Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting Phyllis Diller's connection to NoDS:

When I saw in the newspaper ads for NoDS that they would be giving out free DS souvenirs, I was definitely intrigued. Many know one of the things given out were Angelique figures -  but it's mentioned far less frequently that what was also given out was "Beware of The Night Of Dark Shadows" bumper stickers. The figure has definitely become a rare collectors item among NoDS fans. The bumper sticker probably not so much because it's barely related to the film. Though on rare occasions I have seen both for sale online - and sometimes even together.

I came across this as I was reading over the beginning of this topic to plan out things I don't want to forget to post and something struck me that never struck me before. Is it just me, or does the face on the bumper sticker -

- and the button (which, given that the drive-in where I first saw NoDS didn't hand any out, I never even realized existed until this past year when I saw some on the Internet for sale along with the bumper sticker) -

- look an awful lot like Phyllis Diller? Perhaps her estate should sue...

...

  Here's a photo to support my point:

...

The resemblance to Phyllis Diller is uncanny. The drawing certainly doesn't look like Lara.

It most certainly does not look like Lara. And as you say, the resemblance between the face on the bumper sticker and the badge looks uncannily like Phyllis Diller. I still say her estate should somehow sue the MGM's old promotions department and whoever did the drawing. 

 

[Gerard]

Now I'm picturing NoDS opening credits with, not Joanna's Theme, but How J'yah Do, How J'yah Do, How J'yah Do. 

Gerard

[Uncle Roger]

The Angelique/Phyllis Diller comparison reminded of something that is somewhat off topic but quite funny. There was someone used to attend the festivals back in the day who was a hard core Angelique fan. She would regularly imitate the Angelique laugh, frequently in places where people were unfamiliar with Dark Shadows and had no idea what she was doing. Or why. She would tell people that she was a dead ringer for Angelique, like she had been cloned from a single cell of Lara Parker. She merely accepted Lara in the role because she was more true to the character that a mere actress could ever be. Truth be told, she didn't look a damn thing like Lara Parker. The classic celebrity that she actually most resembled was Vivian Vance as Ethel Mertz.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   Vivian Vance as Ethel Mertz as Angelique - now there's something I'm pretty sure I've never once pictured. 

[Uncle Roger]

MB, to the best of my knowledge, she was the only person at the festivals who thought that she was the absolute version of Angelique. An opinion presumably shared by the rest of the planet. And probably beyond.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 30 is scripted:

Moving on the Scene 30:

30     INT - FIRST FLOOR CORRIDOR - DAY - WIDE ANGLE     30        Shooting through Dining Room doors with the table        and center piece in F.G., the three of them walk        TOWARD CAMERA.

End of scene.

And as can be seen in this capture -

- the scene is shot exactly as scripted. But what is interesting is that it includes unscripted dialogue as Carlotta explains "Collinwood was built by Joshua Collins in the late 1600s. Of course, there have been many changes and additions since then." And given that Sam Hall once remarked that due to DC's "newfound directorial style," the original cut of NoDS (the cut before the 129 minute recovered cut) was supposedly 165 minutes long and that length was at least partly because the cut supposedly included several instances of shots of characters simply walking down long halls before they get to the points of scenes, I've often wondered if that bit of dialogue from Carlotta was added in post production so as not to have Carlotta, Tracy and Quentin be seen to be simply walking down the corridor from the drawing room to the stairwell? But who knows? But what's also interesting is that in this instance it was SH himself who wrote Scene 30 to simply be them walking down the corridor, so he certainly couldn't blame DC's directorial style for it in that instance.

And there are still no differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written up to this point.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting some posts about Collinwod being built in the 1600s:

Joshua built Collinwood in the late 1600's?

That's what Carlotta says. Perhaps in the universe of the films it was Joshua and not Isaac Collins who founded Collinsport in the late 1600s. And considering the backstory of hoDS' Barnabas took place in 1797, it could call into question just who fathered Barnabas? Well, if hoDS and NoDS take place in the same universe? And though the possible paternity of hoDS' Barnabas is a topic best suited for a hoDS topic, whether or not hoDS and NoDS take place in the same universe could certainly be a topic of discussion here...

That would be a cool line in that it would more firmly define the story of NoDS as being set in a parallel universe with its own history.

