100:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,417A film by Jean Epstein
200:00:10,000 --> 00:00:15,667The Fall of the House of Usher
300:00:16,292 --> 00:00:21,292based on stories by Edgar A. Poe
400:00:21,875 --> 00:00:32,500with Marguerite Gance,Jean Debucourt,
500:00:35,708 --> 00:00:39,542and Charles Lamy
600:00:41,500 --> 00:00:44,500Cinematography by LucasSet decoration by Pierre Kefer
700:00:44,792 --> 00:00:49,083Unit manager: Maurice MorlotSlow-motion operator: Hébert
800:00:49,375 --> 00:00:53,625Costumes designed by Fernand Ochséand executed by Muelle
900:00:53,958 --> 00:00:56,375Goldsmith: Christofle
1000:02:06,375 --> 00:02:07,750...sick...
1100:02:09,042 --> 00:02:10,833..worried...
1200:02:12,583 --> 00:02:17,208... my wife Madeline...
1300:02:27,125 --> 00:02:38,208"I need someone to drive meto Usher tonight."
1400:05:18,625 --> 00:05:24,750In the nearly decaying manor-house,
1500:05:24,917 --> 00:05:31,958Sir Roderick kept his wife Madelinein a strange seclusion,
1600:05:32,125 --> 00:05:37,417dominating her throughhis tyrannical edginess.
1700:07:48,167 --> 00:07:54,583"Oh no! I would not makemy horse take a step further
1800:07:54,750 --> 00:07:58,625"for all your Lordship's gold!"
1900:08:04,542 --> 00:08:11,917The oppressive melancholy of Usher'ssurroundings seemed supernatural.
2000:09:33,583 --> 00:09:35,667"The doctor."
2100:10:07,375 --> 00:10:13,917The illness of Lady Madeline,Roderick Usher's wife,
2200:10:14,042 --> 00:10:18,542baffled the skill of her physician.
2300:11:00,750 --> 00:11:05,958As a result of a curious hereditary flaw,
2400:11:06,083 --> 00:11:14,208every Usher devoted himselfto painting the portrait of his wife.
2500:11:24,292 --> 00:11:28,000"It is there that she is alive!"
2600:12:51,958 --> 00:12:57,458"My dear Roderick,you are burning with fever!"
2700:14:54,875 --> 00:15:04,417"Her Grace is feeling tired and begs youto excuse her from the table."
2800:16:06,708 --> 00:16:09,750"It is there that she is alive!"
2900:16:55,583 --> 00:17:03,417Roderick was seized againby his strange impulse to paint.
3000:17:03,583 --> 00:17:11,750His only thought was to be alonewith Madeline, his sole model.
3100:17:11,917 --> 00:17:19,292How could he get rid of his visitingand now unwelcome friend?
3200:18:25,125 --> 00:18:33,375Twisted as by a tempest, the Ushersfamily tree weighed upon Roderick,
3300:18:33,542 --> 00:18:41,625who was the last survivor of the race,with all the weight of his heredity.
3400:19:38,167 --> 00:19:45,167"My dear and only friend,I am touched by your concern.
3500:19:45,292 --> 00:19:50,375"But you too must take care of yourself.
3600:19:50,500 --> 00:19:57,625"A few steps outside will do you goodbefore you go to bed."
3700:22:16,125 --> 00:22:22,125Roderick's brush was like a magic wand.
3800:22:22,250 --> 00:22:31,375Each stroke gave more life to the portraitwhile making Madeline more pallid,
3900:22:31,500 --> 00:22:41,458as though the young girl gave to the paintedpicture the very strength she was losing.
4000:27:05,625 --> 00:27:08,958"This is indeed life itself!"
4100:28:11,375 --> 00:28:20,333Obsessed by all mysteries, Roderick had longmeditated upon the theories of Magnetism.
4200:30:23,750 --> 00:30:28,917"I tell you, Doctor! She may not be dead!"
4300:31:37,792 --> 00:31:42,750"She shall not leave me!We shall bury her right here!"
4400:33:48,750 --> 00:33:53,083"I forbid, do you hear,I forbid anyone to nail..."
4500:42:06,667 --> 00:42:13,667After the burial of Madeline,the hours, the days went by
4600:42:13,750 --> 00:42:20,750in frightening drearinessand oppressive silence.
4700:43:55,667 --> 00:44:04,250Roderick, all his nerves on edge, seemedto be waiting for a sign of some sort.
4800:44:04,375 --> 00:44:09,167The slightest noise infuriated him...
4900:47:13,833 --> 00:47:22,500Roderick dared not repeat the mad thoughtthat oppressed him... Madeline...
5000:47:53,667 --> 00:47:56,208This was a stormy night,charged with electricity.
5100:48:20,542 --> 00:48:26,917There is a two-fold Silence.
5200:48:27,042 --> 00:48:33,417One is the corporate Silence: dread him not!
5300:48:58,708 --> 00:49:09,292But should some urgent fatebring thee to meet his shadow,
5400:49:09,417 --> 00:49:19,500nameless elf, that haunteth the lone regionswhere hath trod no foot of man,
5500:49:19,625 --> 00:49:23,708commend thyself to God!
5600:51:52,292 --> 00:51:55,000"Now can you hear her?"
5700:52:43,708 --> 00:52:47,625"Roderick, you should not see that!
5800:52:47,708 --> 00:52:52,042"Let me read yousomething to amuse you."
5900:54:43,750 --> 00:54:49,833And Ethelred uplifted his mace outright,and, with blows,
6000:54:49,958 --> 00:54:56,583made quickly room in the plankingsof the door for his gauntleted hand;
6100:54:56,708 --> 00:55:03,625and now pulling therewith sturdily,he so cracked, and ripped...
6200:56:23,000 --> 00:56:28,958And Ethelred uplifted his mace,and struck upon the head of the dragon,
6300:56:29,083 --> 00:56:34,167which fell before him,and gave up his pesty breath,
6400:56:34,292 --> 00:56:39,833with a shriek so horrid and harsh,and withal so piercing...
6500:56:56,417 --> 00:57:05,292And now, the champion approachedvalorously over the silver pavement
6600:57:05,417 --> 00:57:14,167of the castle to where the shield wasupon the wall; which in sooth tarried
6700:57:14,292 --> 00:57:22,125not for his full coming, but fell downat his feet, with a mighty great and terrible...
6800:59:23,583 --> 00:59:28,542"Yes, I can hear. I have heardfor a longtime, since the first day..."
6900:59:59,792 --> 01:00:04,417"We have put her alive in the tomb!"