Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I still feel the same as I did back then:

...

...

And am I the only one who thinks it's a shame that none of the horses received a credit in the film? I mean, quite often when it comes to dogs in TV and films you see things like "And Trixie as Scruffy". So why no something like "Featuring Max as Ulysses and Fred as Dubloon"?!     

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And contiuing to revisit DC's script's version of Scene 106A:

After today's quote -

Page 47/Scene 106A - Gerard: 'We don't have a Dubloon. He rode Ulysses, like he always does.'

- comes up, Scene 106A continues in the script with:

Tracy thinks about this.                     TRACY           Where's the Mill?                     GERARD           What?

And when it comes to the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, there's nothing to comment about with comparison to the film because none of this sequence appears in any version of the film. But as we can see with today's quote, "like he always does" was added to Gerard's original line in Grayson's continuation of Scene 106 - and then when it comes to Scene 106A in DC's script "on the property" was dropped from Tracy's initial question. And while those are minor changes, soon their conversation will not only lengthen, it will be going in a totally different direction than it does in Grayson's continuation of Scene 106. And when it comes to this part of DC's script, his notations indicate that the camera changes to a 2 shot when Tracy asks about the Mill.

   And so far as "today's quote" goes, it was January 12th's this time around. And when it comes to that quote, cue the Twilight Zone music...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more of DC's Script's version of Scene 106A:

Continuing Scene 106A with yesterday's quote -

Page 47/Scene 106A - Tracy: 'The Mill...is it on the property?'

- coming up, followed in the script by:

106A   CONTD                                         CONTD       106A

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

Page 47A/Scene 106A - Gerard: 'Oh, yeah...the Mill. It's over by that ravine down near the river road.'

- comes up, followed by the script explaining:

Tracy nods, gets on her horse and starts out.

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

Page 47A/Scene 106A - Gerard: 'I wouldn't bother going over there if I were you.'

- comes up.

And when it comes to the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, there's nothing to comment about with comparison to the film because none of this sequence appears in any version of the film. But it's very interesting that in this new version of Tracy and Gerard's discussion about the Mill he's done a 180 and not only acknowledges there is a Mill, but he knows exactly where it is.

   And so far as "yesterday's quote" goes, it was on January 13th this time around, and so that means that "today's quote" was on January 14th.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the following:

Today I thought I'd share a rare production still of DC directing Scene 106A:

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Wrapping up Scene 106A and moving beyond, first by picking up the script from where we left off:

Tracy looks back.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 47A/Scene 106A - Tracy: 'Why not?'

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

Page 47A/Scene 106A - Gerard: 'You won't see very much...it burned down -- over one hundred years ago.'

- coming up, followed by the scene concluding in DC's script with:

She looks at him then rides out.

However, it was DC's intent that Tracy not listen to Gerard and to ride out to the location of the former mill because at the top of page 48 in his script he's handwritten:

106A  EXT - RAVINE - BURNED MILL         As Tracy rides in and looks          it over

And chances are the reason it's also indicted to be Scene 106A is most probably because DC added it to his script before Scene 106 was split into two scenes with the rewrite being Scene 106A.

And when it comes to the dialogue, the descriptions, and the directions, there's nothing to comment about with comparison to the film because none of this sequence appears in any version of the film. What is a shame, though, even though ultimately we were never going to see it, is that they dropped how Tracy was going to be unable to bear Gerard's presence any longer...

And supposedly the reason why Scenes 105 through the second 106A don't appear in the film is because DC was quite unhappy with the performances of the two dogs playing Brutus and Tar. According to Richard Shore, who was the Director of Photography on the film, the dogs looked "absolutely savage" and "everybody was terrified of them" - however, when it came time to shoot them terrorizing Tracy, "the dogs turned out to be extremely friendly and would not growl or bark menacingly." And Shore goes on to say that "It took forever for the trainer to goad them into looking mean." But apparently DC still wasn't satisfied with the result and decided to cut the entire sequence. And that's quite unfortunate because the 106A scenes definitely show that Tracy has good reason to be worried about Quentin because at least half of what he told her earlier in Scene 104 was a delusion, not to mention it clued in the audience to the fact that Charles' personality was somehow encroaching in on Quentin's personality.

An interesting aside is that the dog trainer was given an extras role in the film. And IF I'm remembering things correctly, I believe it was as one of the men who was involved in the hanging of Angelique. It's funny how he made it into the released film in a significant way but his dogs didn't. (However, they do appear more significantly in the 129 minute version of the film in Scene 48 -

- and they're talked about in Scene 50.)

