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What's the earliest known?

Mike O'Regan wrote:What's the earliest known?

Hard to say with total accuracy, because so many Poe themes were lifted for early trick films, but there were film versions of “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (including one American 1908 version turned into an early Sherlock Holmes Adventure by the Crescent Film Manufacturing company), “The Gold Bug”, and “Pit and the Pendulum” before 1910, mostly by French and Italian Companies as Poe was more revered in Europe than in America at the time. There was an American Éclair version of THE RAVEN in 1912, and D. W. Griffith lifted Poe themes for THE SEALED ROOM (1911) and THE AVENGING CONSCIENCE (1914).

Henry B. Walthall played Poe in Essanay’s combination bio and adaptation of THE RAVEN in 1915, and there was an independent film version of ANNABELLE LEE in 1921, but Poe continued to be more popular for film adaptations in Europe than in America until the horror movie boom if the 30’s.



RICHARD M ROBERTS

Thanks.

That 1912 version of The Raven - have you seen it? Is it around?

Mike O'Regan wrote:Thanks.

That 1912 version of The Raven - have you seen it? Is it around?

I haven't seen it. Very few American Eclairs around.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

Essanay's version of THE RAVEN sounds quite modern, what with intermixing the life of the author with the re-telling of one of his most famous stories.

Gary Johnson wrote:Essanay's version of THE RAVEN sounds quite modern, what with intermixing the life of the author with the re-telling of one of his most famous stories.

I agree. It's one I'd like to see. I'm reading a Poe biography at the moment so I'm trying to get hold of as much of the film history as I can.
Thanks, fellas.