Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops - I neglected to include revisiting this part of the subtitles/closed captioning:

Picking up with the subtitles and closed captioning for Scene 85, after Gabriel reminds Charles that Angelique is his wife, Charles remarks, "Little brother's suddenly become a man." - and both the subtitles and the closed captioning get that correctly - and after Charles turns in Angelique's direction, he asks her, "Will you take the credit for that, my dear?" - and again both the subtitles and the closed captioning get it correctly - but when Gabriel lunges up at Charles, only the closed captioning acknowledges Charles' grunt -

- (and I don't think I ever noticed before how much sun is coming in the window - perhaps a big weather change considering it was pouring rain minutes before in the scene - but then it is possible for the sun to shine while it's still raining - I've seen it more times than I can count - so it doesn't have to be a continuity error during shooting) - and as Charles is being subdued by Gabriel and a servant, Charles demands, "Have you lost your mind?" - and once again both the subtitles and the closed captioning get things correctly - however the subtitles indicate that Gabriel says, "No." after that -

- but Gabriel actually says no such thing - and as Rev. Strack enters preceded by another man, Charles shouts out Strack's name - however, oddly, both the closed captioning and the subtitles have it as -

- and the subtitles also have Charles next line, which it gets correctly, as does the closed captioning - and after Strack motions for the man who entered with him to get Angelique, and as the man moves to do so, Angelique lunges to scratch his face and shouts, "Don't any of you touch me!" - and the subtitles get that correctly - but the closed captioning simply has -

- and after that Angelique says, "I'll come with you," - and the subtitles also get that correctly - but the closed captioning only has -

- before Angelique finishes with, "but don't any of you touch me!" - and both the subtitles and the closed captioning get that part correctly - and finally Strack orders, "Come with us, Angelique Collins." - and both the subtitles and the closed captioning get that correctly as well...

...

(ADMIN: Reply #580 has been edited to replace TV video screen captures)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The Ohlinger's store always seemed to be in a state of disorganization and chaos. But if any of the staff needed to locate some arcane piece of memorabilia, Jerry invariably knew where to find it. He passed away in 2018. But I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the store is still in business. Probably one of the last of its kind.

And oops, I forgot to include this in Reply #2383.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 86 is scripted:

Here's Scene 86 as scripted:

86     INT - TOWER - 1971 - EVENING - NORMAL COLOR      86        Quentin is still staring at the picture.  He        remembers it all.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 36/Scene 86 - Quentin: 'Gabriel...Angelique...? That was her funeral I saw. What happened here? What?'

- is scripted to come up.

But when it comes to various versions of the film, there is either no dialogue at all or a completely different bit of dialogue. In the 94 minute and 97 minute versions, the correct sound mix is that there is no dialogue in Scene 86. But in the 129 minute version, slightly reworked versions of two of the things Angelique says at the outset of Scene 85 are combined and repeated: "As long as she's in this house, I can't be happy. Bring the painting to life. Please." But just as is the case with the earlier additional dialogue that can be heard in Scene 85 even though it doesn't belong in the 94 minute version of the film, that bit from Angelique is mistakenly heard in the versions of the 94 minute NoDS available online via Amazon and iTunes and possibly other places, and on DVD and Blu-ray.

And beyond the facts that like Scene 84, Scene 86 is not actually shot in the evening and the transition between the subconscious memory and the present is made via an extreme close-up of Quentin blinking, when it comes to what's different from the descriptions and directions, there isn't so much anything different from the actual script as there is from a notation DC made in his script which says that Quentin would be shot in profile and silhouetted against the water and sky - but as we can see in the following capture -

- that is definitely not the case in the film.

Also I have to say that the music used for this sequence (titled The Taking Of Angelique on the soundtrack CD) is one of my favorite pieces that Bob Cobert wrote for the film.

   And as far as "today's quote" goes, it was November 28th's this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the subtitles for Scene 86:

And again we know that when it comes to the DVD/Blu-ray there's dialogue that shouldn't be in Scene 86, and of course it all shows up in the subtitles, but it's totally different from what's scripted - instead of Quentin's scripted realization regarding Angelique's funeral, what actually comes up, and should only come up in the 129 minute version, is -

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting yet another difference between the VHS/Laser version of the film and the DVD/Blu-ray version:

...

But when it comes to various versions of the film, there is either no dialogue at all or a completely different bit of dialogue. In the 94 minute and 97 minute versions, the correct sound mix is that there is no dialogue in Scene 86.

