Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And when it came to this graphic -

...

- I'd used a crop of this rare still -

(Click here for a 700X541 version)
DS Movie Book caption: "Night: Alex (John Karlen) and Quentin
(David Selby) break into Charles' basement
tomb in deleted scene."

- from the lamentedly missing Scene 229 and which so far as I'm aware has only been published in a tiny version in The DS Movie Book...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting deleted Scene 229:

...

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 ...) 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. ...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And when I'd put together this graphic -

...

- I'd used a rare print of a not so rare still (though I eliminated Quentin's legs) -

 - a still that has been published so many times (in its print form on the right) that I'm not even going to list them, though here are a few captions:

TV Dawn to Dusk's CATCHING UP WITH...The Dark Shadows Cast caption reads: "Quentin (David Selby) finds the
skeleton of his former self, Charles Collins."

Original Motion Picture Sountracks booklet's caption reads: "Night Of Dark Shadows:
David Selby as Quentin Collins
in a deleted scene."

The Famous Monsters of Filmland caption reads: "Wouldn't you be scared out of your skin if you came upon your own skeleton from a previous life? Well,
that's the predicament Quentin is in as he discovers the mortal remains of himself when, in a past
existence, he was known as Charles Collins."

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more rare material from Scene 229, starting with this -

...

- which appears as part of the Herald featured in the NoDS PressBook. I've always assumed that still is from Scene 229 and not Scenes 221 - 223, but we all know what they say about assuming. And if it is from the latter scenes, obviously I can't really say:

It's interesting to me that there are several stills of Quentin and Tracy from this sequence down in the basement, and there's this one of Tracy solo, but I've never come across any of Quentin solo.

But until such time as I discover otherwise, I'm going to continue to assume it comes from Scene 229. Though if I ever come across a numbered print of that still, which is something I've never seen, that could be a good clue as to which scene it may be from...

And then there's this behind the scenes still that Darren Gross shared on his NoDS Restoration Web site, and once again I'm sharing the caption as Darren wrote it -

Cinematographer Richard Shore, A.S.C. takes a light reading for the scene
where Quentin and Alex uncover Charles Collins' skeleton lying atop
Angelique's pine-wood coffin. (Photo courtesy Richard Shore.)

- and a tiny version of a different version appears in The DS Movie Book -

Night: Richard Shore positions skeleton.

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Beginning the seance sequence with Scene 230:

...

230    INT - GALLERY - NIGHT - HIGH ANGLE                230        The four sit around a table set near the windows.        The room is lit by a single candelabra on the table.        Quentin sits in the most comfortable chair.  Tracy        is at his left, Claire at his right.  Alex is across        from him.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 106/Scene 230 - Quentin: 'I'm not sure I know what to do.'

comes up, followed by today's second quote -

Page 106/Scene 230 - Alex: 'Just do as we told you. If Angelique appears for anyone, it'll be you.'

coming up, followed in the script by:

Quentin looks around the room. They all begin to concentrate.

Picking up Scene 230 where we left off...

GROUP - TRUCKING SHOT        During the following, CAMERA TRUCKS AROUND THE TABLE.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 106/Scene 230 - Quentin: 'Is there anyone in this house who wishes to speak with us?...who has anything to say to us? We are here to listen to you...the psychic door is open for you to enter.'

comes up...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And when I'd put together this graphic -

...

- I'd used a crop of this fairly rare still -

(Click here for a 700X560 version)

- a small version of which appears on page 181 of the DS Return To Collinwood book...

(Sadly I don't have any stills of John Karlen from the seance. If any exist, I've never come across them. That's why he wasn't featured for Saturday's second quote. But as will be seen in some upcoming graphics, I was able to feature him when it came to those by getting a screen grab from the seance footage in one of the NoDS trailers...)

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As I mentioned last time around, originally -

... I'd cropped a still that is actually associated with Scene 220 because I wasn't sure of that fact and used it simply because there's a candle in it -

- but this time around I made this new graphic -

- with this pretty rare still -

(Click here for a 700X1042 version)

- which I've gotten a copy of in only the last year, and which appears on the back cover of the movies soundtrack CD -

- along with other cropped to head shots versions of some other stills that will look familiar because I've shared the original versions...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing the seance sequence:

...

DISSOLVE TO: 231    INT - TOWER ROOM - NIGHT                          231        as CAMERA begins a LONG, CONTINUOUS TRUCK through the        doorway to: 231    CONTD                                      CONTD  231        INT - TOWER STAIRS - NIGHT - CONTINUE TRUCKING        INT - THIRD FLOOR STAIRS - NIGHT - CONTINUE TRUCKING

End of scene 231 - but much more to come in the sequence...

Picking up the seance sequence where we left off:

232    INT - SECOND FLOOR - NIGHT                        232        as CAMERA CONTINUES TO TRUCK DOWN THE CORRIDOR        toward the gallery, the SOUND OF QUENTIN'S VOICE        can be heard.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 107/Scene 232 - Quentin (O.S.): 'We want to help whoever is in this house. That is all...we know you are troubled...'

comes up.

End of scene 232 - but still much more to come in the sequence...

 

[Uncle Roger]

I know that it's been said that Hanz Holzer had minimal involvement with the seance sequence. Was he ever on the set? I don't think that I've ever seen any pictures of him there. Nor do I recall any stories from the cast.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to the following graphic, it's...

