Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to yesterday's and today's graphics -

...

- they were made using crops from this still -

(Click here for a 532X700 version)

- which, so far as I can remember, has never been officially published anywhere.

   However, something you may recall, particularly because my copy has that writing in the bottom right corner on Quentin's boot, is that the still is #19 in the NoDS Editor's Portfolio.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 105 and the beginning of Scene 106 are scripted:

Setting up the next sequence:

105    EXT - STABLES - DAY                              105        Gerard is up on a scaffold fixing the roof as Tracy        crosses the courtyard, walks under the scaffolding        and ENTERS the stable without seeing him.                                              CUT TO: 106    INT - STABLES - DAY                              106        as she ENTERS there is a sudden snarling as the two        black dogs appear and start menacingly toward her.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 46/Scene 106 - Tracy: 'Stay away now...stay away...'

- comes up.

And when it comes to the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, there's nothing to comment about because none of this sequence appears in any version of the film (and in a later post we'll get into the reason that's most likely). And while there are some notations in DC's script for Scene 106, they don't come up until later in the scene. But what is interesting is that you may recall that when it came to Scene 52, what's scripted is:

52     EXT - STABLES - DAY                               52        The two dogs are playing in the stable yard as        Quentin ENTERS under the archway.  Suddenly the        dogs become hostile.  Quentin stops, frowns,        then keeps walking.  The dogs wait for a moment        and then start slowly for him.  They are snarling        viciously as Gerard appears in the doorway.

But what actually happens in the film is that:

unlike how the script says that we see the dogs playing and when Quentin arrives, they become vicious and slowly make a move toward Quentin before Gerard stops them, as can be seen in the following capture, in the film Scene 52 starts off with shots of Gerard repairing brickwork -

- and as Gerard does this, off camera we hear Quentin call out "Stiles" and then introduce himself with "I'm Mr. Collins - and it isn't until the next camera shot that we see that Gerard is up on some scaffolding repairing brickwork near the roof of a part of the stable building, the dogs are quietly standing near the base of the ladder, and Quentin has just entered the stable yard, as can all be seen in the next capture -

So, it would seem as though the altered opening to Scene 52 was done so as to play off the scripted opening to Scene 105. But then, we're never going to know if that's really true because, apart from a few publicity stills and behind the scenes photos, nothing from Scenes 105, 106 & 106A appears to exist, so most likely we'll never know how Scene 105 was actually shot...

   And so far as "today's quote" goes, it is indeed today's, January 7th's.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more of how Scene 106 is scripted:

Continuing with Scene 106:

The dogs are slowly backing her into a corner when        Gerard ENTERS THE SHOT.

And that's when the first part of today's quote -

Page 46/Scene 106 - Gerard: 'Don't move.'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

He crosses to her.  She can see the raw scratches        still on his face. 106    CONTD                                             CONTD   106

And that's when the second part of today's quote -

Page 47/Scene 106 - Gerard: 'Now, Brutus...now, Tar...'

- comes up.

And when it comes to the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, there's nothing to comment about because none of this sequence appears in any version of the film.

   And when it comes to "today's" quote, it was on January 8th.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A question worth revisiting:

Hmmm - I wonder which is 'Flash Weiner' -

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

...

   And another question worth asking: just which one was 'Brutus' and which one was 'Tar'?

It's just too bad that they weren't trained in method acting at the Actors Studio so that they would have been able to tap into their own inner anger to adequately portray Brutus and Tar's viciousness. 

 

[Uncle Roger]

They would have made great Festival guests. And probably better behaved than a few i might mention. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   I bet you're right there - on both counts!! 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The first still worth revisiting related to Scenes 105, 106 & 106A:

This next still I'm sharing is an extremely rare one. Not only have I never seen it published anywhere, I've rarely seen it for sale anywhere. And because it would certainly seem to be associated with Scenes 105, 106 & 106A, all of which don't appear in any version of the film, it's hard to know if it's depicting a moment from the sequence or if it's a candid. And if it's a moment from the sequence, if it appears at the beginning or the end of it. There's nothing in the scripted versions (yes, there are more than one, and we'll eventually get into that) to indicate the still depicts a moment from the sequence. But as we well know, how the script might indicate the scenes were shot and how they were actually shot can be very different.

Because it might seem to depict Gerard in a melancholy mood, which would be a departure from his normal angry or lecherous moods, both of which he most often exhibits in the film, I'd like to think the still does indeed depict a moment from the sequence, either from its beginning or end. And because it might be from the beginning rather than the end, I'm sharing the still now instead of later on:

(Click here for a 700X1028 version)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting yet more of hos Scene 106 is scripted:

Continuing along with Scene 106:

The dogs keep up their snarling.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 47/Scene 106 - Gerard: 'She won't hurt you...no...she's just come down to ride...that's all. She likes Gerard.'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

He moves close to her and reaches out, caressing her        face.  She pulls away but stops as the dogs snarl        and he rubs her again.

And that's when today's second quote -

Page 47/Scene 106 - Gerard: 'She is a friend. A friend. See?'

- comes up.

And when it comes to the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, there's nothing to comment about because none of this sequence appears in any version of the film.

   And when it comes to "today's" quotes, they were on January 9th this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

When it comes to these graphics, they -

...

- have all been made using various portions of this still -

(Click here for a 700X885 version)

- which to my memory has only been officially published on page 238 of the DS Movie Book - and an interesting thing is that whenever NoDS stills come up for sale on places like Heritage Auctions, it's very rarely ever included in the batches being auctioned off - I was lucky enough to buy my copy in 1996 at Jerry Ohlinger's Movie Materials Store in NYC.

Various portions of a more widely available still will be showing up in the slideshow soon - though you may not recognize it at first...

