Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops - I was so focused on wanting to joke about Carlotta's change of dress that I forgot to mention that a somewhat cropped version of the still I shared in Reply #539 also appears on page 141 of the DS Almanac 30th Anniversary Tribute.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 78/Scene 170 - Tracy: 'Oh, Quentin -- I've been so afraid. I don't understand any of this. What's happening to us? The things you said to me last night --'

- and/or today's first quote -

Page 78/Scene 170 - Quentin: 'I didn't mean any of them...'

- and/or today's second quote -

Page 78/Scene 170 - Tracy: 'I know you didn't. I know...and that's why I'll never leave you...no matter what you say.'

- check out -

And picking where we left off:

- this post and to learn about quite a few differences with the dialogue. And ignore the references to the quotes appearing on Tuesday and Wednesday because obviously they appear on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, this time around.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Given that Scene 170 is such a pivotal scene in the film, I'm quite surprised that I've never come across any stills from it. And it's not like there aren't other stills circulating from other and some might say less significant bedroom scenes.

I've already shared this one (from Scene 46, which isn't even a part of the 129 minute version of the film) in graphics for previous slideshows:

And I posted about this one, which may or may not be from Scene 64:

All that being said, though - and potentially contrary to my notation at the bottom of the graphic for yesterday and today - I do have a publicity still that *might* be from Scene 64. To me, it's often looked more like Quentin is attacking Tracy (and I could never quite figure out where it could fit into the film because in the script there's no scene in their bedroom where he attacks her when they're dressed for bed) - but I do suppose that it could also be interpreted as a somewhat odd pose of the two of them in mid-embrace. Judge for yourself:

It may have also been taken during the shooting of Scene 40. Who knows...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The original slideshow for NoDS included this line -

NoDS: Scene #170 - Quentin: 'You do have such a
lovely body.'

- because it was quoted in the Fest's 1999 Movie Calendar, upon which the original slideshow is based.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As for the CBS showing of NoDS, count yourself lucky that you didn't see it because worse than how DC was forced to trim the film was what CBS cut from it! (And they made similarly terrible cuts when they ran hoDS!) At this point I forget what all the cuts they made were, but they were ridiculous! I actually have an audio cassette recording of CBS' showing but I no longer have a cassette player, so I'm unable to refresh my memory as to what was cut...

I recently came into possession of a cassette player and tonight I was able to listen to a lot of my recording of CBS' showing. Some of the cuts I've come across so far weren't key to the plot, though other cuts are certainly questionable. But then they had to cut things down to fit in the time allowed, which was only 90 minutes, and NoDS is already over 90 minutes as it was, so it's no wonder so much had to be cut for commercials.

I've only listened up to the point we're at in the slideshow and this is what was cut so far:

• Gerard on scaffolding and replacing brick on the stable/Quentin arrives and introduces himself/Gerard says he has Quentin's horse ready and comes down
• Claire greeting Quentin at the cemetery
• The entire Dining Room sequence
• Alex bicycling/sees female figure/goes inside the greenhouse/almost killed by falling glass/Tracy arrives on horseback/begins to explain what happened with Quentin the night before/Tracy meets up with Quentin in the Gallery/Quentin informs Carlotta he wants his things moved from the Tower Room/Carlotta peevishly agrees/Tracy is happy he won't be up in the Tower Room any longer
• Quentin and Tracy walking/Quentin and Tracy at the railroad bridge/Tracy on the phone with Alex/Quentin comes and says he's going to read/Quentin can't concentrate and is drawn to Angelique's portrait/checks in on Tracy/stares up toward the Tower Room/Tracy wakes and sees light in the Tower Room and gets up/makes her way up to the stairs to the Tower Room
• Tracy sees Quentin's car from the Tower Room's window/Quentin makes his way to the stairs to the Tower Room as Tracy closes the Tower Room's door and hides/on his way up the stairs Quentin realizes he doesn't have the keys to the Tower Room's door and starts back down/Tracy breathes a sigh of relief
  
  (Thankfully, Carlotta catching Tracy coming down from the Tower Room was shown on CBS)
  
  
• Tracy in the Gallery after Quentin leaves having realized she had his keys/Carlotta tattles and she and Quentin look up to the Master Bedroom and that prompts Tracy to pull away from the window/at some point later a distressed Tracy sits on the edge of the bed/sees light in the Tower Room/reclines on the bed/Quentin comes out of the Tower Room and locks the door and comes down the stairs
• Tracy begging, "Quentin, please don't touch me like that."

Who knows how many more cuts are yet to come? Though I strongly suspect we can bet CBS cut Alex' references to Gerard as a "son of a bitch." 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 78/Scene 170 - Tracy: 'Quentin, please...please don't touch me like that.'

- and/or the first part of Tuesday's quote -

Page 78/Scene 170 - Quentin: 'I'll touch you whenever -- and however -- I want.'

- and/or the second part of Tuesday's quote -

Page 78/Scene 170 - Quentin - 'If you don't like it, Tracy, you can always leave.'

- and/or today's quote -

Page 79/Scene 170 - Tracy: 'She's doing this to you! It's her! It's Angelique!'

