Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more of how Scene 126 is scripted:

A reworked version of today's quote from the script -

Page 63/Scene 126 - Strack: 'I ask the good Lord to forgive your blasphemy. Prepare yourself for eternity, witch.'

 - is actually delivered later in the film, in Scene 129, after tomorrow's two quotes, which we'll see are from Scenes 127 and 128. So we'll deal with what Strack's actual lines are once the slideshow reaches Scene 129 on the 27th...

  And so far as "today's" quote goes, it was March 28th's this time around, and the reference to the 27th is actually today's, March 30th's, installment in slideshow.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

More posts worth revisiting:

And since there wasn't much to say about today's quote, I want to revisit these posts from almost four years ago because they related to the current scene:

There seems to be more picture information on all four sides of the 4x3. Was NoDS shot open-matte?

Yes, NODS was shot open matte, but the frames MB posted with the drawing are not identical frames. On the Blu-ray, I went to the same frame that MB posted from the VHS. The Blu-ray has very slightly more picture information on both the left and right sides as compared to the VHS. (And since this seems to confirm that the old video transfer was essentially "open frame", that explains why the DVD that I made from my laserdisc ended up looking pleasantly framed when I would watch it in zoom mode on my widescreen TV. It's essentially what the original intended to look like in the theaters.)

The old VHS/LD transfer was nearly open matte.  It's a 1.33 extraction from the frame, but it's not quite edge to edge.  As a result, it doesn't show quite as much on the left and right as is possible, but does show more top and bottom than is meant to be seen.  In an overhead shot of Angelique hanging, you can see at the very bottom of the frame the edge of the cherry picker that the camera is on, and in the piano scene at the beginning, you can briefly spot the floor mic poking into frame on the left.

...

I have to say, though, that even though I had noticed while watching the VHS version on my computer (while getting screen caps) that occasionally the edge of something that looked like it might be metal of some sort sneaked into frame at the very bottom of some of the overheard shots during the hanging scene -

- I never would have guessed it was the edge of the cherry picker - and quite honestly more often than not I don't even pay attention to that sort of stuff because I'm too caught up in the story and paying attention to the characters. 

Whoa - the hanging of Angelique is far less moody on the NoDS VHS without the color correction! But then, I've mentioned elsewhere in this topic that for a few different reasons I can barely even stand to look at the NoDS VHS now that I have the Blu-ray...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace VHS capture with a Laser Disc capture)

  Rather than "almost four years ago, they're now almost 11 and a half years ago...

Whoa - the hanging of Angelique is far less moody on the NoDS VHS without the color correction! But then, I've mentioned elsewhere in this topic that for a few different reasons I can barely even stand to look at the NoDS VHS now that I have the Blu-ray...

Yes, the Blu-ray of NoDS is really something quite gorgeous. Gosh, I'm going to have to pop it into the player again sometime soon!

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And wrapping up revisiting how Scene 126 is scripted and moving beyond to revisit how Scenes 127 & 128 are scripted:

Moving along with Scene 126 and beyond (this time using DC's script):

Angelique looks down at Charles.        THE GROUP - ANGELIQUE'S P.OV.        ZOOM IN TO CLOSE-UP OF CHARLES as he looks up at her.        WIDE ANGLE        With the house in the B.G., ZOOM IN TO THE UPSTAIRS        WINDOW OF SARAH'S ROOM, her face is pressed against        the glass, her eyes wide with fear. 127    INT - SARAH'S ROOM - DAY                          127        THROUGH THE WINDOW - SARAH'S P.O.V.        SLOW ZOOM IN ON ANGELIQUE.  Although her lips are not        moving, we hear her voice.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 64/Scene 127 - Angelique's Voice: 'I have lost him, but I will have him again...you will help me, Sarah...'

- is scripted to come up, followed in the script by:

128    SARAH - EXTREME CLOSE-UP                          128

And that's when today's second quote -

Page 64/Scene 128 - Angelique's Voice: 'You will know when the time comes...for it is your love that will keep me alive...'

- is scripted to come up.

