|
|
"The Edge of Night" was one of the first serials to venture outside the confines of its studio to present brilliantly executed action sequences "on location". In its first years, Edge featured chase sequences and shootouts which aired live from the studio roof and surrounding streets. Thus began a tradition of complex stunts, staged outside the CBS studios, which solidified Edge's reputation for innovative, briskly paced drama.
During Henry Slesar's tenure as headwriter, "The Edge of Night" was budgeted for at least one major location shoot per year. According to Slesar, remote segments were used only when they were integral to a particular storyline. Stories were never created or altered for the sole purpose of accommodating location sequences.
Although budgeted for exterior taping, no remote segments were used on "The Edge of Night" in 1970, 1976 or 1981. The 1978-79 season saw more individual location shooting than any other years, with a total of nine shoots between July 1978 and June 1979. A brief summary of location sequences follows:
NOVEMBER 1957:Mike Karr, Bill Marceau, Mary Harper, and Clayton Pike are shown on the street outside the Narraganset Garage. Exterior scenes telecast from 67th Street, New York, outside the Edge studio.
SPRING 1960:Mike Karr and Frank Dubeck (Michael Conrad) have a shootout on the roof of a building. Sequence aired live from Studio 63 roof.
SEPTEMBER 1964:Gerry McGrath (Penny Fuller) runs down Dave Hansen (Ben Hayes) with her car.
NOVEMBER 1964: Gerry McGrath (Joanna Miles) is chased into an alley by Cowboy (Ryan MacDonald), a hired killer. Cowboy is killed in a struggle over a gun with John Barnes (Barry Newman).
FEBRUARY 1965:Captain Lloyd Griffin (James Mitchell) falls to his death from a fire escape during a shoot-out with Bill Marceau (Mandel Kramer). Sequence aired live from Monroe Theater Studio's fire escape.
SPRING 1966: Andre Lazar (Val Dufour) drags Louise Capice (Mary K. Wells) into an alley, with Phil Capice (Ray MacDonnell) in pursuit. Andre is killed in a struggle over a gun.
DECEMBER 1968: Roxanne Carey (Martha Galphin) is shown walking down the dock and up the gang-plank to Harry Constable's riverboat. Villain Ernie Tuttle (George Hall) falls to his death on the riverboat's paddle wheel while attempting to murder Adam Drake. Sequence taped in Connecticut.
APRIL 1969: Mike Karr (Larry Hugo) and Ron Christopher (Burt Douglas) drive down a deserted road. Mike and Ron walk through the woods to a gardener's shack, while Eric Barrington (Leon Janney) watches from a lodge.
JUNE 1969:Laurie Ann is chased through the woods by kidnapper Eric Barrington. (Note: This sequence might have been pre-taped the same day as the April 11, 1969, remote).
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1971:Keith Whitney (Bruce Martin) and Laurie Karr (Emily Prager) arrive at the Whitney's summer home. Keith and Laurie are shown walking through the woods, sitting by a lake, and walking to a boathouse. Later, Keith chases Laurie through the woods to a tower on the estate. Keith falls to his death down a spiral staircase while attempting to throw Laurie from the tower. Sequences directed by John Sedwick and taped at an estate in Eastern Pennsylvania. [Director John Sedwick owned a home in the location shoot area at that time.]
DECEMBER 31, 1972: Adam Drake (Don May) runs through the streets of Manhattan in an attempt to find and propose marriage to Nicole Travis (Maeve McGuire) by midnight.
MARCH 19, 1973:Liz Hillyer (Alberta Grant) crashes her car into a tree. Sequence taped in Alpine, New Jersey. Directed by John Sedwick. Stunt coordinator: Cliff Cudney.
APRIL 30, 1973:Elly Jo Jamison (Dorothy Lyman) leaps from a speeding car driven by Liz Hillyer. Sequences taped on Route 6, east of the Hudson River across from Bear Mountain State Park, and in Alpine, NJ. [All scenes, except for Elly Jo's jump and Liz's car crash, were taped on Route 6.] Directed by John Sedwick. Stunt coordinator: Cliff Cudney. Stuntman for Dorothy Lyman: Joe Dismas. **NOTE: Exterior footage for the 3/19/73 and 4/30/73 episodes were pre-taped the same day**.
MAY 31, 1974:Adam and Nicole's honeymoon yacht The Sprite explodes at sea.
DECEMBER 1, 1975:Serena Faraday (Louise Shaffer) shoots her husband Mark (Bernie McInerney) on the steps of the Monticello County Courthouse as Mike Karr (Forrest Compton) watches in horror. Adam and Brandy (Dixie Carter) arrive in front of the courthouse in a Trans Am. Sequence taped at 60 Centre Street in Manhattan.
FALL 1977:Draper Scott (Tony Craig) and April Cavanaugh (Terry Davis) are shown having a picnic and riding a carousel.
JULY 1978:Det. Steve Guthrie (Denny Albee) and Deborah Saxon (Frances Fisher) ride horseback in the country and later seek shelter from a storm in a deserted barn. Sequences directed by John Sedwick and taped about an hour's drive from Manhattan off the NY Thruway.
JULY 21, 1978:April Scott crashes her car into a tree on a country road. Later, an ambulance arrives and transports April to the hospital. Sequences taped in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
AUGUST 1978:Mike Karr is shown walking the streets of Monticello with Raney Cooper (Kiel Martin). Raney takes Mike to a deserted warehouse and pushes him down a flight of stairs. Sequences directed by John Sedwick and taped on the deserted piers of the Hudson River in NYC. Stunt coordinator/Double: Peter Hock.
