The Fall of the House of Usher (1928 American film)

For the 1928 Jean Epstein version of Fall of the House of Usher, see The Fall of the House of Usher (1928 French film)
The Fall of the House of Usher

A scene from the short film
Directed by James Sibley Watson
Melville Webber
Written by Edgar Allan Poe
Starring Herbert Stern
Hildegarde Watson
Melville Webber
Music by Alec Wilder
Cinematography James Sibley Watson
Melville Webber
Release dates
  • 1928 (1928)
Running time
13 min.
Country United States
Language Silent film
English intertitles
The Fall of the House of Usher

The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) is a short silent horror film adaptation of the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe. It tells the story of a brother and sister who live under a family curse. It stars Herbert Stern, Hildegarde Watson, and Melville Webber.

The movie was directed by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber. A music score was written in 1959 for the film by Watson and Webber's friend, composer Alec Wilder.

Production

An avant-garde experimental film, the visual element predominates, including shots through prisms to create optical distortion.[1] There is no dialogue, though one part features letters moving across the screen.

Influence

In 2000, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant film" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

See also

References

  1. Smith, Don G. The Poe Cinema: A Critical Filmography. McFarland & Company, 1999. p. 57-8 ISBN 0-7864-1703-X


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