The House of the Seven Gables

First of all, I never read the book, so my opinion is based on the movie as it is, and I think is very good. Being a Vincent Price fan, I must said that he delivers a terrific performance. His joy, his sadness, his fury, he really put his soul on the character. It only confirms how great actor he was, not only for the horror genre as many people think.. and he even sings here!! The films is more a romantic story than a mystery one, but works well all over. Vincent will do "House..." again several years later, as part of the "Twice Told Tales" trilogy, but this is the best version. A very curious detail: pay attention to the music when Vincent's brother (George Sanders)is looking for something in the basement... it's clearly the first melody of Danny Elfman's Batman!! I'll be waiting for the DVD from now on...

THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES (Universal, 1940), directed by Joe May, is not a biographical story of movie actor, Clark Gable along with six other members of his family, but a screen adaptation based on the 1851 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a family curse involving a mansion known as Seven Gables. Featuring Vincent Price, Nan Grey, Cecil Kellaway and Alan Napier, actors who were recently featured in THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), this reunion cast, headed by George Sanders and Margaret Lindsay, is not a horror story though the curse pitted upon the dark and gloomy Seven Gables and its outcome might be its only link to horror.

Rather than include a re-enactment to the opening chapters of the book to extend the 89 minute movie into two hours, the movie opens with a Forward note before the story begins: "In the middle of the 17th century in New England, there lived one Colonel Jaffrey Pyncheon, a powerful leader of the colonial government. In order to acquire a valuable piece of land, Pyncheon cold-bloodedly accused its owner, a simple carpenter named Matthew Maule, of practicing Witchcraft. The innocent man was promptly condemned to hang from the scaffold,. Matthew Maule had hurled this curse, "God hath given him blood to drink! Definitely Colonel Pyncheon built his mansion on the dead man's ground. On the day of its completion, he was found dead in his new library - blood trickling from his mouth. His descendants lived on at Seven Gables. Succeeding generations of villages cling to the belief that "Maule's Curse" dwelt there with them." Then, 160 years later on a September night in 1828 - at the House of Seven Gables. Hepzibar (Margaret Lindsay) is introduced as a free-spirited girl engaged to marry Clifford (Vincent Price). Clifford's relationship with his brother, Jaffery (George Sanders) finds them divided upon the announcement by their father's (Gilbert Emery) decision to put up their bankrupt home of Seven Gables up for public auction. Though musician Clifford intends on moving to New York with Hefzibar after they get married, Jaffrey, believing there's a hidden fortune of gold connected with the house, is upset about the news. A violent verbal argument between Clifford and his father, who has disinherited him, ends up with the old man staggering and dying of a heart attack. In order to retain Seven Gables, Jaffrey accuses Clifford of their father's death. His accusations convince the trial jury of finding Clifford guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in the state penitentiary. Because of this, the now embittered Hepzibar, who has acquired the deed of ownership by the family lawyer (Cecil Kellaway), not only does she forbid Jeffrey from Seven Gables, but boards up the house, living in seclusion. Twenty years later, 1848, Phoebe (Nan Grey), Hepzibar's young cousin, moves in to the house after years of decay, and brings life into it again by setting up a Cent Shop. During the course of time, Phoebe becomes interested in Matthew Holgrave (Dick Foran), a boarder who happens to be a distant relative to Matthew Maule. As for Jaffrey, who hasn't given up hope in acquiring the hidden treasure of gold said to be somewhere in Seven Gables, intends not to stop at nothing to get it. Others in the cast include: Miles Mander (Arnold Foster); Harry Woods (Mr. Wainwright); Charles Trowbridge, Edgar Norton and Harry Cording in smaller roles.

Of the many screen adaptations to classic literature dating back to the silent film era, with the exception of an obscure 1910 short, this happens to be the only SEVEN GABLES movie produced during the days of classic Hollywood. As much as this adaptation elevated Vincent Price further exposure to leading man status, and the top-billed George Sanders gathering enough attention as the greedy and jealous brother, it's Margaret Lindsay who comes off best with her performance. Virtually underrated, yet talented actress when a good role comes her way, she is quite convincing with her early scenes as a happy young girl, and even more convincing later on as a bitter woman living a reclusive life while the man she loves is in prison. Her role might have been inspired by the talents of Bette Davis, who might have made the role of Hepzibar equally believable, though such changes in screen personality were already done in similar fashion by Davis in THE OLD MAID (1939). Now it was Lindsay's turn to act out her charm of hate and despair. Blonde Nan Grey, who comes in later in the story, is certainly a beauty to behold, and another one of the forgotten names and faces from the Universal contract players. Vincent Price even gets a rare chance of singing a song, "The Color of Your Eyes."

While many who have read the Hawthorne novel may find changes and deletions of characters from the book to become disappointed with the outcome, overlooking that, the final script is good enough to hold interest throughout. Formerly distributed to video cassette, and later available on DVD as part of the Universal vault collection, to date, THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, almost forgotten and overlooked, did have cable television showing such as American Movie Classics (1993-1999). Watch it for the screen adaptation by Nathaniel Hawthorne; the youthful Vincent Price years before his other house movie titles of HOUSE OF WAX (1953), HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959) and HOUSE OF USHER (1962) came his way; the sinister George Sanders; or the very fine performance given by the often overlooked Margaret Lindsay in a rare meaty role. (**1/2)

Being a big fan of the book, I was avoiding this film for a LONG time. The first half hour of the film would lead a fan of Hawthorne to conclude that the screenwriter had never even READ the original novel.