But in the 129 minute version, slightly reworked versions of two of the things Angelique says at the outset of Scene 85 are combined and repeated: "As long as she's in this house, I can't be happy. Bring the painting to life. Please." But just as is the case with the earlier additional dialogue that can be heard in Scene 85 even though it doesn't belong in the 94 minute version of the film, that bit from Angelique is mistakenly heard in the versions of the 94 minute NoDS available online via Amazon and iTunes and possibly other places, and on DVD and Blu-ray.

And something that you might have noticed (I didn't actually until this time around) is that the two clips above are scored differently. Note that on the VHS the flourish of Quentin's Theme isn't heard until the frame is focusing solely on the painting and Quentin is no longer in frame, whereas on the DVD/Blu-ray the Quentin's Theme flourish is already being heard at the outset of the clip while Quentin is in frame and the painting is barely seen. And all of that is quite possibly because the removal of the more explicit footage from Scene 85 and Angelique's voiceover over the painting required rescoring. Though what's interesting is the rescoring doesn't appear to noticably kick in until about the time Charles unlocks the door for Gabriel, which is after where the removal of the more explicit footage was made.

Another thing that's interesting is that on the VHS a few notes of the score continue to be heard when things switch to the outside shot of Collinwood, whereas on the DVD/Blu-ray the score cuts off immediately at the end of Scene 86. And speaking of that outside shot of Collinwood, also recall that as the film currently stands, Scene 86 is followed by Scene 74, not Scene 87 (Quentin, Alex, Claire and Tracy discuss the two paintings of Angelique) as will be coming up in the slideshow, though sadly, doesn't appear in any version of the film...

...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace VHS video with Laser video)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Moving on to revisit how the first part of Scene 87 is scripted:

Setting up Scene 87, which DC has broken up into Scenes 87A and 87B in his script:

87     INT - GALLERY - NIGHT                            87A        Tracy, Claire, Alex are looking at the half-finished        portrait as Quentin stares at the portrait of        Angelique on the wall. 87     CONTD                                  CONTD     87

And that's when today's quote -

Page 37/Scene 87A - Quentin (O.S.): 'It looks like he was going to add some other people.'

- comes up.

And there's absolutely nothing to get into when it comes to differences with the dialogue, the descriptions, or the directions because, sadly, even though this scene was shot, it doesn't appear in any version of the film. But one thing that is interesting is that even though the scene isn't indicated as a rewrite in DC's script, his version begins with dialogue for Quentin (the above quote) and Alex (coming up tomorrow) that does not appear in Grayson's script's version of the scene.

   And so far as "today's quote" goes, it was actually November 29th's this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how more of the first part of Scene 87 is scripted:

Picking up from yesterday with today's quote -

Page 37/Scene 87A - Alex: 'I wonder why he never finished it... yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? So evil here...so prim over there. The double life of Angelique Collins. I wonder what Charles Collins knew that the others didn't.'

-coming up in DC's script. However, as I'd mentioned yesterday, the dialogue for Scene 87 begins differently in Grayson's version of the script. The first lines are given to Alex and his lines appear like this:

ALEX Fascinating.  So evil here ... so prim over there.  The double life of Angelique Collins.

So, along with Quentin being given the lines to open the scene, Alex' original lines are expanded upon in DC's script to bring up more questions. Unfortunately though, when it comes to whether or not there may have been even more differences with what Alex actually says, we'll never know because, as I also said yesterday, even though Scene 87 was shot, as evidenced by the still used in today's graphic -

- it doesn't appear in any version of the film.

And it's also worth pointing out that the end of Scene 87 is different in DC's script in more ways than one. But we'll get into that once we reach that point in the scene...

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

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I want to share the photo that -

- I used to create the graphics for November 30th's slideshow installments -

- and as I said back in 2021 -

As far as I'm aware, the only place it was ever published was as part of a NoDS article in the Dec. '71 issue of 16 Magazine. And in fact, back in the '90s Darren Gross couldn't locate a copy among the NoDS stills available to him. But he may have located a copy since...

In upcoming days I'll be sharing what I used to create other Scene 87 graphics (including one that's brand new to this version of the slideshow) and one that I didn't use...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing with Scene 87, we pick up with yesterday's quote, made in response to Alex' musing about Angelique -

Page 37/Scene 87A - Claire: 'Here he goes. Another plot for another book --'

- and then today's quote -

Page 37/Scene 87A - Alex: 'I've been doing some research.'

- comes up, followed in the script by:

QUENTIN What did you find out?

But we'll have to wait until the next installment in the slideshow to find out what Alex has found out - but one interesting thing about what he learned is that it does answer a question posed earlier with regard to something Alex said in Scene 59.

And when it comes to DC's script, he added a couple of notations to this section. One indicates that after Claire's lines the camera would pan to include Quentin (recall that his line, which opens the scene, is designated as being delivered off screen). And the other indicates that after Alex' line Scene 87B is to start, even though DC doesn't break things up into 87B until later in the scene, so who knows? But other than those things there's absolutely no way to know if other changes might have been made because, as has already been mentioned, Scene 87 doesn't appear in any version of the film.

