Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The interesting thing when it comes to theaters'/drive-ins' newspaper ads for NoDS is that the vast majority of them, at least in New England, all used variations of the B Poster (Angelique's rotting face/hanging woman with man kneeling before her) rather than the A Poster (various images of Angelique/pallbearers carry coffin/Collinwood). I've really wondered why that was. What was it about the B Poster that they thought would attract more people to come to see the film?

However not all ads were the B Poster because in its Sunday edition to announce the opening of NoDS on the upcoming Wednesday, the Boston Herald Advertiser (which has been out of business for decades but used to be a hugely popular newspaper in Boston) used the A Poster. And rather than scan the ad and then share the same version from the NoDS PressBook, I just going to share the Pressbook version (and you're not missing any sort of text because there wasn't any added to the ad):

And given that seemingly no specific theater was promoting the film's upcoming opening, I've often wondered who made the decision to go with the A Poster? And because there was no specific theater in mind with the ad, instead there was a listing of most of the theaters/drive-ins where NoDS was to open, and I've included that at the bottom just as it was in the actual ad. Not all 130 are there, but I know there were to be 130 because the newspaper also published this:

Who knows why most are listed but not all? But it could have possibly been that the listed theaters/drive-ins joined forces to pay for the cost of the ad and the missing ones didn't.

Also, because the quality of the newpaper version is terrible, here's a somewhat cropped but much better version of that photo of Quentin:

[KMR]

Oh wow, I've been away from the board for a while, and can't believe I missed the 50th anniversary of the first day of the NODS release! I sat through it twice on the first night, and got to see the "more explicit" version--this was in north central Michigan. The promotion for the film seems to have been incredibly rushed and haphazard, because they had given the theater the HODS trailer to show the week before, as well as the HODS one-sheets, and the marquee had HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS on it. I don't think I saw a NODS poster image until seeing it in the Detroit papers on Sunday, if even then. When I was leaving the theater, the marquee was dark (I think), and they were replacing "HOUSE" with "NIGHT"! 🙂

[Uncle Roger]

I didn't get to see NODS until it appeared on the CBS late movie several years later. I don't remember why I didn't see it during the original run. It may not have come to a local theater. The advertising, as KMR points out, was spotty at best. I didn't see the familiar poster art until years later. What appeared in the local papers were small ads, with the catchphrase Just another night of terror. I know that MGM sent Grayson and Sam on a promotional tour but coverage seemed to be largely in newspaper articles. Unlike HODS, where Frid and other cast members appeared on local talk shows and showed film clips. Perhaps MGM was counting on the series to act as cross promotion.
This seems to be around the time that Warner Brothers purchased Paperback Library. Paperback Library had previously been publishing mostly gothic/romance titles. Once Warner Brothers took over, they seemed to move in a different direction. Also, after the series was canceled, they may well have decided that it was no longer worth the licensing fee

[Mysterious Benefactor]

There are two things I'd wanted to mention yesterday but forgot.

The first is something that might only interest me, but hey, I'm constantly surprised by how many like-minded fans there are out there. So I'm going to forge ahead and say that I wonder how many people noticed that the ad in the Boston Herald Advertiser is actually the same layout as the one sheet A Poster?

(Click here for a 1480X1212 version)

The NoDS Pressbook actually features four main ads based on the A Poster and they vary from minor differences to major differences.

(Click here for a 1096X2030 version)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

On the other hand, the second thing may be of broader interest and I can't believe it took me 50 years to actually notice it. As I was going through the various newspaper ads for NoDS for a post I plan to make later in the month, I noticed something quite interesting: only the ads for drive-ins showing NoDS mentioned that they were giving away free DS souvenirs - not one ad for an indoor theater said they were.

Here's another drive-in ad that mentions it -

(Click here for a 720X562 version)
Every time I see something regarding Rosemary's Baby the first thing that always comes to mind is Mad Magazine's take on it that was called Rosemia's Boo-boo LOL!)

