The House of the Seven Gables
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
The House of Seven Gables has been in the Pyncheon family for many generations. Colonel Jaffrey Pyncheon stole the land from Matthew Maule, who put a curse on the family. Colonel Pyncheon and many of his male descendants died by choking on their own blood during a sudden seizure.On a rainy night in 1828, the current Jaffrey Pyncheon arrives at Seven Gables. His father, Gerald, has summoned him from his legal practice in Boston. He is greeted by Hepzibah Pyncheon, a distant cousin who is engaged to his brother Clifford. When the family is assembled, Gerald gives Jaffrey the unwelcome news that Seven Gables is to be sold the next day. The family fortune is gone because of Gerald's poor management and he is deeply in debt. Clifford is in agreement that the house must be sold. He plans to use his share of the profits to marry Hepzibah and move to New York.After everyone is in bed, Jaffrey sneaks up to the attic. He opens an old trunk and rummages through the papers inside. Clifford catches him and asks what he is doing. Jaffrey is looking for a paper signed by King Charles II that gave the Pyncheon family a huge land grant in what is now Maine. Excitedly he tells Clifford that if he will change his mind and stand firm against the sale, they can search for the paper. If they find it, the government will have to reimburse them. But Clifford says that is just one of many legends about the family, including the one about half a million in gold hidden somewhere in the house. None of them are true.The next morning, Clifford avoids Jaffrey and his father. He and Hepzibah discuss their plans for the future. Then Jaffrey appears and tells Clifford their father wants to see him. Clifford learns that the sale is off. Gerald has a few securities left and Jaffrey has persuaded his father to let him invest the money. Clifford angrily says that the money will be lost and insists that the sale go ahead. The windows are open and passers-by hear the quarrel. Gerald tells Clifford that he is no longer his son and to get out. He picks up a paperweight to throw at Clifford but instead has a seizure. He collapses with blood dripping from his mouth. Jaffrey and Hepzibah rush in but it is too late. Jaffrey seizes his chance and calls Clifford a murderer because of the paperweight by Gerald's body, which has blood on it. Jaffrey is arrested and charged with murdering his father.Even though the evidence is circumstantial, Clifford is found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Hepzibah is preparing to leave Seven Gables when Mr. Barton, the family lawyer, drops by. Jaffrey is full of plans to tear the house down board by board, hoping to find hidden gold. He is shocked at the contents of his father's will. To avoid having the house seized by creditors, Gerald had earlier signed it over to Hepzibah. His life insurance will cover the debts and leave enough money for Hepzibah to live on. She begins laughing in a maniacal sort of way and throws Jaffrey out of the house. She then closes all the shutters and closes herself away from the world.Clifford and Hepzibah exchange letters for 20 years. She and Mr. Barton are trying to have his sentence commuted. Then a young man is put in Clifford's prison cell. He is a political activist who wants to abolish slavery. Having been arrested for disturbing the peace, he is furious at being put away for ten days. Clifford introduces himself and the young man bursts out laughing. His name is Matthew Maule, a descendant of the original Maule. They strike up an instant friendship and begin making plans.Hepzibah has let Seven Gables run down. She summons Mr. Barton to tell him that she can no longer live on her income. In addition to having a lodger, one Mr. Holgrave, she intends to convert the front room into a cent shop. Mr. Barton is shocked that a gentlewoman would engage in trade. A distant cousin, Phoebe Pyncheon, is coming to stay and Hepzibah intends to let her help with the shop. Mr. Barton offers to loan her money but Hepzibah feels she has already accepted too many favors from him. Before leaving, Mr. Barton pronounces her very stubborn and obstinate.Mr. Holgrave, who is a photographer, is actually Matthew Maule. He engaged a room at Seven Gables at Clifford's request, unknown to Hepzibah.Phoebe Pyncheon proves to be an attractive, friendly young woman who takes over the running of the cent shop. Her cheerful manner draws many customers. It is clear that Mr. Holgrave is attracted to her.Mr. Barton brings news that Clifford is to be released. Hepzibah decides that instead of a grand welcome home celebration, Clifford's return should be quiet, as if he has simply returned from a long journey. She finds a dress she wore when they were young but the fabric is rotted. She