and third photos were taken because, as we know, Gerard doesn't get shot by Claire until after he's forced Alex off the road. But then in films so few scenes are shot in order...

...

A behind the scenes candid which could also be associated with the shooting of Scenes 206 - 215, current Scene 216, or even upcoming Scenes 217 - 218 (though there's some mystery as to whether or not Scene 218 was ever shot - but more on that when we get to it):

(Click here for a 620X780 version)

I've never seen any source cited for this. It could also be one taken by Yvonne David (who, BTW, was the head of wardrobe on the film), or it could be someone entirely different. If it is someone different, I have my suspicion as to who it might be - but more on that in a future post associated with Scene 217...

...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

What's unfortunate when it comes to Scene 216 is that it's neither on the unrecovered list nor on the recovered list. So who knows? Though if I were to be dangerous enough to hazard a guess as to whether or not it appears in the 129 minute version of the film, I would say no based on the fact that it's very much a character oriented scene and we all know what little regard DC had for those. And if it isn't in the film, it really is a shame because a lot of things that need to be said between Quentin and Tracy are said. But what would DC care about that? 

But anyway, judge for yourself:

...

216    EXT - RIVER ROAD - NIGHT                           216        Quentin and Tracy are alone together for the first        time since the drowning.  Alex and Claire can be seen        in the B.G. waiting for them.  Tracy still sobs as        he holds her, comforting her.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 100/Scene 216 - Quentin: 'I'm sorry Trace. I'm sorry for everything that's happened.'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

Holding her, he kisses her eyes, her lips as they try        to comfort each other.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 100/Scene 216 - Tracy: 'Oh, please, Quentin...please don't go back in that house.'

- comes up.

...

...

He looks at her, trying to find a way to explain it.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 100/Scene 216 - Quentin (softly): 'Tracy, try to understand the way I feel. I have such a tenuous hold on myself that --'

- comes up, followed by today's quote -

Page 100/Scene 216 - Tracy (interrupting): 'But you're all right now. You're all right.'

- coming up.

...

...beginning with yesterday's quote, Quentin's response to Tracy's latest lines -

Page 100/Scene 216 - Quentin: 'But I don't know how long I'll stay this way. There's only one way to end it. We've got to go back in there and face it down --'

- coming up, followed in the script by:

She nods.  HOLD ON THIS as the two of them cross toward        Alex and Claire.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 100/Scene 216 - Tracy: 'What about Carlotta?'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

As Alex and Claire cross to meet them.

And that's when today's second quote -

Page 100/Scene 216 - Alex: 'I don't think we'll find her.'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

They all start up toward the house.

...given the voiceover that is added to the next scene in the current version of the film, something *may* have changed with this scene, or the voiceover *may* have been added because Scene 216 was dropped. But one thing is certain, the closing dialogue in Scene 216 and the added voiceover in Scene 217 can't both exist in the 129 minute version of the film because they contradict. But more on that when we deal with Scene 217...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Something to revisit concerning the series of graphics for Scene 216 that -

...

- have been created with a crop of this -

- which appears on page 161 of the DS Almanac Millennium Edition, which is the only place I've ever seen it shared. I've never come across the actual still anywhere...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Before we get into the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 217, here's a previous post to revisit:

Moving on to the next scene, which is something of a rarity in this section of the script because it does actually appear in the current version of the film, though not entirely as scripted:

217    INT - TOWER ROOM - NIGHT                           217        The room is in darkness and through the window, as if        someone is watching, the four of them can be seen        approaching the house.  Then RACK FOCUS to Carlotta        in the EXTREME F.G. as she stands there looking down        at them.  As they EXIT THE SHOT below, Carlotta turns        away in thought.  TIGHTEN TO CARLOTTA'S EXTREME CLOSE-        UP.

