The Tell-Tale Heart (1941 film)
Encyclopedia
The Tell-Tale Heart is a 1941 American drama film
directed by Jules Dassin
. The screenplay by Doane R. Hoag is based on the 1843 short story of the same title
by Edgar Allan Poe
.
The film marked Dassin's directorial debut after working as an assistant to Alfred Hitchcock
and Garson Kanin
. It is typical of the short film adaptations of literary classics studios produced to precede the feature film
during the 1930s and 1940s.
Shortly after the man's death, the weaver begins to hear various sounds - a ticking clock, a dripping faucet, and rain falling into a metal pan outside the window - that convince him he can hear his victim's heart still beating beneath the floorboards where he buried him. When two deputy sheriffs appear at the house the following day, he confesses to his crime to clear his tortured conscience.
film critic Richard Corliss
called The Tell-Tale Heart "possibly the very first movie to be influenced by Citizen Kane
... This short film ... is positively a-swill in Orson Welles
ian tropes: the crouching camera, the chiaroscuro lighting, the mood-deepening use of silences and sound effects."
on August 2, 2005.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Jules Dassin
Jules Dassin
Julius "Jules" Dassin , was an American film director, with Jewish-Russian origins. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France where he revived his career.-Early life:...
. The screenplay by Doane R. Hoag is based on the 1843 short story of the same title
The Tell-Tale Heart
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe first published in 1843. It follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a "vulture eye". The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by dismembering it and hiding it under the...
by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
.
The film marked Dassin's directorial debut after working as an assistant to Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
and Garson Kanin
Garson Kanin
Garson Kanin was a prolific American writer and director of plays and films.-Film and stage career:...
. It is typical of the short film adaptations of literary classics studios produced to precede the feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
during the 1930s and 1940s.
Plot
After years of being subjected to verbal and emotional abuse by his master, a young weaver decides to murder him. Before the elderly man dies, he predicts his killer eventually will succumb to an overwhelming sense of guilt and betray himself.Shortly after the man's death, the weaver begins to hear various sounds - a ticking clock, a dripping faucet, and rain falling into a metal pan outside the window - that convince him he can hear his victim's heart still beating beneath the floorboards where he buried him. When two deputy sheriffs appear at the house the following day, he confesses to his crime to clear his tortured conscience.
Cast
- Joseph SchildkrautJoseph SchildkrautJoseph Schildkraut was an Austrian stage and film actor.-Early life:Born in Vienna, Austria, Schildkraut was the son of stage actor Rudolph Schildkraut. The younger Schildkraut moved to the United States in the early 1900s. He appeared in many Broadway productions...
as Young Man - Roman BohnenRoman BohnenRoman Bohnen was a stage and film actor.Born Roman Aloys Bohnen in St. Paul, Minnesota, Bohnen attended the University of Minnesota, where he was a cheerleader. He cheered so vigorously that it changed his voice for the rest of his life. After graduating in 1923 with a B.A., Roman served his...
as Old Man - Oscar O'Shea as First Deputy Sheriff
- Will WrightWill Wright (actor)William Henry "Will" Wright was an American character actor. He was frequently cast in curmudgeonly roles. He was sometimes credited as Will J. Wright....
as Second Deputy Sheriff
Critical analysis
In an article about Jules Dassin written the week of his death, TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
film critic Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
called The Tell-Tale Heart "possibly the very first movie to be influenced by Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
... This short film ... is positively a-swill in Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
ian tropes: the crouching camera, the chiaroscuro lighting, the mood-deepening use of silences and sound effects."
DVD release
The film is a bonus feature on the Region 1 DVD box set The Complete Thin Man Collection, released by Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
on August 2, 2005.