... a bit of a cheat. Because the script says -

232    INT - SECOND FLOOR - NIGHT                        232        as CAMERA CONTINUES TO TRUCK DOWN THE CORRIDOR        toward the gallery, the SOUND OF QUENTIN'S VOICE        can be heard.

- I wanted to find at least a shot at night of the Gallery entrance from the corridor. Unfortunately, there aren't any such shots in NoDS as the film currently stands. However, there is one in hoDS (when Todd comes out of his room to make his escape to go to Carolyn), so I used it -

- rather than repeating the graphic I normally use when -

- I don't have a still or can't finagle something from a part of the scene that actually is in the film. That graphic had already popped up for the seance as the second one on Saturday and it's going to show up again tomorrow, so I wanted to see if I could figure out something else so that it wouldn't show up three times in this same sequence...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Moving on to the beginning of the next scene in the seance sequence:

...

233    INT - GALLERY - NIGHT                             233        as CAMERA TRUCKS, revealing them, it begins to CRANE        UP, ending with a HIGH WIDE ANGLE.                              QUENTIN                  Let us try to help you.        He suddenly stops and looks TOWARD CAMERA.  They        all look at him.  HOLD FOR A MOMENT.                              ALEX                       (softly)                  Is she here?--        As Quentin casts his eyes around the room, he nods        his head, "yes."

And that's when today's quote -

Page 107/Scene 233 - Quentin: 'I know you're here, Angelique. I know you're with us. Now you must listen. You must leave us alone. We know you were not a witch, that your death was unjust. We have found your bodies...yours and Charles'. We have buried them in holy ground.'

comes up.

And so we come to what's quite possibly the most confusing bit of dialogue in the film. If Angelique wasn't a witch, how does one explain so many things in the film? But that's a discussion best left until after we deal with the whole script because we've yet to get to something that's more than a bit confusing if Ang lacks supernatural powers...

Picking up Scene 233 where we left off:

TRUCK IN ON Quentin as he REACTS to something near        the top of the room, directly above the table.  They        follow his gaze as ever so faintly a mist begins to        form and take shape.  HOLD until we see the faint        outline of the face of Angelique.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 107/Scene 233 - Angelique's voice: 'Come with me.'

comes up.

And in DC's script, right after the descriptions and directions and before Angelique's line, DC added:

QUENTIN'S P.O.V. - CLOUD OF ANGELIQUE

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I know that it's been said that Hanz Holzer had minimal involvement with the seance sequence. Was he ever on the set? I don't think that I've ever seen any pictures of him there. Nor do I recall any stories from the cast.

An interesting question. I reread the stuff that Darren Gross has written about the film and strangely enough, especially considering it's one of his favorite sequences in the longer version of the film, he hasn't really written about its production. And I checked out a couple of the publicity articles that mention how Holzer was involved as a technical adviser. Famous Monsters of Filmland, for example, says, "The seance scene promises to be one of the most nearly authentic ever seen on the screen as it was supervised by a world-famous authority on psychic phenomena." And that press release about the seance scene (that I shared most recently in Reply #1015) says, "Expert Hanz Holser, who has authored many books on psychic phenomena, was called in to supervise, and every detail is exactly as it would be if an authentic medium were running the show." Given they say "supervised," that would seem to imply he was present during the shooting - but it is interesting that for one, none of the actors involved in the sequence seem to have talked about him, and for two, a photo of him on set doesn't seem to have surfaced. But who knows?

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing along with Scene 233 after Angelique speaks to Quentin (with some of DC's additions added):

...

233A            233    CONTD                                      CONTD  233         THEIR P.O.V. - NOTHING        They all look at him as he REACTS.  They do not hear        or see it.                              ALEX                  What do you hear?

And that's when today's quote -

Page 108/Scene 233 - Quentin (ignoring him): 'I am not Charles Collins. You do not love me. Let go of me. Your spirit is free to leave this house, never to return here where you have had such unhappiness. You and Charles must go...'

comes up.

DC also added a notation between the words "house" and "never" that the camera would begin a slow zoom to Quentin's close-up.

Continuing along with Scene 233:

Finally, the face starts to fade.

Continuing along with Scene 233 after Angelique speaks to Quentin (with some of DC's additions added):

And that's when today's quote -

Page 108/Scene 233 - Quentin: 'Join each other in a world where there is no death or hatred. Go with my love. Go forever -- go -- go -- go.'

comes up.

But things are far from over. In fact, they're really just about to begin when the next quote/capture comes up...

Continuing Scene 233:

Just as the mist is about to vanish completely, the        moment is shattered by the SOUND of the Music Room        shutters flying open and the SHRIEK OF CARLOTTA'S        ANGUISHED VOICE.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 108/Scene 233 - Carlotta (O.S.): 'No! You must not send her away!'

comes up.

But if the clips we've seen from the seance are any indication, more than likely Carlotta isn't simply heard off screen because the clip of Carlotta screaming "No!" is in at least two of the NoDS trailers.

And Grayson has a note in her script that at this point Carlotta is wild and crazed with the fear of losing Angelique.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When I'd put together today's graphic -

...

- I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I used a screen capture from this -

- versions of which appear in two of the NoDS trailers.

And here's a version of the clip slowed down to 25% of the speed -

- to get a better look at it...

...

 

[Gerard]

A quick question that's maybe been answered but I don't remember.  Is the restoration of NoDS still a possibility or has it gone moribund?  Wasn't the gentleman's name Darrin Gross or like that?  I'm just curious.  That clip of Grayson Hall disrupting the seance made me think of it.

Gerard