Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to the subtitles and closed captioning, obviously we've seen and will continue to see them use variations of what's actually said in the film, but rarely do we see them skip entire lines. However, for Scene 124 they do indeed do that.

First up, after Carlotta's narration where she says, "I ran to her," Sarah screams, "No! No!" before Carlotta's narration continues with, "I couldn't let her go." - and we saw that in the subtitles' version of the narration - but the closed captioning jumps from -

- right to -

- and then Sarah continues with "I won't let you take her." - but the closed captioning skips that and jumps right to Mrs. Castle saying -

On the other hand, the subtitles include Carlotta's narration, as well as all of Sarah's lines, but strangely enough jumps from -

- right to -

- skipping Mrs. Castle's line - and interestingly enough, Angelique actually says, "Darling, don't cry," without the "Please." - could the subtitles have picked the "Please" up from the end of Mrs. Castle's line? - Who knows?

 

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[Mysterious Benefactor]

Another one of the rare stills I rediscovered on CD several months back. This one had been posted back in the late '90s to the AOL DS' Image Gallery:

(Click here for a 650X829 version)

I have to confess that nowadays I have no idea what The Dark Shadows Foundation was, if I ever knew. I tried Googling and came up with zilch, so chances are either it doesn't exist anymore and/or it doesn't have an online presence...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

In Scene 124, after Angelique tells Sarah, "Darling, don't cry," her next line is "Sarah, dear, please don't cry." - and the subtitles reflect that - however the closed captioning has -

- with the "Sarah, dear" part dropped for some reason...

 

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[Mysterious Benefactor]

And in Scene 124, after Angelique says, "Sarah, dear, please don't cry," her next line is "It'll be just as if I've gone away for a little while" - and the subtitles reflect that - however the closed captioning has -

- with "It will" instead of the "it'll" that's said in the film and the dropping of "just" and "little" for some reason...

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And there's an instance after that where things are different in the subtitles - there's the use of "You've" instead of the simple -

- "You" that's said in the film - and interestingly enough, it's another instance where the subtitles follow the way something is in the script because the script does indeed have "You've"...

 

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[Mysterious Benefactor]

I completely forgot that Carlotta's narration of the start of Scene 124 is unscripted. She says: "She walked down the stairs so proudly. They were all afraid to touch her. I suddenly knew I would never see her again. I ran to her. I couldn't let her go." - and both the subtitles (one screen capture of which we've already seen) -

- and the closed captioning (four screen captures of which we've already seen) -

- acknowledge that...

 

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[Mysterious Benefactor]

Carlotta's narration of the start of Scene 126 is also unscripted. She says: "Finally the rain stopped and a cold wind swept the grounds. It was then I saw her, high in the tree, a rope around her neck. Reverend Strack stared up at her, his face a mask of hatred." - and both the subtitles -

- and the closed captioning -

- acknowledge that...

 

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[Mysterious Benefactor]

As Carlotta's narration ends in Scene 126 Rev. Strack begins to speak by saying, "Angelique Collins, you have been condemned as a witch..." - and as we can see in Reply #907, the subtitles do acknowledge him addressing Angelique by name - however, the closed captioning -

- does not.

And after Strack promises that Angelique's spirit will not live after her (whoa, how wrong is he?!!), he next begins to explain his supposed rationale for why that is by saying, "For your earthly remains will hang here..." - and the subtitles also acknowledge that - however, the closed captioning has -

- with "For" and "earthly" missing for some reason...

 

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[Mysterious Benefactor]

...

And that's when today's quote -

Page 63/Scene 126 - Strack: 'Angelique Collins, you have been condemned as a witch and you must die as a witch. Let your soul be returned to the pits of darkness forever more.'

- comes up.

And when it comes to differences in the dialogue, ... And shouldn't "forever more" actually be spelled as one word: "forevermore"?

It's good to see that, unlike whoever typed the script, whoever was responsible for the subtitles -

- and whoever was responsible for the closed captioning -

- both realized that "forevermore" is actually spelled as one word.    Something to compliment rather than find fault...

 

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[Mysterious Benefactor]

...

131    CONTD                                     CONTD   131        HIGH ANGLE FROM THE TREE.  With Angelique in F.G.,        we see Mrs. Castle cross from the veranda to Sarah.        Taking her gently by the hand, she leads her back        to the house.  HOLD ON THE SCENE, as the rain begins        to fall.  THE SOUND OF MRS. CASTLE and SARAH'S VOICE        is heard O.S.                              MRS. CASTLE (O.S.)                  You mustn't be unhappy, Sarah.  You                  must try to forget.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 65/Scene 131 - Sarah (O.S.): 'I'm not unhappy, mama, because she'll be back...some day Angelique will be back...'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

DISSOLVE TO: 132    INT - GALLERY - DAY - 1971                        132        CARLOTTA - CLOSE-UP        She is staring blankly as she finishes Sarah's speech.

And that's when today's second quote -

Page 65/Scene 132 - Carlotta: '...and I will help her.'

- comes up.

And when it comes to differences in the dialogue, right off the bat none of what's been quoted here appears in the film, so there's no way to know if it might have been different - and for one when it comes to Mrs. Castle's dialogue, she adds a third "Sarah" as she comes out to get her, and none of it is delivered off screen - and for two, her telling Sarah that she mustn't be unhappy and she must try to forget is also dropped in the film - but the interesting thing there is that in the film it looks like she may be telling Sarah all that after she reaches and embraces Sarah but it's just that the sound for it isn't in the film, so chances are if it was in the film, it wouldn't have been delivered off screen - and chances are the same holds true for Sarah's response that she's not unhappy because she knows Angelique will be back - and the interesting thing about that line from Sarah is that it's replaced with a new iteration of Angelique's vow: "But I will have him again...you will help me, Sarah... You will know when the time comes...for it is your love that will keep me alive..."

