Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A bit late but revisiting how Scene 81 is scripted:

...

CUT TO: 81     EXT - TARRYTOWN STREET - DAY                                81        Claire, driving along the street.

And that's when yesterday's first quote -

Page 30A/Scene 81 - Claire: 'So everything is perfect?'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

81     CONTD                                             CONTD     81

And that's when yesterday's second quote -

Page 31/Scene 81 - Tracy: (tentatively) 'Yes.'

- comes up, followed by the script explaining:

Claire picks it up.

And that's when yesterday's third quote -

Page 31/Scene 81 - Claire: 'It isn't perfect?'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

81     CONTD                                     CONTD    81                              TRACY                  Well, it is but I'm a little                  concerned about Quentin.  I don't                  think he's getting a lot of work                  done.                              CLAIRE                  What's he doing?

...

And there's absolutely nothing to get into when it comes to differences with the dialogue, the descriptions, or the directions because nothing here was ever shot.

One does have to wonder why the script says they're driving along a Tarrytown (NY) street (no doubt where it was intended to be shot) rather than a Collinsport (ME) street (what the Tarrytown street was standing in for). One would think that would have been picked up on - but apparently not...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The first time around when we reached Scenes 81-83, an extended period of material in the script that was never shot, I flashforwarded and shared material to preview Scene 85. Last time around I flashbacked to posts from the forum's VantageNet days that showcased Midnite's excellent recap of the NoDS 30th Anniversary event, which was held at the Vista Theatre in LA, as well as several fans' photos from it. Well, this time around I'm going to be looking mostly at material that has already been shared, though some of it has never been posted, but viewing it in a totally different way. And just what that way is will have to wait just a bit because before I get into it all that I want to revisit a thing or two.

First up I want to revisit this -

...

historian Darren Gross was introduced. Darren explained his quest and then regaled us, first with the 7 "explicit" scenes cut to prevent an R rating, and then the formerly lost piano scene (with Angelique in the dress worn in the portrait) and the fabulous séance scene. Lastly, he played the 2-minute trailer which contains glimpses of the lost pool scene and the séance scene in color, woo!

I'm sure most fans are well aware what 7 "explicit" scenes Midnite refers to and what was cut, but just in case there are still some who don't, here's an excerpt from a page Darren posted on his now defunct restoration site:

Strack being trampled to death by Charles' horse includes a few more shots of Strack being trampled, his face covered with gore as well as shots of Charles' horse rearing up. Charles can also be heard to shout, "Up Dubloon !(the name of his horse)Kill! Kill ! Die Strack ! Die ! Die !" The shot of Strack rolling over and dying is extended. There is a closeup of his dead body. The camera then tilts up to a shot of Charles looking down satisfactorily at the body. He then looks off-camera, feeling a presence. The film then cuts to the shot of Angelique's ghost standing in the cemetary as Charles approaches which was retained in the 93.5 minute version.

In Quentin's flashback in the tower, Charles and Angelique's kiss is more explicit. Angelique throws her head back and laughs mockingly as Charles kisses her neck and the unseen Gabriel hammers angrily at the door. GABRIEL: I know she's in there now open the door !(this is also present in the short version, but I have retained it to give the next line context) CHARLES: For more of your dreary moralizing ? You try my patient brother. GABRIEL(pounding, furious): For the last time - open the door !

Angelique's hanging is more explicit. After she is pushed off the scaffold her body jerks and swings as it stops. The hangsmen grab her body to stop it from swaying then grab the rope and use it to pull her body high up in the tree. They tie the rope off. The body swings as the tree branch creaks.

When Quentin attacks Tracy in bed his molestation of her is much more physical and his dialogue more suggestive. Quentin roughly strokes Tracy's chest and violently grabs her breast while she fights him off. QUENTIN: What's the matter, don't you like it anymore ? Quentin grabs her and holds her down violently.

After Claire and Tracy re-enter the cottage, the shot of Gerard lunging at them with a murderous expression on his bloody face lasts a bit longer.

In the truck, Gerard's molestation of Tracy is more explicit. After Gerard muffles her shrieks, he rasps quietly to her: GERARD:Promise not to yell and I'll let you go... He then turns towards her and begins to slowly stroke her leg, her thigh, and her crotch and Tracy begins to kiss him to keep him distracted.

After Gerard falls to his death and his body is seen lying on the railroad tracks, there is a closeup of Gerard's bloody head which is lying tilted back, its mouth gaping open. He is clearly dead. After Alex and Claire join Quentin on the railroad bridge Alex looks at Gerard's body below and says "Looks like the old Bangor local will be running a little late tonight."

And if you've never seen the 2 minute trailer, here's a link:

NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS (1971) Rare Movie Trailer

You'll also see glimpses of such cut things as Gerard's bloody head, Tracy's dream about Quentin and Angelique making out at the pool house, Strack's trampling, and Angelique's hanging.