And when it comes to differences in the dialogue, there aren't any because the quotes are delivered in the film exactly as scripted. But when it comes to where those quoted lines are actually delivered, as well as the differences in the directions and the descriptions, so, so much is different in the film than it is in the script. To begin with, as can be seen in the following capture -

- the only time we see Charles look up at Angelique during what's been covered recently is after the camera pans Gabriel, Strack and reaches Charles in Scene 126 as Strack wraps up saying "until your spirit returns to the pits of darkness forevermore" - and considering that Angelique's quote for the 24th was dropped and Strack's reworked quote for the 25th was moved to Scene 129, right after we see Charles look up at Angelique in Scene 126, as can be seen in today's first capture -

- things cut immediately to Angelique looking down at Charles - however, after that, we don't see the group from her P.O.V. (and yes, in the script it's written as "P.OV."), we don't see a zoom in to a close-up of Charles as he looks up at her, and we don't see all that DC has crossed out in his script - and the reason behind all that is that, while DC has a note in his script that says there's a long lens shot of Angelique as she looks down, and that can definitely be seen in today's first capture above, the note then goes on to say that Angelique "looks up to heaven", but that doesn't happen because, as can be seen in the following capture -

- immediately after looking down, Angelique actually looks over toward Sarah's window - and while DC also has a note that the wide angle shot and zoom in on Collinwood that he crossed out in his script would be replaced buy an Angelique's P.O.V. shot of the house without any zoom, that note is also crossed out in his script and the shot doesn't take place because what we actually see immediately after Angelique looks over is simply a shot of Sarah in her room, holding her doll -

- and looking out the window. However, what's interesting about all that is that Angelique's quote from Scene 127 actually plays over what we see of Charles looking up at Angelique and her looking down at him ("I have lost him"), looking over toward Sarah's window ("but I will have him again..."), and Sarah looking out the window ("you will help me, Sarah..."). Then, when things move to Scene 127, we do indeed see the slow zoom in on Angelique through the window and from Sarah's P.O.V. -

- but the beginning of the quote from Scene 128 plays over that part of Scene 127 ("You will know when the time comes...for it is your love"), while only the last part ("that will keep me alive") plays over the close-up of Sarah -

- from Scene 128 as she nods her understanding of what Angelique is somehow telling her.

  And as far as "today's" quotes go, they were yesterday's, March 29th's, this time around, and references to quotes from the 24th and 25th were actually on the 27th and 28th this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Before continuing on there are two things I forgot to revisit. First up is the final still that I shared associated with Scene 124:

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(Click here for a 700X730 version)

- a rare still that for years I thought I owned in its entirety, that is until the complete version was shared in the 2004 NY Fest Program:

(Click here for a 941X730 version)

A friend whose involvement in DS fandom precedes mine by several years told me that in the Shadowcon days, this still was pretty common. It gradually disappeared until it was unearthed around the time that you found it.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And secondly, revisiting an issue by tying up all the various pieces in this one post:

And many people might say, "Well, duh!" and roll their eyes but I have to confess that it wasn't until this time around that it hit me that the hair seen behind Angelique's head in the photo I shared in Reply #452...

And which was revisited this time around in Reply #1620

...belongs to either Stack's henchman or Charles. Though, to be truthful, I don't even know if I paid much attention that that was a glimpse of a head of hair behind Angelique's head - and the question of who it might be is due to the fact that the one standing behind Angelique in the early part of the scene is Strack's henchmen -

- before Charles joins him -

- as can be seen in today's screen capture. If the still was in color, perhaps the ID would be clearer if there was a glimpse of the henchman's green jacket...

...

This screen capture that I'd posted in the "And Now The Return of Another New Slideshow (Sort of) [**Now featuring alternate versions..." topic might complicate matters because -

- for one, it makes it seem as if the photographer took the still from an angle somewhat more to his left and/or David Selby had been slightly higher or the photographer stood higher, the one behind Angelique in the still would have been Charles - but it introduces a third possibility of the person who is partially seen behind Angelique. What's interesting about that person, though, is presumably it's another of Strack's henchmen, but when we saw Scene 85 only two henchmen entered the Tower Room with Strack, so where was the third at that time, just standing outside the room while all the commotion was going on inside?

If we were strictly judging by the head of hair itself, I'd say that the head of hair behind Lara Parker in the still looks most like it's David Selby's. But the clothes the person is wearing would certainly seem to completely discount that it belongs to Selby because it's not Charles' white shirt that we see but a dark jacket, and one very similar to the one Strack's first henchman is wearing, at that. But then there is that second henchmen who shows up from out of nowhere behind Angelique and can be seen in the screen capture from the August of 2016 post and we never really see what he's wearing other than it's also something dark. Who knows?

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting speculation about Sarah and Angelique's relationship:

It's never quite clear to me precisely what the relationship between Angelique and Sarah is all about. Sarah seems to adore Angelique and she seems to be the only one in the house other than Quentin that Angelique demonstrates any kind of tolerance let alone affection for. Is this another DS example of a young child being bewitched? Or is there more to it than that? Is Angelique doing the prep work for the 1970's?

