Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

At the time I posted this -

And here's the third as well as another one of the rare stills to preview Scene 85:

(Click here for a 700X476 version)

- I didn't realize the still had been used on the back cover of the NoDS DVD/Blu-ray packaging -

(Click here for a 1000X1411 version)

(Click here for a 1000X1163 version)

- though neither shows as much as the actual still, with the Blu-ray version showing the least.

(Also, I never realized Lara Parker's billing isn't what it should be based on the opening credits. She should be third after Grayson Hall and before John Karlen, yet she's after Nancy Barrett, which, probably not coincidentally, is how she's billed on the posters. But everyone else is billed in the exact order they are in the opening credits. Odd. But I'm sure there was some reason...)

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

Page 35A/Scene 85 - Gabriel (O.S.): 'Charles, I want to talk to my wife.'

- check out -

The way Scene 85 actually begins in the film ...

- from the point in this post after I share the second instance of what Angelique actually says in the film to the end of the post...

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Before we get into today's quote, I'd like to share this as a reminder:

I like today's photo.  I know you can't see "anything" but as you know, I have a vivid imagination.

winking,

G.

I just knew someone was going to remark on today's capture. 

But at least one good thing about the VHS/Laser version of the film is that Charles' head doesn't get cut off:

DVD/Blu-ray:

VHS/Laser:

(ADMIN: Edited for better comparison and to add a Laser capture)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 35A/Scene 85 - Angelique: 'Let him in.'

- check out -

Picking up Scene 85 where we left off, after Gabriel pounds on the door and asks to see Angelique:

- this post...

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I just learned something quite by accident about the VHS version of NoDS that for over 30 years I never knew. But it relates to tomorrow's quote in the slideshow, so I want to hold off specifically getting into it until I post about tomorrow's quote. However, does anyone else know what I'm getting at? If you do know, you don't really even need to know what tomorrow's quote will be. And it doesn't really require you getting into the quote specifically, so if you do know, how did you learn about it?

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Before we get into today's quote, my discovery, etc., I'm going to revisit Scene 84 because while I was preparing to format things for the posts about today's quote I noticed something in Scene 84 that I'd never noticed before - yet more proof that no matter how many times one watches something (and I've watched NoDS so many times that I've lost count), one can still notice something new. And to be somewhat fair to myself, when I saw NoDS in theaters and when I've watched it on Blu-ray, what I noticed today is not as noticeable as it is in the VHS version of the film. But considering the vast majority of times I'd watched NoDS, I'd watched it on VHS by virtue of the fact the VHS has been available for over 30 years, there may not be a good excuse that I didn't notice what I did today until today - well, except for the fact that my attention is normally completely on Quentin in the brief period what I noticed today comes and goes on screen.

But none of that is telling you what I did notice. And what I did notice would certainly seem to answer a question fans of the film have wondered though presumed they knew the answer to. And that question is did Charles paint the portrait of Angelique that hangs in Collinwood's Gallery? We've often said the answer is obvious that he did, but we didn't have real proof. But real proof would indeed seem to be in the film, albeit briefly, in Scene 84.

So, without further teasing, here's a screen cap from the Blu-ray that shows the proof -

(Click here for a 1000X532 version)

- and don't feel bad if you don't immediately see it - but here's a frame taken from a the Laser Disc version of the film that shows the proof much better -

- so as you can see it's a sketch of Angelique wearing the same dress and necklace that she wears in the portrait -

- and even though it's not the same pose, it would certainly seem to be ample proof that Charles painted her portrait...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen capture)

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Just a quick follow-up to the previous post:

(Click here for a 900X661 version)

It's quite interesting how shooting video from a TV screen can cause things like unwanted glare and color changes because this is what an actual screen cap from the VHS looks like -

(Click here for a 900X661 version)

-  (though not the same moment from the scene, but then, if I'd already had a screen cap of the same moment from the scene, I wouldn't have needed to shoot video of the scene, now would I?  )

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

Page 35A/Scene 85 - Gabriel: 'I have come for her, brother.'

- check out -

Continuing with Scene 85:

- this post...

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In order to show how really odd what I discovered about the VHS of NoDS is, we need to backtrack Scene 85.

We've seen that Angelique's first line in the script is:

Page 35/Scene 85 - Angelique: 'You must finish it because when you do, you will give me the most marvelous gift of all -'

And what she actually said is:

Angelique: 'As long as she's here in this house, I can't be
happy.'

So it should come as no surprise that the closed captioning on the VHS has:

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen captures)

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And we've seen that Angelique's second line in the script is:

Page 35/Scene 85 - Angelique: 'We are in each other's souls, Charles. We can't escape it.'

And what she actually said is:

Angelique: 'Bring the painting to life, Charles. Please -
promise me.'

So it should come as no surprise that the closed captioning on the VHS has:

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen captures)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And we've seen that Gabriel's first line in the script is:

Page 35A/Scene 85 - Gabriel (O.S.): 'Charles, I want to talk to my wife.'

And what he actually said is the same:

Gabriel: 'Charles, I want to talk to my wife.'

So it should come as no surprise that the closed captioning on the VHS has:

However...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen captures)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

...things get a bit wonky after that. We've seen that Gabriel's next line is:

GABRIEL (O.S.)                  I know she's in there.  Now open                  the door.

And that is indeed what he says in the film.

However, all that comes up with the closed captioning is:

But that's not what I found odd because, as aggravating as it might be, I've noticed before when I've been with people who've had the closed captioning on that sometimes words or even entire lines of dialogue are missing. 

And we've seen that Charles' lines in the script followed by Gabriel's next lines do not come up in the 94 minute version of the film and that version moves right on to Angelique's next line:

Page 35A/Scene 85 - Angelique: 'Let him in.'

And it plays in the film the exact same way:

Angelique: 'Let him in.

And it shows up in the closed captioning in the exact same way:

However, it's after that where the oddness occurs...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen captures)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

...because we've seen today that whereas Gabriel's next scripted line is:

Page 35A/Scene 85 - Gabriel: 'I have come for her, brother.'

But what he actually says in the film is:

Gabriel: 'That's my wife, Charles.'

What comes up with the closed captioning is:

That's seemingly a mix of what was scripted and what was actually said, but really neither. Who knows where/how whoever did the closed captioning came up with it?! And I wonder if similarly odd closed captioning happens anywhere else in the film? One of these days it might be interesting to watch the film with closed captioning on, which is something I've never done. Honestly, I don't even know why it was active on the TV I used yesterday to check something in the VHS' version of Scene 85. The TV is the only one I have that still has a connection for my VCR, so it's the only reason I still have it. Perhaps close captioning is automatically set to active when the TV is plugged in after not being in use for months. Who knows? But if it wasn't for the fact that it was active, it's quite possible I would have never noticed how odd that bit of closed captioning is...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace a TV video capture)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 35A/Scene 85 - Charles: 'What's happened? You've suddenly become a man. (turning to Angelique) Will you take the credit, my dear?'

- and/or today's quote -

Page 36/Scene 85 - Charles: (tentatively) 'Leave her alone, Trask! I'm warning you! Gabriel, have you lost your mind?'

- check out -

Picking up where we left off with Scene 85, with yesterday's quote, Charles' reply to Gabriel -

- this post, which will also explain why the same quote is listed twice in today's slideshow, as well as why "Trask" isn't corrected to "Strack", and to see Strack's head not get cut off in a screen cap from the VHS version of the film...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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

Page 36/Scene 85 - Trask (to the other two men): 'Take her!'

- check out -

Continuing Scene 85 with the script explaining:

- this post, which will also explain why the quote is attributed to Trask and not Strack...