And tomorrow we will begin a new sequence that is actually in the film - however, it's also the only sequence from this month's slideshow that actually does appear in the film...

   And as for "today's" quotes, they were on January 15th this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And when it comes to the graphices for January 11th through the 15th -

The 11th:

No need to share the 12th because the image and the logo simply switch sides.

The 13th:

The 14th:

The 15th:

And no need to share the second graphic for the 15th because the image and the logo simply switch sides.

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

(Click here for a 700X900 version)

- which I also bought on the same day in 1996 that I bought the still I've shared in Reply #330. But unlike how I had no idea that that still even existed, I did know that this one did because it had been shared in the NoDS Pressbook -

- as well as through the opening in  the cover and inside the NoDS Editor's Portfolio (though I don't own that) -

- and a somewhat cropped version on page 141 of the 30 Anniversary Tribute version of the DS Almanac.

And when it comes to the NoDS Editor's Portfolio, you'll probably recall it is #38.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Two things - one from what we just covered and one from what we will soon cover:

...

Page 155 of the DS Almanac Millennium Edition features a still of Gerard at the stable -

- leading out Tracy's horse - and page 154 of the same book features a still of Alex at the greenhouse -

- riding his bicycle - and I'm actually surprised they scanned as well as they did because each one is only about 2 inches by 1 3/8 inches on the page...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And another behing the scenes still worth revisitng:

...

And before we get back to the script, I want to share the following candid production still that I made reference to back when we were dealing with Scene 69(the picnic). It's of David Selby, Kate Jackson and John Karlen taking a break from shooting the scenes at the greenhouse:

And one of the interesting things about what Karlen is doing is that he had never ridden a bicycle before he did so for the scenes for NoDS, so he practiced a lot before shooting so he wouldn't look ridiculous. Of course, if the film had been shot today, they could have just put training wheels on the bike and then taken them out in post.    But that sort of technology wasn't available back in 1971. 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Before we can get back to dealing with quotes, we need to revisit dislogue-less Scene 107:

...

107    EXT - GROUNDS - COLLINWOOD - DAY - WIDE ANGLE     107        It is a beautiful sunny afternoon.  Alex is riding        a bicycle TOWARD CAMERA.  There are a number of        books in the front basket.  In the B.G. the ram-        bling greenhouse can be seen.        ALEX - TRUCKING SHOT        CAMERA TRUCKS IN FRONT OF ALEX HOLDING HIM IN        CLOSE-UP.  Suddenly he catches something out of        the corner of his eye, O.S.  He stops.

End of scene - but just the beginning of the next sequence...

And so far as any differences in the dialogue go, well, there obviously aren't any differences because there isn't any dialogue.

And so far as any differences in the directions and descriptions go, the greenhouse isn't actually seen in the background as Alex rides his bicycle - and Alex is never actually seen in close-up, only medium or wide shots such as these:

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how Scene 108 and the first part of Scene 109 are scripted:

Moving through the next two scenes in the sequence:

108    THE GREENHOUSE - WIDE ANGLE - ALEX' P.O.V.        108        The greenhouse is at least a thousand yards away.        However, there is unmistakenly a girl in a long        period dress strolling leisurely toward its        entrance.  She is too far away to identify.  She        moves so smoothly, it almost looks like she is        floating.        ALEX - CLOSE-UP        as he calls to her.

And that's when today's first quote -

Page 48/Scene 108 - Alex: 'Hey! You!'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

THE FIGURE - ALEX' P.O.V.        as it disappears into the structure. 109    ALEX FROM INSIDE THE GREENHOUSE                   109        as he peddles his bike TOWARD CAMERA.  He dismounts        at the door and looks inside.

And that's when today's second quote -

Page 48/Scene 109 - Alex: 'Hello!'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

He gets no answer so he crosses in, coming to        CAMERA and a LOW ANGLE CLOSE-UP.  He looks around        -- sees no one.

And that's when today's third quote -

Page 48/Scene 109 - Alex: 'Is anybody here?'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

When he still gets no answer, he finally turns and        starts toward the door, as the wind, which had been        nothing but a gentle breeze, suddenly increases in        volume.  Then there is the SOUND OF SPLINTERING        WOOD directly above his head.  He looks up. 109    CONTD                                     CONTD   109        THE ROOF - ALEX' P.O.V.        An entire section of the glass roof suddenly gives        way and comes crashing down.        ALEX - HIGH ANGLE        as falling backward, he is just able to avoid        disaster.