Given the storylines of the final year of the show, maybe that's what Sam Hall intended.

Possibly. We know that in PT on the show Collinwood was already in existence in 1680 when everything transpired between Brutus Collins, Constance Collins, Amanda Collins, and James Forsythe...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the subtitles/closed captioning for Scene 30:

...

As scripted, Scene 30 has no dialogue - however unscripted dialogue does appear in it - as Carlotta continues her tour of the house, in both the subtitles and the closed captioning she informs -

- and then she continues in the closed captioning with -

- as she does in the subtitles -

- which also go beyond that - but the closed captioning catches up -

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scenes 31 & 32 are scripted:

Picking up with Scenes 31 and 32:

31     INT - FIRST FLOOR STAIRWAY - DAY                  31        ANGLE from second floor landing as they climb the        stairs TOWARD CAMERA.

And that's when Sunday's quote -

Page 10/Scene 31 - Carlotta: 'As a child I used to hide here. They had so many parties then. All the guests...were so elegantly dressed and the candles were always burning.'

- comes up, followed by Monday's quote -

Page 10/Scene 31 - Tracy: 'You lived here as a child?'

- coming up, followed by Tuesday's quote -

Page 10/Scene 31 - Carlotta: 'My mother was the housekeeper.'

- coming up, followed by the script shifting to Scene 32:

32     PAN WITH THEM as they reach the second floor and  32        walk by CAMERA heading for the Gallery.  As they        pass the steps leading to the third floor, Quentin        stops.        GROUP - HIGH ANGLE                              QUENTIN                  What's up there?                              CARLOTTA                  Nothing you would want to see now.

And that's when Wednesday's quote -

Page 10/Scene 32 - Quentin: 'Is that the tower I saw from the outside?'

- comes up, followed by today's quote -

Page 10/Scene 32 - Carlotta: 'Yes. It's used for storage now.'

- coming up, followed by the script continuing with:

They start walking again as Quentin hesitates for        a moment longer, still looking up the stairs        TOWARD CAMERA. 32     CONTD                                     CONTD   32        Finally, he turns away and EXITS THE SHOT.        HOLD on empty corridor as their VOICES and        FOOTSTEPS TRAIL OFF.                              CARLOTTA (O.S.)                  The master bedroom is this way.                  It affords a beautiful view of                  the front grounds.

End of scene.

And so far there are still no differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written. However, in DC's script he has notations for Scene 31: "Hand Held," "also HIGH FROM 2nd FLOOR hold all the way," and "Try a side track all in profile CU as they go up stairs" - and for Scene 32 he has the notation: "Cut Too: HIG ANG" (no doubt meaning a high angle). Though the interesting thing is almost none of that is how things were shot in what was used in the film. And Grayson's script also has a notation for Scene 32, but more on that when we get to the differences in the dialogue.

And when it comes to any differences in the dialogue, Carlotta actually says "As a child I used to hide here. So many parties in those days. And the guests were so" over the end of Scene 30 as she, Tracy and Quentin disappear up the stairs and mostly off screen - the only part that's delivered during Scene 31 and on screen is "elegantly dressed. And the candles were always burning" - and when Tracy questions if Carlotta lived at Collinwood as a child, it's actually said at the end of Scene 31 and into the beginning of Scene 32 and mostly off camera - and Carlotta's actual reply is "Yes. My mother was the housekeeper" (and it's interesting how Carlotta isn't actually speaking of her own childhood - but of course, no viewers would actually pick up on that this early in the film) - and when Quentin looks up and inquires what's up higher than where they are, Caroltta actually replies with "Oh, nothing you'd be interested in now" - and after Quentin asks if it's the tower, Carlotta simply replies with "Yes", with the "It's used for storage now" dropped - and after disappearing off screen, what Carlotta then actually says is "The master bedroom is this way. It has an excellent view of the front grounds" (and that's where in Grayson's script she's made a notation crossing out "affords" and substituting "has" - though there isn't any notation crossing out "a beautiful" and substituting "an excellent").

