James Sibley Watson Jr., Pgm 1

Anthology Film Archives

Program highlights James Sibley Watson Jr.’s three surviving ‘narrative’ films completed between 1928 and 1934 in collaboration with Melville Weber. The first two, FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER and LOT IN SODOM, showcase Watson’s creative and technical impulses, using expressionistic literary adaptations with crafty sets, multiple exposures, and custom kaleidoscopic lenses. TOMATO’S ANOTHER DAY, on the other hand, is a protest against the ‘talkies,’ utilizing sardonic wordplay and lethargic momentum, demonstrating Watson’s dryly neurotic anti-film irony. This program moves from silent to part-talkie to all-talkie, showcasing Watson’s work at the dawn of his filmmaking career and how independent artists used (and abused) transformative technological innovations.