Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 40 is scripted:

Setting up the new scene, which is part of a sequence in the script that is very different from the way it appears in the current version of the film:

DISSOLVE TO: 40     INT - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT                      40        Tracy is already in bed as Quentin is still        getting ready.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 13/Scene 40 - Tracy: 'We're very naughty. We should have at least called the Jenkins'.'

- comes up.

And it's still the case that there aren't any differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written up to this point - though there is a notation in DC's script that we'll get into below...

And when it comes to any differences in the dialogue, what Tracy actually says is "Well, I think we're very naughty. We should have at least tried to call the Jenkins." And I have no idea why the quoted line uses the possessive form of Jenkins (Jenkins') because most would take Tracy's intent to mean phone the Jenkins as people and not, say, phone their house, so that's why I didn't use the possessive form. But the possessive form is the way it appears in the script, so that's the way it's quoted.

And so far as the directions and descriptions go, while DC's script has a notation that seems to indicate that he'd planned for Scene 40 to begin with a shot of Tracy in bed, as can be seen in today's capture -

- the scene actually begins with Tracy in the background and Quentin in the foreground. And I absolutely love how Quentin's face is in shadow and silhouetted.

Continuing with Scene 40 with Quentin's reply to Tracy:

QUENTIN                  They'll understand. 40     CONTD                                     CONTD   40        He crosses to the bed and gets in.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 14/Scene 40 - Quentin: 'Are you going to be happy here?'

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

Page 14/Scene 40 - Tracy: 'Yes, if you are ...'

- coming up.

And there are still no differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written up to this point - and there are also no notations in DC's script for this part of the scene.

...

And so far as the directions and descriptions go, Quentin actually shuts off a table lamp, crosses to a window and closes it, moves closer to the bed to flick the switch to shut off both wall lights, and then removes his slippers and robe before getting into bed.

And can I just say that, as can be seen in the either of today's captures -

- the shot of Quentin and Tracy in bed from this part of the scene must be one of the darkest things ever shot for any version of DS. But then, this isn't called Dark Shadows for nothing...

Concluding Scene 40 ...

First up, today's quote -

Page 14/Scene 40 - Quentin: 'I am. I don't know why ... or how ... I don't really understand it ... but I almost feel as if I had come home at last.'

- which is then followed in the script by:

They are in each other's arms as we slowly                                              DISSOLVE TO:

...

And there are still no differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written up to this point - but there is a notations in DC's script that we'll get into below...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Moving on to the subtitles and the closed captioning for Scene 40:

At the outset of the scene, Tracy actually says, "Well, I think we're very naughty. We should have at least tried to call the Jenkins." - however, the subtitles has -

 - with "at least" dropped - and the closed captioning drops even more because it has -

- with not only "at least" dropped but also "Well, I think"- and after Quentin replies they'll understand, he shuts off lights and undresses, and gets into bed, Quentin actually asks, "Are you gonna be happy here?" - and the subtitles reflect that - however, as per usual with its dislike of "gonna," the closed captioning has -

- interestingly enough, though, the line is scripted with "going to" rather than "gonna" - and after Tracy actually replies with "Well, I think I am, if you are...," in what is as clear as day on the VHS/Laser, Quentin then delivers an unscripted "I guess I will be." - and the closed captioning reflects that perfectly -

- but for some very odd reason, the subtitles for the DVD/Blu-ray releases and the HD version on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes have Quentin saying -

More to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wrapping up the subtitles and the closed captioning for Scene 40:

After a bit of cuddling, Quentin puts his right hand behind his head and actually starts to say, "I don't know why..." - and both the subtitles and the closed captioning acknowledge that perfectly - but to that Tracy responds with an unscripted -

- but only the closed captioning acknowledges it - and then Quentin continues by actually saying, "I almost feel like I've come home again" - and both the subtitles and the closed captioning also acknowledge that perfectly - and to that Tracy replies with an unscripted "Well, that's good." - and again both the subtitles and the closed captioning acknowledge that perfectly -

End of scene.

 

[KMR]

And additionally, seeing this still makes me question just where does Carlotta serve that salad? I suppose it's on that round table behind Quentin and Tracy (the same table on which the seance is held). But with that lamp on it, it doesn't seem like there would be all that much room for food and wine - though I suppose the angle from which the still is taken could be deceiving...