And so far as the directions and descriptions go, as can be seen in this capture -

- Scene 31 isn't actually shot from the second floor landing as they climb the stairs toward the camera because it's actually shot almost completely the opposite, from the library doorway on the first floor as they climb the stairs away from the camera - and at no point is Scene 32 shot on the second floor because, as can be seen in this next capture -

- it's shot from the third floor landing of the stairwell (and hand held), which means we don't see them walking by the camera as they're heading for the Gallery, or passing the steps leading to the third floor - and while they do start walking again as Quentin hesitates for a moment longer, but on the second set of stairs leading to the second floor landing while still looking up TOWARD CAMERA toward the tower, he's not actually looking up the stairs - and things don't hold on the empty second floor corridor as their voices and footsteps trail off because things actually hold on that second set of stairs leading to the second floor landing as Carlotta explains about the view from the master bedroom.

   And as far as "Sunday's quote" goes, it was August 20th this time around, and "Monday's quote" was August 21st, and "Tuesday's quote" was August 22nd, and "Wednesday's quote" was August 23rd, and "today's quote" was the 24th.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting a glitch in the way the closed captioning can display:

Believe it or not, when it comes to the subtitles and the closed captioning for Scenes 31 & 32, both get everything exactly right. Though there is one instance where there's a glitch because once again there's a place where the entire closed captioning doesn't always appear -

- but unlike how adjusting settings to hopefully get the glitch with Scene 23 to work didn't work (back in Reply #1169), adjusting things did work in this instance -

- just as they had with the giltch in the closed captioning for Scene 170 (back in Reply #950).

Also, I checked to see if the TV's closed captioning decoder worked correctly and it actually came up with a totally different glitch -

- who knows? - but as I've said before, ours is not to try to figure out these things because trying is pretty much a losing battle. Maybe the decoders were trying to come up with a short way to say "this way" - if so, I prefer "tway" over "thiy". 

...

   Reply #950 was recently revisited in Reply #1762, and Reply #1169 was recently revisiting in Reply #2106.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting some comments regarding the latest scenes:

Interesting that Tracy picks up on the idea that Carlotta lived at Collinwood as a child but neither she nor Quentin make any kind of remark about the candles always burning.

I suppose they wouldn't think it was odd for there to be candles at parties - but it's really the inclusion of the word "always" that could certainly make what Carlotta says seem odd. But then, maybe they thought she simply meant candles were always burning at the parties and not necessarily when there also weren't any parties taking place. Honestly, I probably would have taken it that way because I would have presumed that Carlotta was reminiscing about a childhood that took place somewhere around the late-1920s/early-1930s when electricity was certainly available to a grand house like Collinwood. (Although, believe it or not, the house I live in is close to 120 years old and it originally had gas lighting. The gas pipes, though disconnected from the gas, are even still in the walls and ceilings - and according to my research, the house wasn't converted to electricity until after the original owners passed away and new owners bought the house in 1930.)

 

[Uncle Roger]

I hope that the house had indoor plumbing during Carlotta's childhood. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 33 is scripted:

Setting up Scene 33:

33     INT - GALLERY - DAY                               33        QUENTIN - TRACY - CARLOTTA        as Quentin examines the various portraits.

and that's when today's quote -

Page 11/Scene 33 - Quentin: 'I have a terrible feeling my ancestors would never have bought my work.'

comes up.

And as for any differences in Quentin's dialogue, upon entering the Gallery he delivers an unscripted "It's quite a collection" - and what he actually does rather than say what's quoted is he lightly chuckles and then says "I've got a feeling my ancestors wouldn't have bought my work."

And as can be seen in this capture -

- when we first see them in the Gallery and Quentin remarks that the paintings are quite a collection, things are shot from the opposite angle that the entire rest of the scene is. But then, as we'll see, there are no angles specified in the script for Scene 33...

And there are still no differences between the way DC's and Grayson Hall's scripts are written up to this point.

  And so far as "today's quote" goes, it was August 25th this time around.

Continuing with Scene 33 with today's quote:

Page 11/Scene 33 - Tracy (at the window): 'His paintings are very abstract.'

And as for any differences there, Tracy actually says "Quentin's paintings are very abstract."

And as can be seen in today's capture -

- Tracy isn't standing near any of the windows in the Gallery.

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.

  And as far as "today's quote" goes, it was August 26th this time around.

And continuing with Scene 33 with today's quote:

Page 11/Scene 33 - Carlotta: 'How interesting.'

