Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When I'd put together the recent Scene 46 graphics -

- I used a slight crop of this -

(Click here for a 700X532 version)

- rare still...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's a rare candid associated with Scene 46 -

(Click here for a 700X874 version)

- and the thing I find most interesting about it is the prominent braid in Tracy's hair, and if you look closely, you can even see the braid in the still I shared in Reply #795. And the reason why I find that most interesting is, given it takes place on the same morning, it means that in the sequence that takes place over upcoming Scenes 47-50 Tracy must also have the braid, though in no other portion of the film does it appear. A whim on hairdresser Edith Tilles' part? Who knows...

The funny thing is that even if Darren Gross hadn't posted on his Restoration Web site that Scenes 46-50 were recovered -

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

...

Tracy wakes Quentin after their first night at Collinwood. She tells him that she woke up in the middle of the night to find Quentin gone. Quentin has no memory of leaving the room and he pulls Tracy to him for a passionate kiss.

Tracy sees Gerard and his two Dobermans staring up at her as she drinks coffee in the Gallery. Carlotta tells her that the man is Gerard Stiles, the handyman as well as her nephew.

- I would know they had been because I saw them at the 2004 Tarrytown Fest (and even if I hadn't been there, I would know that at least Scene 46 had been recovered because, as some may recall, a member of the forum took a photo of that scene with their phone and posted it as part of their forum signature, but Darren made them remove it because it violated WB's copyright), but I can't honestly say I have any memory of there being a braid in Tracy's hair. But then, given the excitement that I was seeing recovered footage, I seriously doubt Tracy's hair was what I'd paid attention to...

Another interesting thing is that as far as I can recall, one of the very few times I've ever seen the still published was when it accompanied a question published in one of the daytime magazines (I don't remember which) during The Rookies years when someone asked if Gerald S. O'Loughlin (though they misspelled his name as O'Laughlin) and Kate were once on daytime television. And I seem to recall only one other time when it accompanied an article about Kate during those same years. But I'm too lazy right now to try to track down either...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

One last thing about Scene 46:

Apparently I have a photo of another still associated with the scene and I didn't even realize it until today. Though to clarify, I did know I have it, but I didn't realize the still is different from the one I posted in Reply #796. I came across the photo of the still on a site on the Internet (that I've been unable to find again - perhaps the posting no longer exists?) and I saved a copy thinking it was the same still as I posted in Reply #796 but it simply showed more of the background. It wasn't until today when I came across it on my computer while looking for a still I want to post in association of Scene 50 that I realized that it's different. And here it is:

(Click here for a 700X560 version)

Possibly needless to say, to my knowledge it has never been officially published anywhere...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When I'd put together the recent Scene 50 graphics -

- I used a slight crop of this -

(Above) Gerard watches Tracy with his two doberman pinschers from under the gallery window in a newly recovered scene from NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS. The dogs are played 'Flash Weiner' and 'Boy Powers.' (Photo courtesy Captain Art Haggerty who was the animal handler and can be seen as the bald henchman in the film.)

- rare still that was shared on Darren Gross' Restoration Web site in the Photo Gallery section...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Back in Reply #770 we dealt with a music cue that rightfully plays as part of the VHS version of Scene 24 but doesn't appear in any other video release of the film. Well, today we're dealing with the opposite: a music cue that rightfully doesn't play as part of a scene on the VHS but does in every other release of the film. It's the first such example, though hardly the only one.

Here we have the VHS version:

And here we have the Blu-ray to represent every other version:

Now, the really interesting thing here is that the scene of Tracy in bed trying to comfort Quentin comes up in the 94 and 97 minute versions of the film at the end of Quentin's dream on his first night at Collinwood, however, no such sequence is scripted because the dream is put together from various scenes that should appear at other times in the film. The dream takes place between scripted Scenes 40 and 51, and that scene with Quentin and Tracy is scripted to be Scene 103 - and it tales place in the 129 minute version of the film in its rightful place. So that means that in that version of the film, it's followed by Scene 104, which is the scene in the Dining Room the next morning with Tracy having her coffee and -

...

(Click here for a 700X1028 version)

...

- Quentin enters wearing the riding outfit that Tracy gave him. So of course that means that the music cue heard on all but the VHS version of the film plays as Scene 103 transitions to Scene 104...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Hmmm - I wonder which is 'Flash Weiner' -

- and which is 'Boy Powers'? We'll probably never know...

 

[Uncle Roger]

I've probably mentioned this before but Art Haggerty popped up in Deborah Harry's music video for Liar Liar. She's a gangster and her associates are Haggerty and Al Lewis. Haggerty comes off as menacing but really shouldn't dance. And, since it's tied in to the movie Married To The Mob, there's a brief glimpse of Michele Pfeiffer as well.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Perhaps it's best, then, that Strack's henchman was never called on to dance. 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Given how Scene 52 is so different in the film from the way it's scripted -

Here's Scene 52 as scripted:

- there's quite a bit unscripted dialogue to feature, starting with how Quentin first calls out -

"Styles."

