Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Given the way that things turned out, any Joan Bennett footage would have probably ended up on the cutting room floor.

You've probably got that right - and it may not have been just because DC was forced to cut so much of NoDS. I mean, just look at how DC cut much of what, based on the script, would have been Joan's/Liz' best material in hoDS. But as I've lamented before, almost anything that was purely character oriented and not soaked in blood and gore was ripe for DC to cut from hoDS...

Is there any wonder why cast members like Joan were not happy with the finished version of hoDS?

Sigh...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you want to learn about or refresh your memory concerning the background of Saturday's quote -

Page 8/Scene 28 - Carlotta (O.S.): 'Mr. & Mrs. Collins? Carlotta: 'I'm Carlotta Drake, Welcome to Collinwood.'

- check out -

Moving on, beginning with Scene 24:

- this post.

[Uncle Roger]

Since the restoration of NODS is still grinding its wheels, maybe Big Finish could do an audio drama of the complete script?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   That's certainly an intriguing notion.

the restoration of NODS is still grinding its wheels

Ansel Faraj said back in June that NoDS fans shouldn't give up because there is still hope of a restoration. We should only be so lucky...

[The Doctor and K9]

Given the way that things turned out, any Joan Bennett footage would have probably ended up on the cutting room floor.

You're probably right. Maybe her scenes would have been enough incentive to restore the film.

[The Doctor and K9]

Since the restoration of NODS is still grinding its wheels, maybe Big Finish could do an audio drama of the complete script?

I suggested this to Big Finish years ago and was told the script is "too visual."
I was also told that NODS is a separate license. If you notice, the Ross contain a copyright notice indicating Dan Curtis, while HODS lists MGM.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

More Curse of Dark Shadows, this time from 16 Magazine:

And yet another that indicates a fall release date.

As for the photo, I've never seen it published in any other magazines, which leads me to wonder if perhaps it was taken by one of 16 Magazine's own photographers, just like so many other DS photos were that were published in the magazine through the years the daytime DS was on.

However, there is an official still that is somewhat similar -

- although, the location just might be different - and this official still is sort of a preview of coming attractions for what I'll be sharing next, probably tomorrow...

[dom]

Quentin was the f**kin' bomb.

I bought the Quentin postcards. Didn't one have a spot for you to put your picture on it? Like a blank space for a face cutout? I started watching during Petofi and Quentin was already there so he was the man. And of course the sideburns, lol.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

More Curse of Dark Shadows from 16 Magazine:

(Click here for a 792X1076 version)

(Click here for a 792X1076 version)

Interesting that this one indicates a Halloween release date because that was close to when the film opened in NYC on October 13th.

And if you'd like to see a non-colorized version of the Charles still, here's a copy -

(Click here for a 708X563 version)

- which actually leads to another still from the same photo shoot (that also includes the still posted at the end of Reply #36, which is why it was a preview of coming attractions for today). First up, the version in the NoDS Pressbook -

- and a scan of the full still -

(Click here for a 700X540 version)

Also, I'd always suspected that the Gabriel still was from the Gallery scene but never could be sure because the background had been blotted out and replace by a solid color. But when I finally saw the actual still, my suspicions were confirmed -

(Click here for a 540X700 version)

- though I never suspected Strack/Thayer David had also been blotted out...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops - I forgot to share this when I posted the identically worded blurbs in Reply #25:

It should have been paired with the top one. But maybe I subconsciously wanted to wait to post it until after I'd shared the other Charles photos. Who knows?    But the interesting thing is that I don't believe I've ever seen it published anywhere else...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And I've decided to close out Curse of Dark Shadows by sharing 16 Magazine's announcement article. Initially I wasn't going to share it - mostly because at first I was too lazy to dig it out because it's stored with my daytime DS collection - but curiosity got the better of me, and there are definitely a few long forgotten parts of the article worth commenting on. So, without further ado, here it is:

It's just very possible David Henesy will be doing a featured role? Roger Davis is almost definitely in the movie?!

Thank heavens the latter never panned out! Though I wonder if like Michael Stroka, he was under consideration for the Hippie? I also wonder if David Henesy might have also been under consideration for that role. We do know a few actors were under consideration - but the only one who was mentioned by name was Stroka. Henesy might have been a bit young - but certainly 15-year-olds had run away to Haight-Ashbury in the '60s, so it wouldn't have been an impossibility to see Henesy in the role. Though I do have to say there would have been some perverted pleasure in seeing RD play a character who gets bludgeoned to death. And if we can judge by KLS' hoDS diary, I suspect even a few DS actors would have appreciated it.    But alas...

Look for Kathy Cody in the movie?

I wonder if at some point they were thinking of going with a somewhat older Sarah? Considering that DC ended up being less than pleased with Monica Rich's work - to the point that a fair amount of material with Sarah ended up on the cutting room floor - things might have actually worked out better with Cody in the role. But I supposed we'll never know. And for all we know, Cody may have simply been under consideration as an extra as someone on the Collinsport street and/or in Gregory's shop. Who knows?