Considering how much regard Carlotta has for Tracy, I wouldn't have been surprised to see her bring Tracy's salad in on a TV tray.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scenes 41 through 45 are scripted:

...

DISSOLVE TO: 41     EXT - FRONT OF COLLINWOOD - NIGHT - WIDE ANGLE    41        It is much later.  The house is completely dark.        The only sound is the GENTLE MOANING OF THE WIND.        Suddenly the strange light we saw in the opening        sequence begins to emanate from the Tower Room.        CAMERA starts a SLOW ZOOM IN 42     INT - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT                      42        Quentin and Tracy are asleep.  The curtains billow        gently at the windows.  CAMERA STARTS A SLOW TRUCK        IN on Quentin as he begins to stir restlessly in        his sleep.  Finally he rolls over on his back.  His        eyes are wide open and he seems to be listening        intently to some unheard sound.  Slowly he starts        to rise from the bed as CAMERA TRUCKS back revealing        Tracy still sound asleep.  Quentin, now out of the        bed and moving as if in a trance, puts on his robe        and quietly EXITS the room. 43     INT - CORRIDOR - OUTSIDE MASTER BEDROOM - LOW     43        ANGLE        as Quentin ENTERS the shot PAN with him as he        starts toward the stairway to the third floor. 44     EXT - COLLINWOOD - NIGHT                          44        SHOT favors the windows of the Tower Room, they        still glow faintly from the light within.        HOLD on this for a moment as Quentin suddenly        appears near the windows and then moves out of 44     CONTD                                     CONTD   44        sight toward another part of the room.  RACK        FOCUS to EXTREME CLOSE-UP of Gerard, who has        been standing there watching, his eyes blazing        with hatred.                                              DISSOLVE TO: 45     INT - MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT                      45        Tracy, alone in the bed, stirs, half awake.  She        reaches out for Quentin, awakens a little more,        sees he is gone.  Then she falls back to sleep.

End of scene - though not end of sequence as it will pick up in tomorrow's post with the morning after...

And there are still no differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written up to this point - but there is a notations in DC's script that we'll get into below...

...

...unlike how the script indicates that the end of Scene 40 dissolves into the beginning of Scene 41, in the film it's actually a simple cut to a shot -

- of the front of Collinwood - and the shot does not show any light in the tower room, nor does the shot zoom in - however, in one of the trailers for the film there is a shot of the back Collinwood that zooms in to a light moving in the tower room -

- so it's quite possible that is the shot that was originally intended to be Scene 41 - and DC has a notation on his script that he wanted Scene 45 to come before the section of Scene 44 that deals with Gerard.

And as we know, Scenes 42 through 45 do not appear in the film as it stands. Due to MGM's demanded cuts, they are replaced by a dream sequence that's made up of Scene 126 (though audio only from some of the dialogue from that scene), Scene 145 & 146, and Scenes 101 through 103 (though in Grayson's script part of Scene 101 was originally Scene 67 before a 3/31 rewrite - but more on that when we get to that part of the script).

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Considering how much regard Carlotta has for Tracy, I wouldn't have been surprised to see her bring Tracy's salad in on a TV tray.

  I suspect you may be on to something there!!    It never occurred to me, but it would definitely solve the problem of the table possibly being too small!! 

Maybe one day we actually will see how the salad gets served - well, if DC shows it and doesn't stay on the shot of Quetin for the whole end of the scene. But if DC did do the latter, in my mind I will always picture Carlotta having brought in Tracy's salad on a TV tray!! 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Caption This! - Night of Dark Shadows / Re: Night of Dark Shadows Scene 39

[Uncle Roger]

I think that Carlotta had thought she could get away with it, she would have "accidentally" served Tracy food that would have gone to Brutus and Tar.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

With regard to Scenes 41 through 45, 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- FRONT OF COLLINWOOD-NIGHT. The Tower begins to glow. INT. MASTER BEDROOM- Quentin rises in a trance and leaves. INT. CORRIDOR-NIGHT. Quentin walks towards stairway. EXT.COLLINWOOD-NIGHT. Quentin appears in tower window. GERARD watches.