And so far as any differences in the dialogue go, in Scene 108 Alex actually calls out an unscripted "Hello there!" as the figure disappears into the greenhouse - and in Scene 109 as he is seen from inside the greenhouse as he peddles his bike, Alex calls out another "Hello there!" rather than the simply scripted "Hello!" - and Alex calling out "Is anybody here?" after he looks around inside the greenhouse is dropped in the film.

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

- Scene 109 actually begins with a wide high angle long shot of Alex peddling his bike toward the greenhouse before he's seen shot from inside the greenhouse -

- as can be seen in today's second capture in the slideshow - and when Alex enters the greenhouse to look around, he isn't seen in a low angle close-up but rather a normal medium shot as well as a wide angle long shot, as can be seen in the following two captures -

- and it isn't until the point where he might have asked if anybody is there, as can be seen in today's Cut/trimmed sequence graphic -

- that Alex is seen in close-up, though it's not shot from a low angle - and we don't see Alex shot from a high angle and he actually runs from -

- rather than falls backward to escape the falling glass of the roof.

   And as for "today's" quotes, they were all on January 16th this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the subtitles/closed captioning for Scene 108:

When it comes to Scene 108, after Alex spots a figure walking toward the Greenhouse and he calls out, "Hey, you!", he follows that up by calling out an unscripted, "Hello there!", and both the subtitles -

- and the closed captioning -

- acknowledge that.

...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace a TV video screen capture)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting the subtitles/closed captioning for the first part f Scene 109:

When it comes to Scene 109, rather than the scripted "Hello!", Alex calls out another "Hello there!" as he approches the Greenhouse, and both the subtitles -

- and the closed captioning -

- reflect that.

And interestingly the closed captioning acknowledges the sound the portion of the glass ceiling that's about to fall makes before it does so -

- yet the subtitles don't.

...

(ADMIN: Edited to replace TV video screen captures)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Oops - I should have revisited this before I posted Reply #2500:

Two versions of another still related to Scene 108 that's worth revisiting:

Before we move on to tomorrow's quote I'd like to share a still of Angelique outside the greenhouse. But first here's something I posted last time around -

...

...I have to say that one of my favorite candid stills of Parker as Angelique is the one that appears on the back of the VHS box:

And that box may be the only place it's ever been published. Or if there has been another place, I don't honestly remember where...

- however, I've since come across the actual still -

(Click here for a 700X476 version)

- which is much better quality...

...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Continuing to revisit how Scene 109 is scripted:

...

ALEX - CLOSE-UP        as he gets to his feet, brushing himself off, he        knows he was a lucky man.  In the B.G., Tracy has        seen it happen and now rides her horse toward him,        dismounting by the door.

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

Page 49/Scene 109 - Tracy: 'Alex! Are you all right?'

- comes up, followed by the script indicating:

He nods and crosses to her.

And that's when the second part of yesterday's first quote -

Page 49/Scene 109 - Tracy: 'What happened?'

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

Page 49/Scene 109 - Alex: (taking a beat) 'I was exploring and I guess I shouldn't have been. The whole place fell down.'

- comes up, ...

And so far as any differences in the dialogue go, in Scene 109 Tracy's "Alex! Are you all right?" is actually delivered off camera - and to that Alex responds with an unscripted "Stay out of here, honey" - ...

And so far as any differences in the directions and descriptions go, we don't actually get a close-up of Alex after he gets to the ground so much as we get -

- a low angle shot of him on the ground - and we don't actually see Tracy riding her horse in the background because there's a full on shot of Tracy riding across the field toward the greenhouse -

- and after dismounting running toward the direction of the greenhouse -

- and apparently Ulysses is one smart horse because even though Tracy left him just past the field when she ran toward the greenhouse, he knew enough to follow her to the entrance to the greenhouse where he's waiting -

- when Tracy and Alex come out - ...

   And so far as "yesterday's" quotes go, they were on January 17th this time around.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting two stills related to Scene 109:

Today I'm going to share four stills that are related in various degrees to Scene 109:

Here's the first -

(Click here for a 700X466 version)

- a version of which (that shows more on the left and less on the right) has been shared as November's photo in the Fest's 1999 Movie Calendar - and here's the second -

- which I don't believe has been officially published anywhere...

However, you may recall that the second one is #23 in the NoDS Editor's Portfolio.