Another New Slideshow

[Midnite]

MB, at the Burbank Fest in '08, it was shown on Saturday before all the panels-- that was the first time I'd seen it.  But I really couldn't tell you where it fell on the schedule in '09.

Joan plays a madam in the episode, and I don't mean that in the matriarchal sense. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Getting back on topic, it's unfortunate that today's quote (hoDS: Original Scene #169 - Carolyn: 'You want to be with me, don't you, Todd? Hold me close, very close.') was cut from the script. Breathy cooing seems to work wonders on male vampire victims. (Just look at the effect it had on MTW's Joe in the '91 series. ) But no - it was all down to business after Todd's first attack.  Oh, well...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It's interesting that in an early version of the script the sheriff was to have been at Collinwood dealing with the aftermath of Carolyn's staking. It does make sense. But in the long run it really doesn't matter that he was dropped because Scene #178 doesn't even appear in the film...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The next three days of quotes all come from Scene #180, which is one of the scenes DC decided not to shoot at all. It deals with Stokes' attempt to impress on Julia how important it is for her to continue her research on the blood samples. She eventually claims to be going to the hospital to get back to her research - but little does Stokes know where she's really going. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Today's quote is the first of several that were apparently removed from an early draft of Scene #184. This particular quote does not appear in the novelization - but several others do. In fact, the scene plays quite a bit differently in the novel. I don't know if some of the differences were the inventions of Marilyn Ross or not because I don't have a copy of the script that was used for the novelization (or the calendar). But as I said, a lot of the lines that appear on the calendar but don't appear in DC's script (which contains a 3/19/70 revision) do appear in the novelization. And if you have a copy of the novel, it's really worth reading how the scene plays out in it...

[Gothick]

I remember a scene in the Old House drawing room where Barn offers Julia some sherry, which she praises as "dry! lovely!"

I lost my copy of that book somewhere dans les brumes de l'antiquite, as the saying goes, alas...

G.

[Julia99]

there is a novelization?  wow things still to learn ...

[Gothick]

Unfortunately it is by the dreadful Dan "Marilyn" Ross... as I recall it, this one does actually have some decent bits, such as the scene under discussion--all no doubt cribbed from Sam and Gordon.

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The hoDS novelization follows the script very closely with only a few embellishments here and there. It's just too bad there never was a NoDS novelization...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

The full quote on the calendar for today is actually: Barnabas - 'You were very brave to come here, Doctor. Now put that cross away.' However, in the reworked version only what's quoted in the slideshow remains.

One interesting things is that the full quote was supposed to take place in the drawing room and not on the landing as the scene plays out in the film.

Another interesting thing is that 'You were very brave to come here, Doctor,' was resurrected and used in the '91 series' equivalent of this scene, which actually does take place in the drawing room.

[Gothick]

Again, I'm seeing a sequence that has always been one of the few highlights of hoDS through new eyes thanks to the current wonderful selection of captures.

Unlike many other parts of the movie, this scene did present a pivotal moment in the drama where notes of character came strongly to the fore, despite DC's determination to focus on action, blood, and carnage as much as possible.

Wonderful series, MB.  Thanks!

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

We're probably just lucky that scene is as good as it is because the original version was much more character oriented but, of course, many of those elements were dropped in the rewrite...

The worst thing is that Scene #186 ended up on the cutting room floor. But I'll save my rant about that for when it comes up on the calendar/in the quotes on the 23rd...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

A variation on today's dropped quote: Julia - 'Then give me the chance to conduct this experiment on you,' was also resurrected for the '91 series' equivalent of this scene.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

It really is a terrible shame that Scene #186 ended up on the cutting room floor. True, some of the same material in terms of storyline is covered in Scene #187. But Julia's walk with Barnabas would have been an excellent counterpoint to his walk with Maggie later on - particularly considering how Julia witnesses that walk. But quite obviously DC wasn't interested in such character oriented matters. 

[Gothick]

Just a note to thank you MB for those wonderful Julia closeups on display earlier this week (maybe these were for scene #187?).  I particularly liked one where she was either saying the line about the sheriff thinking the vampire has left the community, or about their likelihood of complete success in the treatment.  Grayson managed to look almost like a schoolgirl about to be taken out for a treat at that moment. marvelous capture.

And of course you know how much I love the one of Julia hovering in romantic rhapsody over the music box...

If only the actors had been allowed to play out the denouement with some degree of tragic subtlety.  Instead, we got DC's dream of becoming the Sam Peckinpah of the horror set.

G.