672 — darkshadows

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Number	663
Timeline	1969
Narrator	Grayson Hall
Writer	Ron Sproat
Director	Lela Swift
Broadcast	January 21, 1969 (Tuesday)
Recorded	January 16, 1969 (Thursday)
Video	Complete: Disc 70 Collection 12: Disc 2

We have 37 images of Dark Shadows 672

The werewolf traps Carolyn in Elizabeth's mausoleum. Elizabeth revives from her catatonic state.

Synopsis

The great halls of Collinwood are clothed in darkness, a darkness sinister and impenetrable, but not as impenetrable as the secrets of the great estate, for Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the mistress of Collinwood, has been placed under a curse and because of it has been buried alive. At this moment, she realizes her daughter is in danger, but she is trapped in her tomb, consigned to the land of the living dead.

The werewolf traps Carolyn in Elizabeth's mausoleum; Elizabeth is able to push a button in her coffin, which causes bells to ring. Barnabas and Julia go to the mausoleum and save Carolyn. Julia examines Elizabeth and proclaims that she is still dead. Later Elizabeth shows up at Collinwood and tells everyone how Cassandra put her under a spell. Barnabas shoots the werewolf.

Memorable quotes

Julia: I'll get you some brandy; that'll help.

Carolyn: I've never believed in miracles before, but I do now.

Elizabeth: This house--I never thought I'd see it or any of you ever again.

Dramatis personae

Joan Bennett as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins
Grayson Hall as Julia Hoffman
Nancy Barrett as Carolyn Stoddard
Alex Stevens as Werewolf (credited as stunt coordinator)

Background information and notes

Production

This episode was recorded out of broadcast sequence. The previous episode to be recorded was 673.
Only cast members (including stunt coordinator Alex Stevens) are in the end credits, no crew members.
In order to facilitate the action of Alex Stevens reaching in through the decorative grille of the mausoleum door, a portion of the filigree was cut away, leaving a hole that is slightly larger than the diameter of his arm.
Due to an ABC news report cutting off the last act of the previous episode, a recap of the last act was given during the opening title sequence.

Story

INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: Elizabeth: Calls out to Carolyn.
Barnabas apparently has the number to the cottage memorized.

Bloopers and continuity errors

In the teaser, one of the "rocks" jiggles as the werewolf climbs on it.
In Act I, when Julia opens the doors to Collinwood, Nancy Barrett steps on Grayson Hall's line: Julia: "Carolyn, I was just..." Carolyn: "Yes, Julia?" Julia: "...just coming out to look for you." Then, in the drawing room, Grayson Hall steps on Nancy Barrett's line: Carolyn: "I head a voice..." Julia: "A...?" Carolyn: "...calling to me." Julia: "A voice?"
Julia seems oddly dismissive and nonchalant about Carolyn's report of the state of Chris's cottage, with furniture overturned and glass broken.
When the werewolf attacks, Tom Jennings' gravestone sways about.
Why would they place the button to ring the bells in Elizabeth's coffin a full hand length away from her hand?
The button is to her left side. Hasn't it been established that Elizabeth is right-handed, as seen in previous episodes where she's signed contracts? [How is this an issue? Handedness refers to things like handwriting. A right-handed person can easily press a button with their left hand, so I'm unclear why this bullet point is here.]
The bells start to ring before Elizabeth presses the button.
One would think that Elizabeth would reek of rotten stench since she has been supposedly dead for three weeks and wasn't embalmed, even though she did have air vents put into her coffin. When Barnabas opens the coffin, Elizabeth appears as if she is just sleeping, and Julia, a trained medical doctor, doesn't see anything amiss--no decay, no smell--as she bends down to listen to Elizabeth's heart. You would think she would at least wonder why the body hasn't changed in the three weeks it has been in the coffin. Common sense would indicate that if a dead body were not embalmed, it would show serious signs of decay in three weeks, even if it were kept in a cool, dry mausoleum. [It's no surprise the body didn't decay considering Elizabeth wasn't actually dead, but the fact that Julia thought nothing of it doesn't make any sense.]
Barnabas shuts the door to the mausoleum, but it immediately re-opens.
After they return to Collinwood from the mausoleum, when Barnabas says to Carolyn that there's something he doesn't understand, Nancy Barrett seems to have swallowed her drink wrong as she coughs.
As Julia comes down the steps, a loud clang can be heard.
A boom microphone shadow can be seen as Carolyn walks from the foyer to the drawing room, and then as Julia tells Carolyn it is not possible for her to have heard her mother; also when Julia listens for Elizabeth's heartbeat and feels for a pulse.
The boom microphone makes a lengthy appearance as Carolyn goes up the staircase to see her mother.
Someone from off-screen coughs as Elizabeth tells the story of what Cassandra did to her.
Joan Bennett steps on Nancy Barrett's line: Elizabeth: "She put me under a spell." Carolyn: "A spell?" Elizabeth [simultaneously]: "One..." Then, "One night..."
After Elizabeth goes upstairs and as Barnabas and Carolyn discuss not understanding Elizabeth's resurrection, someone coughs or sneezes off-stage.
When Barnabas goes to get Roger's gun, a boom mic shadow moves across the grandfather clock.
As Carolyn leaves the doors of Collinwood, a wall to her left appears in what looks like part of another set. [Addendum: This does not appear to be from another set. We've seen this before outside Collinwood, as well as similar walls in Eagle Hill Cemetery. While not 100% convincing as part of the architecture, they are not pieces of another set but rather a way contain the set.]
At the very end of the episode, the werewolf runs directly toward the camera, although Barnabas, his victim, is standing slightly to the left.
Although an aesthetically pleasing set design, the finished mausoleum differs noticeably in its door design and window shape / placement from the model of the mausoleum seen in Ep 603, which was supposed to represent Elizabeth’s precise and non-negotiable wishes. This is curious, since Sy Tomashoff designed both. (The inconsistency isn’t addressed in the show, but perhaps an off-camera explanation could be that Liz refined her concept when Roger smashed the model, after which she had the opportunity to order the redesign of certain features.)