THE SEVENTH VEIL (1944)

[feaito]

Today I came back earlier from work, as it usually happens on Fridays, and I was so immersed in my thoughts, issues & problems concerning my work that I feared it wasn't going to be easy to "mentally change the subject", because sometimes certain thoughts keep lingering in my mind and I even if begin watching a film, I have to keep trying to focus and concentrate on it with varying degrees of success... Well, this time I was easily absorbed by the intriguing plot of this great, vintage British psychological drama directed by Compton Bennett, produced by Sydney & Muriel Box and starring James Mason and the great Ann Todd, an unsung actress.

Miss Todd plays a mentally disturbed patient who tries to commit suicide; an understanding doctor (Herbert Lom) tries to cure her via hypnosis and her story is told by flashbacks...She was a concert pianist and her eventful life led to a nervous breakdown. Ms. Todd's impersonation of the icy, repressed and ultimately damaged, masochistic Francesca Cunningham is magnificent, fabulous, subtle and at the same time strong. It's a pity and a shame that she did not become a better known star like Margaret Lockwood or Jean Simmons. She's hugely talented (thanks to Moira I had been previously able to appreciate her talent in "So Evil My Love" (1948), another wonderful drama- I do not count the star-studded "The Paradine Case", because she's lost in the midst of so many first-rate actors) but here she's even better; the film belongs to her.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, James Mason as Francesca's sadistic and cruel ward & mentor gives and equally impressive performance. When he slaps her in one of the film's key scenes, the moment is so real and so tough, that I felt rather uncomfortable; his control over her, his merciless manipulation are difficult to take, because he completely and succesfully conveys all the rage, misogyny and scorn in his domination of Francesca as an "inferior" female and her total submission to him is heart-wrenching.

I've discovered a new favorite film which increases my high esteem of Classic British films (especially of the '40s). Have any of you seen this great vintage drama?

[moira finnie]

I like this film, which I've always thought was a pseudo-Freudian version of Beauty and the Beast. I kept thinking that Ann Todd might be better off getting out of that mental hospital fast, before Herbert Lom got down to the "last veil" and destroyed her personality, talent as a musician, as well as her instinctive sense of life's mystery more efficiently than the boorish headmistress, that German artist, and her overbearing guardian (James Mason).


It is all poppycock, of course, but very entertaining and Todd's ability to portray a pre-teen, an accomplished pianist, and a catatonic woman were very impressive, (and on a par with Joan Fontaine's own ability to transcend time in her best roles in the '40s). The only other film in which I've seen her match this range on screen was David Lean's Madeleine (1950). She's great in this movie, and, unlike her work with her then-husband, David Lean in The Passionate Friends, she gives her character in Madeleine considerable nuance and a depth of emotion that was very memorable to me. I didn't think that Breaking the Sound Barrier was really a good opportunity for Todd, but I've just ordered Time Without Pity (1957) from Netflix, a Michael Redgrave film that she appeared in later in her career. Are there any other performances by Ann Todd movies that you would recommend, Fernando?

Then, of course, there is the romantic darkness in James Mason, who once said that "all of the villains in my life have been great smoothies,” and he seems to have demonstrated that with this divine monster, a characterization that he was asked to repeat when he came to Hollywood in one movie or another. I love the silly but entertaining movies Mason did early in his career in Britain, often playing magnetic baddies in Gainsborough costume melodramas, which were really celluloid romance novels done with terrific style, such as The Man in Grey, The Wicked Lady, Fanny By Gaslight, but his appearances in something with some bite as well, such as They Were Sisters were all really sketches for the completed masterpiece of a performance that he gave in The Seventh Veil. Even with Todd working hard on her characterization, I'm not sure that the movie would have worked without him in that role.

I tend to think he was a terrific actor who was--at least for a time--typecast by his compelling portrayal in this case study in sadomasochistic love. It's fine as long as none of it is taken too seriously, though to be honest, I've known a few couples who were wrapped up in one another in a similar way. Their situation wasn't enviable at all, but it was still a very human situation of "can't live with him/her or without him/her."

I think he was a bit happier as an actor later when he could be a character actor, even though the actor continues to inspire hatred or affection to an alarming in moviegoers. My favorite roles for him are Odd Man Out, The Story of Three Loves, The Desert Fox, 5 Fingers, Bigger Than Life, The Fall of the Roman Empire, and Michael Powell's last film, Age of Consent. Here's a great scene in Carol Reed's Odd Man Out with Mason (photographed in glorious b & w by the great Robert Krasker):
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[feaito]

Thanks for your insightful post Moira.

