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The House of the Seven Gables (film)

The House of the Seven Gables
The House of the Seven Gables FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Joe May
Produced by Burt Kelly (assoc. producer)
Written by Harold Greene (treatment)
Screenplay by Lester Cole
Starring George Sanders
Margaret Lindsay
Vincent Price
Music by Frank Skinner
Cinematography Milton R. Krasner
Production
company
Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • February 29, 1940 (1940-02-29) (Chicago, Illinois)
  • April 12, 1940 (1940-04-12) (United States)
Running time
89 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $161,625

The House of the Seven Gables is a 1940 Gothic drama film based on the novel of the same name by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It stars George Sanders, Margaret Lindsay, and Vincent Price, and tells the story of a family consumed by greed in which one brother frames another for murder. It is a remake of the 1910 film of the same name, which starred Mary Fuller. The film's musical score was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.

The plot of the film differs dramatically from the plot of the novel on which it is based.

The film opens with the camera focused on a book. As the pages of the book are turned, the audience learns the story of the Pyncheon family. Colonel Jaffrey Pyncheon, a family ancestor, falsely accused a poor carpenter, Matthew Maule, of witchcraft. Maule was hanged. Pyncheon took his land and built the luxurious Pyncheon home on it. But Maule cursed the Pyncheons, and the colonel soon died. The family has lived during the next 160 years desperately afraid of the "Maule curse".

Jaffrey Pyncheon (George Sanders) is a lawyer just embarking on his career. His elder brother, Clifford (Vincent Price), lives at home with their father, Gerald Pyncheon (Gilbert Emery). Jaffrey is obsessed with legends that say a vast sum of money is hidden in the Pyncheon house. Jaffrey is summoned to his father's home when Clifford informs him that the house is to be sold to pay his father's debts. Jaffrey, terrified at losing the lost treasure, pries up floorboards and searches in the walls at night for the lost gold. Clifford, however, doesn't believe the family stories. He wants to marry his cousin, Hepzibah Pyncheon (Margaret Lindsay), sell the house, and move to New York City.

When Gerald decides not to sell the house after all, Clifford and his father argue violently. Gerald dies of a heart attack, and strikes his head as he falls. Jaffrey, knowing Clifford is innocent, nonetheless accuses him of murder. Clifford is convicted and imprisoned, but renews "Maule's curse" upon Jaffrey before being led away. Gerald's will gives all three children sizeable yearly incomes, but leaves the house to Hepzibah. Hepzibah throws Jaffrey out of the house and seals all the doors and windows so that no light can be admitted. Over the next two decades, she rarely leaves her home.


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