And obviously, when it comes to the scene as scripted, there's no sort of dialogue whatsoever. However, in the film as it currently stands, a Quentin voiceover was added after the marathon editing session, and it plays as follows:

"Alex..."
"...you know there's only one way we're going to end
all of this..."
"...We've got to go back in there and find Carlotta..."
"...because she's the one who's keeping the spirit alive --"

Which would seem to be a reworking of Quentin's "There's only one way to end it. We've got to go back in there and face it down --" from Scene 216. But because the reworking puts finding Carlotta front and center, it obviously flies in the face of the part of Scene 216 in which Tracy asks about Carlotta and Alex says he doesn't think they'll find her.

And speaking of Carlotta, Grayson's script has notes for Scene 217. She writes that Carlotta feels TRAPPED and PANIC - that she and Angelique have fought - that Carlotta is a little wild looking - and that there's desperate fear. She also wrote one other thing, but sadly the words go off the edge of the page, so it's impossible to figure out.

And that writing that went off the page actually goes with the "desperate fear" part because it's that Carlotta has a desperate fear that they will take Angelique away...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

So when it comes to Scene 217's unscripted voiceover, both the subtitles and the closed captioning acknowledge it correctly, beginning with -

 - followed by the subtitles having -

- and the closed captioning having-

More to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And picking up where we left off with Scene 217's unscripted voiceover, both the subtitles have -

- and the closed captioning has -

 - and then the subtitles have -

- and the closed captioning has -

- and finally the subtitles have -

- and the closed captioning has -

More on all this after we deal with Scenes 218 through 220...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Starting to revisit Scene 218 through 220:

And just when you thought we've seen all the alternate versions of scenes that appear in Grayson's script, up pops Scene 218. And we're going to deal with her script's version before DC's script's version ...:

218    EXT - COLLINWOOD PORTICO - NIGHT                   218        as Quentin, Tracy, Alex and Claire stand near the        front door, getting ready to go in.  Alex is about        to open the front door, when Quentin stops him.                              QUENTIN                  Alex, all the way up here I've                  been thinking --                              ALEX                  About what?                              QUENTIN                  One of those dreams that I had...                  I think it's important...        Alex looks at him.                              QUENTIN                  Gabriel and two men locked                  Charles Collins in a small dark                  room.  The thing that was so                  terrifying about it was that                  when I woke up I felt I was                  choking to death...I couldn't                  breathe.                              TRACY                  I remember that!                              QUENTIN                  There was something else about                  that room, too.  Because when                  they threw me in,my head hit                  some kind of a wooden object.                  Before I could see what it was,                  they slammed the door and bolted                  it.  Then I heard that sound.                              ALEX                  What sound? 218    CONTD                                       CONTD  218                              QUENTIN                  That's it, I don't know.                  I can't even describe it.                  But I do know I've heard it                  before.                              ALEX                  O.K.  What do we look for?                              QUENTIN                  The door was a heavy iron door --

End of scene as it appears in Grayson's script...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting DC's script's version of Scene 218:

And now we begin DC's script's version of Scene 218, which begins with the same opening, but quickly changes:

218    EXT - COLLINWOOD PORTICO - NIGHT                   218        as Quentin, Tracy, Alex and Claire stand near the        front door, getting ready to go in.  Alex is about        to open the front door, when Quentin stops him.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 101/Scene 218 - Quentin: 'Alex, there's something in there we've got to find.'

- comes up, followed by today's second quote -

Page 101/Scene 218 - Alex: 'What are you talking about?'

- coming up.

...

...

Page 101/Scene 218 - Quentin: 'In a dream I had, Gabriel threw Charles into a small dark room. I remember that when he hit the floor, he fell over something wooden. Before I could see what it was, Gabriel bolted the door.'

- coming up, followed by yesterday's second quote -

Page 101/Scene 218 - Alex: 'Do you remember anything else?'

- coming up, followed by today's first quote -

Page 101/Scene 218 - Quentin: 'No - only a sound, and I can't even describe it, but I know I've heard it before.'

- coming up, followed by today's second quote -

Page 101/Scene 218 - Alex: 'Well, where do we start?'

- coming up.

...

Page 101/Scene 218 - Quentin: 'The room had a heavy iron door --'

- coming up,

...

