This particular horror tale is certainly among the most filmed of Edgar Allan Poe's writings and, is one that, like "A Cask Of Amontillado" that I mentioned earlier, I first got acquainted with during my childhood days from an illustrated, abridged collection of Poe stories; I have watched a number of adaptations of it myself (both short and feature-length) and yet another, emanating from 1960, will follow presently. With a plot so familiar by now as to hold no surprises and, being a production of notoriously staid MGM, this 20-minute version is not particularly chilling – apart from the old man's blank eye. It is, however, given a stature of its own via the notable credits (sadly, it proved director Dassin's sole foray into the genre) and a superb central performance from the reptilian Joseph Schildkraut.
Review of The Tell-Tale Heart