fears he will find her old and unattractive.Late one rainy night, Clifford steps through the front door of Seven Gables. Hepzibah has left a lamp burning for him. His room is just as he left it. But when he puts on a coat from the closet, he discovers it is moth-eaten.After an awkward start, Clifford and Hepzibah find they are as much in love as ever. He commends her for waiting all these years in such a cold, dreary house. Hepzibah is dismayed to learn that Clifford intends to see Jaffrey. She warns him that his brother is rich and influential now. But Clifford has a score to settle.Mr. Holgrave is part of an abolitionist movement that meets in secret. Money to fund the group's activities has been entrusted to Deacon Foster until it is needed. He assures the group that the money is safely hidden. However, in his greed he loaned it to Jaffrey Pyncheon, who promised that Foster could double his investment. Time is running out and soon Foster will be required to produce the money.Jaffrey is disgusted that Hepzibah has disgraced the family name by engaging in trade. He pays her a visit but she orders him away. As he climbs into his carriage, he is approached by Deacon Foster about the money. Jaffrey assures him he will have it soon.Mr. Holgrave spreads word about town that Clifford is searching for half a million dollars in gold hidden at Seven Gables by the Pyncheon ancestors. Apparently while Clifford was in prison he studied a lot of old documents, including the original architect's plans. He has just discovered a secret staircase in the house. The newspaper runs a story on this and Jaffrey summons Holgrave to his house. Holgrave says there is no harm in looking for the gold and Clifford is tearing the house apart plank by plank. Jaffrey pretends to be disinterested but he believes the story. He begins making plans to have Clifford declared insane and sent to an asylum.Deacon Foster continues to pester Jaffrey about the money. He asks Jaffrey to replace it himself, but Jaffrey is broke. Why else would he borrow money from Foster?Jaffrey pays another visit to Seven Gables but Hester will not let him see Clifford. Jaffrey says that his brother is clearly insane since he is tearing the house apart. Hester says the newspaper story is not true. At that moment a hammering sound is heard from the basement. Jaffrey leaves after threatening to have Clifford committed. Hepzibah and Phoebe discover Mr. Holgrave swinging at a beam with a hammer. He cannot explain his actions so Hepzibah asks him to find new lodgings. This upsets Phoebe, who realizes she is in love with Holgrave.After a week Mr. Holgrave still has not left. Hepzibah decides to evict him at once. She goes to his room and begins packing his belongings. Phoebe rushes in and says if he is to leave that she will leave with him. Then Hepzibah finds a packet of letters addressed to Matthew Maule. Very fearful, she goes to Clifford and begs that they leave immediately. Clifford soothes her and admits that he and Matthew are working together to clear his name. That is the condition on which he was released from prison. Until that is accomplished, he has no civil rights and they cannot marry. Hepzibah still wants to leave but Clifford has more to tell her.Meanwhile, Deacon Foster is called to account for the money. He goes to Jaffrey's house and says he must have it at once. Jaffrey says it is gone forever, as the slave ship it financed sank off the coast of Africa. Foster is horrified to think that a slave ship was paid for with abolitionist money.Jaffrey decides it is time to get rid of Clifford once and for all. He goes to Seven Gables with a letter from the superintendent of the state insane asylum, ordering Clifford to report for an examination. Instead, Clifford hands him a paper to sign. It states that Jaffrey made a mistake in his testimony and Gerald Pyncheon's death was an accident. If Jaffrey signs it, he can have the house. Jaffrey at first refuses. Then Deacon Foster bursts in, just ahead of the men who are looking for him. Once more he begs Jaffrey for the money but Jaffrey turns him away. Foster goes into the hall and shoots himself. Jaffrey realizes the truth will come out now and he will be arrested. Hepzibah and Clifford watch in amazement as he begs them to help him. Hester calls him a murderer. Jaffrey signs the paper and implores them to hide him in the secret staircase. Clifford says there is no secret staircase and no gold. There is no Holgrave, his real name is Matthew Maule. Just as the men burst into the room, Jaffrey chokes on his own blood and falls dead to the floor.Several months later, the two couples are married at Seven Gables, which is for sale. As they prepare to leave, Mr. Barton says he sees Hepzibah and Clifford as they were when they were young. He always knew it would work out for them.