- when he arrives and sees Gerard doing brickwork - (and when I saw that both the closed captioning and the subtitles spell Gerard's last name with a "y" (Styles) rather than with an "i" (Stiles) -

- I thought that it was funny that they'd both made a mistake, well, until I checked the end credits  -

- and saw that unlike the daytime show, and more importantly, the script, it is indeed spelled "Styles" (though at least that's not as bad as the "Todd Blake/Todd Jennings" of hoDS!)) - and after which Quentin identifies himself with -

"I'm Mr. Collins."

- (which is scripted under different circumstances) and to which Gerard replies -

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. I, uh... I got your horse ready for ya."

 

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen capture)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Scene 53 is also different in the film from the way it's scripted -

And here's Scene 53 as scripted:

- and there's also quite a bit unscripted dialogue to feature, starting with unlike how Quentin is scripted to cross to the horse Gerard has picked for him, look him over, remark, "Good-looking, " and then put his foot in the stirrup and swing up into the saddle, what actually happens is Quentin says directly to the horse -

"Good-looking, Phillips,"

- as he puts his foot in the stirrup, though for some reason both the closed captioning and the subtitles have Quentin saying -

- and something that's unique to the closed captioning is it has Quentin saying  -

- when he sits in the saddle, a sound the subtitles don't even acknowledge - and after he's mounted, Quentin actually tells the horse -

"Come on."

- as he's about to start off before Gerard says he saw Quentin's wife and asks if she rides to which Quentin asks an unscripted -

"What did you say?"

- and Gerard replies with an unscripted -

"I said, 'She, she rides, doesn't she?'"

- and after Quentin says she does, he throws in an unscripted -

"Come on."

- which for some reason the closed captioning doesn't acknowledge as Quentin begins to turn the horse before he finishes the scripted dialogue that she's not riding today, and then he rides off.

It's interesting that David Selby had never ridden a horse because nowhere is that apparent on film - the instruction Grayson Hall gave him must have been quite good.

And I love the smile Gerard exhibits after Quentin confirms that his wife rides - Gerard knows that obviously means that she's going to show up at the stables one day, though sadly that scene didn't make it into the film.

 

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen capture)

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Here's a photo that I neglected to share from Scene 55:

(Click here for a 830X546 version)

And I say, "photo," rather than, "still," because to me it seems like it was created from an actual frame of the film. I doubt it's a screen capture because the color, especially the background, is so off. That sort of thing can definitely happen to old film, but it's not too likely that screen capturing software would capture something that far off. I mean, my screen capturing software came up with this from the VHS:

 

[Uncle Roger]

I've just finished reading Julie Andrews' autobiography, Home Work. No, Julie has no connection to DS, though having Mary Poppins as the governess to David and Amy is certainly intriguing. Julie was married to film director Blake Edward's, whose experience at MGM was not dissimilar to DC. Edwards was no neophyte when he was working at MGM. His films included Experiment In Terror, Days of Wine and Roses and The Pink Panther. His film, The Wild Rovers, was intended to be a western that was meant to be unconventional. But he ran up against executive James Aubrey, well known as The Smiling Cobra. Aubrey "turned Blake inside out and upside-down in his attempts to force him to cut the film to his liking." Aubrey took control of the film, edited out pivotal scenes and released the film. The Wild Rovers bombed.
For reasons that Julie could not understand, Aubrey offered Edwards a second film, which turned out to be The Carey Treatment. And the same thing happened. Edwards did not participate in the editing, knowing that Aubrey would butcher it anyway. Which he did. And The Carey Treatment bombed as well
One evening, while driving home and preoccupied with Aubrey's antics, Blake narrowly avoided hitting a passing jogger. The jogger was none other than James Aubrey

Would DC have run him down?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   More disgusting details of James Aubrey's megalomania. Who knows how many artistic visions he ruined?! One might suspect it's in the thousands...

Would DC have run him down?

I'd like to think DC wouldn't have. But given DC's temper and his penchant for holding grudges (not that he wouldn't have been justified if he held a grudge against Aubrey for what he forced DC to do with regard to NoDS!) can any of us really be sure?

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops - the other day I forgot to include this in Reply #805 -

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

...

The horse Quentin rides bucks wildly, trying to throw him off.

- which is scripted -

...

54     EXT - MEADOW - DAY - LONG LENS                                 54        Quentin is not having an easy time of it.        Ulysses is far from a rocking chair.

...

- but obviously doesn't appear in either the 94 or 97 minute versions of the film.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As I wrote back in 2016, the beginning of Scene 59 is different in the film from the way it's scripted -

Setting up the current scene:

- and there are several changes and additions along the way. For instance, -

... as can be seen in the following capture -

- in the film there's actually an exterior scene establishing the Jenkins' cottage before Scene 59 begins - and when Scene 59 begins, before anyone says anything, Alex, Quentin and Claire are seen having a good laugh, as can be seen -

- in the above capture.

...

- and after Quentin brings up the "crazy eye of mine" painting, neither the closed captioning nor the subtitles get Alex' response completely correct because what Alex actually says is "Yes sir, buddy -- wherever we go, that goes," but the closed captioning -

- doesn't even acknowledge the "Yes sir, buddy" part, and the subtitles -

- get that part wrong, which is yet another example that perhaps the person who did the subtitles needed to have their hearing checked - and in a bit of unscripted dialogue, Quentin responds with an -

"Oh."

- which neither the closed captioning nor the subtitles acknowledge...

 

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen capture)