...

And that iteration of Angelique's vow is fully acknowlefged in both the subtitles -

- and the closed captioning -

- acknowledge that...

 

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[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops, I just realized I've been neglecting to keep up this list. But to catch up, first recall with regard to Scenes 105 & 106, 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.STABLE. Tracy enters stable while Gerard watches from scaffold. INT.STABLE. Dogs attack Tracy. Gerard molests Tracy. INT.HORSE PART OF STABLE. Tracy leaves on horse.

And with regard to Scenes 112 - 114:

...

INT.FOYER. Alex talks to Tracy, exits. EXT.COLLINWOOD. Tracy tells Alex she’ll look in tower. RACK FOCUS- CARLOTTA watches from stairwell window.

And with regard to Scene 120:

...

EXT.BACK LAWN SEEN THROUGH GALLERY WINDOW. Strack’s henchmen wait.

And with regard to Scene 122:

...

INT.CORRIDOR. Henchmen join Strack, Gabriel and Laura and head upstairs.

And with regard to Scene 124:

...

STAIRWAY. Sarah cries, trying to save Angelique.(trims)

And when it comes to Scenes 122 & 124, it's interesting that Mrs. Castle isn't scripted to join Laura until Scene 124, she isn't a part of Scene 122.

It's also interesting that Carlotta's originally scripted narration for the beginning of Scene 124 mentions this -

Moving to the next two scenes in the current sequence (using Grayson's script):

...

DISSOLVE TO: 124    EXT - CORRIDOR - SARAH'S P.O.V.                  124                              Laura        as Mrs. Castle joins Samantha.

And that's when today's second quote -

Page 61/Scene 124 - Carlotta's Voice (Contd): 'Finally, my mother joined Laura and the two of them waited...suddenly the silence was shattered by the terrifying sounds from above and it was then that I saw her.'

- comes up.

... One thing that is known, though, is that, as per usual, Grayson crossed out Samantha's name in her dialogue for the start of Scene 124 and wrote in Laura's name.

...

- but of course that was dropped in favor of the narration showcased in Reply #906. (And Carlotta's quote actually pops up on March 21st in this version of the slideshow.)

And with regard to Scene 125:

...

INT.SARAH’S BEDROOM. Mrs.Castle tells Sarah not to look.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And when it comes to Scene 132 and Quentin insists to Carlotta, "But I'm not Charles Collins," the subtitles reflect that - however the closed captioning has -

- with "Collins" dropped for some reason...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops, I've also been neglecting to keep up this list. Catching up, first recall with regard to Scene 104:

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

...

Quentin enters the dining room limping and wearing the riding clothes given to him as a present. When Quentin attacks distracted and trancelike, Tracy recommends he see a doctor.

And with regard to Scene 111:

...

On the railroad bridge, Alex tells Quentin the sordid history of Charles, Angelique, Gabriel, and Laura. Though dismissive of Alex's fears, Quentin agrees to stay away from the tower.

And with regard to Scene 116:

...

Tracy notices that Quentin has removed Angelique's portrait from the gallery.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A reminder:

As you've probably already discerned from today's graphic, we're getting into more material that doesn't appear in the film as it currently stands (or in the 97 minute version). However, the scenes we'll be dealing with today are not on Darren Gross' list of scenes that weren't recovered, so chances are they do appear in the 129 minute version:

And yes, neither Scene 133 (From the Gallery window Quentin sees Tracy outside as she returns with groceries - she waves) nor Scene 134 (In the Gallery Tracy jokes about the steaks she's bought and notices Angelique's portrait is back) are a part of Darren's list of scenes that weren't recovered. However, after I rediscovered his list of scenes that were recovered, I noticed that they're also not on that list. So, who knows? And I don't honestly remember if they were ever shown during one of Darren's presentations of the recovered footage...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to Scene 136, I have to admit I was a bit more than shocked when, after not acknowledging so many other sounds, the supposed SDH subtitles actually acknowledged the phone ringing in the Jenkins cottage -

- though the closed captioning both rings separately -

- but all is not perfect with the closed captioning because after Alex answers the phone and asks Tracy what's wrong, in Scene 137 she replies, "Oh, Alex, how gloomy you are. There's nothing's wrong. I called to say everything's perfect." - and the subtitles completely reflect that - but the closed captioning goes from -

- right to -

- completely ignoring Tracy having said, "Oh, Alex, how gloomy you are."

 

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[Mysterious Benefactor]

In Scene 138, in the way that the film stands, after Tracy insists to Alex that nothing is wrong and everything is perfect, the next thing to come up in the scene is that Alex says to her, "Uh, listen, Trace, uh, Claire and I should go to New York tonight. And we thought we'd stop in at, uh, Burton's Gallery. He's an authority on Early American artists, isn't he?" - and the subtitles basically reflect that (minus Alex' use of "uh") - however, for reasons known only to who wrote them, the closed captioning has -

- to which Tracy replies, "Well, I think he's the best. Why?" - but the closed captioning only has -

- and even the subtitles have -

- dropping just the "well"...

 

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