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Lady Ligeia
“And now slowly opened the eyes of the figure which stood before me. “Here then, at least,” I shrieked aloud, “can I never —can I never be mistaken —these are the full, and the black, and the wild eyes —of my lost love —of the lady —of the LADY LIGEIA.”
A few scenes from a film based on Edgar Allan Poe’s Ligeia are being filmed in St. Louis. Last night I was able to peek in on the filming that took place in a beautiful old 1880s mansion on Russell. Oak: Quarter-sawn oak panelled walls, a quite-covetable oak poker table, thick, lush carpets laid on beautifully laid and preserved oak planks, Victorian furniture (props), a breathtaking stairwell, fake lightning, camera and production equipment everywhere. The scene being filmed took place in a room off to the side of the entrance foyer, behind a heavy drawn velvet curtain meant to contain outside noises to a minimum. Two lead actors (the narrator and Rowena?) stood in front of a marble fireplace in heated arguement. In conveying emotion I’m not sure that the male lead (the narrator) is going to be convincing. “Bullshit,” he curses, and then something overly dramatic about her using him for his money. She seemed to keep her lines to a hushed low. All took place behind the velvet curtain, but I was able to watch on the director’s LCD screen. The movie is super low budget but should be interesting. Lots of gothic lore (cemetaries, billowy black), actors with incredible lips (never have I been in a room with so many pair at once), and one adorable director (who smiled at me, btw, not knowing who I was or why I was there) I think because I was wearing my Vintage 1960s mod leopard print coat. My friend Bob claims that my coat commands power.
Poe’s gravestone:
