Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to Scene 170, the subtitles do not reflect that Tracy lets out a sob/gasp when Quentin descends to her on their bed - however the closed captioning does -

- and after that Quentin comforts Tracy by saying, "Now, it's all right" - but neither the subtitles nor the closed captioning present it that way -

- and Quentin says an unscripted "Look..." -

- before he adds that it doesn't matter that Tracy went to the Tower Room, after which he says "Aw, don't cry. You're gonna flood the place" - and with the exception of substituting "Oh" for "Aw," the subtitles and the closed captioning both reflect that first part well - and subtitles reflect the second part exactly - but when it comes to the closed captioning's version of the second part, once again they insist on a grammatically corrected -

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing with the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 170, after Quentin tells Tracy not to cry because she's going to flood the place, the closed captioning indicates two pieces of unscripted dialogue that the subtitles don't - Quentin's -

- and Tracy's reply -

- but both the subtitles and the closed captioning reflect that next Quentin delivers an unscripted -

- and after that the subtitles ignore but the closed captioning acknowledges that Tracy lets out another sob/gasp -

- as Quentin embraces her...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing with more of Scene 170's subtitles and closed captioning, after Tracy explains that she's been so afraid and brings up the things Quentin said to her the previous night outside the Tower Room, Quentin apologizes by saying, "I didn't mean any of them" - and the subtitles reflect that - however, the closed captioning has -

- but only the "y" of "any" displaying seems to be a glitch with the VHS/DVD player/recorder's closed captioning decoder because I checked the video I shot off of the TV and the complete "any" displayed on it -

- (it's funny that the VHS/DVD player/recorder displayed the full "Charles Collins" but only a "y" for that particular instance of "any," yet the opposite is true for the TV).

But anyway, after Tracy says she knows Quentin didn't mean what he said, in some more unscripted dialogue she first tells him, "Quentin, look at me" - and both the subtitles and closed captioning acknowledges that -

- and then Tracy asks Quentin, "Do you love me?" - and both the subtitles and closed captioning acknowledges that -

To be continued...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

 

...

- but only the "y" of "any" displaying seems to be a glitch with the VHS/DVD player/recorder's closed captioning decoder ...

Apparently that doesn't seem to be the case. I remembered that the VHS/DVD player/recorder allows its closed captioning settings to be customized, so just for the fun of it I changed the font, the background color, and the opacity of the background, and lo and behold -

- so who knows what caused the original glitch? - perhaps something about the VHS/DVD player/recorder's original settings - perhaps not - but whatever it was, it certainly seems like it had nothing to do with the VHS/DVD player/recorder's closed captioning decoder or even the VHS' closed captioning itself...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

After Tracy asks Quentin if he loves her, his first unscripted reply, which both the subtitles and closed captioning acknowledges, and which Quentin mouths, is -

- and then the closed captioning correctly acknowledges that Quentin follows that by mouthing -

- but for some strange reason the subtitles have -

- and in this instance it can't even be that they somehow got it from the script because it's unscripted - and another goof with the subtitles is they ignore Tracy's reaction to Quentin kissing her, but the closed captioning does not -

To be continued...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And wrapping up the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 170, after something comes over Quentin and he begins to become aggressive with Tracy, at first she whispers to Quentin an unscripted, "Stop," which the subtitles acknowledges -

- but the closed captioning does not (apparently the subtitles and closed captioning decided to take turns acknowledging certain things) - and after Quentin starts to get really aggressive, though the subtitles have -

- even though in the film Tracy is heard to say "Stop it. Quentin. Stop it. You're..." before she gets cut off in the Blu-ray/DVD's 94 minute version of the film -  and though the closed captioning has something nearly similar -

- even though in the film Tracy is heard to say "Stop it. Quentin. Stop it. You're hurt..." before she gets cut off in the VHS' 94 minute version of the film - and after Tracy begs Quentin to stop touching her the way he is (because what's only seen in the 97 and 129 minute versions of the film is he's been molesting her), Tracy screams out another unscripted -

- which obviously both the subtitles and closed captioning acknowledges - and after Quentin tells Tracy that she has a lovely body and roughly cradles her face in her hands, the subtitles have -

- while the closed captioning has -

- though to me it's always sounded like she yells, "Stop!" again - though maybe she does simply cry out - but it's definitely not "Don't!" - and it's interesting that neither the subtitles nor the closed captioning acknowledges the gasp Tracy lets out after Quentin informs her that he'll touch her whenever and however he wants and if she doesn't like it, she can always leave - nor do they acknowledge the deep breaths/sighs she makes after Quentin gets out of the bed and leaves the room.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Recall:

...

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.

At least so far as the Blu-ray/DVD versions of the film go. I didn't realize until I was doing the closed captioning for Scene 170 that the VHS version of the film goes a fraction longer when it comes to Tracy's "Stop it, Quentin! Stop it, you're hurting me!":

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...

...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Sadly, when it comes to Scenes 171, 171A, 171B & 171C:

The following is a list of scenes that are still lost and which are not present in the 129 min version recovered in 1999.

...

INT.2ND FLOOR CORRIDOR. Quentin runs from the bedroom. INT.FIRST FLOOR STAIRWAY. Carlotta comes upstairs, notices Quentin.

INT.FIRST FLOOR CORRIDOR. Carlotta nods to Gerard who exits.

