Ahh! you didn't tell me it was a film of vincent "master of creepiness" price reading poe's stories! Quite honestly, i can't think of anyone better for the job (Between The Abominable Dr. Phibes and "the 13 ghosts of scooby doo", hes one of my favorite actors). Well, thanks for letting me know that the thing even existed!
Miles, I apologize. I meant to explain a bit more about these movies in my original post, but it was "last call" at the computer lab where I was posting, and I barely got the post made at all!
There is some discrepancy in the title of the Price/Poe film. AMC advertised it as "An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe," but when the film began, the title was actually "An Evening of Edgar Allen Poe." I noticed that this was an American International production; the running time was under one hour, and I think I read somewhere that this was a TV production.
The term "reading" was not quite accurate. This was actually a one-man show. Price dramatized each of the stories; each was staged in a different setting with Price in a different costume appropriate to the story. It looked like it may have been videotaped. There was a very minimal but judicious use of props and action.
I think he could have brought something to the proverbial "Dark Shadows Table" in any role.
You're right. My impression of Price up until recently was that he was an extraordinarily hammy actor, and he may well have been just as hammy in the Nicholas Blair role as Humbert Astredo (my apologies for getting his name wrong) -- in which case the casting wouldn't have been an "improvement" IMO.
But now that I've seen Price in several things where he gave more realistic performances, I'm also recognizing that Astredo (sorry again) might also have given "straight" performances. He did tone down the Snidley Whiplash schtick in his later DS roles.