-and here a group of indoor ads -

(Click here for a 720X1500 version)

Now, I'll readily admit that it's anecdotal evidence from only one part of the country, but now I'm wondering if the Angelique figures and the bumper stickers were only handed out at drive-ins? I know they didn't do so when I saw NoDS at an indoor theater - but that was in late August and I figured it was because all the allotted souvenirs for New England had been handed out by then and there were none still in supply. And actually, I was told that by the owner of the theater where I saw it because my friend had hoped to get an Angelique figure when we went to the indoor theater...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Given that I've done it for the A Poster, I figured I might all well gather the different ads based on the B Poster - and just as with the A Poster, they vary from minor differences to major differences.

(Click here for a 1099X2524 version)

Though unlike the A Poster, none of them are the same layout as the one sheet B Poster.

(Click here for a 740X1100 version)

Maybe if there's a B&W version of the B Poster, one of the ads might be the same layout, but I've never come across a B&W version of the B Poster. But, of course, that doesn't mean one doesn't exist. And there are both color and B&W versions of the hoDS B poster. Though even that doesn't necessarily mean anything regarding NoDS...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 6/Scene 21 - Tracy (snuggling up to him): 'It's incredible to think you were around for all those years and I didn't even know you.'

- and/or today's quote -

Page 6/Scene 21 - Quentin: 'You wouldn't have liked me poor. I was mean and surly.'

- check out -

Kicking off the next sequence:

- this post.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I have some (hopefully) interesting posts planned for when August 25th rolls around and I can begin to get into some things related to seeing NoDS at an indoor theater. But between now and then I'd like to share some stuff from my NoDS collection, mostly magazine blurbs (some of which are interesting and others that are quite stupidly inaccurate (and when I say that I mean REALLY QUITE STUPIDLY INACCURATE - enough to make you wonder what sort of idiots composed them, and what sort of idiots didn't catch the errors in editing!! - but then, as we always lament, what would anything related to any sort of DS be without big blunders?!), but also photos and reviews.

First up, another newspaper photo published on the Sunday before NoDS premiered. This one is from the other major newspaper in Boston at the time, and one that still exists, The Boston Globe.

Interesting that Sudden Terror (and not hoDS) also played with NoDS in Boston

And what's interesting about this photo is that it appears in the NoDS PressBook, which wasn't the case with the Quentin photo. And what's also interesting is the caption in the PressBook is extremely similer to the caption that appeared in The Boston Globe.

And considering that neither of those versions really scanned all that well, here's a much better version and one where the dimensions are almost exactly those of the version in the PressBook (though with a caption with a somewhat different twist).

One thing I've always found interesting about this particular publicity still is that David Selby is wearing a coat. I've presumed that's because it was most probably taken during a rehearsal because, as we know, Quentin is not wearing a coat in the scene as it takes place in the film.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Today I want to share this for two reasons -

- one is that it mentions that "Curse of Dark Shadows" (Only NoDS' working title even from the outset because it was even referred to as such when 16 Magazine announced the film) might be coming out in August - I didn't remember that we had even been informed it might come up that early - and that Michael Stroka is part of the cast.

Now, this wasn't the first time Michael Stroka was associated with the film because in the 16 Magazine announcement article it actually said "Mike Stroka is almost definitely in the movie." Though bolding the word "almost" certainly left it open that he wouldn't be. It would seem that even back that early there was a real chance that whatever role Stroka might play, either the Hippie or Gregory, wouldn't end up being a part of the film (and frankly I think Gregory should have been a part of the film because without him much of the discussion in the Dining Room scene between Alex, Claire, Tracy and Quentin has no foundation to explain or understand it). As it turned out, neither the Hippie's nor Gregory's part of the script were even shot. So one has to wonder why Stroka's name was listed in the cast in that blurb. Though for all we know, right before or soon after production on the film began perhaps a press release came out that included Stroka's name and possibly not having been told otherwise, that's why they included Stroka's name. We'll probably never know...

And as usual, here's a much better version of the photo -

(Click here for a 700X546 version)

- a photo that I've lost track of just how many magazines went with to initially publicize the film. It was most probably more than a dozen. Though what's interesting is it wasn't a part of the first article on the film after production had begun. That article appeared in Flip magazine soon after the daytime DS went off the air and it features stills from some of the 1810 flashback scenes as well as the seance:

Click here for a 1200X1609 version of Page 1.
Click here for a 1200X1609 version of Page 2.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 7/Scene 23 - Tracy: 'What do you bet I turn into one of those women you see in House & Garden.'