(And unconnected to CoDS but it's interesting that this article is also one that claims that Frid said Bramwell was his very favorite character. Many Frid fans refuse to believe he ever said that. But he also said so in a 1972 article he wrote himself for a daytime magazine. So, it's kind of hard to deny that at least in the time frame of the few years after DS went off, that is indeed how he felt. Whether he changed his mind in ensuing years is another story...)

So, this article certainly poses some interesting possibilities that never panned out. But we also have to remember that it seems as if it was written before the second film even went into production, so casting could have still been in flux at that time. And obviously different decisions were ultimately made. And in the case of one, we dodged a bullet! 

[Uncle Roger]

Maybe Kathy Cody was under consideration for the ghost of a servant girl. That was mentioned briefly early on and just dropped. Roger Davis was on a hot streak in Hollywood so he might just not have been available for the second film. Much to DC's disappointment, I'm sure. As for David Henesy, he didn't really seem interested in acting all that much anymore and might just have used his job schedule at the camera store as an out. What about Louis Edmonds? He was available and probably would have made a very good Gregory.
I seem to remember Frid saying that Bramwell was his favorite character at my first Shadowcon, way back in 1983. So it was not just an isolated remark.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If you want to learn about or refresh your memory concerning the background of Sunday's quote -

Page 9/Scene 29 - Carlotta: 'Mrs. Stoddard, before her death, served tea here every afternoon.'

- and/or Monday's quote -

Page 9/Scene 29 - Quentin: 'I'm afraid that's one tradition we won't keep.'

- and/or Tuesday's quote -

Page 9/Scene 29 - Tracy (trying out one of the sofas): 'Oh, no! We can't let the house down. Why don't we call Claire and Alex. Tea in the drawing room with the lord of the manor.'

- and/or Wednesday's quote -

Page 9/Scene 29 - Quentin (to Carlotta): 'Oh, did you tell the Jenkins' we'd be here today?'

- and/or today's quote -

Page 10/Scene 29 - Carlotta: 'I didn't know you would wish it.'

- check out -

Moving on to Scene 29:

- this post. Things are definitely different in the film...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Now that I've shared just about everything I have that refers to Curse of Dark Shadows, I have to confess that I'm nowhere near certain just when the decision was made to rename the film Night of Dark Shadows. And that's mostly because, even though the film would open in New England as NoDS in August and it was being promoted in newspapers as such right from August 1st, right through July it was still being talked about in national magazines as CoDS. Though, of course, most of those magazines were at least a month behind the time they came out, if not more than a month. For example, the article I just shared from 16 came out in April (as the June issue of 16) but it certainly appears as if the article itself was written in March or maybe even a bit earlier.

All I do know for certain is how I found out about the title change. And that was thanks to a friend's sister who in the second half of July had gone with her friends to see a film at the same indoor theater in my city where NoDS would open on August 25th. While there the theater showed a trailer for NoDS and indicated it was "coming soon." As soon as she got home, knowing what a huge DS fan her brother was, she told him about seeing the trailer for NoDS. Of course his reaction was, "What do you mean Night of Dark Shadows, the film is titled Curse of Dark Shadows. And her natural reaction was she knew what she had seen and the film was definitely called Night of Dark Shadows. Though even in the face of such direct evidence, he was still a bit dubious about her info, as only a brother can be. But he had to admit the truth once we started to see TV spots promoting the opening of Night of Dark Shadows in the area on August 4th.

And speaking of those TV spots, my favorite of the two I saw is definitely the one that appears on MPI's DS Behind The Scenes VHS/DVD:

I was thrilled to death to see it again in '91 when that VHS came out. And one of the reasons I like it even more now than I did originally is because it jams in so much deleted stuff into only 30 seconds.

Carlotta during the seance


Quentin during the seance


Strack being graphically trampled (though this was in the R-rated version)


A light moving in the tower

And when this spot played leading up to the opening, a local announcer added at the end, "Night of Dark Shadows starts Wednesday at a theater near you. Check your local paper. Rated GP."

Nowadays no one could check their local paper because most newspapers don't even have amusements sections, much less a section that advertises/lists current films and times!

And the other TV spot that played in this area was the 10 second version. It simply consisted of the footage of Angelique moving in to attack Tracy and its voiceover simply said, "From the makers of house of Dark Shadows, Night of Dark Shadows. Ho, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! A night of...terror!"

And when that one played while NoDS was already open, a local announcer added, "See Night of Dark Shadows in a theater or drive-in near your home."

I understand that there's also a 20 second TV spot, but I've never seen it...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Before I start to share things that came along after the change of title to Night of Dark Shadows, I want to mention that I came across a much better version of the non-colorized Charles still in Reply #38. This is what happens when one (foolishly) has NoDS stuff stored in more than one place rather than all together (but that would be too easy and so not me - though to be fair on myself, I have so much NoDS stuff that I don't think I have a place where I could store it all in one place unless I was to rearrange half of my house's storage - and that would be way too much of a pain). So I scanned and uploaded it in place of what had been there.

You may have to clear your browser's cache to access the new version...