Happy 50th Anniversary, Night of Dark Shadows

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And continuing to revisit more of Scene 111 as it appears in DC's script:

... yesterday's quote -

Page 51/Scene 111 - Alex: 'Quentin, you're going to laugh at this. I think you're drawn to that room. I think you're being taken over by Angelique.'

- coming up, followed by today's quote -

Page 51/Scene 111 - Quentin: 'You're right. I'm laughing.'

- coming up.

And when it comes to any differences in the dialogue, the directions, and the descriptions, at this point we can't compare the script to the film because blah, blah, blah. However, DC has a notations that after the camera switches to a close-up of Alex at the beginning of his lines, it then switches to a close-up of Quentin after Alex says he thinks Quentin is drawn to the tower room. Though, as we've learned from scenes in the shorter versions of the film, we can't necessarily blah, blah, blah, blah.

   And so far as "yesterday's quote" goes, it was on January 29th this time around, and "today's quote" is indeed today's, January 30th's.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Next up I'd like to get into the differences between the A Poster and its counterpart newspaper ad because there are some interesting differences. The artwork for the newspaper ad version included in the NoDS Pressbook is not simply a B&W version of the artwork for the A Poster.

Here are each version side by side:

(Click here for a 1480X1212 version)

First up we're going to deal with the subtle differences surrounding the section of the artwork featuring Angelique's rotting face:

Up top notice how Angelique's main hanging figure's hair is slightly different in each version above Angelique's spirit's right shoulder and outstretched right arm. And in the newspaper ad version notice how the cape worn by Angelique's main hanging figure appears less clear through the translucence of the outstretched parts of Angelique's spirit's dress.

But the major difference between the two versions appear inside the mouth of Angelique's decaying face. The branch of the tree, which is barely noticeable in the A Poster version, is much more pronounced in the newspaper ad version. The hair and the angles of the hanging figure's elbows are different. And most obviously, the figure itself is white against a dark background. (I wonder if Harry M. Benshoff managed to miss the hanging figure inside the mouth in the newspaper ads, which one would think would be next to impossible to do, but, well... Though at least when it came to the ads theaters placed, the newspaper versions of the A Poster weren't used nearly as often as the newspaper versions of the B Poster.)

More to come when we'll deal with more differences in the newspaper ad version...

 

[Uncle Roger]

I hadn't heard such a ridiculous analogy since someone described the backdrop of the Charles Busch play Psycho Beach Party looking like a vagina on surfboards. My "theory" about the NODS poster is that Henry Benshoff had way too much time on his hands.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And now the differences in the Charles and Angelique making out sections of the A Poster and the newspaper ad. As you see, it's something I've mentioned before:

...

It's interesting ... that Angelique is semi-transparent for the color version of the poster, implying she's a ghost, yet she's human in the actual still and doesn't appear transparent in the B&W version of the poster...

And these examples aren't the only times we'll see Charles and Angelique making out because they'll be coming up in an entirely different poster/newspaper ad campaign in another country. But more on that when we get to those examples...

More to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

My "theory" about the NODS poster is that Henry Benshoff had way too much time on his hands.

My "theory" is that you've probably got that right. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Even though I've already shared the B&W newspaper ad side by side with the color A Poster, here's a B&W version of both, which shows other bits of how different the newspaper ad would have been if they'd simply grayscaled the poster, rather than redrawn it.

(Click here for a 1480X1212 version)

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting how I'd mentioned previously that:

...

The NoDS Pressbook actually features four main ads based on the A Poster and they vary from minor differences to major differences.

(Click here for a 1096X2030 version)

More to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

And three other ads based on the A Poster that are also included in the NoDS Pressbook:

More to come...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As I've pointed out, one of the interesting things when it comes to the NoDS A Poster is that its newspaper ad versions were used far fewer times than the newspaper version of the NoDS B Poster. As such, I haven't come across many examples, but here are several that I have (some of which I've already shared and some that I have not - and it's easy to tell which AD MAT the theaters went with for their ad(s)):

...

However not all ads were the B Poster because in its Sunday edition to announce the opening of NoDS on the upcoming Wednesday, the Boston Herald Advertiser (which has been out of business for decades but used to be a hugely popular newspaper in Boston) used the A Poster. And rather than scan the ad and then share the same version from the NoDS PressBook, I just going to share the Pressbook version (and you're not missing any sort of text because there wasn't any added to the ad):

And given that seemingly no specific theater was promoting the film's upcoming opening, I've often wondered who made the decision to go with the A Poster? And because there was no specific theater in mind with the ad, instead there was a listing of most of the theaters/drive-ins where NoDS was to open, and I've included that at the bottom just as it was in the actual ad. Not all 130 are there ...

Ad that appeared in the local newspaper 50 years ago today for the opening on the 25th:

...

Briefly switching back to newspaper ads, this version of the A poster is the ad the Durfee Theatre ran throughout most of NoDS' run:

...

And this one appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette on August 23, 1971:

Not exactly the best quality, but it's quite possible that it may have appeared like that in the newspaper. And it's part of a slideshow of other NoDS material and no credits were given to any of it.

On the other hand, this was shared on Flickr by Cliff Carson - however he didn't supply a date when the ad appeared in the newspaper:

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Revisiting more of how Scene 111 is scripted in DC's script:

Picking up Scene 111 after Quentin says he's laughing at Alex' theory about the possibility of him being taken over by Angelique:

111    CONT'D                                         CONT'D    111

And that's when yesterday's quote -

Page 52/Scene 111 - Alex: 'Well don't. Look. The same year Angelique died, Laura drowned and Charles disappeared. The drowning was recorded as an accident. But suppose Charles killed Laura?'

