The House of the Seven Gables (1940)

The House of the Seven Gables
Directed by Joe May
Written by Lester Cole and Harold Greene based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
1940/USA
Universal Pictures
First viewing/Streaming on Amazon Watch Instant

[box] “Shall we never never get rid of this Past? … It lies upon the Present like a giant’s dead body.” — Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables[/box]

Hawthorne called his novel a Romance due to its fantasy elements.  The writers here decided they would go one step better and make the story a “romance” by changing an elderly brother and sister into sweethearts.  I have not read the book but I am completely confident that the heavily modified story is not an improvement over the original.

An ancestor of the Pynchon family obtained the land on which the family mansion sits by accusing its owner, Matthew Maule, of witchcraft.  Maule went to his death with a curse on the whole Pynchon clan on his lips.  Segue to the early 19th century when brothers Jaffrey (George Sanders) and Clifford (Vincent Price) Pynchon argue violently about whether the house should be sold to cover their father’s debt.  Clifford, a composer, wants to use his share to move to New York and marry his pretty cousin Hepzibah (Margaret Lindsay). Corrupt lawyer Jaffrey believes there is a deed granting the family a huge estate in Maine and a fortune in gold hidden somewhere in the house and changes the father’s mind about the sale.  When Clifford and the father have an argument about the matter, Dad drops dead.  Jaffrey accuses Clifford of murder and he is tried and sentenced to life imprisonment.

But fate pulls a fast one on Jaffrey and it turns out that Dad left the house to Hepzibah. She becomes a bitter old maid and lives in solitude in the shuttered house working ceaselessly for Clifford’s release.  Finally, she can no longer support herself on her tiny income and takes in lodger Matthew Holgrave.  When a distant cousin is orphaned and moves in, Holgrave promptly falls in love with her.  Then Clifford is granted an early release and plots his revenge on Jaffrey with the help of Matthew who has a secret reason for interest in the Pynchon family.  There is a subplot about abolitionists that is shoehorned in there too. With Cecil Kellaway as Hepzibah’s kindly solicitor.

I was looking forward to this because I so greatly admired director Joe May’s German expressionist film Asphalt (1930).  I suppose his direction is OK though I wish he had toned down the hammy performance by Price (for an example see the clip).  Sanders is his usual sneering self. Lindsay is just the definition of insipid throughout the first half of the film — for some reason I never like her.  This one kept my interest throughout so it wasn’t all bad, just not for me.

Frank Skinner was nominated for an Academy Award for his original score to this film.

Clip