I’ll keep this one brief. I found an independent film from 2006 by Mark Redfield (an actor, director, and artist) about the mystery surrounding Poe’s death. It’s part documentary, part speculation, but gives a lot of recognition to key figures in Poe’s like his rival Rufus Griswold, his mother-in-law Maria Clemm, and his early girlfriend/fiancee Sarah Elmira Royster.
I won’t give every detail or give away much of the plot. What I will say it the film chronicles the last days of Poe in Baltimore, showing how his mind was addled and how forgetful he was becoming. He’s haunted by conversation with his foster father and Virginia, all while attempting to find investors for an American literary magazine. This is rather frustrating to watch because he keeps telling people how much he already saved up and that it’s with him.
The impressive research is clear, including a part that tries to avoid Poe’s views on slavery. It gives all the anguish and embarrassment of being mildly famous without money.
This movie is most certainly using the theories that Poe was not at fault in his own death showing that he is abstaining from alcohol. It made me curious about the doctor who cared for Poe at the end. He mentions in the movie that he hates thinking of himself as the man who failed to save Edgar Allan Poe.
