Happy Birthday, Edgar Allan Poe!

And to celebrate, I've written a piece on two silent shorts from 1928, both based on Poe short stories: Charles Klein's THE TELL TALE HEART, and James Sibley Watson's and Melville Webber's THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER.

My post can be read on the Fandor blog, Keyframe, HERE.

And sign up for a free one-month trial of Fandor to watch both films. If you're only familiar with the Roger Corman Poe adaptations from the '50s and '60s, these two silent shorts should be a (spooky and weird) treat.

Watch THE CAT AND THE CANARY right here on Dereliction Row!

I've signed up to be part of Fandor's syndication program, which means I can embed Fandor movies right here on my blog. You can rent the film and watch it on my blog or sign up for a Fandor membership and have access to not only the films I embed on my blog but any film on the Fandor website!

THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927) is a silent horror film from director Paul Leni -- one of the many German Expressionist directors who moved over to Hollywood and brought his original visual style to the States. CANARY is one of Leni's American movies, an "old dark house" film that's part comedy, part horror. It stars Laura La Plante and Forrest Stanley.

Marty Meets Melies

What's the best movie news I've heard in awhile?

Martin Scorsese is adapting Brian Selznick's THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET!

I'm half-way through this gorgeous book and it's simply wonderful. Part novel, part black and white picture book, it's like a silent film in literary form. And of course, the storyline involves a certain French filmmaker and master of the fantastic...

Marty is making a children's film! And if the source novel and Scorsese's well-known love for movie history is anything to go by, it has the potential to be a masterpiece. Scorsese fans and silent movie geeks rejoice!