Trying to remember the movie they made us watch back in junior high school... old lady lives in mansion, family comes in at one point and rips down the big huge drapes... it was based on a book we read I think... old black and white... thanks so much!

Sorry... think I found it... Fall of the house of Usher

You might also want to check out Great Expectations, 1946
Think I remember a scene very similar in Pip's benefactor's home.
The book is a classic written by Charles ens, which you would probably read in Jr. high.