Average bio of the famed author, featuring Shepperd Strudwick (billed as John Shepperd) and Linda Darnell as one of his "loves." The other "love" is played by Virginia Gilmore, who ends up marrying somebody else. It's a little distracting to hear everyone calling Poe "Eddie," but you get used to it eventually.
A quick running time of 67 minutes keeps this film from getting too dull. Much of the second half deals with Poe's inability to get publishers to a) publish his work, and b) provide copyrights. Thus, he is unable to keep a job and provide for Darnell, who eventually becomes ill.
Strudwick is actually pretty good as Poe, even though I would never consider him a romantic lead. Ironically, a few years before filming, Strudwick recited "The Raven" at a dramatic tryout at the University of North Carolina, but lost the competition.
Darnell is lovely as the doomed wife. Production was held up because she had lost 14 pounds prior to filming and needed to gain some weight back so she could fit into her costumes.
Jane Darwell is fine as Darnell's mother. Thomas Jefferson and Charles Dickens make cameo appearances. However, no one refers to them as "Tommy" and "Chuckie."
One of the trade papers reported that Director Harry Lachman, who had a pet talking Minah bird, toyed with the idea of having it appear in various scenes in the film, croaking "Nevermore." This sounds a bit far-fetched. However, a raven does appear early in the film. It was played by a "professional" named Jim, who already had over 200 films to his credit. Jim earned a whopping $50 a day for his trainer.
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