# House of Usher (film)

House of Usher (also known as The Fall of the House of Usher and The Mysterious House of Usher) is a 1960 American film about a man who, upon entering his fiancées's family mansion, discovers a savage family curse and fears that his future brother-in-law has entombed his bride-to-be prematurely.
    Directed by Roger Corman. Written by Richard Matheson, based on the short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe.

## Roderick Usher

* Mr. Winthrop, three-quarters of my family have fallen into madness, and in their madness have acquired a, a superhuman strength... so that it took the power of many to subdue them.
* I suggest you leave, Mr. Winthrop. No? Then perish with us.
* See to the crypt, will you?
* Did you know that I could hear the scratching of her fingernails on the casket lid?

## Dialogue

    Roderick Usher: Madeline and I are like figures of fine glass. The slightest touch and we may shatter. Both of us suffer from a morbid acuteness of the senses. Mine is the worst for having existed the longer, but both of us are afflicted with it. Any sort of food more exotic then the most pallid mash is unendurable to my taste buds. Any sort of garment other then the softest, is agony to my flesh. My eyes are tormented by all but the faintest illumination. Odors assail me constantly, and as I've said, sounds of any degree whatsoever inspire me with terror.
    Philip Winthrop: That's why your servant asked me to remove my boots?
    Roderick Usher: Yes... and even so I could hear you coming: every footstep, every rustle of your clothes. I could hear your horse approaching, hear the clatter of his hooves across the courtyard, your knock - the grating of the door bolt was like a sword-stroke to my ears... [lowers his voice to a whisper] I can hear the scratch of rat claws within the stone wall!
    Philip Winthrop: [as the house starts to rumble] Don't you think that crack in the wall should be repaired?
    Roderick Usher: For future generations of Ushers?
    Philip Winthrop: For Madeline's safety.
    Philip Winthrop: While I was riding here I noticed a singular lack of vegetation, is there something wrong with the soil?
    Roderick Usher: The soil?
    Madeline Usher: Roderick please!
    Roderick Usher: [looking at Madeline] As you wish.
    Philip Winthrop: Would you permit me to light a candle so that...?
    Roderick Usher: I think you had better leave, Mr. Winthrop.
    Philip Winthrop: I think you need some light in this house, Mr. Usher.
    Philip Winthrop: How long have you been with the Ushers?
    Bristol: Sixty years, sir.
    Philip Winthrop: Sixty years?
    Bristol: Since I was a boy.
    Philip Winthrop: Why, then this house is just as much yours as it is Mr. Usher's.
    Bristol: And Miss Madeline, sir.
    Philip Winthrop: [as the house starts to rumble] How long has that been going on?
    Bristol: So long I'm hardly aware of it anymore. It's just the settling of the house.
    Philip Winthrop: That settling could cause this entire structure to collapse. That doesn't worry you?
    Bristol: Oh no, sir. If the house dies, I shall die with it.
    Philip Winthrop: You have murdered your sister, Mr. Usher, and I intend to see that you hang for it.
    Roderick Usher: Arrange it quickly then. The old house crumbles.
    Roderick Usher: [shouting] Be done.
    Philip Winthrop: What?
    Roderick Usher: I think I rave.
    Philip Winthrop: You said be done.
    Philip Winthrop: Is there no end to your horrors?
    Roderick Usher: No. None whatever.

## Cast

* Vincent Price - Roderick Usher
* Mark Damon - Philip Winthrop
* Myrna Fahey - Madeline Usher
* Harry Ellerbe - Bristol

## Taglines

* The House of Usher is no more - and the place whereon it stood is as if - it had never been.
* Edgar Allan Poe's overwhelming tale of EVIL & TORMENT
* I heard her first feeble movements in the coffin... we had put her living in the tomb!
* He buried her alive... to save his soul!
* Edgar Allan Poe's demonic tale of The Ungodly... The Evil House of Usher

## Misattributed

* Pray, speak quietly, every sound you make is such exquisite agony to me.
** Misattributed to Price's performance in this film. The quote appears to have been based on a misremembering by Stephen Fry on an episode of QI. The actual lines Fry appears to have referenced are "If you'd please, Mr. Winthrop...softly. An affliction of the hearing. Sounds of any exaggerated degree cut into my brain like knives" and "Any sort of garment other then the softest, is agony to my flesh. My eyes are tormented by all but the faintest illumination. Odors assail me constantly, and as I've said, sounds of any degree whatsoever inspire me with terror."

## External links

* House of Usher quotes at the Internet Movie Database
* House of Usher at Allmovie