{"id":98110,"date":"2014-10-28T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-28T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/?p=98110"},"modified":"2019-01-17T08:06:46","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T16:06:46","slug":"the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html","title":{"rendered":"<i>The Fall of the House of Usher<\/i>: Poe\u2019s Classic Tale Turned Into 1928 Avant Garde Film, Scripted by e.e. cummings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"oc-video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/embed\/TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher1928\" width=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Last week, in def\u00ader\u00adence to&nbsp;the approach of Hal\u00adloween, we fea\u00adtured <a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/download-the-complete-works-of-edgar-allan-poe-macabre-stories-as-free-ebooks-audio-books.html\">the com\u00adplete works of Edgar Allan Poe as Free eBooks and Free Audio Books<\/a>. If you give them a read, a lis\u00adten, or both, you\u2019ll dis\u00adcov\u00ader that few cre\u00adators, using noth\u00ading more than the writ\u00adten word, can dis\u00adturb quite so effec\u00adtive\u00adly&nbsp;as Poe. But his writ\u00adten words have also pro\u00advid\u00aded inspi\u00adra\u00adtion to fright\u00aden\u00ading works in oth\u00ader media, includ\u00ading the pre\u00advi\u00adous\u00adly fea\u00adtured <a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2011\/10\/christopher_walken_reads_the_raven_.html\">1953 British ani\u00adma\u00adtion of&nbsp;\u201cThe Tell-Tale Heart\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;and, today, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_9wYh6OLCy4\">the short-film ver\u00adsion of \u201cThe Fall of the House of Ush\u00ader.\u201d<\/a> That <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bartleby.com\/195\/10.html\">1839 sto\u00adry<\/a> per\u00adhaps most&nbsp;per\u00adfect\u00adly (and most vis\u00adcer\u00adal\u00adly) real\u00adizes such pet themes of Poe\u2019s as ill\u00adness, dread, and live bur\u00adial, and as such has served as mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal to a great many film\u00admak\u00aders as defi\u00adant\u00adly low\u00adbrow&nbsp;as Roger Cor\u00adman&nbsp;and as uncom\u00adpro\u00admis\u00ading\u00adly idio\u00adsyn\u00adcrat\u00adic as&nbsp;Jan \u0160vankma\u00adjer. But here we offer you one of the most inter\u00adest\u00ading cin\u00ade\u00admat\u00adic \u201cUsher\u201cs ever made: James Sib\u00adley Wat\u00adson and Melville Web\u00adber\u2019s&nbsp;13-minute avant-garde adap\u00adta\u00adtion, script\u00aded in part by poet <a href=\"http:\/\/www.poets.org\/poetsorg\/poet\/e-e-cummings\">e.e. cum\u00admings<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"oc-center-da\">\n<div data-fuse=\"22871471544\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>\u201cDespite their impor\u00adtance as lead\u00ading fig\u00adures in the film world,\u201d <a href=\"http:\/\/people.wcsu.edu\/mccarneyh\/fva\/W\/usher.html\">writes&nbsp;Tara Trav\u00adisano<\/a>, \u201cWat\u00adson and Web\u00adber\u2019s work is often over\u00adlooked and not giv\u00aden suf\u00adfi\u00adcient cred\u00adit.\u201d Though they got their shoot\u00ading script from the mod\u00adernist-influ\u00adenced cum\u00admings, the film\u00admak\u00aders, \u201cnot fans of mod\u00adernism,\u201d \u201cpre\u00adferred to have their films described as ama\u00adteur.\u201d Their&nbsp;<em>Fall of the House of Ush\u00ader<\/em>, the best-known work they ever pro\u00adduced, \u201chard\u00adly fol\u00adlows a nar\u00adra\u00adtive, but is val\u00adued for its cre\u00adative use of rep\u00ade\u00adti\u00adtion and vari\u00ada\u00adtion and for the film\u2019s dra\u00admat\u00adic light\u00ading.\u201d And don\u2019t wor\u00adry if you haven\u2019t read the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bartleby.com\/195\/10.html\">orig\u00adi\u00adnal sto\u00adry<\/a> in a while; accord\u00ading to Trav\u00adisano, Wat\u00adson and Web\u00adber chose to film it because they them\u00adselves had\u00adn\u2019t read it in a while, and thus \u201cwould be free of its influ\u00adence.\u201d But after expe\u00adri\u00adenc\u00ading the brief but unset\u00adtling cin\u00ade\u00admat\u00adic dream&nbsp;they man\u00adaged to make out of this half-remem\u00adbered Poean mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal, you may want to seek out its influ\u00adence by going back and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/ebooks\/932\">read\u00ading it again<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 or <a href=\"http:\/\/etc.usf.edu\/lit2go\/147\/the-works-of-edgar-allan-poe\/5312\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher\/\">lis\u00adten\u00ading to it<\/a>, or try\u00ading to sleep and re-dream it for your\u00adself.<\/p>\n<p>You can find&nbsp;<em>Fall of the House of Ush\u00ader&nbsp;<\/em>in our col\u00adlec\u00adtion,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/free-documentaries-online\">285 Free Doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtaries Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Relat\u00aded Con\u00adtent:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/download-the-complete-works-of-edgar-allan-poe-macabre-stories-as-free-ebooks-audio-books.html\">Down\u00adload The Com\u00adplete Works of Edgar Allan Poe: Macabre Sto\u00adries as Free eBooks &amp; Audio Books<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2011\/10\/christopher_walken_reads_the_raven_.html\">Watch the 1953 Ani\u00adma\u00adtion of Edgar Allan Poe\u2019s \u201cThe Tell-Tale Heart,\u201d Nar\u00adrat\u00aded by James Mason<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/07\/james-earl-jones-reads-poe-and-whitman.html\"><span class=\"s1\">James Earl Jones Reads Edgar Allan Poe\u2019s \u201cThe Raven\u201d and Walt Whitman\u2019s \u201cSong of Myself\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2012\/05\/christopher_walken_iggy_pop_debbie_harry_other_celebs_read_tales_by_edgar_allan_poe.html\"><span class=\"s1\">Christo\u00adpher Walken, Iggy Pop, Deb\u00adbie