   And as far as "yesterday's quote" goes, it was December 1st's this time around, and "today's quote" was December 2nd's.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   Revisiting a comment about the graphic for the first quote above:

...

And even though today's graphic introduces part of something new, I'm going to hold off sharing the still it comes from for a few days for reasons that will become obvious with time...

And revisiting a comment about the second quote above:

...

One thing that's very unfortunate about both the 94 and 97 minute versions of the film is the audience never has any idea that Alex has been doing research and never learns about anything he uncovers because this scene as well as upcoming Scene 111 were cut. At least Scene 111 is included in the 129 minute version, but considering that version isn't available and may never be (), that's little consolation...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how the end of the first part and the beginning of the second part of Scene 87 is scripted:

Moving on with Scene 87, today's first quote -

Page 37/Scene 87A - Alex: 'The servant-girl legend is just that. And after seeing this, my vote goes to her. She'd make some ghost.'

- comes up, followed in DC's script by:

QUENTIN - CLOSE-UP |----------------------------------- 87B

And that's when today's second quote -

Scene 87B - Claire (O.S.): 'Poor Angelique Collins. He's going to start and she'll have no more secrets.'

- comes up.

So, as I said yesterday, who knows where DC really intended 87B to begin because his script has notations for it beginning in two different places. 

But so far as Alex' dialogue goes, it answers the question of who the "young beautiful servant girl who roams the halls of Collinwood" is: she's apparently no one because the story is simply a legend. Unfortunately that means that Quentin won't be able to hire her after all. 

And blah blah blah, no way to know if other changes, blah blah blah, doesn't appear in any version of the film...

   And so far as "today's" quotes go, they were December 3rd's this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more of how the second part of Scene 87 is scripted:

Continuing with Scene 87, with Tracy asking in yesterday's quote -

Page 37/Scene 87B - Tracy: 'Do we have to have a ghost, Alex?'

- coming up, followed by the script indicating:

BACK TO SCENE

And that's when today's quote -

Page 37/Scene 87B - Quentin: 'Alex makes up his own legends, anyway. I'm not half as curious about Angelique Collins as I am about Charles. He is quite good, you know.'

- comes up.

And again, blah blah blah, no way to know if other changes, blah blah blah, doesn't appear in any version of the film. Though what will be interesting when it comes to tomorrow's installments in the slideshow, which are taken from DC's script, is that they're very different from how Grayson's script concludes Scene 87. But more on that tomorrow...

   And as far as "yesterday's quote" goes, it was December 4th's this time around, and "today's quote" was December 5th's.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to the 4th's and the 5th's graphics in the slideshow -

- I made them using this -

- which, as far as I know, has only been published on page 111 of the DS Companion. However, since creating those graphics I've come into possession of the actual still, which shows a bit more than its DS Companion version:

(Click here for a 700X484 version)

And no doubt you'll recall that the still is #8 in the NoDS Editor's Porfolio...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wrapping up revisiting how Scene 87 is scripted:

Before we get into the way Scene 87 concludes in DC's script, here's how it concludes in Grayson's script, picking up after Quentin's remark that Charles Collins "is quite good":

He looks at the portrait again.                              ALEX                  Is?        They all laugh.

End of scene.

However, picking up at the same point in DC's script we have:

takes               from Alex        He looks at the portrait again.

And following that, DC has handwritten in today's first quote -

Page 37/Scene 87B - Alex: 'He is good?'

- followed by handwriting in today's second quote -

Page 37/Scene 87B - Quentin: 'He was good.'

- followed by handwriting in today's third quote -

Page 37/Scene 87B - Alex: 'He was good.'

End of scene.

And again, blah blah blah, no way to know if other changes, blah blah blah, doesn't appear in any version of the film. Though if anyone is wondering what portrait is referred to in Grayson's version, recall that back in the initial description of the scene it's explained that "Quentin stares at the portrait of Angelique on the wall." Who knows which portrait is being referred to when Quentin takes it from Alex in DC's version? And who knew Alex is even holding a portrait because that fact is never introduced in DC's version of the scene. And there's no indication of any laughing at the end in DC's version.

   And when it comes to "today's" quotes, they were all December 6th's this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And when it came to December 6th's second graphic in the slideshow -

- I made it this time around using this -

(Click here for a 533X700 version)

- which I probably would have done back in 2009 or 2016 for those slideshows if I had remembered that it had been shared as part of the 2004 Fest Program, but I didn't. Thankfully back in 2021 I did remember it was there...