And as for any differences in the dialogue, at first Carlotta actually delivers her response by adding an unscripted "You're a painter" before she says "How interesting." And obviously to anyone who's already seen the film, there's all sorts of subtext there, helped along by the sly hint of a smile on Carlotta's face as she says it -

- but, again, no viewer seeing the film for the first time would really pick up on it to the point of understanding what's really going on with Carlotta.

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 it's interesting that rather than add, "You're a painter," to her script, Grayson added Carlotta's remark as "Oh you paint?". Even more interesting is that DC hasn't added any of the unscripted lines to his script, but he will add some of them when it comes to some future scenes...

  And as far as "today's quote" goes, it was August 27th this time around.

And more of Scene 33:

He is at the portrait of Angelique.

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 11/Scene 33 - Quentin: 'Is this one of the family?'

- comes up, followed by today's quote -

Page 11/Scene 33 - Carlotta: 'That's Angelique Collins. She died in 1810.'

- coming up, followed by the script continuing with:

TRACY            She's beautiful.  Quentin stares at it.  ...

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. However, both DC's and Grayson's scripts have some notations that we'll get into below.

And as for any differences in the dialogue, the first notation in DC's script has the word "this" crossed out in Quentin's dialogue and replaces it with "that", but neither word is used in the film because what Quentin actually asks is "Is she one of the family?" - and another dialogue notation in DC's as well as in Grayson's script is adding "Yes, it is" to Carlotta's dialogue, though what Carlotta actually says is "Yes, she is. She's Angelique Collins", and I love how she spells the year out completely by saying "She died in Eighteen Hundred and Ten" - and what Tracy actually says is "Well, she's beautiful, isn't she?"

And so far as any differences in the directions and descriptions go, Quentin isn't actually at the portrait of Angelique before he asks if she's one of the family because he smiles, nods toward it, and begins walking toward it just before he asks - and DC's script has a notation that Quentin is next to it when he asks, but in the film we don't actually see Quentin when he asks because he's off screen with, as can be seen in yesterday's capture -

- a shot of only the portrait on screen - and similarly, even though DC has a notation that Carlotta will be shot in close-up while she explains about the portrait, as can be seen in today's capture -

- what's on screen is a tight shot of Angelique's face in the portrait - and DC's script also has a notation that after Carlotta indicates the woman in the portrait is a member of the family, Carlotta will hold the rest of her lines until Quentin gets to the portrait - but while there is a slight pause in the way Carlotta delivers her lines, given that it's only the portrait that's seen on screen, we obviously have no idea if Quentin is at the portrait or not - and Grayson's script has a notation about the locket Carlotta is wearing, and as can be seen in the following capture (which is cropped and enlarged from the actual moment on screen) -

- Carlotta is indeed toying with it (though no one has yet to know the significance of that act) - and Grayson's script also has a notation that Carlotta is "enjoying" Quentin and Tracy's reactions to the portrait, and as can also be seen in the above capture, that's certainly the case (but again, with no one yet knowing the significance of that (nor the significance of the vase of yellow daffodils under the portrait)) - and DC's last notation on this bit of the script says that Tracy crosses to the portrait, however, she doesn't actually because, as can also be seen in the above capture, she's simply turned to look at it while standing in the same spot in the room that she's been in since Scene 33 started.

  And so far as "yesterday's quote" goes, it was August 28th this time around, and "today's quote" was August 29th.

And yet more of Scene 33, picking up where we left Quentin staring at Angelique's portrait:

Quentin stares at it.  Tracy moves to the window.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 11/Scene 33 - Tracy: 'Every room I've been in, I've kept thinking - oh, this is where I'll spend most of my time. But this is it! The view's incredible.'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

CARLOTTA                  I've prepared a salad for supper.                  Shall I serve it here? 33     CONTD                                     CONTD   33                              TRACY                  Oh, yes - would you?  Quentin stares at it.  ...

And yes, while 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, both DC's and Grayson's scripts have some notations that we'll get into below.

And as for any differences in the dialogue, rather than today's quote, what Tracy actually says is "Carlotta, I think this is my favorite room. The view is really incredible" - and the notation in Grayson's script is that she crosses out the word "supper" in Carlotta's dialogue and replaces it with "dinner," as in "I've prepared a salad for dinner" - and after Carlotta asks if Tracy would like the salad served there, Tracy actually replies with "Uh...well, yes - would you?" However, unlike the way they're scripted, part of Tracy's remark about the Gallery being her favorite room and all of Carlotta's references to the salad and Tracy's response about it are all delivered off screen - but more on that below...

