The
following is a list of scenes that are not present in the
129-minute version of Night
of Dark Shadows recovered
in 1999. The fine cut of the film, which included virtually
every scene shot for the film had a running time of around
150 minutes and was deemed too long and ambitious for a commercial
horror film. Though very happy with the 150-minute version,
Dan Curtis trimmed around 20 minutes from it, producing a
more commercial 129-minute version, which he presented to
MGM. That version had 35 more minutes hacked from it before
theatrical release.
At this stage, Dan
Curtis would be interested in showing the longest version
possible, but the following scenes were removed in New York
and probably disposed before the 129-minute version was screened
for MGM. Chances of these trims and lifts existing are almost
non-existent. There is a chance some of these scenes
might be constructed using still photographs and a re-recorded
audio track, but there are not enough stills to recreate each
scene. For instance, though we have several shots exist
of Tracy and Gerard outside the stable and one inside it,
no shots of Tracy being cornered by the dogs exist, and only
one shot of Gerard molesting her remains.
Grayson
Hall in a frame of the legendary lost seance sequence,
which was recovered in 1999
|
While most of the
trims were made of repetitive material whose loss doesn't
affect the film too strongly, the Poolhouse dream and basement
sequences are important and their loss is a tragedy. These
were apparently cut for creative reasons, as they would only
have added two minutes of running time to the film.
If you have any information about copies of this material
in existence, or own photographs from these sequences, please
email Darren Gross
of the Night of
Dark Shadows Restoration Website.
Ext. Front
of Collinwood--Night: The
Tower begins to glow
Int. Master
Bedroom--Night: Quentin
rises in a trance and leaves
Int. Corridor--Night:
Quentin walks towards the
stairway
Ext. Collinwood--Night:
Quentin appears in the
tower window; Gerard watches
Int. Master
Bedroom--Night: Tracy wakes,
sees that Quentin has gone and goes back to sleep
Int. Lower
Stairs: Carlotta descends
the stairs
Int. Master
Bedroom: Tracy gets up;
Quentin remains in bed
Int. Gallery:
Quentin, Tracy, Claire
and Alex discuss the two Angélique portraits
Ext. Stable:
Tracy enters stable while
Gerard watches from the scaffold
Int. Stable:
Gerard's dogs attack Tracy.
Gerard molests Tracy
Int. Stable:
Tracy leaves on horseback
Int. Foyer:
Alex talks to Tracy and
exits
Ext. Collinwood:
Tracy tells Alex she will
look in tower; Rack
Focus: Carlotta watches
from the stairwell window
Ext. Back
Lawn seen through the Gallery Window--1810: Strack's
henchmen wait
Int. Corridor--1810:
Henchmen join Strack; Gabriel
and Laura and head upstairs
Int. Stairway--1810:
Sarah cries, trying to
save Angélique [trims]
Int. Sarah's
Bedroom--1810: Mrs Castle
tells Sarah not to look
High Angle:
Quentin runs from the house
Ext. Countryside:
Quentin struggles, stops
and has a flashback
Ext. Countryside:
Quentin in trance returns
to house
Int. Card
Room: Tracy dials the telephone
Int. Cottage:
The telephone rings in
the empty cottage
Int. Second
Floor Corridor: Quentin
runs from the bedroom
Int. First
Floor Stairway: Carlotta
comes upstairs and notices Quentin
Int. First
Floor Corridor: Carlotta
nods to Gerard who exits
Ext. Cottage:
Alex and Claire return;
Gerard watches
Int. Ruined
Swimming Pool: Quentin
and Angélique make love [Around 10 seconds of this scene
exists on the theatrical trailer; the rest of the sequence
is lost]
Int. Cottage:
Alex and Claire recover
and plan
Ext. Collinwood
Portico: Quentin relates
the dream of being locked up as Charles
Int. Organ
Room: Quentin's part enter
and find the lights out
Int. Corridor:
Quentin's party have candles.
Alex tells Quentin to stay away from the tower [Although
this scene is scripted and blocked in the director's notes,
it is unknown whether this sequence was actually shot. Not
a single still photo from this sequence is known to exist]
Int. Small
Room: Alex and Quentin
tear down a wall, uncovering Charles' skeleton and Angélique's
coffin
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