Though I may be misinterpreting that Scene 171B is lost because the first two scenes listed above are Scenes 171 & 171A, but the third listed is Scene 171C. Did Darren simply forget to include Scene 171B on the lost list? Possibly. Though one thing that is known is that Scene 171B is not on the recovered list. So who knows?

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   Oops - I forgot to mention that it's indicated in the Advance Schedule section of that call sheet that Scenes 171 thru 171C were slated to shoot on April 6, 1971...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And even though the slideshow indicates Scene 172A as being a "Cut/Trimmed sequence," it and presumably Scene 172 are among:

A selection of scenes cut from the 129-minute version that have been recovered:

...

Seeing Angelique's silhouette in the tower window, Tracy pledges that she will save Quentin.

It's funny how some scenes from Darren's various Fest presentations of the recovered NoDS footage stick in your mind more than others. I say "presumably" Scene 172 was recovered because even though I recall seeing Scene 172A back in 2004 at the Tarrytown Weekend as if it had just happened yesterday, I don't recall if Scene 172 -

...

172    INT - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT                       172        Tracy lies on the bed, her face wet with tears, as        she stares blankly up at the ceiling.  Then slowly        she rises and crosses to the window where she looks        up at the Tower.

...

- was shown with it. And the events of Scene 172 are not included on Darren's list of recovered scenes, only what transpires in Scene 172A  -

...

172A   TOWER - THROUGH THE WINDOW - TRACY'S P.O.V.        172A        Although the windows are dark, it is almost possible        to see the luminous outline of a woman looking down        at her.

And that's when 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!'

- comes up.

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

With regard to Scenes 173, Darren Gross posted on his Restoration Web site:

The following is a list of scenes that are still lost and which are not present in the 129 min version recovered in 1999.

...

EXT.JENKINS COTTAGE. Alex and Claire return- Gerard watches.

But recall that in the scripts:

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

173    EXT - JENKINS COTTAGE - NIGHT                      173        A car ENTERS THE SHOT, stopping at the house, as        Claire and Alex get out.  Alex takes a valise and the        wrapped portrait from the back seat as they start to        the door.

And that's when today's first quote -

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

- comes up, followed by today's second quote -

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

- coming up, followed in the script by:

173    CONTD                                      CONTD   173        Claire opens the door.  As the two of them ENTER and        the door closes behind them, a light appears in the        living room.  HOLD ON THIS as the SOUND OF THEIR        VOICES can be heard from inside.                              CLAIRE (O.S.)                  I'm making coffee.  You want                  something to eat?                              ALEX (O.S.)                  Yeah.  What's in the Frig?

End of scene - or is it?

And when it comes to the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, because this scene doesn't appear in any version of the film, we have no way of knowing what might have been different. However, in DC's script he's added something to the end of the scene:

Pan to see Gerard in car.

Though more than likely it would have been Gerard in his truck...

And no doubt Gerard's presence outside the Jenkins cottage is why Carlotta nodded to Gerard in Scene 171C. Though in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter because Scenes 171C and 173 aren't in any version of the film...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've often mentioned that for the most part I pay closest attention to the characters and little attention to the background and periphery (which is the main reason it's not too often when I notice cameras intrude on the edge of frame on the daytime DS - though we see more of the periphery of VHS and DVD on LED TVs than we ever did on old cathode ray tube TVs, especially the actual broadcast of the show - but that's a different story). And more proof of that came today because today was the first time I ever really noticed that as Claire enters the living room of the Jenkins cottage as she's saying that coffee is coming, we actually see the coffee pot on the stove in the background -

- and as a sidenote, who knows who was responsible for the pot actually being on view in the film because they were definitely doing their job, but what are the odds the same might have happened if a character on the daytime show had mentioned making coffee? Why do I suspect they would have been very low odds?! 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to Scene 174, after Claire says coffee is coming, Alex says, "Need this more." (and we presume he's referring to a drink because he's not on screen even though he is scripted to be) - and the closed captioning reflects that line as delivered - but for some reason the subtitles -

- add an "I" before it - and after Claire sits down in the chair, she lets out a sigh, which the subtitles ignores, but the closed captioning acknowledges -

- and after Claire says she doesn't like being back there and Alex concurs, in the first of a bit of unscripted dialogue, Claire says, "I still can't get over the likeness. Charles Collins could be his twin." - and both the subtitles -

- and closed captioning -

- acknowledge that...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing with Scene 174, after Claire says that in the painting Charles Collins looks like Quentin's twin, as his unscripted reply Alex says, "All that Quentin needs is that scar on his cheek...and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference." - and the closed captioning reflects that line as delivered -

- however, the subtitles have a slight glitch in that -

- they refer to Quentin as "Quent"...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wrapping up the differences in the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 174, after Alex says that if Quentin had the same scar on his cheek, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between him and Charles, Claire says, "I still don't see how showing him that is gonna make him leave here" - and the subtitles reflect that line as delivered - but the closed captioning has -

- and to that Alex first replies, "Honey, I gotta break through to him some way." - and the subtitles reflect that line as delivered - but the closed captioning has -

- and Alex continues his reasoning with, "If I can just get him to admit that it's at least more than a coincidence, we got a shot" - but the subtitles have

- with "at least" dropped for some reason - and the closed captioning goes even more afield with -

- before both do conclude with, "we got a shot."