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| Mark Damon, Vincent Price, Myrna Fahey |
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (aka
House of Usher/1960). Produced and directed by Roger Corman. Screenplay by Richard Matheson.
"
It's just that he's highly overwrought, sir." -- Bristol.
Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon of
Naked You Die) follows his fiancee, Madeline (Myrna Fahey), back to her ancestral home where she lives with her strange, affected brother, Roderick Usher (Vincent Price of
Twice-Told Tales) in a crumbling estate on a moldering, foggy acreage. Roderick suffers from an abundance of sensitivities, such as to noise and light, while Madeline is becoming unhinged, convinced she is on the verge of death. There is a great fear she will be buried alive, while the house crackles and a fissure in the wall grows ever wider and manservant Bristol (Harry Ellerbe) rubs his hands and worries ...
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| The eerie Usher estate |
Loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's study of a highly dysfunctional family, Roger Corman's
Usher is attractively produced, well-acted, and entertaining, albeit imperfect. Although the picture has a creepy atmosphere, it never quite develops into anything that would give it truly classic status. Price is good, and plays it in the way you would expect, while Damon is even better as Philip, playing a difficult role in just the right note. Les Baxter has written some good theme music -- which plays for several minutes on a black background with no visuals before the credit sequence -- but the chorus is rather hokey. Neurotic Roderick's paintings are quite well-done. In Poe's story the protagonist is an old friend of Roderick's and is not engaged to his sister, whom he has never actually met. Richard Matheson's script is faithful to the spirit of Poe's story if not the letter.
Verdict: Fun and absorbing, but just misses being a real classic. **3/4.
I'll have to seek this one out. I'm slowly gaining momentum in my interest in tales from this era and of course Poe is going to be near the top of the list. Just recently plowed through "The Beetle" by Richard Marsh and I have to say it was an endurance contest to determine if it would be one of those melodramatic Victorian stories that once I put down couldn't pick up again. It was published in 1895 and for some time actually outsold Stoker's "Dracula". I realize I have to get myself in the mood for the style of writing, but I believe that even then I could have edited the 250 some pages by about 3/4.
ReplyDelete"The Beetle" is a new one on me! Based on your comments I don't know if I'll rush to read it, lol. "Usher" remains a very interesting story but by today's standards it's wildly over-written, with run-on sentences that reach the height of absurdity. Despite that, it ultimately works.
ReplyDeleteI considered the audiobook, but it was a longer listen than my entire day at work. If you really dig the late 1800s style of storytelling, give it a whirl, or maybe just try the first hour or so of the 12 hour marathon!
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