- comes up, followed by the script continuing with:

Quentin looks at him.                     QUENTIN           So?

And that's when today's quote -

Page 52/Scene 111 - Alex: 'Quentin, I think Tracy's in danger.'

- comes up.

And when it comes to any differences in the dialogue, the directions, and the descriptions, at this point we can't compare the script to the film because blah, blah, blah. However, DC's notations indicate that the camera would switch to a 2 shot when Alex tells Quentin not to laugh, switch to a close-up of Quentin when he looks at Alex, and switches to a close-up of Alex after Quentin asks "So?" Though, as we've learned from scenes in the shorter versions of the film, we can't necessarily blah, blah, blah, blah.

   And as far as "yesterday's quote" goes, it was on January 31st this time around, and so that means that "today's quote" is indeed today's, February 1st's.

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   Revisiting two posts regarding the above quotes:

Special thanks for today's quote.  I have no memory of these lines at all (which is hardly surprising given other lapsus memoriae I have mentioned).  Interesting to learn what Laura's fate was.  "Laura my darling" paid a bitter price for that funeral laughter.

Special thanks for today's quote.

Thank Midnite - she picked June's quotes. 

Interesting to learn what Laura's fate was.  "Laura my darling" paid a bitter price for that funeral laughter.

Not to mention being a voyeur! 

However, even before reading the script, given the way the scene with Tracy in the poolhouse plays, I'd always presumed Charles had drowned Laura. But it is nice to see that confirmed in the script. And as much as I hate it that Scene 111 wasn't in the shorter versions of the films, in some ways it's almost better because then the scene with Tracy in the poolhouse comes as more of a shock because we're not anticipating it due to the parts of Scene 111 about Tracy possibly being in danger, which have yet to come up, but will begin shortly...

Although, maybe it really could be a tossup because perhaps the audience would have worried more about Tracy due to their fear that she could be drowned. Who knows? We can never be sure because only having originally seen versions of the film without Scene 111, we can never really know how we might have felt had it been included originally...

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Before we move on to the B poster I'd like to revisit this post:

...

As for the main purpose of this post, it's to give a sort of tutorial about the sizes of the various NoDS posters for those who may not be familiar with the terms for them.

(Click here for a 940X1490 version)

3 SHEET	41" x 81" Larger lobby displays. No longer used today.
1 SHEET	27" x 40" Theatre lobbies, theatre marquees and glass display cases. Still in use today.
INSERT CARD	14" x 36" Theatre lobbies and glass display cases. Still in use today.
28 X 22 LOBBY CARD	Self-explanatory. Still in use today.
6 SHEET	81" X 81" Huge lobby displays and theatre marquees. No longer used today.

As you may have noticed, only the 3 Sheet and Insert Card versions of the NoDS A poster feature the full artwork. Back in the day copies of the 3 Sheet poster were available to fans for purchase through companies like Cinema Attic (where I bought most of my hoDS/NoDS promotional materials) but I've never seen a copy available online for purchase. (Though, of course, that's not to say it never has been available.) On the other hand, I've seen multiple copies of the Insert Card available online for purchase. I own a copy (a rather special copy as far as I'm concerned - but more on that down the line). I also own a copy of both the A and B 1 Sheets, and the 28 X 22 Lobby Card.

Though this isn't the last we've seen of the A Poster because I actually do plan to finally get into why as far as I concerned I consider my copy of the Insert Card to be special. But I'm holding off on doing that as the last part of examining the NoDS posters in depth because it will also involve some foreign posters that we haven't gotten into yet. And if you think there might not be much to get into when it comes to the B Poster, I'm guessing you might be quite surprised once we get into everything...

 

[Uncle Roger]

I find it more than a little odd that one of the ads makes a point of NODS being in color. By 1971, most movies were being made in color. There would be occasional films that were made in black and white, such as Young Frankenstein and The Last Picture Show but very few movie goers would be expecting to see a film in black and white by that point. I'm also confused by the reference to "samples" on TV. A series that ran for almost 5 years really cannot be considered a sample.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

   Yeah, when I saw those two things in the ad, I thought they were definitely more than a bit strange.

Iowans may sometimes complain that some in the rest of the country think of them purely as  "a flyover state," but somehow I seriously doubt that by 1971 they were still just getting the B&W movies of the '50s and '60s, so advertising that a film would be in color would be a selling point. Yet, pointing out the films are in color is mentioned not once, not twice, not three, but four times in the ad! 

And I was also confused by the ad saying people have seen samples. If as you say, they were referring to the daytime DS, that's certainly more than a bit odd. At first I tried to explain it away to myself as maybe they meant people had seen TV spots for the film, but that didn't seem right either. Who knows what their thinking was? 

 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

As promised, revisting the B Poster:

...

... the one sheet B Poster.

(Click here for a 720X1070 version)

...

Hmmm - I wonder if Harry M. Benshoff has a theory the NoDS' Colinwood possesses "a monstrous and devouring vagina dentata"? If so, can one imagine just how far he would have to stretch to lay THAT theory out?!    But at least he wouldn't be hampered by anything appearing in the mouth of Angelique's rotting face because all we see through the mouth is a section of Collinwood in the background...

More to come...