Review: The first half hour of the film would lead a fan of Hawthorne to conclude that the screenwriter had never even READ the original novel.However, the screenwriter in this instance simply wanted to spend the first 30 minutes dramatizing the 'back story' that Hawthorne only alludes to in the book.
and the details surrounding the murder of Clifford's father (his uncle in the book) are slightly different, but the movie is only 90 minutes long, and the film simplifies the plotline without erasing the POINT.Some of the acting (Margaret Lindsay as Hepzibah, for example) is so brilliant, it makes you want to cry.
The scenes that depict Phoebe's arrival to Seven Gables (Chapter 2 in the book, almost halfway through the film) are incredibly well acted.
You see, this film starred second-tier actors such as Vincent Price was a practically unknown and inexperienced actor as well as George Sanders who had been a supporting actor or B-movie leading man.
Margaret Lindsay was probably the biggest name star in the film, though her career had seen better days in the 1930s.
Sure, it isn't GONE WITH THE WIND or THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, but these films had very large budgets and the best writers/directors/producers and of course they had to be great films.Sanders and Price play brothers--Sanders is the money-grubbing amoral one and Price is the basically decent man who is framed by Sanders for murder.
Vincent will do "House..." again several years later, as part of the "Twice Told Tales" trilogy, but this is the best version.
Miss Lindsay should have received more comment from students of good acting in all these years since the film.
Gothic melodrama from Universal, adapted from the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel (with significant changes) about the cursed Pyncheon family and one brother framing another for murder.
It does have some nice atmosphere in keeping with that genre, though, particularly given that it shares the same look and feel of the Universal horror films being made around that time.Margaret Lindsay, an often underrated actress who never really hit it big, isn't entirely convincing in the early scenes as the innocent young Hepzibah.
George Sanders reportedly didn't care for his role or the film but you would never know it by his great turn.
Besides, that same year saw director May and cast members Vincent Price and Nan Grey (elevated to lead status) re-united for the well-above-average sequel THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS!
He manages to dissuade his father from going through with the deal, but his younger sibling (Price, another of Hollywood's great villains but in this case playing sympathetic) had been counting on the sale since he wanted to marry and settle in New York as a composer (we even get to hear the actor sing, and quite well too!).
Sanders (and a gathering crowd of onlookers) accuse him of murder and he is imprisoned for lifebut, before being taken to jail, he puts on Sanders the very same curse that had afflicted their family!Sanders thinks he can now have free rein with the house, but it transpires that his father (through solicitor Cecil Kellaway, who had also undertaken Price's defence at the trial) had bequeathed it not to him but to Price and his heirs, that is to say fiancée Margaret Lindsay!
The years pass, with the woman growing bitter despite her attempts to obtain a pardon from the Governor, and Price even getting to meet the descendant (Dick Foran, the hero of another Universal monster sequel from 1940 i.e. THE MUMMY'S HAND, in which Kellaway also appears) of the man who had given his kin the evil eye in the first place, incarcerated for his abolitionist beliefs – never having believed in the jinx himself, Price has no qualms about befriending him!
Later, a distant female relative (Grey) also comes to live with her and, of course, the two fall in love.In the meantime, Sanders' career as a (crooked) lawyer has soaredbut, at long last, Price's sentence is revoked (on the condition that he provides evidence of his innocence!).
When he returns home, Lindsay fears Price will think her looks have faded, while himself (in cahoots with Foran) starts acting strangely by digging the earth around the house and dismantling the property itself in the pretence of searching for the fabled treasurewhich, needless to say, arouses Sanders' curiosity and greed all over again.
Pestering him repeatedly to return the funds before they are discovered, he commits suicide (at the Seven Gables) and, when the Police turn up soon after, Sanders' protesting voice goes hoarse and he starts bleeding from the mouthall the symptoms that indicate he truly is the latest victim of the curse (though Price, who had bestowed it upon him in desperation, does not blink an eye at its actual accomplishment)!