...

- because there are two things that I want to do. The first thing is share this Lara Parker candid that's associated with the piano scene (Scene 67A) -

(Click here for a 700X914 version)

- because for some reason when we've dealt with that scene I've kept forgetting to do so. And the second thing is to share a trimmed version of the 2 minute trailer that only includes the cut material from the film. Also, it's been slowed down to play at only 20% of normal speed and has been lightened up so as to get a better look at the footage. What you'll be seeing is often graphic footage that was included in the 97 minute version of the film but later trimmed to avoid that R rating, footage that is only included in the 129 minute version of the film, but also footage that isn't in any version of the film. So, in the order that each will be coming up is the close-up of the dead Gerard's bloody head, Tracy's dream about Quentin and Angelique making out at the pool house (which isn't in any version of the film), the seance (only in the 129 minute version), Strack's trampling and Angelique's hanging -

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 82 is scripted:

...

CUT TO: 82     EXT - TARRYTOWN STREET - DAY                       82        as they walk along looking in the windows.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 32/Scene 82 - Tracy: 'It's not that he doesn't try. He goes to his tower every day but not much really happens.'

comes up.

...

Wrapping up Scene 82 as Claire and Tracy window shop and talk about Quentin's lack of getting work done:

CLAIRE                  Is he worried about it.                              TRACY                  No ... I don't think so.  But                  sometimes he seems so far away,                  it's hard to know what he's                  thinking.

And that's when the 5th's quote -

Page 32/Scene 82 - Claire: 'You know, that's what I felt when I first met him in Paris. He was so ... so super moody. He and Alex always connected. But I spent the first month just trying to figure him out.'

comes up, followed by the 6th's quote -

Page 32/Scene 82 - Claire: (contd) 'Those eyes always seem to see so much. And then everything becomes a kind of private thing. But that's what's so great about him. Don't you like dark brooding men of mystery?

- coming up, followed by the script continuing with:

TRACY           Yes. They both laugh.

End of scene - though not of sequence (the infamous Gregory comes up in Scene 83).

And there's absolutely nothing to get into when it comes to differences with the dialogue, the descriptions, or the directions because nothing here was ever shot. And that's a shame because it not only showcases the Claire/Tracy friendship, it gives background on the Jenkins/Collins friendship and some insight into Quentin. But then we all know that DC rarely met a character oriented scene that he didn't want to drop...

...

And again with the script referring to a Tarrytown street. 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When I dealt with Scenes 81-83 back in 2016 I shared this still to -

...


But just to help try to picture what these scenes might have been like, here's a candid still of Kate Jackson and Nancy Barrett relaxing with each other between scenes:

...

- as I said, help try to picture what the scenes might have been like. But that was really the wrong still to choose because both are wearing clothes they don during the climax of the film. Better stills are probably these -

(Click here for a 700X810 version)

(Click here for a 700X826 version)

- because even though they're behind the scenes candids from Scene 242 -

...

...

- near the end of the film, both Claire and Tracy are wearing what I like to refer to as they're travelling clothes and they may have very well dressed that same way if Scenes 81-83 had actually been shot...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how the start of Scene 83 is scripted:

Setting up the Gregory scene:

83     INT - BOUTIQUE - DAY                              83        A very New York shop, with the very mod GREGORY in        charge.

And that's where yesterday's quote -

Page 33/Scene 83 - Claire: (entering) 'Hi, Gregory, I'm back.'

- comes up, followed by today's quote -

Page 33/Scene 83 - Gregory: 'And I have a mattress ticking jumper you'll live in the rest of your life --'

- coming up.

And again there's absolutely nothing to get into when it comes to differences with the dialogue, the descriptions, or the directions because Scene 83 was never shot. ...

Also, revisiting a comment I made in the previous post, it's interesting how the boutique is described as "a very New York shop" and not "a very New York-like shop". Could it really be that the reason Scenes 81 & 82 are described as being set on a Tarrytown street is because in this film Collinwood is really located in Tarrytown, NY and not in Collinsport, ME?! I don't believe there are actually any references in the script to Collinsport or Maine. Or are the references to Tarrytown and New York simply oversights that crept into the script because they knew they would be shooting at Lyndhurst?

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

... this time around I'm going to be looking mostly at material that has already been shared, though some of it has never been posted, but viewing it in a totally different way. And just what that way is will have to wait just a bit ...

Well, the time has arrived to get into what I want to explore this time around - and that is how 52 B&W stills are organized in the official NoDS Editor's Portfolio, which featured stills and information on the film, and which was available for magazines and newspapers to publicize NoDS - and what I find quite interesting is that the stills are not organized in a manner that, say, would be in keeping with how the various scenes depicted (well, at least in the case where a still depicts a scene, several are instead head shots of the various characters) come up in the film, but quite possibly, if my suspicion is correct, in the order they were shot.

