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DIRECTOR
Kenneth Johnson
SYNOPSICS
An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1970) is a English movie. Kenneth Johnson has directed this movie. are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1970. An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1970) is considered one of the best Drama,Horror,Mystery,Thriller movie in India and around the world.
Vincent Price recites four Edgar Allen Poe stories: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Sphinx, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Pit and the Pendulum.
An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe (1970) Reviews
Quintessential Poe Interpreter
This is a collection of 4 Poe stories, that seems to have been broadcast on television. The narratives are performed by Vincent Price (Solo). The Poe stories include the Telltale Heart, the Pit and the Pendulum, the Sphinx and the Cask of Amantillado. He is quite exceptional at interpreting Poe, and it shows. This could have easily been a Broadway play. Price knows Poe to the point, that we wonder if he did not know Poe personally. His acting is too realistic at time, almost as if the crimes were committed by Price himself. As always, Vincent shows that he had acting ability above the rest, even though some of his movies did not allow for him to do more. This is definitely recommended for fans of Poe and Price. -Celluloid Rehab
Highly Entertaining
Originally aired on television, I caught it recently on AMC. Price is fantastic, as he enacts four Poe tales, alone. With just him and a small set, he manages to engross you completely in the tales he tells. A true testament to his ability as an actor and his superb storytelling skills. Highly recommended.
What a gob-smacking piece of drama!
I really couldn't believe my eyes as I started to watch this. The thought of an actor (even someone as iconic as Mr Price) simply reading Poe made me wary - I've heard it done often, and not well at that (why do actors always seem to get hysterical when reading Poe?!)! But from the first few words of The Tell Tale Heart I was, as the previous comment stated, absolutely mesmerised. Transfixed. And very probably sat with my mouth hanging open. It was magnificent. Poe in its truest form. Spell-binding, macabre, poetic, horrifying, all of it. However - the greatest revelation was the man himself. Boy, could he act! I never realised this. Why, oh why didn't directors push him more?! He was capable of so much more... I've always enjoyed his performances, glorious in their over-the-top ripeness, but never, ever, dreamed he was capable of such control and such intensity... I remained stunned and awed by the experience!
Price reads Poe in an astounding compilation of stories
I wasn't expecting much from this film. It comes in a double pack with Roger Corman's "The Tomb of Ligeia", which is how I came across it. I bought the DVD purely for the Corman film and saw this merely as a bonus - but to my surprise, it almost surpassed the film I bought the double pack for. The idea of an actor sat on a set reading out stories doesn't sound particularly fascinating; until you consider that the writer of the stories is the magnificent maestro of the macabre, Edgar Allen Poe and the actor doing the reading is the one and only Vincent Price: then, suddenly it becomes rather more intriguing. An Evening of Edgar Allen Poe features Vincent Price reading four of Poe's stories - The Tell-Tale Heart, The Sphinx, The Cask of Amontillado and The Pit and the Pendulum. The first story on that list is perhaps my favourite of Poe's works, and Price does a great job of reading it. The malevolent tones of his voice draw you into the story and don't let go until it ends. The Tell-Tale Heart sees Poe at his most adept, and the way the story moves echoes the beating of the heart in the story. We then move on to The Sphinx, which is definitely the weakest of the four stories; but that's not to say it isn't a great little tale. It's surprisingly funny for Poe, and Price does another excellent job of reading it. The Cask of Amontillado sees Poe back to his most devilishly wicked, and features the common Poe theme of being buried alive. The story features lines of dialogue between two characters, which means Price has to read both out and the way he does it is superb. You get all the madness of the central character, and the menacing tones of the story from the sound of his voice. The final tale is 'The Pit and the Pendulum', and this is a Poe classic that speaks for itself. Many will remember Corman's excellent take on it, but here we get the original story just as Poe wrote it - and it's quite different from Corman's! The Pit and the Pendulum features what is maybe Poe's finest line ever, and you're guaranteed to get a chill down your spine when Price delivers it - "the agony of my soul found vent in loud, long and final scream of despair". Price really proves his worth as an actor in this movie. It takes a lot of talent to keep the audience's interest when all you're doing is sitting and reading out stories - but Price does it. He doesn't just deliver the stories; he practically becomes them. He's the perfect storyteller, and he shows us that here. Maybe it's his voice, or perhaps it's the obvious love he had for the material but whatever the reason; this is an excellent telling of Poe's works and if you get the chance to see it - I insist that you take it.
Who else more perfect to read Poe?
After reading nearly all of Poe's macabre stories, I can't imagine anyone more apt to read them with all the inherent horror intended by Edgar than Vincent Price. More of Poe's stories deal with inner torment than deal with some kind of outer menace, perhaps because Poe himself experienced much of the same torment that he wrote about. Mr. Price has the unique ability to take the listener on an eerie journey through this turmoil -- as well as transport the listener to a time when this awesomely-personal terror was unique and original.