Cover Image

Unseen cinema. 2, The devil's playground. Episode 9, The telltale heart /

Show other versions (1)

THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. This avant-garde film version of Edgar Allan Poe's story adapts the expressionistic mise-en-scène of Caligari to figure the distorted subjectivity of the insane...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Other Authors: Klein, Charles F. (Director), Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849
Format: Video
Language:No linguistic content
Language Notes:Silent with musical accompaniment and English intertitles.
Published: [United States] : Filmmakers Showcase, 1928.
Series:Academic Video Online
Subjects:
Poe, Edgar Allan, > 1809-1849 > Film adaptations.
Poe, Edgar Allan, > 1809-1849
Murder > Drama.
Murderers > Drama.
Mentally ill > Drama.
Surrealism in motion pictures.
Experimental films > United States.
Motion pictures > United States.
Surréalisme au cinéma.
Cinéma > États-Unis.
Experimental films
Mentally ill
Motion pictures
Murder
Murderers
Surrealism in motion pictures
United States
Feature films
Drama
Film adaptations
Horror films
Short films
Silent films
Short films.
Silent films.
Experimental films.
Horror films.
Film adaptations.
Feature films.
Courts métrages.
Films muets.
Films expérimentaux.
Films d'horreur.
Adaptations cinématographiques.
Online Access:Connect to this streaming video (Alexander Street Press)
Description
Summary:THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND is part of the film retrospective UNSEEN CINEMA that explores long-forgotten American experimental cinema. This avant-garde film version of Edgar Allan Poe's story adapts the expressionistic mise-en-scène of Caligari to figure the distorted subjectivity of the insane protagonist. Additional manipulations of the filmic material and two remarkable montage sequences dramatize moments of extreme pathology and delusion, especially around issues of vision and sound. --DAVID JAMES Charles Klein worked as a cameraman and director on German feature films before coming to the U.S. in 1923 and to Hollywood in 1926 where he operated as a writer and cameraman. His short film "The Telltale Heart" (1928) won Klein a director's contract at Fox, but he eventually returned to Germany. --BRUCE POSNER. Leon Shamroy was the brilliant cinematographer who collaborated on two of the most remarkable experimental films of 1928: "The Telltale Heart" with Charles Klein and "The Last Moment" with Paul Fejós; both films starred the expressive actor Otto Matiesen. Shamroy won an Academy Award for "Prince of Foxes" (1949) and remained at Fox throughout the 1950s. --BRUCE POSNER. 35mm 1.33:1 black and white silent with music 20fps 24:52 minutes.
Item Description:Title from resource description page (viewed June 16, 2020).
"American surrealism".
"Early American avant-garde film, 1893-1941".
Physical Description:1 online resource (26 minutes)
Playing Time:00:25:24
Production Credits:Camera: Leon Shamroy; New music by Donald Sosin.