And, even though the dialogue was reworked, it's interesting that in the rewrite of Scene 218, the only things that were dropped were the references to Quentin choking. Who knows why - especially given the film makes a point of that with Quentin mumbling in his sleep that he can't breath and Tracy trying to wake him but being unable to? But, considering Quentin doesn't consider himself to be Charles, it does make sense that in the rewrite Quentin no longer refers to things in his dream as happening to him but happening to Charles.

And as for the sound Quentin can't identify, we'll hold off on discussing that until we get to Scene 228.

...

...

And when it comes to this scene - actually, when it comes to the next entire sequence of Scenes 218 though 220, it's apparently a mystery as to whether or not they were ever shot. Darren Gross wrote on his NoDS Restoration Web site that not only wasn't the sequence part of the recovered footage, but even though the scenes were "blocked in the director's notes, it is unknown whether this sequence was actually shot. Not a single still photo from this sequence has yet turned up." And that's the reason for the weird graphics - they cover both bases of either the scenes were never shot or it's simply a fact that I don't have any stills from them...

And here are examples of those graphics:

...

...

However:

... a change from what's said in the summation at the bottom is that since that post was made a still from Scene 220 was indeed identified and it will be showing up once the slideshow gets to that scene...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Until I came across the following the other day I'd completely forgotten that with regard to Scene 218 Darren had written this back in 2016:

A few notes I can share... scenes 218-220 were indeed shot- ...

It was cut out of even Dan Curtis's director's cut, though, most likely just to tighten things up a bit.  The dialogue from this scene between Alex and Quentin was edited down and plays over the shot of Carlotta in the tower in the director's cut, and yes it exists.  It was replaced with the solo Selby "find Carlotta" voice over to help make sense of the chopped up ending in the short version.

...

So, if one day we do get to see the restored 129 minute version, it will be fascinating to see what dialogue was originally edited down and played over Scene 217 rather than the Quentin voiceover that we're familiar with. And it's worth noting that DC pulled a similar trick when it comes to Quentin's dream because dialogue from what was the original Scene 67 in Grayson's script (before the piano sequence replaced it in DC's script), which was reworked to become Scene 101 in DC's script, plays in the dream.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more behind the scenes photos:

... I held off posting the following two because they were taken outside "Collinwood," even if it's the opposite side of the house from what we see in Scene 217.

Now, I'm not sure who took those two photos. However, back in the '90s I came across a now defunct Web site that someone set up with photos he'd taken back in 1971 while he'd been lucky enough to be allowed at Lyndhurst while NoDS was shooting on the grounds. I saved a copy of his site for my own personal use. Eventually I moved the site onto a CD for safe keeping and to clear up disk space on the computer I had at the time. And I know it's going to come as no surprise to anyone that I have no idea where that CD is now because I have a terrible habit of not labeling CDs (that would be too easy). However, the CD is very likely packed away with other CDs with other things on them for "safe keeping," but I never seem to find the time to dig them out and check through them. One day...

But be all that as it may, I've since come across this photo of the guy posing with Kate Jackson:

(Click here for a 900X785 version)

And one thing I definitely remember about the site is that the guy who set it up was a big Kate Jackson fan. And if I recall correctly, she appeared in almost every photo that he'd shared on the site. And that leads me to a strong suspicion that perhaps, even though it seems as if his original site is now defunct, he's created another site where many of his NoDS photos are on display.

Check out this Gallery from that site:

KATE JACKSON GALLERY FOUR
(Scroll down about halfway for 6 photos:

• The second photo on line 33.
• The third photo on line 34.
• The first photo on line 35.
• The first photo on line 36.
• And the third and fourth photos on line 37.)

...

MB, I checked with my BFF Helen Samaras and she confirmed that it is indeed Richard Levantino. I can't say if that's his website though. He was and is a huge Lara Parker fan. I don't think that I ever heard him mention Kate. He used to post here on the forum many years ago. I believe that he was known as MM#7.

There are other posts regarding the photos and Richard Levantino, but I'm just revisiting those two. To get the full picture go back and reread starting with the first post here (Reply #675)..

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Missing Scenes 219 and 220:

...