   And you may recall that the still is #27 in the NoDS Editor's Portfolio.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing to revisit how Scene 106 is scripted:

And concluding Scene 106 (in DC's script):

[[Finally, the dogs turn and walk away.

And that's when today's quote -

Page 47/Scene 106 - Tracy (lowly): 'Don't you ever touch me again!'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

Gerard stares at her, then quite cooly turns away.

And that's where the scene ends in DC's script. However, it's not where Scene 106 ends in Grayson's script - and we'll get into that continuation in the next post. And what will be interesting is that as the slideshow progresses for the next few days you'll see how that continuation was reworked for DC's script and turned into Scene 106A, even though it's not indicated as a rewrite in his script...

And of course, when it comes to the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, blah, blah, blah because blag, blah, blah. And yes, the script uses the "cooly" spelling variation of the word "coolly"...

   And as far as "today's quote" goes, it was on January 10th this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 106 is continued in Grayson's script:

As you'll see as Scene 106A unfolds in the slideshow and the posts following this one, some of it is very much the same as Grayson's script's continuation of Scene 106 - but things will change radically before too long. But here's how things were originally supposed to play:

GERARD                  I'll saddle your horse.        He walks to the saddle rack, takes one and throws it        over a tall gray.                              TRACY                  This isn't Dubloon, is it? The                  horse my husband rode this morning --                              GERARD                  We don't have a Dubloon.  He rode                  Ulysses.        Tracy thinks about this.                              TRACY                  Where's the Mill on the property?                              GERARD                  There's no mill.                              TRACY                  Are you sure?                              GERARD                  Yes -- I'm sure.        Tracy mounts her horse as Gerard makes no move to help        her but just stands staring at her.  Then, unable to        bear his presence any longer, she rides off.

Gee, I wonder why Tracy could no longer bear Gerard's presence? 

 

[Uncle Roger]

I guess you just can't get good help at Collinwood. Since both Carlotta and Gerard have behaved rather insubordinately towards Tracy, I'm surprised that she never considers firing them. Granted, she may have faced some opposition from Quentin and/or Angelique but Gerard is another situation altogether. Maybe Tracy had this discussion with Quentin or Claire when the camera was not around. Or perhaps Gerard was supposed to keep Tracy distracted so she wouldn't be as able to notice the changes in Quentin until it was too late.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Another post related to Scenes 105, 106 & 106A that's worth revisiting:

Before we move on from graphics made using the still that I shared in Reply #330, I want to mention that after I posted it I noticed that the wound on the right side of Gerard's mouth is different from the way it looks in the still I'd posted in Reply #327:

For the color still the top of the wound -

- sticks straight up and away from the corner of Gerard's lip, whereas in the B&W still the top of wound -

- curves down onto the top of the corner of Gerard's lip. Perhaps this is because the stills weren't taken on the same day, or perhaps the makeup had to be reapplied for some reason and it wasn't done exactly the same. Sadly, we'll never know which way, if even either, it looked in the film...

And something I've never really thought about before is just how many days are supposed to pass between the time Quentin attacks Gerard and we see him again in Scene 190. Quite obviously a wound like that would not heal completely in just a few days. Though as the film currently stands, the passage of time for the wound to heal isn't even a consideration because the audience never sees the wound in the 94 minute version of the film, nor did we see it in the 97 minute version. And actually, it's not on view in the 129 minute version either because this sequence doesn't appear in any version of the film...

   And Reply #330 was revisited in Reply #1480 this time around, and Reply #327 was revisited in Reply #1478.

...[/quote]

   And Reply #1480 was revisited in Reply #2483 this time around, and Reply #1478 was revisited in Reply #2481.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I guess you just can't get good help at Collinwood. Since both Carlotta and Gerard have behaved rather insubordinately towards Tracy, I'm surprised that she never considers firing them. Granted, she may have faced some opposition from Quentin and/or Angelique but Gerard is another situation altogether. Maybe Tracy had this discussion with Quentin or Claire when the camera was not around. Or perhaps Gerard was supposed to keep Tracy distracted so she wouldn't be as able to notice the changes in Quentin until it was too late.

When it comes to Gerard, maybe Tracy felt telling him not to ever touch her again was sufficient enough and unless he crossed that line again the issue had been handled. And as we know, in an upcoming scene Tracy will actually tell Carlotta to mind her own business and Carlotta seems to agree to do so (though she doesn't behind Tracy's back).

But getting back to Gerard, the full script makes Gerard's motivations much clearer with regard to Tracy: he's jealous as hell that Quentin has replaced him in Angelique's "affections" and so he sets his sights on Tracy as revenge. However, that's not made as clear as it should be in the film as it stands because of how the scenes indicating it aren't included - and sadly they're not even in the 129 minute version. But then, so what else was new with DC when it came to including scenes delving into character. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how DC's script's version of Scene 106A is written:

With the exception of one written addition to the descriptions and directions, DC's script's version of Scene 106A begins exactly like Grayson's script's continuation of Scene 106:

106A   INT - HORSE PART OF STABLE                                106A                            GERARD                  I'll saddle your horse.        Takes horse out        He walks to the saddle rack, takes one and throws it        over a tall gray.

And just as in Grayson's script, that's when today's quote -

Page 47/Scene 106A - Tracy: 'That isn't Dubloon, is it? The horse my husband rode this morning --'

- comes up.

And when it comes to the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, there's nothing to comment about because none of this sequence appears in any version of the film. But this is the only part of Scene 106A where the dialogue is exactly the same as Grayson's continuation of Scene 106. And this part of DC's script is where his notations finally begin for the sequence as he indicates that Scene 106A begins with a wide shot and then trucks tighter as Tracy walks to Gerard.

  And so far as "today's quote" goes, it was on January 11th this time around.