However, the screenwriter in this instance simply wanted to spend the first 30 minutes dramatizing the 'back story' that Hawthorne only alludes to in the book. Jaffrey and Clifford are now brothers, not cousins. Clifford and Hepzibah are now lovers, not siblings ... and the details surrounding the murder of Clifford's father (his uncle in the book) are slightly different, but the movie is only 90 minutes long, and the film simplifies the plotline without erasing the POINT.

Some of the acting (Margaret Lindsay as Hepzibah, for example) is so brilliant, it makes you want to cry. The scenes that depict Phoebe's arrival to Seven Gables (Chapter 2 in the book, almost halfway through the film) are incredibly well acted. Other moments in the film are so badly and broadly acted, it's laughable. At the scene of the first murder, the camera actually does a quick pan to Margaret Lindsay in the doorway, biting her knuckle. Oy gevalt.

As is usual, reading the book is more of a challenge (not everyone enjoys Hawthorne's prose), but ultimately a MUCH richer experience. For a product of its time, however ... the film does itself justice.

"The House of Seven Gables" had been standing on my personal must- see list for more than 10 years now; ever since I saw a heavily shortened and altered version of the same tale in the sixties' horror omnibus "Twice-Told Tales". During this decade of abstinence, my admiration for the fantastic Vincent Price only increased and likewise also my passion for macabre stories about cursed mansions and family feuds. Needless to say I highly anticipated my viewing of "The House of Seven Gables" (and thus I'm probably biased and unreliably partial), and it promptly became one of the finest film experiences of the year. What a wonderful movie!

I haven't read Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel on which the movie is based, so I'll restrain from making references towards that, but it's fairly obvious (and confirmed in reviews by people around here who have read the book) that the script is a lot less detailed than the book. Even though its running time is slightly under an hour and a half, "The House of Seven Gables" often still resembles more of a soap-opera rather than a feature film, what with the many supportive characters that are introduced in the middle of the story, convoluted structure and several sub plots that largely remain undeveloped. The story takes place near Salem, Massachusetts (where novelist Hawthorne originates from) but for once there isn't a direct link with the infamous 1692 witch trials. In 1828, Jaffrey Pyncheon is summoned to his family estate and the legendary parental house of seven gables. The Pyncheon family is in deep debt and the younger brother Clifford insists on selling the house, much against the will of his older brother Jaffrey because he's secretly convinced there's an enormous fortune hidden somewhere in the house, as according to an old legend. When their father Gerald suffers from a stroke and dies during a heated discussion with Clifford, Jaffrey sees the opportunity to cowardly accuse his brother of murder and thus become the sole heir to the house. This doesn't turn out too well for Jaffrey, since in an attempt to protect himself from his debtors, Gerald changed his testament and donated the house and the estate to their cousin Hephzibah … and she also happens to be Clifford's devoted lover! For more than 20 long years, Hephzibah waits for her man to get released from prison, and only towards the end of this period she decides to flourish up the decaying house by taking in a lodger and opening a shop together with the newly arrived and beautiful younger cousin Phoebe. All these years, Jaffrey has been repeatedly trying to take ownership of the house at last, but he shouldn't have underestimated his brother, as he has had twenty long years in prison to carefully study the Pyncheon's cursed family history and develop a slick plan to get revenge.

"The House of Seven Gables" has everything I could possibly look for in a classic horror/mystery tale. The film benefices from a totally absorbing and intelligent screenplay, also filled with supremely written dialogues and continuous new dimensions added to the plot. The atmosphere is unsettling and tense throughout, even though the pacing slows down a little bit during the middle-section. Director Joe May ("The Return of the Invisible Man") makes supreme use of the sober decors and set-pieces, and he can also safely rely on his downright fantastic ensemble cast. Vincent Price is my favorite actor of all times, although admittedly this is largely based on the immortal horror roles he played as per the 1950s and onward. Still, in his earlier and more dramatic 40s roles like "Laura", "Dragonwyck" and definitely also this "The House of Seven Gables", Vincent Price certainly proved that he's a magnificent all-round actor! And here he even sings! Price isn't the only one responsible for the stellar performances in "The House of Seven Gables". George Sanders is also amazing as the arrogant and emotionless Jaffrey. He also had a very rich and versatile career, including genre highlights like "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and "Village of the Damned", and he committed suicide in 1967 allegedly because he was bored. Last but certainly not least, Margaret Lindsay truly gives away one of the most remarkable female performances of the classic film era. Her character Hephzibah undergoes a metamorphosis from a cheerful and optimistic young girl into a stoic and frustrated spinster waiting for her lost lover. Without exaggerating, she honestly deserved at least an Oscar for her role.

This movie was made with a modest budget and was never intended as an "A-movie", though it had a bit higher production values and was a bit too long to be a true "B-movie" (i.e., the second and much cheaper film in a double-feature). With these modest expectations as well as some great but underrated actors, this film really delivers. You see, this film starred second-tier actors such as Vincent Price was a practically unknown and inexperienced actor as well as George Sanders who had been a supporting actor or B-movie leading man. Margaret Lindsay was probably the biggest name star in the film, though her career had seen better days in the 1930s. As a result of this and a very modest budget, none of the Universal Studios execs at the time suspected this would be one of their best films of the year. In fact, dollar-for-dollar, this film is one of the best films I have seen. Sure, it isn't GONE WITH THE WIND or THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, but these films had very large budgets and the best writers/directors/producers and of course they had to be great films.

Sanders and Price play brothers--Sanders is the money-grubbing amoral one and Price is the basically decent man who is framed by Sanders for murder. The plot is pretty complex and I don't want to spoil the suspense by explaining it further, but trust me the plot is exceptional--especially when it comes to irony. The ending is just terrific and drips with poetic justice.