And so far as any differences in the directions and descriptions go, DC's script has a notation that Tracy's lines about the Gallery being her favorite room begin "on the cross," and while that's technically true, in the film she doesn't actually cross to any window because what she does do, as can be seen in today's capture -

- is cross to a nearby table, pick up a book (perhaps she's on a similar wavelength to what KMR wants to do in the room  ), and delivers her lines - however, the "The view is really incredible" part of it is delivered off screen because, as we can see in the following capture, what we actually see on screen is that the camera trucks in on -

- an extreme close-up of Quentin as he stares at Angelique's portrait as if mesmerized by it (the view that's captured him is obviously not the one outside  ) - and what's interesting about the shot of Quentin remaining on screen for the duration of everything else that follows in the parts of the Scene 33 that are covered in this post, DC's script actually contains a notation that Tracy is supposed to turn from the window to Carlotta and then cross to the table as she answers Carlotta regarding serving the salad, but obviously none of that is seen on screen, plus the last we see Tracy before Quentin's close-up, she's already standing at the table (and as we'll see from a capture for the next post, she'll still be standing there).

  And so far as "today's quote" goes, it was August 30th this time around.

And concluding Scene 33 ...

Carlotta smiles and nods.  She EXITS as Quentin        crosses to the window where he stands for a moment        looking out at the sunset.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 12/Scene 33 - Quentin: 'You know...I have a felling that I'll do better work here than I've ever done before...look at the color of that sunset!'

- comes up...

...

And yes, while 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, once again DC's script has a notation that we'll get into below.

But so far any differences in the dialogue go, after Carlotta leaves and the camera is back to being on Quentin as he walks to look out the window, in a bit of off screen unscripted dialogue Tracy muses "That's our housekeeper. She makes me feel like she invited us here" (she's obviously already picking up vibes from Carlotta) - and then she adds "It's beautiful, isn't it", which may have been scripted for later in the sequence, but more on that after we get to that section of the script - and what Quentin actually says is "I got a feeling I'm gonna do better work here than I've ever done before in my life", with no reference to a sunset, but why that is will become obvious below.

And so far as any differences in the directions and descriptions go, we don't see Carlotta smile or nod at Tracy before she leaves the room to get the salad, but as can be seen in the following capture -

- Carlotta does give a look in Quentin's direction before she leaves (because, after all, for Carlotta the scene is all about Quentin) and she gives a little smile to herself as she turns to leave, no doubt because as she leaves the camera pans back to Quentin to show that he's still looking at Angelique's portrait - and even though DC's script has a notation that indicates that as Quentin is starting to look out the window at the sunset, Tracy is supposed to reach the table and to start to leaf through a book, that is never seen here because 1) the camera remains on Quentin throughout that portion of Scene 33, and 2) and more importantly, last time we got into that she already did much of that as she told Carlotta how much she liked the Gallery ...

...

  And so far as "today's quote" goes, it was August 31st this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting this still:

A very rare still associated with Scene 33 -

(Click here for a 1670742 version)

 - and last time around I didn't share it because I completely forgot I have it. To my knowledge it was only officially published once and that was in TV Star Parade.

And once again we get a still that is different from how the scene is shot in the film:

• As can be seen in the following screen caps, at no point in the film do Kate Jackson, David Selby and Grayson Hall appear lined up in the order that they do in the still.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Quentin wears his jacket in the still yet, quite obviously, he throws it over his shoulder in the actual scene.
• Carlotta caresses the locket in the still, yet she never does so in this section of the actual scene.
• And Carlotta raises her right, not her left arm.

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting unscripted lines in Scene 33:

When it comes to unscripted lines in Scene 33, we've already seen Quentin say -

"Quite a collection."

- when he first enters the Gallery - and after learning Quentin's painting are "very abstract," we've seen Carlotta say -

"You're a painter."

- before she delivers her scripted remark, "How interesting." And I still find this interesting -

...

... Though it's interesting that rather than add, "You're a painter," to her script, Grayson added Carlotta's remark as "Oh you paint?". ...

...