The Tell-Tale Heart
Starring: Joseph Schildkraut, Roman Bohnen, Oscar O'Shea, Will Wright
Directed by: Jules Dassin
Rating: Approved
Genre: Mystery, Short
Length: 20 minutes
1941

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man commits a murder, then begins hearing the dead man's heart beat.

Review:

Tim: I really enjoyed this 1941 adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart". The film is twenty minutes, but it's long enough to really do the story justice. It's a very enjoyable adaptation of that famous work of literature.

This short film does a fantastic job of using sound and silence to tell its story. As the murderer becomes more distressed about the increasingly loud beating of the heart, the sound of the heartbeat fills every frame of the screen. It becomes almost normal, something we've come to expect. When the sound stops, the silence is palpable- you can feel the silence, the absence of sound. It's truly an effective use of sound and silence by director Jules Dassin.

I have to give Dassinn credit here- this was his directorial debut and it's a solid short film. He worked as an assistant for Alfred Hitchcock, so you have to think he picked up some tricks and tips from that legendary director.

The Tell-Tale Heart is an effectively creepy psychological mystery. It takes a terrific work of fiction by Poe and translates it into a memorable, entertaining short film. I love watching short films because it helps me to understand the earlier days of film better, but they aren't always entertaining in their own right. This one certainly is.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



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