Edgar Allan Poe (1909)

Original title

Edgar Allen Poe

Directed by

D. W. Griffith

Genre

drama film, silent film

Country

United States

Runtime

7 min

Rating

5.4 of 10 from 31 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This short silent film dramatizes the life of writer Edgar Allan Poe and his relationship with his wife Virginia. It shows key moments from his career and personal struggles.

sombermelancholicbiographicalslow-burnperiodquietstaged

What happens

Edgar Allen Poe [sic] is a 1909 American silent drama film produced by the Biograph Company of New York and directed and co-written by D. W. Griffith. Herbert Yost stars in this short as the 19th-century American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe, while Linda Arvidson portrays Poe's wife Virginia. When it was released in February 1909 and throughout its theatrical run, the film was consistently identified and advertised with Poe's middle name misspelled in its official title, using an "e" instead of the correct second "a". The short was also originally shipped to theaters on a "split reel", which was a single reel that accommodated more than one film. This 450-foot drama shared its reel with another Biograph short, the 558-foot comedy A Wreath in Time. Prints of both films survive. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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