Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Uncle Roger]

When did the title change from Curse to Night happen? Was that DC's idea or something that MGM inflicted upon him? My memories are somewhat vague at this point but I seem to recall that some of the pre release publicity used the earlier title.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

No idea when it happened, but as I said, even just a few weeks before the film opened it was still being referred to as Curse of Dark Shadows in national magazines. And as to who decided on the change, well, from the outset CoDS was often reported as only a working title, but who decided on the change to Night of Dark Shadows is anyone's guess. It could have been DC - but just as easily it could have been someone at MGM. (It was MGM who decided Dark Shadows wasn't clear enough a title for the first film so it was renamed to house of Dark Shadows.)

All that being said, though, I've often wondered if Night of Dark Shadows was chosen as a play on words of Quentin's Theme (Shadows of the Night) - but who knows?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

For a variety of reasons, first up from after the Night of Dark Shadows change is this:

As far as the photo of Gerard goes, I don't believe it has ever been published elsewhere. However, a different version from the same shoot appears on page 156 of the Millennium Edition of the DS Almanac. It's an almost full body shot that also shows "Collinwood" in the background.

But the real reason I'm sharing this first is because of what the blurb says. Once again Michael Stroka is listed in the cast, and given the blurb was definitely published if not actually composed after NoDS had already opened, one might suspect word would have gotten out that he is not in the film - but apparently not to whoever wrote the blurb up. And with regard to that writer, I absolutely hate that they give away Gerard's entire story ark! Was it really necessary to do that?! Thankfully I had already seen NoDS before I read the blurb, but I'm sure there were many others who had not. (But then the entire plot of hoDS, save for the very end, had been spoiled by dozens of hoDS articles, too many of which came out before the film even opened, so a fear of spoiling things was not on any of those writers' minds either.)

And the second thing I want to share is this (mostly because of recently posting the 16 Magazine announcement article):

Apparently that was part of a Jerry Lacy piece of some sort. (The rest of that is stored in an even totally different place than all of my daytime DS and movies stuff. )

[Uncle Roger]

Super stupendous? That is fairly typical of the 16 way of phrasing things.

I did watch ATWT a bit, just to see what Jerry would be like in another role. Simon Gilbey was a millionaire/control freak with a somewhat obsessive interest in his niece/ward Meredith Harcourt. The storyline ended rather quickly and the characters were written off. Probably some sort of behind the scenes issue.

The thing that I remember most is that Simon's efficient executive assistant Marge Peterson, who Simon always called Pete, was played by the fantastic Margaret Hamilton. Reverend Trask and the Wicked Witch of The West working side by side!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I haven't forgotten that I promised to share some magazine blurbs that are quite stupidly inaccurate. Saying Michael Stroka was in NoDS is one thing because at least he was considered for the film - but this one really takes the cake:

I bet that would have surprised KLS (especially considering she'd been living/working in England for nearly an entire year!) and anyone who saw the film, but it would have really surprised Kate Jackson who was the one who actually gave one of those two smashing performances!!

   And this one isn't even half of it...

[Uncle Roger]

Merely smashing? Not super stupendous? Hmm, must be the hair!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   Apparently magazines other than 16 don't know how to write for the greatest effect. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Hmm, must be the hair!!

The more I think about that, the more I suspect you may be right. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And I didn't forget about reviews so here's one, along with some extras:

And they confuse Charles with Quentin - but then, what do I always say about any version of DS and blunders? 

And as with the still of Tracy and Quentin in the vaults, the still accompanying this review also appears in the NoDS Pressbook -

- which also leads to a much better version -

(Click here for a 1088X838 version)

- and like the Charles still, there's an alternate (and rare) version -

- but unlike anything I've shared so far, there's also an alternate (and rarer still) color version -

(Click here for a 700X476 version)

There's also a color version as part of the NoDS Lobby Cards set - but the subject of those won't be discussed until after we get to the point when I'm discussing seeing NoDS at the indoor theater...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Today I'm going to share a few miscellaneous things:

This time, instead of Michael Stroka, it's Jerry Lacy mistakenly listed in the cast -

- and it was accompanied by the still of Tracy and Quentin in the vaults. I'm not going to share that again, but I will share the caption -

- and I'm thinking these were published in Daytime TV, a magazine that probably should have known Lacy wasn't in the film and had been replaced by Thayer David. But I suppose even back then it was too much for some writers to check their facts - it's not just a fault today's writers all too often exhibit...

