The Tell-Tale Heart is a 1934 British drama film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst.
[1] The screenplay by David Plunkett Greene is based on the 1843 short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe.
A young manservant is driven mad by his obsession with the repulsive diseased eye of an old man who cares for him.
When the police investigate the old man's disappearance, the imagined beating of the victim's heart haunts the murderer's thoughts so much that his words and actions arouse the suspicions of the police.
[3] The cast was mostly amateur (John Kelt had appeared in several silent films) and the dialogue is so sparse that Hurst recalled when interviewed:[4] At the big Elstree studios nearby they said "There's a fellow over at Blattner's studio who's making practically a silent picture."