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60
Number

60

Timeline

1967

Narrator

Alexandra Moltke
(as Victoria Winters)

Writer

Art Wallace

Director

John Sedwick

Broadcast

September 16, 1966
(Friday)

Recorded

September 9, 1966
(Friday)

Video

Complete: Disc 7
Beginning 2: Disc 3

60 Gallery
We have 5 images of Dark Shadows 60

Whilst at the Evans cottage having dinner with Sam and Maggie, Victoria finds one of Sam's paintings of a woman who resembles her.

Synopsis[]

My name is Victoria Winters. Collinwood at night. Its towers a dark mass against a threatening sky. A symbol of a mystery I cannot solve. A mystery that brings me to a cottage not far from the waterfront. A cottage that might hold the answers I've been waiting so long to hear.

At the Evans cottage, Victoria finds a portrait that Sam painted that she feels resembles her. The painting could be any number of years old and Victoria anxiously awaits Sam's return home. Burke shows up at the Sheriff's office for an update, which George is not prepared to give. He is anxious to get to his dinner. Burke is upset that the Sheriff doesn't have clear goals set for arresting Malloy's killer. Maggie vows that she'll never set foot in Collinwood. She and Victoria talk about ghosts, and Maggie asserts that there's a ghost about her house. Victoria tells Maggie of her experience with a ghost (30). Maggie tells Victoria that her family troubles are 10 years old, and Victoria puts it together with Burke's trial. Sam comes home and learns they'll be having a dinner guest. Burke sees David's drawing, which the Sheriff states was pretty close to being accurate. Burke wants to know where the three potential spots Malloy could have entered the water were. They were Lookout Point (halfway between the Cannery and Malloy's house), Sim's Cove, and Malloy’s house, which was on the water. George tells Burke that his assertions about the meeting’s purpose have been contradicted by both Sam and Roger, one of whom Burke believes is the murderer of Bill Malloy.

During a break, Victoria tells Sam her sad story. She asks about the portrait, which he says is 25 years old. He finally places the portrait's subject as Betty Hanscombe, whom Sam might have run with before he met Maggie's mother. Betty left town 5-6 months after the portrait, and 5-6 months past that she perished. Maggie remembers that Hansen was the name of the man "Burke" killed. Sam doesn't want to tell Victoria about the accident. They continue to needle him about the accident. He tells them about Burke, Laura, and Roger, who were friends. Burke and Laura were intimate before he introduced Roger to Laura. Sam tells of how drunk Burke was the night of the accident, and that Laura and Roger affirmed each others' testimony that Burke was driving the car. They were married a week later.

The Sheriff calls Sam and warns him that Burke might come around to question Sam and to be careful. He gives Sam permission to call him if Burke shows up. Burke does indeed as the trio are about to have dinner. He asks for an invitation.

Memorable quotes[]

Sheriff Patterson: Well, Burke, seems like we ought to give you a desk around here.

Victoria: Every night in the foundling home, I used to lie in bed and stare at the dark. And pray that when I woke up in the morning, I'd know who I really was. Oh, it's a common disease with all the others there, too. Looking for answers.
Maggie: Vicki, have you ever thought what would happen if you found the answers you were after and they weren't what you wanted to hear?
Victoria: Well, anything would be better than not knowing.
Maggie: I wonder.
Victoria: How can you say that? Every night when your father comes home, he's real. He's a person you've known your whole life.
Maggie: Is he?

Maggie: Say, Vicki, what's the kitchen like up at Collinwood?
Victoria: Oh, spooky and scary like the rest of the house.
Maggie: A spooky kitchen? That's one I never heard of.
Victoria: Well, you see, every time you open the oven door, you've got to be really careful. Because there's this old witch standing right behind ready to push you in and make a meal out of you. And on top of the stove, instead of burners, there's open fires and huge cauldrons on top, and you have to stir and stir. Double, double...
Victoria and Maggie: Toil and trouble.

Dramatis personae[]

Background information and notes[]

Production[]

  • The portrait of Betty Hanscombe was based on a publicity photograph of Alexandra Moltke.
  • One of the original commercials for this episode had Ellen Burstyn introduce Palmolive soap.
  • Occasionally, as in this episode, the stagehand holding the clapboard also holds a cigarette.
  • At 13:48 Sam Evans is seen smoking a pipe as opposed to his usual cigarette.

Story[]

  • Maggie has never been up to Collinwood before. Maggie feels her own home is spooky enough.
  • Sam tells Victoria that Betty Hanscombe had her portrait painted 25 years ago. She left Collinsport 6 months after that and died 5 or 6 months after leaving. She had no known relatives or contacts; Sam says Betty's parents are dead as well. Sam knew her well before he was married. It is implied they dated.
  • Roger and Laura married a week after Burke was convicted.
  • Sims Cove is two miles north of the cannery.
  • Burke mentions the game Truth or Consequences.
  • Bill's house is on the water, but he was afraid of water and couldn't really swim.
  • The bar Burke, Roger, and Laura were drinking in on the night of the accident was on Bangor Road.
  • Maggie, while trying to encourage Sam to continue telling his story, says an old out-of-date expression about taking the shoe off the other foot.

Bloopers and continuity errors[]

  • In the teaser as Victoria asks Maggie to come right away studio lights can be seen reflected in the top of the mirror.
  • When talking with Maggie, Vicki flubs a line: "All big house [should be "houses"] have stories and legends attached to them."
  • It has been made clear in past episodes that Vicki believes she has never met Sam Evans; during their disturbing meeting on Widows' Hill in episode 5, Sam didn't identify himself to Vicki. Yet she does seem to recognize Sam as that man in another episode when Sam walks into the diner and Vicki is leaving--they look at each other, and Vicki seems disturbed at the sight of him. But there is no sign of recognition on Vicki's part when Sam enters the cottage in this episode.
  • As Sam goes to a back room to wash up for dinner, a second camera pokes into frame.
  • While Sheriff Patterson is warning Burke against taking matters into his own hands, a teleprompter as well as studio lights can be seen reflected in the door of the sheriff's office.

End credit announcement[]

  • Stay tuned for Where the Action Is, next here on ABC.
  • Dark Shadows is a Dan Curtis production.

External Links []

Dark Shadows - Episode 60 on the IMDb

The Collinsport Historical Society - Dark Shadows Diary - Episode 60

Dark Shadows Commentary- Episode 60: Double, double

Dark Shadows Before I Die- Episode 60: 9/16/66

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