THE TELL-TALE HEART (1960)

Star: Adrienne Cori; Laurence Payne
Written by Brian “The Avengers” Clemens

Absolutely superb British re-telling of this oft-filmed Poe classic. The histrionics and acting is at “11” on a scale of “1-10” from beginning to the very end. Every grimace, every look in this film is turgid and constipated. We’re talking major face-stretching here---world class gurners got nothin’ on this cast!

Laurence Payne plays the protagonist, a 19th Century librarian, whose dream-date girlfriend falls for his “cad” best friend. Laurence is also a 19th century peeper, getting into staring through the blinds at his lady, who lives across this itty-bitty street. And that’s bad news for her when the hanky-panky starts, following a “late date” with the cad after she’s already said “Goodnight” to Mr. Peepers.

Nowadays, Laurence would have just shrugged his shoulders and called a “1-800” number, but they didn’t exist back then, so he summons the cad to his house and slaps a can of whoop-#%@ on his head and….well, you know the rest.

The saving grace of this film, is that, despite the overacting (which often reaches epic proportions), Tell-Tale Heart is so skillfully directed that it just keeps rolling along (like Old Man River) and you literally cannot walk away from it—it’s way too much fun!