The Seventh Veil
| The Seventh Veil | |
|---|---|
The Seventh Veil film poster
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| Directed by | Compton Bennett |
| Produced by | Sydney Box |
| Written by | Sydney Box Muriel Box |
| Starring | James Mason |
| Music by | Benjamin Frankel |
| Cinematography | Reginald Wyer |
| Edited by | Gordon Hales |
| Distributed by |
General Film Distributors (UK) Universal Pictures (US) |
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Release date
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18 October 1945 (UK) 15 February 1946 (US) DVD 2012 (UK) |
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Running time
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94 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £92,000 |
| Box office | £2 million (by Feb 1948) |
The Seventh Veil is a 1945 British melodrama film made by Ortus Films (a company established by producer Sydney Box) and released through General Film Distributors in the UK and Universal Pictures in the United States. It is about a woman who attempts suicide to escape a man's cruelties.
Francesca Cunningham (Ann Todd) is a suicidal mental patient under the care of Dr. Larsen (Herbert Lom). Under hypnosis, Larsen leads her to describe her life events that brought her to attempt suicide. The film largely consists of a series of flashbacks in which Francesca talks about her life, removing successive "veils" to recover memories.
Only her second cousin and guardian, Nicholas (James Mason), a crippled musician, is interested in her. Nicholas, though, is a bitter man, faintly jealous of her talent and misogynistic, with a difficult relationship with his mother. However, he is a brilliant music teacher who encourages Francesca to excel, but also to avoid all emotional entanglements. At the Royal College of Music, Peter (Hugh McDermott), an American studying in London, becomes romantically interested in Francesca. Although she is initially unresponsive, Francesca and Peter later become engaged, but she has not yet reached her majority (then 21) and Nicholas, as her guardian, withholds his consent and insists she leave for Paris with him the next morning. She completes her education and begins her music career on the continent.
Years pass. Nicholas and Francesca return to Britain when she is invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, but she discovers Peter has married someone else. An artist, Maxwell Leyden (Albert Lieven), is invited by Nicholas to paint her portrait; they soon fall in love and agree to live together. Still apparently her guardian, Nicholas becomes angry at the news and strikes her hands with his cane while she plays. She flees from him, but, while with Max, is involved in a serious car accident and suffers burns to her hands. Francesca becomes convinced she will never play again.
After therapy — and now cured, according to Dr Larsen — Francesca realizes that Nicholas is her real love rather than Peter (now divorced) or Max.
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Wikipedia