Now, there's several bits of circumstantial evidence that might support my hypothesis. One major bit is that thanks to a few sources but specifically because of an article in the NoDS Pressbook, we know that Angelique's funeral was shot on the first day of production -

...

(Though not one of those actors was in the funeral scene.)

...

 - and the still that's numbered "1" is of the funeral. We also know that at the very least some parts of the hanging of Angelique were shot early in the production because stills from the sequence are included in the film's very first magazine article (Flip's Curse Of Dark Shadows), an article that was published while the film was in production, and a still related to the hanging sequence in numbered "2". And thanks to the Call Sheet that I came across, we know that Scene 190 was apparently shot on April 5th, with shooting pf the film having begun on March 29th, and a still from that scene in numbered "7". And apparently the seance was also shot early in production because stills from it are included in that very first magazine article on the film and stills from that scene are numbered "9" and "10".

But as far as this post is concerned we're only going to get into the first four stills. So, here's #1 -

(Click here for a 672X543 copy of the previously posted version)

- #2 -

(Click here for a 547X700 copy of the previously posted version)

- #3 -

(Click here for a 700X526 copy of the previously posted version)

- and #4 -

(Click here for a 700X532 copy of the previously posted version)

I do actually have my own numbered print copies of all those stills, but rather than scan mine, for the purposes of all this I'll be using scans I've come across on the Internet (usually posted as points of sale on places like eBay and on film auction sites) and then linking to the unnumbered versions I've already posted.

Many more to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And this time the latest four graphics -

...

- have all been made using various portions of this still -

...

- which I also bought on the same day in 1996 that I bought the still I've shared in Reply #330. But unlike how I had no idea that that still even existed, I did know that this one did because it had been shared in the NoDS Pressbook -

- as well as on the cover and inside the NoDS Editor's Portfolio (though I don't own that) -

- and a somewhat cropped version on page 141 of the 30 Anniversary Tribute version of the DS Almanac.

Foolish me, back then I thought what I was seeing was the cover of the NoDS Editor's Portfolio. However, earlier this year I came across -

 - and realized it's that the cover has a circle cut out of it that allows the still underneath to show.    But in my defense, never having actually seen the portfolio except in that first photo, thinking the still of Tracy and Gerard was used for the cover was a natural assumption. Though we all know how dangerous it can be to assume!! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Posts worth revisiting that are for the most part related to today's quote:

...

... today's quote -

Page 33/Scene 83 - Gregory: 'And I have a mattress ticking jumper you'll live in the rest of your life --'

- coming up.

... Though I do have to say that it never struck me until today to wonder what the hell "mattress ticking" means?! And after googling it, I'm quite surprised that when it comes to shirts, it's something I've often worn throughout my life but I'm certain it was never described as such (not even by my mother who worked in the fashion industry). So once again DS proves how educational it is!! 

...

I remember thinking that it was supposed to a mattress tickling jumper, which sounded like a lot more fun to me.

Decidedly more fun!!   

Btw, the scene with "the very mod Gregory" was one of the missing scenes that the Collinsport Players staged in the 1989 skit entitled The Night Before.

Yes, I remember that skit. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The next six stills. So, here's #5 -

(Click here for a 1000X779 copy of the previously posted version)

- #6 -

(Click here for a 1203X925 copy of the previously posted version)

- #7 -

(Click here for a 765X556 copy of the previously posted version)

- #8 -

(Click here for a 700X484 copy of the previously posted version)

- #9 -

(Click here for a 897X700 copy of the previously posted version)

- and #10 -

(Click here for a 906X685 copy of the previously posted version)

You may have noticed two things when it comes to the first ten stills: 1) some have a copyright, and 2) when it comes to most the numbering appears in black rectangles located in the margins of the stills, but when it comes to #5, it's written on the actual photo - however I've come across some of the stills where there are version of both, and you'll notice that if you view the larger versions of #4 and #10.

Interestingly enough, none of my copies of these stills included in the NoDS Editor's Portfolio have the copyright. However, some have something that we've yet to see - but we will - and it's worth noting that there are also versions of #5 and #7 that also have it...

Many more to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Now that we've reached the seance stills from the NoDS Editor's Portfolio, I want to revisit some of the early material that was published to publicize the film to perhaps fortify the circumstantial evidence that the stills from the portfolio are organized in the order that the various NoDS scenes were shot.

First up, Flip's Curse Of Dark Shadows article:

(Click here for a 1200X1609 version)


(Click here for a 1200X1609 version)

As already noted, the article only features stills from Angelique's hanging and the seance, which are represented in the portfolio by stills #2, #9 and #10.