Next, I want to share again an interview John Karlen mostly did to promote Daughters of Darkness but also NoDS because they were in Boston at the same time. But as I've warned before, he doesn't say the most flattering things about working on the daytime DS (back at the time of the interview DS fans were quite upset by his remarks):

Click here for a 556X1266 version.

And while I was digging out more NoDS newspaper ads for the August 25-31 showing, I came across some others that I thought were worth sharing (though for completely opposite reasons):

First up is the only ad for the Ponta Drive-in not to feature some full variation of NoDS' B poster (though it is a part variation) as well as featuring a barely-there variation of the hoDS B poster -

- and lest you think the Ponta might have made those up on their own, au contraire, those are both in each film's respective pressbook -

And as for why I'm sharing the second ad, it's only because it just might be the most boring ad for the NoDS/hoDS double bill -

- and lest you think those aren't also in each film's respective pressbook, they are - though I haven't bothered to scan them and put them together to prove it. 

(And just as an aside regarding the Boro and Quonset Drive-ins, I've always assumed that they must have been owned by the same person or company because they always advertised as one entity despite the fact that the Boro Drive-in was located in Attleboro, MA and the Quonset Drive-in was located in North Kingstown, RI, cities not just in two different states but more than 35 miles apart...)

[Uncle Roger]

Well, Karlen was certainly outspoken, wasn't he? But I didn't find his comments any more abrasive than a lot of the remarks that I'd heard coming from Frid, especially when the show was still on the air. They both tempered their opinions somewhat on the convention circuit but who can say how they actually felt?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Now that I've shared just about everything I have that refers to Curse of Dark Shadows, ...

Oops, that wasn't quite right because I have the following that I also want to share -

- which offers the perfect opportunity to reshare this article from the NoDS Pressbook about the drowning sequence (and the dream sequence) -

Click A Swimming Pool, Without Glamour

- and something that's not referred to in that blurb, this article, also from the NoDS Pressbook, about the danger faced while shooting a hanging sequence up in a tree -

Click Too Much Realism...Almost

But the thing I've always found most interesting about the blurb is that, while there are several instances that talk about the drowning, the hanging and the bike riding dangers the actors faced while shooting the film, this blurb is the only place I'm aware of that mentions Selby's problems with horseback riding. And I'm not a bit surprised that Grayson Hall helped him with it because they were close friends during the time they worked on DS together...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 10/Scene 31 - Carlotta: 'As a child I used to hide here. They had so many parties then. All the guests...were so elegantly dressed and the candles were always burning.'

- and/or Saturday's quote -

Page 10/Scene 31 - Tracy: 'You lived here as a child?'

- and/or Sunday's quote -

Page 10/Scene 31 - Carlotta: 'My mother was the housekeeper.'

- and/or Monday's quote -

Page 10/Scene 32 - Quentin: 'Is that the tower I saw from the outside?'

- and/or today's quote -

Page 10/Scene 32 - Carlotta: 'Yes. It's used for storage now.'

- check out -

Picking up with Scenes 31 and 32:

- this post. Again, some things are different...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I know absolutely that I have a magazine blurb for NoDS that identifies Kate Jackson as Kate Harrington, but for the life of me I can't find it.

Now, it was bad enough when Jackson and KLS were confused in the blurb I shared in Reply #49, but at least KLS had been on DS and she and Jackson are within a few years of each other in age. But while Kate Harrington did do soaps in the early '70s, she's something like 30 years older than Jackson. How they could be confused is beyond reasonable understanding - well, unless perhaps the writer was on drugs - after all, it was 1971. 

But as bad as some of what I've shared has been, I've saved the worst for last. I mean, what can one say about the following REALLY QUITE STUPIDLY INACCURATE blurb?!

Words almost completely fail on too many levels! But I will say that I seriously doubt that Jackson actually said what she's quoted as saying, especially considering Quentin does not become a vampire, therefore he isn't a ghoul in the film...

[Uncle Roger]

You know, MB, I did see the vampire reference in one other place. It was in one of the columns from The New York Daily News, quite possibly Earl Wilson, though I can't be positive after so many years. Anyway, the item ran like this: Kate Jackson marries a vampire in Curse/Night of Dark Shadows. Another female after eek-qual rights.

There was another item where he referred to Lara as his type of Parker House Roll.

Humor is such a subtle concept.