AUGUST 1978:Raney Cooper and Deborah Saxon arrive at a remote cabin in the woods. Raney shoots an innocent hiker who stumbles upon the cabin. Tony Saxon arrives and is shot by Raney. Raney tries to force Deborah into a car and is killed in a shootout with Steve Guthrie and Bill Marceau. Sequences directed by John Sedwick. The location used in this shoot was actually the home of a freelance cameraman who occasionally worked on Edge. Scenes were taped near Hackensack, New Jersey.
JANUARY 1979:April hitchhikes on a country road after escaping from prison. Later, April arrives at her childhood home. [According to Edge director John Sedwick, all of the January/February 1979 location scenes were probably taped near Mahwah, New Jersey.]
FEBRUARY 1979:April finds a tombstone in the woods and sees her "mother" standing on a hill in the moonlight. Draper and Miles (Joel Crothers) arrive at the house and follow April into the woods.
JUNE 19, 1979:Steve and Deborah chase Joey Dials and an accomplice through the streets of Monticello. Steve shoots Joey. Deborah and Steve apprehend Joey's accomplice. Mickey Dials (Vasili Bogazanois) is shown on a fire escape and later arrives at the scene of Joey's shooting. Sequences directed by John Sedwick and taped in the Brooklyn Heights section of NYC.
JUNE 1979:Steve and Calvin Stoner (Irving Allen Lee) are shown in a brownstone and later walk the streets of Monticello, with police brutality picketers following them.
JUNE 1979:Deborah and Bill are shown on the streets on Monticello. Bill hails a cab driven by Steve.
JULY/AUGUST 1980:Draper and Emily Michaels (Margo McKenna) are shown at an amusement park. All sequences taped at Playland in Rye, New York. Directed by John Sedwick. Stunt coordinator/Double: Peter Hock.
Scenes included:
*Draper and Emily walking through Playland and riding amusement park rides.
*Draper is chased through Playland by Frankie (Shirley Stoler) and Larry Watts (Paul Tinder).
*Draper climbs down the side of a roller coaster.
*Calvin, Deborah, Logan (Joe Lambie) and April arrive at Playland.
*Calvin shoots Larry, who falls to his death of the roof of a building.
*Draper is reunited with April in front of a carousel.
[Edge director John Sedwick recalled that shooting began at 9pm one night, and continued through 2pm of the following afternoon. The shooting crew ran out of daylight, so one short nighttime scene had to be recreated in the studio.]
NOVEMBER 1980:Kelly McGrath (Allen Fawcett) and Jody Travis (Lori Loughlin) arrive at a beachhouse. Later, Kelly and Jody walk along the beach at sunset in an extended montage of scenes. Sequences taped on Long Island, NY. (One frame from this location shoot was used three years later as Edge's final closing-credit logo).
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1982:Sky Whitney (Larkin Malloy) and wife Raven (Sharon Gabet) honeymoon in the Swiss Alps. All exterior sequences were taped in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Scenes included:
*Sky and Raven arrive and depart various locations in a helicopter.
*Sky, Raven, and a ski-instructor ski in the alps.
*Sky and Raven arrive at their remote honeymoon cottage.
*Damian Tyler (Christopher Jarrett) wanders the streets of St. Moritz, searching for Raven and Sky.
*Sky and Raven ride in a horse-drawn carriage along the edge of a mountain.
*Sky attempts to push Raven off an observation deck.
*Sky and Raven ride in an alpine gondola, from which Sky tries to push Raven to her death.
*Sky carries Raven to the edge of a cliff and prepares to throw her from the precipice. Sky is shot to death by a black-garbed assassin, who is later revealed to be Libby Webster.
AUGUST 1983:Preacher (Charles Flohe) and Jody escape from a deserted beachside building and are chased by Steve Markham (Fred Coffin). Preacher and Markham fight in the ocean, and Preacher stabs him to death in a struggle. Barry Gillette (Michael J. Stark) arrives and shoots Del Emerson (Robert Gerringer). Derek Mallory runs along the beach and shoots Gillette.
AUGUST 26, 1983:Stan Hathaway (Ronn Carroll) is air-lifted by helicopter from the WMON-TV studio roof and falls to his death. Sky, Raven, Derek, Calvin, and Chris (Jennifer Taylor) hover around a dying Hathaway on the alley behind WMON.
FEBRUARY 1984:Chris is shown at a remote snowbound farm, where she's stalked by Eric Blake. Miles and Derek arrive on snowmobiles. Blake falls to his death on a pitchfork.
JULY/AUGUST 1984:Sky, Raven, Preacher, Del, Alicia Van Dine (Chris Weatherhead), and Ludwig Krich (Otto Von Wernherr) are shown at a Mexican villa. Sequences taped at Las Hadas, Mexico. Scenes included:
*Det. Chris Egan, in a car, attempts to stop Sky and Raven's plane from leaving the airstrip.
*Sky, Raven, Preacher go through customs at the Mexican airstrip.
*Sky, Raven, and Preacher scale a wall outside Alicia's villa.
*Alicia, Krich, and Del meet on the terrace of the villa.
*Sky and Raven's jeep is pursued by a band of assassins on dirtbikes.
*Sky and Raven are trapped on the edge of a cliff by the assassins. Preacher arrives and saves The Whitney's.
*Preacher and Krich struggle on the edge of a seaside cliff, where Krich falls to his death on the rocks below.
Over the years Edge also featured exterior establishing shots of various Monticello locations. Second unit footage included, but was not limited to: Monticello County Courthouse, Monticello Police Headquarters, Rick Oliver's youth center, the Coach House restaurant, the Monticello News building, Adam Drake's apartment building, Harry Constable's riverboat, Monticello General Hospital, the Isis Building.