Honestly, I've never suspected anything underhanded on the part of Angelique when it comes to her relationship with Sarah. It just seems that for one reason of another they hit it off. Even though we would presume children had to exist in the Collins family (or else Mrs. Stoddard would have never come to exist a couple generations later), we don't see or hear about them. Perhaps they were off at boarding school (like Gabriel's children on the daytime show)? Who knows? But quite possibly Sarah was the lone child in the house and lonely. Angelique may have noticed that, felt sympathy for her, and befriended Sarah for that reason and they grew close. It's one theory...

My thing has always been to wonder what happened to Angelique after Sarah died and before Carlotta realized she was Sarah's reincarnation? Plus, there had to be some period between Sarah's death and Carlotta's birth when there was presumably no one around to keep Angelique's spirit around. Or was there some other reincarnation around that we're completely unaware of? And another thing, just how did Angelique's locket go from being in Sarah's possession to Carlotta's?

So many questions? So many subjects for fan fiction...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting odd differences in the way Angelique's hanging was shot and how certain stills were taken:

Next up is something that appeared in Flip Magazine's Curse of Dark Shadows article (and you can see that version

here

in that post), but in this post I'm sharing the version that appeared in the Daytime TV article:

(Click here for a 702X924 version)
The Flip caption for it reads: "Angelique is executed in the 19th
century for her adultery with
Charles Collins."
And the Daytime TV caption reads: "Flashback segment of film shows Angelique was
hung as adulteress and witch in 19th century."

And you'll note that the henchmen who share the platform with Angelique in the photo are the same two who share it with her in the film, as today's first scrren capture shows:

However, they are not the same two who share the platform with her in this still:

(Click here for a 467X700 version)

And what's most fascinating about the two sets of men is that footage of both sets exists. As I've shown, the first set appears in the film in several three shots atop the platform, but if you're observant, you'll notice that the second set also appears in the film as well as in footage that appear in some of the NoDS trailers -

- here's the footage from the trailers -

- but note that there's a jump cut in the film -

- more than likely so as not to show the henchman on the left's face, which no doubt would have had people in the audience saying, "Hey, how did he get up there when it was a different guy earlier?"

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   When I made the above post back in 2022 I'd completely forgotten that the second still I shared had actually been originally shared on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page of Darren's NoDS Restoration Web site with the following caption:

(From Left) 2nd Assistant Director Alan Wertheim, Lara Parker (Angelique), and DGA trainee Mike Haley pose for this fun shot. (Photo courtesy Mike Haley.)

And that caption at least explains who the second set of men are and why they were posing with Lara for that still. Though of course, it doesn't explain why there is footage of them in both the film and the trailers...

Another thing to notice is how different Angelique's hair is in the two instances, full hairstyle versus very flattened. Not the greatest of continuity. But then, when the 2nd Assistant Director and the DGA trainee were up on the platform it probably wasn't the plan that anything related to that time would end up in the film or the trailers...
(Though those changes are hardly the only examples of changes in Angelique hair in the same scene because we've pointed out such changes when it comes to Scene 85 -

...

One really has to wonder how Angelique's somewhat flattened hair (due to Charles running his hands through it) -

- suddenly becomes as big as it is, especially at the end of Scene 85 -

- but perhaps that's even more evidence that Scene 85 was shot over the course of a few days... (Or is it evidence that Angelique really was a witch and had cast a spell so that her hair would go back to being perfectly coiffed no matter what Charles did to it during their, uh, amorous interludes?  )

...

- in the tower room.)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And this posts marks the beginning of revisiting some stills related to Scenes 126:

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(Click here for a 708X563 version)

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(Click here for a 700X540 version)

   And you may recall that a cropped version of the still directly above is #43 in the NoDS Editor's Portfolio.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

More revisiting of some stills related to Scenes 126:

And I've shared these as part of Flip Magazine's Curse of Dark Shadows article, but not on their own:

(Click here for a 989X1201 version)


(Click here for a 569X1201 version)
The Flip caption for it reads: "Chris Pennock plays Gabriel Collins,
19th century brother of Charles
and husband of Angelique."

And just as with the Angelique/Sarah photo shared in Reply #452, to my knowledge it's the only place these two have officially been published.

And I'd shared this -

...

...

- but I didn't share the actual still:

(Click here for a 590X700 version)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

After Angelique communicates with Sarah (if Angelique isn't a witch, at the very least she was telepathic!) Strack has a mostly unscripted rant - and the subtitles -

- acknowledge that.

