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AMERICAN MASTERS SPECIAL, AN: EDGAR ALLAN POE: TERROR OF THE SOUL (TV)

Summary

One in this documentary series that explores the lives and achievements of America's most celebrated native-born and adopted artists and performers. This documentary profiles nineteenth-century writer Edgar Allan Poe through interviews with scholars and critics, dramatizations of Poe's stories, dramatic readings from his articles and personal writings, and biographical narration by Ruby Dee. The program begins with a discussion of Poe's skill as a writer: Poe critic Robert Regan comments on the sensationalist and psychological appeal of Poe's writing, and writer Joyce Carol Oates identifies Poe's stories as timeless. Interspersed are excerpts of a dramatization of the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart." Next the film describes Poe's upbringing as an orphan in a wealthy foster family and his poor relationship with his adoptive father. Biographer Kenneth Silverman and author/playwright Ira Levin link the tragic death of Poe's mother with his interest in the occult, which is obsessively explored in his fiction. Early in his youth Poe was already troubled and had developed a passion for writing poetry. Historian Stephen Nissenbaum states that Poe's reputation as a poet was established in 1845 with the publication of "The Raven." Poe began his writing career in the 1830s, however, contributing to numerous magazines from Baltimore to New York as both an editor and a freelance writer. He was known not as a fiction writer but as an editor and critic with high literary standards who at times alienated other writers with his harsh criticisms. A discussion of Poe's adult life includes information about his marriage to his underaged cousin and his close relationship with both his wife and his mother-in-law. Author and critic Alfred Kazin also comments on Poe's financial difficulties. Several quotations follow from the stories "The Black Cat" and "The Pit and the Pendulum," and composer Philip Glass speaks about his operatic adaptation of "The Fall of the House of Usher." Next comes a dramatization of "The Cask of Amontillado," followed by a discussion of Poe's wild imagination and his ability to anticipate and manipulate his reader's reactions. Poe scholar Patrick Quinn comments on Poe's understanding of fear, while poet and critic Richard Wilbur remarks on the surreal quality of the characters in Poe's fiction. Among Poe's contributions to American literature were four volumes of poetry and over seventy stories, including his tales of Auguste Dupin, which many believe created the detective-novel genre. Regan explains the role of the French poet Baudelaire in promoting Poe's works. The program concludes with a discussion of the final tragic year of Poe's life, and of common misrepresentations of Poe.

Cataloging of this program was made possible by Rosalind P. Walter, 1999.

Details

  • NETWORK: PBS WNET New York, NY
  • DATE: March 22, 1995 9:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:56:47
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:58853
  • GENRE: Arts documentaries
  • SUBJECT HEADING: American literature - 19th century; Supernatural literature; Occultism in literature; Poetry; Literary criticism; Journalism - United States - 19th century; Detective and mystery stories, American
  • SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1986-
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Susan Lacy … Executive Producer, For "American Masters"
  • Karen Thomas … Executive Producer, For Film Odyssey
  • Lois Dino … Coordinating Producer
  • Karen Thomas … Producer, Director
  • Elizabeth Keyishian … Associate Producer
  • Robert J. Sloane … Associate Producer
  • Cindy E. Vaughn … Associate Producer
  • Timothy Marx … Production (Misc.), Co-Producer dramatic sequences
  • Joyce Chopra … Direction (Misc.), Director dramatic sequences
  • Edgar Allan Poe … Writer
  • Kenneth Silverman … Writer , Contributing Writer
  • Daniel Blake Smith … Writer, Contributing Writer
  • Peter Rodgers Melnick … Music by
  • Thomas Wagner … Composer, Theme Music by, For "American Masters"
  • Philip Glass … Composer, For ÒThe Fall of the House of UsherÓ
  • Ruby Dee … Narrator
  • Anthony Maggio … Cast, Edgar Allan Poe
  • Eric Christmas … Cast, the Old Man
  • Sky Rumph … Cast, Little Edgar
  • Michelle Joyner … Cast, Eliza Poe
  • Van Sant, Pam … Cast, the Kind Lady
  • Devyn Puett … Cast, Virginia Poe
  • Marianne Mullerleille … Cast, Maria Clemm
  • Robert Dowdell … Cast, the Minister
  • Val Bettin … Cast, John Latrobe
  • Treat Williams … Cast
  • John Heard … Cast
  • Rene Auberjonois … Cast
  • Charles Pierre Baudelaire
  • Philip Glass
  • Alfred Kazin
  • Ira Levin
  • Stephen Nissenbaum
  • Joyce Carol Oates
  • Edgar Allan Poe
  • Patrick Quinn
  • Robert Regan
  • Kenneth Silverman
  • Richard Wilbur