Har\u00adry &amp; Oth\u00ader Celebs Read Tales by Edgar Allan Poe<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Col\u00adin Mar\u00adshall hosts and pro\u00adduces <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.colinmarshall.org\/\">Note\u00adbook on Cities and Cul\u00adture<\/a> and writes essays on cities, lan\u00adguage, Asia, and men\u2019s style. He\u2019s at work on a book about Los Ange\u00adles, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kcet.org\/socal\/departures\/landofsunshine\/a-los-angeles-primer\/\">A Los Ange\u00adles Primer<\/a>. Fol\u00adlow him on Twit\u00adter at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/#%21\/colinmarshall\">@colinmarshall<\/a> or on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/colinmarshallessayist\">Face\u00adbook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding: 10px 0\">www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_9wYh6OLCy4\u201d&gt;the<\/div>\n<p>Last week, in def\u00ader\u00adence to&nbsp;the approach of Hal\u00adloween, we fea\u00adtured the com\u00adplete works of Edgar Allan Poe as Free eBooks and Free Audio Books. If you give them a read, a lis\u00adten, or both, you\u2019ll dis\u00adcov\u00ader that few cre\u00adators, using noth\u00ading more than the writ\u00adten word, can dis\u00adturb quite so effec\u00adtive\u00adly&nbsp;as Poe. But his writ\u00adten [\u2026]<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,89],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","category-literature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Fall of the House of Usher: Poe\u2019s Classic Tale Turned Into 1928 Avant Garde Film, Scripted by e.e. cummings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Colin Marshall\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Colin Marshall\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6876a344072c1e9dd894f4044f353ccf\"},\"headline\":\"The Fall of the House of Usher: Poe\u2019s Classic Tale Turned Into 1928 Avant Garde Film, Scripted by e.e. cummings\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-28T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-17T16:06:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html\"},\"wordCount\":496,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Film\",\"Literature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html\",\"name\":\"The Fall of the House of Usher: Poe\u2019s Classic Tale Turned Into 1928 Avant Garde Film, Scripted by e.e. cummings\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-28T18:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-17T16:06:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/2014\\\/10\\\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Fall of the House of Usher: Poe\u2019s Classic Tale Turned Into 1928 Avant Garde Film, Scripted by e.e. cummings\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Open Culture\",\"description\":\"The best free cultural &amp; educational media on the web\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Openculture.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn8.openculture.com\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/24113050\\\/OC-favicon.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn8.openculture.com\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/24113050\\\/OC-favicon.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Openculture.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6876a344072c1e9dd894f4044f353ccf\",\"name\":\"Colin Marshall\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/blog.colinmarshall.org\\\/?page_id=2\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/colinmarshall\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.openculture.com\\\/author\\\/cjmarshall\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Fall of the House of Usher: Poe\u2019s Classic Tale Turned Into 1928 Avant Garde Film, Scripted by e.e. cummings","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Colin Marshall","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html"},"author":{"name":"Colin Marshall","@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6876a344072c1e9dd894f4044f353ccf"},"headline":"The Fall of the House of Usher: Poe\u2019s Classic Tale Turned Into 1928 Avant Garde Film, Scripted by e.e. cummings","datePublished":"2014-10-28T18:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-17T16:06:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html"},"wordCount":496,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Film","Literature"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html","url":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html","name":"The Fall of the House of Usher: Poe\u2019s Classic Tale Turned Into 1928 Avant Garde Film, Scripted by e.e. cummings","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-10-28T18:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-17T16:06:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/2014\/10\/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928-avant-garde-film.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Fall of the House of Usher: Poe\u2019s Classic Tale Turned Into 1928 Avant Garde Film, Scripted by e.e. cummings"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/","name":"Open Culture","description":"The best free cultural &amp; educational media on the web","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/#organization","name":"Openculture.com","url":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn8.openculture.com\/2021\/04\/24113050\/OC-favicon.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn8.openculture.com\/2021\/04\/24113050\/OC-favicon.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Openculture.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6876a344072c1e9dd894f4044f353ccf","name":"Colin Marshall","sameAs":["http:\/\/blog.colinmarshall.org\/?page_id=2","https:\/\/x.com\/colinmarshall"],"url":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/author\/cjmarshall"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98110\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.openculture.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}