Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

THE SEVENTH VEIL


THE SEVENTH VEIL (1945). Director: Compton Bennett.

Francesca (Ann Todd) is a deeply troubled and suicidal concert pianist whose guardian, her older cousin Nicolas (James Mason), a lame woman-hater, dominates her life and has kept her apart from the man she loves, a musician named Peter (Hugh McDermott). Dr. Larsen (Herbert Lom), a psychiatrist, treats Francesca and tries to determine what earlier events led her to want to take her own life. The performances in this are excellent, and there's a good use of classical music [and Ben Frankel contributed a memorable theme], although some may feel the "happy" ending is a little suspect. Todd and Mason became involved in real life. Beethoven's "Pathetique" figures in an important sequence.

Verdict: Twisted romance. ***.

2 comments:

panavia999 said...

What a fun movie this is! Full of that hokey psychology, but great melodrama. I never tire of James Mason.

William said...

Glad to hear it -- Mason is one of my all-time favorite actors! And I like your comments about 7th Veil.

Thanks for reading! William