Spencer held his annual cinema party – including his latest addition to the liberry, a 3-D short. Here’s the teeming mob prepped for viewing:
Other treats included the amazing expressionist film The Fall of the House of Usher (in a short version) which after viewing I realized I’d often heard of but never seen; the usual selection of Méliès films.
That is one fine lookin’ bunch of geeky types in funny glasses!
Kept meanin’ to say…
I’m not entirely sure the “Usher” version was truncated. That is: the run time of the print I showed matched that I’ve seen cataloged in veritable sources: 13 min. Mind you: there is indeed a longer version (2 reels, about 28 min.) from the very same year (1928), but it was a very different version — directed by Jean Epstein. (Luis Bunuel was also on the crew.)
And yet…the first time I saw the film (the Webber version) was courtesy of the (alas! defunct) super 8 collection of the Indianapolis Public Library, way back in the early ’80s. Since it was a silent print and I needed a soundtrack, I used the most-excellent synth extravaganza from the B-side of Bowie’s album, “Heroes” — the same music that accompanied this year’s screening. Now, back in the ’80s, the film lasted about half-way into “The Secret Life of Arabia”, the last cut on the side. This year, it ended well before that. Hmmm. Was my ’80s print at 24 fps? Maybe. Prolly. Or is there a “secret” version that’s longer than 13 min.? I suspect not, since my running-time sources include the Library of Congress.
Anyways…anyone hankering for some fine geekoid minutiae about the film (the most thorough on the Net, I daresay) can visit http://www.subliminal.org/party/usher.html