The Fall of the House of Usher | |
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A scene from the short film
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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 date
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Running time
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13 min. |
Country | United States |
Language |
Silent film English intertitles |
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.
An avant-garde experimental film, the visual element predominates, including shots through prisms to create optical distortion. There is no dialogue, though one part features letters moving across the screen.
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.