Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yet another post worth revisiting:

Before we move on to the next sequence in the slideshow, I have three things I'd like to share from the stable sequence:

A rare Quentin head shot:

(Click here for a 558X700 version)

A rare candid still:

(Click here for a 698X924 version)

And a very rare color shot of Gerard and the horse:

(Click here for a 700X1028 version)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scenes 54 & 55 are scripted in DC's script -

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:

...

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 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 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...

- and Grayson's script -

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:

...

And that's it for now.

Notice how:

• Grayson's 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.

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Stills and photos related to Scenes 55:

First up a still I've neglected to scan/post that appears on page 155 of the DS Almanac Millennium Edition

And again I'm actually surprised it scanned as well as it did (which is also the case with the still I shared in Reply #343) because it's only about 1 1/4 inches by 2 1/8 inches on the page...

And a post worth revisiting:

Here's a photo that I neglected to share from Scene 55:

(Click here for a 830X546 version)

And I say, "photo," rather than, "still," because to me it seems like it was created from an actual frame of the film. I doubt it's a screen capture because the color, especially the background, is so off. That sort of thing can definitely happen to old film, but it's not too likely that screen capturing software would capture something that far off. I mean, my screen capturing software came up with this from the VHS:

...

Something apart from the Laser being clearer, the background is basically the same coloring but the skin tone is much better. Interesting...

And back to a still version that's worth revisiting:

...

Something I rediscovered ..., a still from Scene 55, Quentin sees a vision of Angelique's funeral:

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

With regard to Scene 54, Darren Gross posted on his Restoration Web site -

A selection of scenes cut from the 129-minute version that have been recovered:

...

The horse Quentin rides bucks wildly, trying to throw him off.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 56 is scripted in DC's script -

...

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 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.

Continuing with DC's script's version of Scene 56...

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.

...

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 Grayson's script -

Grayson's script's version:

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:

• 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!

Continuing with Grayson's script's version of the rest of Scene 56...

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.

...

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.

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Another post worth revisiting:

Before we move on from Quentin's ride and the funeral vision, I have a batch of rare stills to share - first up, two of Quentin:

(Click here for a 700X684 version)

(Click here for a 700X473 version)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I didn't realize until today when I was positioning the Bku-ray and VHS videos to get the subtitles and the closed captioning for Scene 56 that even though there is no dialogue for Scene 55, there is a subtitle and a closed captioning because surprisingly enough both acknowledge the sound of the bell -

- and as we know, sounds aren't always something they acknowledge, even when they're important plot points - what is interesting, though, is how they acknowledge the sound of the bell at different points in the sequence, with the closed captioning coming up earlier...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Dealing with the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 56:

Both the subtitles and the closed captioning get the following right, but it's interesting how they choose to spell it -

- with the subtitles choosing "Oh, Lord," but the closed captioning choosing "O Lord," like a prayer, which is really what Strack is delivering - and when Strack refers to Angelique's relationship to Gabriel he says, "...beloved wife to Gabriel..." - and the closed captioning gets that correct - however, the subtitles have -

- with "of" instead of "to" - and even though there are times when one or the other or both the subtitles and closed captioning don't acknowledge laughing, in each their own way both do in the instance when Laura suddenly bursts out laughing -

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And another post worth revisiting:

The first of the funeral:

And the last for this post is a photo that used to appear on Craig Hamrick's darkshadowsonline.com site, but when I went there yesterday intending to get the URL to link to the page rather than post the photo itself, I discovered the photo is no longer being used there. I guess it fell by the wayside after the site was redesigned. But thankfully I'd saved a copy:

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I guess that the rights to darkshadowsonline have expired. I went to check on a few things and was greeted by ads for cialis and other assorted products.

Oops - I forgot to mention that just for the fun of it I checked today and the site seems to be active. Maybe something weird was happening that day back in 2021. Maybe the host was doing some sort of maintenance - or maybe it was just some sort of general weirdness that happens on the Internet sometimes. Or another thing that's quite possible is that they decided to switch hosts and that day the process for the switch hadn't been completely finalized. I've noticed that the site is currently hosted at GoDaddy and I'm pretty sure that wasn't the case originally...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And yet another post related to Scene 56 that's worth revisiting:

And the last three:

(Click here for a 530X700 version)

(Click here for a 700X560 version)

This final one appears on page 108 of the The DS Companion.

Back when I originally posted I neglected to include that the top still of Strack appears on page 207 of the DS Movie Book and what is normally not the case, it actually shows more than my version of the still, including an additional extra...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Something that again I almost forgot to post/revisit:

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:

And it's interesting to note that both Grayson's and DC's scripts have "beloved wife of Gabriel" and only use "to" when it comes to Angelique's relationship to Laura (regardless of whether Angelique was a "loving sister-in-law" to Laura*). Though, as we know, "to" gets used in the film when it comes to both relationships.

 

(* Though some may argue that in the strictest sense your brother-in law's wife is not your sister-in-law - she's only related to your spouse - but that's a whole other discussion...)

[Uncle Roger]

Don't click on the Features listed on the toolbar. It will take you to another Google menu for various drugs. The other items on the toolbar seem okay, though I didn't try them all.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Don't click on the Features listed on the toolbar. It will take you to another Google menu for various drugs. The other items on the toolbar seem okay, though I didn't try them all.

Funny, I just checked out that link and it brought me to various articles about the DS actors, like "Shadows Off-Broadway" and "Chris Bernau's Vampire Adventure" - but what was I saying about general weirdness that happens on the Internet sometimes?

The sad thing is how many of the sites in the "Links" section are no longer up and running. But then, some of the sites, like "The Dark Shadows Movies Site," are ancient by Internet standards. That site's heyday was back in the mid-1990s...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scenes 57 & 58 are scripted in DC's script -

...

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.

... there aren't any notations ... for this sequence.

... 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 in Grayson's script Scenes 57 & 58 are scripted the same as they are in DC's.