INT.MASTER BEDROOM – NIGHT. Tracy wakes, sees Quentin gone, goes back to sleep.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As we know, as NoDS currently stands, what replaces Scenes 41 through 45 is an amalgam of things taken from what were originally intended to be other parts of the film and turned into a dream. The sequence is made up of Scene 126 (though audio only from some of the dialogue from that scene), Scenes 145 & 146, and Scenes 101 through 103 (though in Grayson's script part of Scene 101 was originally Scene 67 before a 3/31 rewrite - but more on that when we get to that part of the script).

One of the things that I think is most effective in the dream sequence is Strack's echoing voiceover at the dream's start. Now, we know that after the enforced marathon edit, David Selby was called in to loop a voiceover for the scene in which Quentin, Tracy, Claire and Alex try to find a way into the house after Gerard gets his comeuppance. And Darren Gross has written that John Karlen also did some looping to make things clearer, though he doesn't say what Karlen did and I've never been able to discern on my own what it might be. But I've often wondered if Thayer David was also called in to loop Strack's dream voiceover? Even apart from the echoing effect, it's different from how Strack's condemnation plays during the actual hanging:

The dream:

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
forevermore. For thou knowest we
do what we must for thy sake, in
thy name. Amen. Prepare yourself
for eternity, witch. Let the devil take
his own!

The hanging (edited down to being more similar to the dream voiceover):

STRACK
Angelique Collins, you have been
condemned as a witch and you must
die. But your spirit will not live after
you for your earthly remains will
hang her until your spirit returns to
the pits of darkness forevermore.
...
For thou knowest that we do what we
must for thy sake, in thy name.
Amen. Prepare yourself for eternity,
witch. Let the devil take his own!

Interestingly enough, the "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 forevermore" part of the dream's voice over is the way it's written in the script for the hanging, but it's actually delivered as "Angelique Collins, you have been condemned as a witch and you must die. But your spirit will not live after you for your earthly remains will hang her until your spirit returns to the pits of darkness forevermore."

And unfortunately, if Darren has shown what actually plays in the 129 minute version in the place that the dream currently appears - if it is indeed the dream or some portion thereof - I'm not sure because I'm pretty certain I've never seen it if it was shown because I would remember because it's a big question I have regarding the 129 minute version...

 

[Uncle Roger]

It would have been interesting to see how Jerry Lacy would have chewed that, er, played that scene.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Starting to deal with the subtitles and the closed captioning for Strack's dream voiceover:

Both the subtitles and the closed captioning has the beginning perfect -

- though when it comes to the next bit, the subtitles have it perfect -

- but the closed captioning does not -

- with the "as a witch" part dropped - and as I mentioned in Reply #1211, interestingly enough, the way the closed captioning has it is the way it plays in the actual hanging scene.

(And yet more examples of how the colors are off in the VHS/laser version.)

More to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing with the subtitles and the closed captioning for Strack's dream voiceover:

Next the voiceover says -

- which the subtitles get correctly - but the closed captioning has -

- with "return" rather than "be returned" - and that is followed perfectly in both the subtitles and the closed captioning by -

- and who knows why "Amen" is pronounced with a soft A sound here, yet a hard A sound in the actual hanging scene? But there's probably some thinking behind it...

More to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Concluding the subtitles and the closed captioning for Strack's dream voiceover:

Picking up where we left off, the closed captioning have the next bit correct -

- but for some strange reason the subtitles add -

- the word "the" - and when it comes to the last bit, once again the closed captioning gets it correct -

- but the subtitles are way off -

]

 

End of voiceover.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I forgot to mention that the transitions from Scene 40 to the establshing shot of Collinwood in darkness at night to Quentin and Tracy asleep later don't both happen on the VHS/Laser in the way I was expecting. The first transition does indeed create a transitional frame. But when it comes to the transition from Collinwood to Quentin and Tracy no transitional frame is created.

An even yet more puzzling question...

But I think I'm just going to ignore these things from now on because who knows what rhyme or reason is behind them, and I doubt I'm going to figure out what it is, especially when there's seemingly no consistency...


Changing the subject:

I think that Carlotta had thought she could get away with it, she would have "accidentally" served Tracy food that would have gone to Brutus and Tar.

   I can so see that!! 


And changing the subject again:

It would have been interesting to see how Jerry Lacy would have chewed that, er, played that scene.

Indeed!

Though a part of me can't picture anyone other than Thayer David as the "good Reverend" (as Gabriel refers to him)...