As I mentioned in my post I recommend Miss Todd's performance in "So Evil My Love" (1948), I film that I watched thanks to you Moira, and which showcases her second-best performance -at least of what I've seen up to now-; In it she plays the widow of a Missionary -a complex character indeed- who quite unwittingly falls for a cad -played by Ray Milland-, so subtlety, so perfectly, that she could have well been nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal. Her performance is masterful and unforgettable. I'd like to see her in "Madeleine" (1950).

[feaito]

Thanks for the recommendation Kingrat, I'll look for both films. Being a fan of David Lean's movies from the 1940s and having become and admirer of Miss Todd's icy beauty and talent, I can't wait to see them!

[feaito]

I lent this film to my American friend and he was completely blown away by it and by Ann Todd's and James Mason's performances. He said to me that in his opinion Ann Todd has a quality similar to Garbo. I'm glad that there are people in this world who are not turned off by B&W films -and by copies which are not flawless- and still are able to enjoy the great films that are part of our heritage.

[charliechaplinfan]

I watched The Seventh Veil because you were so impressed with it, Fernando and also because I've seen in rather quick succession, Madeleine, The Sound Barrier and The Paradine Case. I loved the plot of The Seventh Veil and found James Mason magnetic as Nicholas and Herbert Lom scary as the doctor, I like movies about classical music. I find Ann Todd very dissappointing in everything I've seen, a bit of a cold fish, which is a shame, I really want to like her especially as she's one of the names of English cinema. It's more than dissappointment, I've taken a dislike to her so that in all these movies I've disliked the characters she plays. I'm not doubting her technical ability in playing a school girl and a pianist, she just doesn't come through for me, which is a pity.

I have no trouble liking James Mason, his voice is enough to recommend him. He's got a screen presence that I appreciate more and more. To see James Mason's name in the credits is to know that a film is in capable hands.

It is a hidden gem of British theatre.

[feaito]

I'm glad that you saw it and that you liked the plot and Mason's performance. I hope you'll be able to warm towards Ann Todd in the future. You should check her performance in "So Evil My Love" (1948) with Ray Milland. You also have to see the highly entertaining British picture "Madonna of the Seven Moons" (1945).

[charliechaplinfan]

I'll keep on trying, I certainly won't dismiss films because she's in them. I don't feel like she has much expression, her face is quite immobile. I'll look out for more of her movies, especially if they have James Mason in.

I do think it was quite daring for her to be reconciled with Nicholas. He reminded me a little of Mr Rochester but was more cruel and at times brutal. It wasn't always obvious where the plot was going either.

[feaito]

I do think it was quite daring for her to be reconciled with Nicholas. He reminded me a little of Mr Rochester but was more cruel and at times brutal. It wasn't always obvious where the plot was going either.

Two of the aspects of the film I liked very much are the ones you mention.

[charliechaplinfan]

It's what sets it apart. I'm looking forward to watching some more British films including the Madonna of the Seven Moons in the next few months.

[feaito]

I am glad to read that you liked it Kingrat.

[charliechaplinfan]

It's a film that never left me, it didn't play out the way I expected and for a long time Mason fan like me who loves his bad characters even I was taken unawares by the ending of the movie. I'm glad TCM has run it and you've had chance to watch it Kingrat, I'm so glad it intrigued you like it did me.

[JackFavell]

I thought it was a captivating beautiful film, and certainly was Ann Todd's finest performance to date for me.

Forgive me, I have uniformly thought her dreadful up until now, even laughable, with The Passionate Friends being the only other film to really show her well. But here she was fantastic, every flicker of emotion crossed her face and kept me on the edge, wanting to see more, to find out what happened. Perhaps her very impassivity was a spur to find out more of what was inside? The structure of the film worked perfectly, revealing a little at a time, and made her seem brilliant to me. I was quite surprised, and like Fernando, found the film to be a small masterpiece.

Is it noir? It certainly struck me as such. I relished the dark viewpoint and extra deep camera angles. The lighting was nice and contrasty.

For me, this was one of the most successful of the classical music movies, and felt a little like an inverted Brief Encounter, this time the lovers know one another for years, but the music was used in much the same way, as a psychological window into Todd's emotions.

I think only Mason could play this part effectively, he retains sympathy even when playing such a villainous type, because you begin to see that all he does is because he loves her.

I'm stunned to realize that no one ever cast him as Rochester, and even more stunned to realize that I never thought of it before. What an opportunity missed! It's SO huge an oversight, it boggles my mind.

Oh, and I loved Herbert Lom, I thought I would have liked it if she ran off with him.