Next up, the closed captioning...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing Strack's rant, now with the closed captioning (with new screen captures) -

- acknowledging it.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm sure you've noticed that when it came to the closed captioning version of Strack's rant there's a problem with how "For thy sake in thy name!" displays -

- and as you may recall in the past whenever something like that popped up I checked to see how the TV video version displayed - and while the problem isn't exactly the same, the same two letters don't display, but the weird thing is they're replaced by -

- only one box - who knows? - ours is not to try to figure such things out.

Of course, all that prompted me to fiddle around with different settings for the closed captioning on my VCR because doing so has corrected such displays in the past - but no luck this time around because no matter what I tried, the line still displayed with two boxes in place of the letters.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more stills:

And here's something that's fairly rare, because it had only been published in the Nov. '71 edition of 16 Magazine -

- as part of an article entitled Sneak Peak at NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS until it showed up in 2012 on page 186 of the DS Return To Collinwood book. And here's a still of it:

(Click here for a 700X693 version)

Interestingly, Charles, Strack and Strack's henchman were never seen in the film standing in front of Collinwood like they're posing - but then, so many stills are posed for in ways that don't directly correlate to the film. And who knows who told 16 Magazine that the flashback takes place in the 1880s (well, unless that's a typo)? Maybe they should have stuck to referring to the time frame as the "19th century." 

And just when you might think there couldn't possibly be another head shot of Charles from this sequence, here comes this very rare one:

(Click here for a 718X900 version)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more of how the sequence is scripted - and I actually suspect Scene 131 may be misnumbered and should probably be Scene 130 and the the dissolved to scene that will come in the script excerpt should probably be numbered 131:

Moving on to the next two scenes in the sequence:

129    EXT - COLLINWOOD - DAY - HIGH ANGLE               129        Looking directly down on Angelique.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 64/Scene 129 - Strack: 'May the devil take his own!'

- is scripted to come up, followed in the script by:

Suddenly Angelique drops from the branch.  As the        rope goes taut, her body jerks to a sudden stop.        WHIP PAN up to Sarah's window and ZOOM IN TO HER        HORRIFIED FACE as she SCREAMS and runs from the        sight.  NOTE:  THIS IS THE SAME SCENE QUENTIN SAW        IN ONE OF THE EARLIER MEMORY CUTS. 131    EXT - GROUNDS - DAY - HIGH ANGLE                  131        The body hangs from the tree as the men descend        the ladder to the ground.  Then everyone SLOWLY        EXITS THE SHOT.

And when it comes to differences in the dialogue, what Strack actually prefaces today's quote with is "Oh Lord, Thou hast heard her threats. Protect us from her evils. Guard us with Thy invincible strength. For Thou knowest that we do what we must for Thy sake, in Thy name. Amen. Prepare yourself for eternity, witch" - and after all that is when Strack actually says "Let the devil take his own!"

And when it comes to the differences in the directions and the descriptions, as can be seen in the following capture -

- Scene 129 would certainly seem to actually open with the exact same ground level long shot that Scene 126 opens with, though it lasts longer (for the duration of Strack invoking "Oh Lord, Thou hast heard her threats. Protect us from her evils. Guard us with Thy invincible strength" - and it isn't until after that that things switch to being shot from the high angle looking down on Angelique -

- and it is different footage from what we've seen before because we can actually see Strak's lips move exactly with his continued invocation as he says "For Thou knowest that we do what we must for Thy sake, in Thy name. Amen. Prepare yourself for eternity, witch" - and after that things switch to a shot of Angelique and the two men holding her -

- with her quite understandably looking quite upset and the man on her right turning to look at her - and it's after that that we then see Charles, Strack and Gabriel shot from below, as they are in today's capture -

- and Strack orders "Let the devil take his own!" and Angelique, also shot from below, falls from the platform -

- though in the 94 minute version of the film we do not see Angelique's body jerk to a sudden stop because that is only seen in the 97 minute and 129 minute versions of the film (and more on that in a future post) - and while we do see Sarah scream and run from her window (and also more on that in the future post), we don't see a whip pan or a zoom in to her, but what we do see afterward is a shot Charles having been looking back at her -

- to tie things into Quentin's memory back in Scene 75, and Charles then turn to look back -

 - to watch things that only happen in the 97 minute and 129 minute versions of the film (and also more on that in the future post) - and when it comes to Scene 131 (which I honestly believe should be numbered 130 - but more on that in another future post), while Angelique's body is hanging up in the tree, and while we do see the main characters exit the shot, the men do not descend the ladder to the ground because in fact the two men atop the platform remain and as the main characters move toward Collinwood, one of men moves to one of the ladders -

- and then -

- climbs up it.

   And as far as "today's" quote and capture go, they were March 30th's, this time around.