617 — darkshadows

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Number	610
Timeline	1968
Narrator	Joan Bennett
Writer	Ron Sproat
Director	Sean Dhu Sullivan
Broadcast	November 5, 1968 (Tuesday)
Recorded	October 29, 1968 (Tuesday)
Video	Complete: Disc 65 Collection 11: Disc 1

We have 31 images of Dark Shadows 617

Roger dreams that if Victoria marries Jeff, she will die.

Synopsis

An autumn dusk has settled over Collinwood, bringing with it not the fear of night but a renewed hope of happiness for a young woman long acquainted with the terrors that have plagued these premises. But as the deepening dark surrenders to the night, a new threat, evil in its creation and awesome in its consequence, will reveal its final purpose, the destruction of Victoria Winters.

Victoria accepts Jeff's marriage proposal and they say they are getting married in less than a month. Victoria asks Elizabeth to be her matron of honor. Elizabeth asks Victoria if she will allow Roger to give her away.

Eve intercepts Jeff at the terrace and tells him he is Peter Bradford and that she loves him. Eve kisses Jeff in an attempt to make him remember he is Peter. Roger catches them. Jeff says he cannot explain and that it was a mistake. Roger says he is worried about Jeff's attitude and character and that he is going to tell Victoria to keep her from marrying him. Jeff begs him not to, but Roger claims he will be doing it for Victoria's sake.

After Victoria sees Elizabeth off to bed, Roger and Jeff enter, still arguing. Roger asks Victoria to come to the drawing room, and Jeff says Roger will be destroying some of the happiest moments of her life. Roger, moved by this appeal, says that it can wait, but Victoria insists. Instead of telling her about Eve, he lies and says it is about Barnabas. He says he is worried because Barnabas is missing from the Old House. Victoria leaves, only briefly mollified, and Jeff thanks Roger for not telling her, but Roger says he didn't do it for Jeff but for Victoria. After Victoria returns, Roger retires for the night. Jeff tells her that he and Roger were fighting because he did not want her to worry about Barnabas. Roger goes to Elizabeth and tells her about the woman, but Elizabeth defends him to Roger, saying that Jeff is the only one who can make Victoria happy. Downstairs, Jeff and Victoria discuss the wedding in the drawing room while Eve watches through the window.

That night, Roger dreams about the wedding. When Victoria's veil is lifted, there is a skull instead of her face. He awakens and says aloud that if Victoria marries Jeff, she will die.

Memorable quotes

Roger: Vicki is one of the few people in this world that I find worth caring about.

Roger: (after discovering Eve and Jeff kissing) What a stunning woman. Who, may I ask, is she?

Jeff: I don’t know.

Roger: Really? I had the distinct impression that you were rather well acquainted.

Roger: I was just having one of my moments of inexplicable hysteria.

Dramatis personae

Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins
Roger Davis as Jeff Clark
Marie Wallace as Eve
Alexandra Moltke as Victoria Winters
Tim Gordon as Minister (uncredited)

Background information and notes

Production

Beginning with this episode, a persistent technical problem recurs, with varying degrees of severity, in numerous scenes. This malfunction, which affects only one camera, causes the video to break up and roll, usually when the camera is pointed toward a brightly glowing object (fireplace flames, candles, etc.). The problem, which was not corrected until the early episodes of the 1897 story line, was serious enough that MPI Home Video added disclaimers to the VHS tapes and DVD sets containing the affected episodes, explaining that the difficulties occurred at the time of production and are not the result of a defect in the tape/disc.

This show was taped on October 29, 1968, two weeks before Alexandra Moltke leaves the show for good in 627. She is approximately two months pregnant when she leaves. She will appear in eight of the ten episodes until she leaves, missing only 621 and 623. Coincidentally, her son will be born on the third anniversary of the show's debut.

Story

DREAM SEQUENCE: Roger dreams of Victoria's wedding.
- Roger's prophecy that Victoria would die if she married Jeff was later proven to be correct. In 967, Peter Bradford's ghost, Jeff and Peter having been revealed to be one and the same, states that Victoria died when Leviathan Jeb Hawkes caused her to leap to her death from Widows' Hill shortly after leaving Collinwood to start a new life with Peter. Their marriage took place previous to that in 637.
TIMELINE: Victoria hasn't seen Jeff in "a very long time". It was the "other night" when Eve came to Jeff's apartment. Day 245 begins, and will end in 619.

Bloopers and continuity errors

The fountain on the terrace is off and then pops on as Jeff and Eve meet.
As Roger Davis enters the terrace area he can be seen looking up and gesturing as though trying to signal someone off screen. [It looks like he is reaching up and playfully grabbing at a leaf as he enters the terrace.]
Roger Davis speaks over Louis Edmonds's lines. In the scene in the drawing room, when Roger is going to tell Vicki about seeing Jeff kiss Eve, Roger says, "Well, it's..." and Jeff says "Go on" while Roger continues with "probably something..." A few lines later, Jeff says "Go on" in the proper place.
After Roger kisses Victoria good night, a loud squeal can be heard.
The collar of Roger's dress shirt is visible above his pajama top.
During the scene when Roger, Jeff, and Vicki talk in the drawing room, Roger Davis, Louis Edmonds, and Alexandra Moltke all seem to be struggling not to laugh.