La chute de la maison Usher (1928)

Director:

Jean Epstein

Writers:

Edgar Allan Poe (story) and
Luis Buñuel (adaptation)

Release Date:

5 October 1928 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Plot:

Allan has a hard time finding the Usher's house, which is known to be cursed... But he is a personal friend of Roderick Usher...

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Painting | Portrait | Funeral | Goth

Cast

Jean Debucourt	...	Sir Roderick Usher
Marguerite Gance	...	Madeleine Usher
Charles Lamy	...	Allan, The Guest
Fournez-Goffard	...	The doctor
Luc Dartagnan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Abel Gance
Halma
Pierre Hot
Pierre Kefer

Also Known As:

The Fall of the House of Usher (International: English title)
A Queda da Casa de Usher (Brazil) [pt]
Der Untergang des Hauses Usher (Germany) [de]
La caduta della casa Usher (Italy) [it]
Upadek domu Usherów (Poland) [pl]
Usherin talon häviö (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Films Jean Epstein

Trivia:

Luis Buñuel, who was Assistant Director, quit the picture after clashing with producer/director Jean Epstein over Epstein's decision to basically ignore Edgar Allan Poe's story.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Corpse Bride (2005)

Good Version

Fall of the House of Usher, The (1928)

*** (out of 4)

One of two versions of the classic Poe tale released in 1928. The other one was an American version, which I enjoyed earlier this year. This version, directed by Jean Epstein and written by Luis Bunuel, comes from France but employs various techniques that we saw in early German horror films. The story is basically the same as Roderick Usher (Jean Debucourt) is haunted by the ghost of his wife. The screenplay takes a few liberties with the story but the story here really isn't important. The main thing going for the film is its surreal nature, which includes some brilliant camera-work as well as some wonderful eerie atmosphere. The visual look of this film is very impressive but I think that also lends to its shortcoming. I think a little more detail to the story would have helped but in all this is another wonderful gem of the silent era. I've also got the 1948 British version sitting here to watch before the month is over.