- check out -

And now picking from last time with the changed and a bit of additional dialogue from Scene 170, beginning with Tracy's changed dialogue:

- this post and to learn about several differences with the dialogue, including new unscripted dialogue, and the many differences with the descriptions and the directions, and about how much I love what Quentin does before he moves in to violently kiss/molest Tracy. And ignore the references to the quotes appearing on Thursday and Friday because they appeared on a Monday and a Tuesday, respectively, this time around.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Getting back to the CBS showing of NoDS, here's audio of the promo/bumpers CBS used:

And if you have a good ear and know the NoDS trailers, you've no doubt realized CBS cut down the 1 minute trailer. So I've cut down that trailer as closely as I could to what CBS did. Here it is so that you can see what survived of the trailer and what didn't:

Not the least bit surprising that the Crazed, Sadistic Killer sequence didn't make the cut...


And if things work out the way I'm hoping they will, tomorrow I may have somewhat of a surprise related to Scene 170...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Well, it may be be as surprising as Quentin's new pair of riding breeches, but...

As we all know, this is how this portion of Scene 170 plays -

- with Tracy's line, "Stop it, Quentin! Stop it, you're hurting me!" getting cut off because of an edit made to remove graphic molestation footage. But here's how it should play:

Sadly, the sound quality isn't the greatest, but that's what happens when you're recording with a microphone off of a drive-in theater's speaker. The microphone has issues picking up the sound and the speaker has issues playing it. But before we had TV showings of the fully unedited 94 minute version of NoDS, that recording was a treasured possession. And actually it still is, given that unfortunately we're still without the 129 minute restored version of NoDS and the recording contains several bits that appeared in the 97 minute version. And yesterday was the first time I was actually able to listen to the tape in something like 40 years because until yesterday I didn't have a reel-to-reel tape recorder to play it...

I posted this scene today because it's the one that's the most currently dealt with in this topic. But I will go back to add material to past scenes as well as possibly an upcoming one...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Before we deal with today's quote, there are actually four scenes that come between the end of Scene 170 and the beginning of today's Scene 172. That may seem like there should be only one scene, but the next sequence is comprised of four scenes, Scenes 171, 171A, 171B & 171C. The thing about them, though, is that none of them are a part of any version of the film. However, it appears as if they weren't scrapped from the shooting schedule as other scenes were because that call sheet that I referred to back in Reply #519 indicates they were to be shot on April 6th.

But anyway, check out -

And moving on to the next four scenes:

- to find out what the scenes are about, about some changes Grayson made in her script to Carlotta's lines, about some notes Grayson made in her script for the scenes, and about how the takeover of Quentin is becoming even stronger. Once you read the scenes I suspect you'll agree that it's an absolute shame that none of the material covered is in any version of the film. I can just imagine how wonderful Grayson and David must have been. But as we know only too well, DC rarely came across character driven material that he didn't feel was completely unnecessary. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 80/Scene 172A - Tracy (softly, almost to herself): 'I know you're up there. But I won't let you have him. I'll never leave! Never!'

- check out -

...

And with that out of the way, moving on to the next two scenes:

- this post (and to learn about notes DC made about Scenes 171-171C but erased)...

What's funny is that I remember some scenes/sequences Darren has shared from the recovered footage and some scenes/sequences I don't, but I definitely remember this one almost like I just saw it today. Maybe it's because it was good to see Tracy go on the offensive against Angelique...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

to learn about notes DC made about Scenes 171-171C but erased

I don't know why it didn't occur to me to do it before today, but today I examined what's discernible from the erased notes and it seems like DC wanted to shoot at least some portions of the scenes from a height so he was going to shoot from atop a ladder. Though given much of what he wrote is now unreadable, who knows if he actually shot things that way? And particularly given that nothing from the scenes is in any version of the film, we'll never know...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 80/Scene 173 - Alex: 'Is it too late to see how they are? --'

- and/or today's second quote -

Page 80/Scene 173 - Claire: 'Alex, it's two in the morning!'

- check out -

And now moving on to the next scene in the script:

- this post and because this is another scene that doesn't appear in any version of the film, it's unknown if there might have been any differences in the dialogue, the descriptions and the directions. However, something you can learn is how in DC's script he's added something to the end of this scene, something that will explain what Carlotta's nod to Gerard in Scene 171C was all about...

But getting back to the quotes, I have to say I've always found the second one from Claire to be quite amusing because in the daytime show two in the morning seemed to be the perfect time for people to drop in at Collinwood!    And the fact that Claire doesn't think so might be clear proof that at the very least Sam Hall considered NoDS to be set in an alternate reality from the daytime show. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 81/Scene 174 - Claire: 'Coffee's coming --'

- and/or today's second quote -

Page 81/Scene 174 - Alex: 'I need this more --'

- check out -

And moving on to today's new scene:

- this post and to learn about a difference in the dialogue, and about differences in the descriptions and the directions...

And imagine someone on the Collins estate needing a drink more than coffee. How novel. ... Yeah, right! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 81/Scene 174 - Claire: 'I don't like being back here --'

- and/or today's second quote -

Page 81/Scene 174 - Alex: 'I know...'

- check out -

Continuing with Scene 174 with Alex' scripted actions:

- this post and when it come to the dialogue, learn not only about a change to Alex' quote but how DC added dialogue to his script that was reworked as dialogue for both Claire and Alex, and to learn about differences in the descriptions and the directions...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 81/Scene 174 - Claire: 'I still don't see how showing Quentin that is going to make him leave here.'

- check out -

Continuing with more of Scene 174 with regard to Claire's actions:

- this post and to learn about the differences in the dialogue...