Next up, what 16 and 16 Spec first published:

And:

(Click here for a 792X1076 version)

(Click here for a 792X1076 version)

More stills associated with Angelique hanging, but also in the case of the doctored shot of Gabriel, one specifically related to the Gallery scene in which Gabriel, Rev. Strack and Laura discuss how the hanging must take place - and we know it's related to that scene because this is the undoctored version of the still -

(Click here for a 540X700 version)

- and as more circumstantial evidence that Gallery scene comes up as still #3 in the portfolio.

(One thing I do find quite interesting is that none of that early material is included in the NoDS Editor's Portfolio, it's all alternate shots, and in the case of the first still of Charles, one that's in color. But then Flip's first hoDS article featured exclusive photos published only by them, and 16 Magazine had published dozens of exclusive photos throughout DS' run on TV. The only shot featured in Flip's CoDS article that appears anywhere else is the one of the noose being adjusted around Angelique's neck as that one is also featured in a Daytime TV article, but more on that down the line.

Actually, it's quite fascinating what stills were chosen, numbered and included in the portfolio and what ones were not...)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more of how Scene 83 is scripted:

Continuing with Scene 83, beginning with the 9th's quote, which is Claire's reply to Gregory's claim he has a jumper that she'll really like:

Page 33/Scene 83 - Claire: 'Alex won't let me wear those knickers. He said if he had wanted to live with an 1890 newsboy he'd have found one.'

- and that's followed by the 10th's quote -

Page 33/Scene 83 - Gregory: 'God knows where. Obviously he has no sense of style ... Chic. Come to my house next week for a drink and wear them. He'll adore them --'

- coming up, followed by the 11th's quote -

Page 33/Scene 83 - Claire: 'He'll adore the drinks. This is Tracy Collins.'

- coming up, followed by today's quote -

Page 33/Scene 83 - Gregory: 'The lady of the manor? (he bows) Welcome.'

- coming up.

And there's still absolutely nothing to get into when it comes to differences with the dialogue, the descriptions, or the directions because Scene 83 was never shot. Though today I do have to say that even though I think this scene would have been quite amusing no matter who might have played Gregory, of the candidates that have been mentioned, whenever I read the scene for some reason I tend to picture Keith Prentice in the part over Michael Stroka...

Of course, the referenced dates for the quotes and for when they came up in April of 2016. The way the slideshow works for this topic is that: April 9th = November 10th / April 10th = November 11th / April 11th = November 12th / Today = November 13th.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The next six stills. So, here's #11 -

(Click here for a 918X686 copy of a newly scanned version)

- #12 -

(Click here for a 700X566 copy of the previously posted version)

- #13 -

(Click here for a 912X700 copy of the previously posted version)

- #14 -

(Click here for a 700X544 copy of the previously posted version)

- #15 -

(Click here for a 700X564 copy of the previously posted version)

- and #16 -

(Click here for a 1088X838 copy of the previously posted version)

You may have noticed that once again rather than the numbering being in a black rectangle in the margin, when it comes to my copy of #12, it's written on the actual still...

Many more to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Some more posts worth revisiting:

I wish the Gregory scene had been included.  But it was entirely about character development so of course, it had to go.

G.

I would definitely prefer Keith Prentice to Michael Stroka but my ideal choice for Gregory would have been Louis Edmonds.

I would definitely prefer Keith Prentice to Michael Stroka but my ideal choice for Gregory would have been Louis Edmonds.

Oh, Louis would have been a hoot in that role!

I also agree that Keith be preferable to Michael.

Oh, Louis would have been a hoot in that role!

I agree. Though at least from what's been written, it doesn't seem like he was ever in contention.

...

 

[KMR]

Do you think that Carlotta's explanation that the room had belonged to Mrs. Stoddard when she was a little girl was something that Carlotta came up with on the spot? Elizabeth would not have been a little girl in many years. The explanation should not really comfort Quentin since it doesn't explain why he saw a little girl in a house without children.

I'm wondering ... why would the child of a servant be given such an elaborate bedroom? (And even if it hadn't been so elaborate back then and had since been redecorated, it was a much larger room than would have been given to the servant class. Not to mention it was on the second floor--not the third, where the servants would be.)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The next five stills. So, here's #17 -

(Click here for a 1400X1067 copy of the previously posted version)

- #18 -

(Click here for a 700X537 copy of the previously posted version)

- #19 -

(Click here for a 532X700 copy of the previously posted version)

- #20 -

(Click here for a 700X549 copy of the previously posted version)

- and #21 -

(Click here for a 700X546 copy of the previously posted version)

You may have noticed that once again rather than the numbering being in a black rectangle in the margin, when it comes to my copies of #17 and #19, it's written on the actual stills...

Many more to come...