ORGAN ROOM 219    INT - FOYER - NIGHT                                219        as they ENTER, the house is in darkness.  Quentin        crosses to switch on a lamp.  It doesn't work.  Alex        tries another.  It doesn't work either.                              ALEX                  Perfect.  No lights.                              TRACY                  There are candles in there.

And that's the end of Scene 219.

...

Moving on to Scene 220:

220    INT - CORRIDOR - NIGHT                             220        as the four of them proceed down the hall toward the        stairway, each holds a candelabra.  They stop at the        foot of the stairs.  As Quentin looks up:

And that's when today's quote -

Page 102/Scene 220 - Quentin: 'I have a terrible feeling that if I relax my will for just one second, it'll be all over...'

- comes up.

And wrapping up Scene 220:

GROUP - HIGH ANGLE

And that's when today's quote -

Page 102/Scene 220 - Alex: 'We'll go up there, Quentin. You and Tracy stay as far away from that tower room as possible.'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

Quentin nods.  As Alex and Claire start up the stairs,        Quentin and Tracy EXIT THE SHOT toward the basement.

End of scene and (mystery) sequence. Tomorrow we'll get back to material that's actually in the film. Well, sort off to begin with. But more on that tomorrow...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And revisiting a post associated with Scene 220:

Today's -

- and tomorrow's graphics have been newly created with a slight crop of this -

- which still, which I had last time around but I didn't know if it was associated with Scene 220 until Darren Gross explained that it was back in December of 2016:

... I have one photo of Quentin close-up with the candelabra, and you can tell from the background that they are at the bottom of the staircase, about to separate.

... There are so many stills of Quentin with candles that sometimes it's hard to know which are simply publicity poses and which are for actual scenes. For example, back in '09 I used this for the seance -

- in the original slideshow for NoDS even though I was pretty sure it wasn't from the seance, but I cropped and enlarged it so it would look like it could be.

...and Yes, that photo you posted of the Quentin with candles on the previous page IS the shot I was talking about ...

And back in Reply #15 I'd shared two versions of this still -

... Not all 130 are there, but I know there were to be 130 because the newspaper also published this:

...

Also, because the quality of the newspaper version is terrible, here's a somewhat cropped but much better version of that photo of Quentin:

- which may also be associated with Scene 220, but it may simply be a generic publicity still...

But speaking of Quentin holding a candelabra in a still, a couple such stills will be upcoming once we reach Scene 229, one of which is very rare...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

This is how Scene 221 is scripted:

...

221    INT - BASEMENT - NIGHT                             221        as Quentin and Tracy come TOWARD CAMERA, Quentin stops        and looks around, sensing something. 221    CONTD                                       CONTD  221                              TRACY                  What?                              QUENTIN                  Something familiar about this --        Quentin opens a door which leads to a storage room,        as Tracy opens a small, heavy wooden door further        down the corridor.

...

Though it's not the way it plays in the film:

Scene 221 does indeed begin with Quentin and Tracy descending into the basement and coming toward camera. But before we actually see them, we see their shadows (which I can't resist mentioning that its another great shot where --

- DC uses shadow) - but soon after they come into view both Tracy and Quentin stop and look around, but there's no hint that Quentin stops because he senses something - in fact, the dialogue in Scene 221 is completely different from what's scripted because after they look around a few seconds, both the closed captioning and the subtitles show that Tracy actually remarks -

- though the subtitles jump ahead to the beginning of Quentin's reply, which continues in the subtitles as -

- and appears in its entirety -

- in the closed captioning - to which Tracy then nods in agreement - and after they move on and begin to make their way under some boards, they look around a bit more until Quentin nods to his left and both the subtitles and the closed captioning show him saying -

- and after Quentin moves off to his left, Tracy begins to proceed forward until she comes to a room, however, there's no need for her to open the door because it's already open.

More of the sequence to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops - something I forgot to revisit:

...

... the call sheet that I came across earlier this year and have been referencing also lists Scenes 219-220. Apparently they were also shot on April 5th:

(Click here for a 880X910 version)

...