Page 7/Scene 23 - Quentin (still busily unpacking): 'I can see it now, Mrs. Quentin Collins in her fashionable jeans at her 18th-century rosewood desk making out the menus for the week.'

- and/or Thursday's quotes -

Page 7/Scene 23 - Quentin: 'Oh, there is a housekeeper, you know.'

Page 7/Scene 23 - Tracy: 'Oh, great! I bet she looks just like Mrs. Danvers.'

- and/or Friday's quotes -

Page 7/Scene 23 - Tracy: 'Well, at least it solves one problem. She can probably do everything and I'll just simply lounge around arranging flowers.'

Page 7/Scene 23 - Quentin: 'And loving me.'

- check out -

Picking up with Scene 23:

- this post.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Today I want to share two more magazine blurbs that still refer to the film as Curse of Dark Shadows - and the real reason I'm sharing both is that apparently it seems as if some magazines had absolutely no qualms or misgivings about what appears to be taking press releases, copying them word for word, and presenting them as their own.

What's also interesting about these - or should it be this, considering that the wording is identical - is that unlike the previous blurb I shared in Reply #23 which indicates release in "August or September," which just so happened to prove to be accurate, here release is indicated as "late fall - hopefully before or around Thanksgiving." And the truth is many magazines indicated that later time as the most likely release frame, which is one reason I was actually quite shocked when it became obvious the film would initially open on August 4th. But more on that later in the month.

Also, something else worth mentioning while we're on the subject of release is that back in the day when films opened regionally instead of across the entire country on the same day, as they do today, the official release date often coincided with when a film opened in New York City or Los Angeles. So even though NoDS played in New England throughout most of August and it played in other parts of the country, including Los Angeles, in September, its official release is often considered to be October because it opened in NYC that month. But still, it had already played in a whole lot of areas of the country before Thanksgiving...

From John Willis' Screen World:

And a better version of the still:

(Click here for a 700X540 version)

(I probably should have posted something different today because if I'd waited a few days, the Drawing Room scene depicted in the still would have been in full swing in the slideshow. But hey, instead it's a preview.  )

[Uncle Roger]

Jonathan Frid's decision not to appear in the second film has been well documented but what about Joan Bennett? She's certainly not right for any of the existing female characters but could there have been an appearance in an earlier draft? Maybe Angelique decided to dispose of Elizabeth in a pre titles sequence?

[The Doctor and K9]

Jonathan Frid's decision not to appear in the second film has been well documented but what about Joan Bennett? She's certainly not right for any of the existing female characters but could there have been an appearance in an earlier draft? Maybe Angelique decided to dispose of Elizabeth in a pre titles sequence?

I suspect the movie was written after they knew if Joan Bennett and Jonathan Frid would be in it. Had Joan consented to be in the movie, think they would have written a decent role in terms of screen time. Again that's complete speculation on my part.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

what about Joan Bennett? She's certainly not right for any of the existing female characters but could there have been an appearance in an earlier draft?

What an appropriate question for today, given that Carlotta's line about Mrs. Stoddard's death is featured in the slideshow.

As for could Joan Bennett have been considered for a character in an earlier draft, whether it might have been Mrs. Stoddard or some other character, the really interesting thing is that the 16 Magazine announcement article that I mentioned earlier in connection to Michael Stroka says that we should have also looked for Joan Bennett, Jerry Lacy and John Karlen in the movie. Obviously John Karlen is in it. We know Jerry Lacy was supposed to be in it but he couldn't get away from doing As The World Turns and was replaced by Thayer David. But we really know nothing about whether or not Joan Bennett was ever seriously considered or even if she would have considered doing it. All we know is she obviously isn't in the movie and, like you say, there isn't a character in the final script that she could have played. But all that being said, if Mrs. Stoddard had been in an early draft of the script and not simply a passing mention in one line of dialogue, it could have helped to tie hoDS and NoDS together. As it stands now, it's more like NoDS takes place in a parallel time band where the events of hoDS never took place...

[Uncle Roger]

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