In the end, both male leads leave their mark here, yet Price's character is clearly the more rounded one (at his best when putting down his 'glorious' ancestors' legacy early on) – incidentally, this is the first of 6 films he was featured in over the course of 43 years to have the word "House" in their title!
This is House of the Seven Gables as if it was written by Nat's buddy, Herman Melville--it's got some real romance and intensity about it as a result of changing the relationships around.
This film bears little resemblance to the 19th century Hawthorne novel (which may be a good thing, since nothing happens for about the first two-thirds of the book).
Still, it's a decent way to kill 90 minutes.George Sanders gives his usual performance as a pompous scumbag trying to cheat brother Vincent Price out of the family fortune, even though the family is bankrupt.
When their father suddenly dies during an argument with Price, Sanders accuses his brother of murder.
Decades pass and Price's sentence is commuted, all while his fiancée, played by Margaret Lindsay, has changed from a beautiful girl to a sour old crone, teased by passing teenagers, as she locks herself away in her grief and loneliness.
I guess somebody felt his character wasn't repulsive enough.Margaret Lindsay is the most persuasive performer in The House of the Seven Gables.
While I know that most film fans will be more interested in the participation of George Sanders and Vincent Price as part of the cast, I think it can be argued that this film may well have been the highlight of her career as an actress.
They skipped so much of the original story that it barely resembled THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES..
Despite the fact that this is a compressed and revised version of the Hawthorne novel, THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES manages to overcome its budget limitations (on a B-film scale) to become an interesting, if over-plotted version of the original story.Margaret Lindsay, who usually had second femme leads at Warner Brothers during the '30s, is the central character here and acquits herself admirably.
She's so good as the repressed Cousin Hepzibah, a bitter woman who becomes a reclusive owner of the house, that's it's a wonder she didn't have a bigger career.
Others in the cast, including George Sanders, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, Dick Foran and Cecil Kellaway, perform admirably too.
Vincent Price and George Sanders are reasons enough to see any film on their own, and were often high points in their lesser films.
Seeing them in the same film together, like in 'The House of the Seven Gables' is even more of a pleasure.
'The House of the Seven Gables' may not be the greatest film in adaptation terms, there is not a whole lot of Hawthorne here, but as a film on its own terms it's well worth your while as long as it's not constantly compared to the book.
'The House of the Seven Gables' did need a longer length, would have given it at least another thirty minutes myself, to do justice to a story that is pretty complex even in the film and give the characters more depth, because parts did feel rushed.
The biggest offender is Jaffrey's final scene, which was wildly over-acted (rather unusual for George Sanders) and overly-melodramatic (even for a melodrama).However, 'The House of the Seven Gables' has a sumptuous Gothic look throughout, particularly in the photography and lighting, with the house suitably mysterious and imposing and with elegant costumes.
The song Vincent Price sings (yes it is him singing and he sings pretty beautifully here) is a charming touch.Direction is efficient and a vast majority of the time is in complete control of the material, with a few parts where the control is lost a little (Jaffrey's final scene especially).
Although rushed and in need of a longer length, the characters lacking depth and one subplot in need of a trim, the story has a rich atmosphere and is very absorbing.With a few individual scene exceptions, the acting is very good.
THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES (Universal, 1940), directed by Joe May, is not a biographical story of movie actor, Clark Gable along with six other members of his family, but a screen adaptation based on the 1851 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a family curse involving a mansion known as Seven Gables.
Featuring Vincent Price, Nan Grey, Cecil Kellaway and Alan Napier, actors who were recently featured in THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), this reunion cast, headed by George Sanders and Margaret Lindsay, is not a horror story though the curse pitted upon the dark and gloomy Seven Gables and its outcome might be its only link to horror.
Succeeding generations of villages cling to the belief that "Maule's Curse" dwelt there with them." Then, 160 years later on a September night in 1828 - at the House of Seven Gables.
Hepzibar (Margaret Lindsay) is introduced as a free-spirited girl engaged to marry Clifford (Vincent Price).
Clifford's relationship with his brother, Jaffery (George Sanders) finds them divided upon the announcement by their father's (Gilbert Emery) decision to put up their bankrupt home of Seven Gables up for public auction.
In order to retain Seven Gables, Jaffrey accuses Clifford of their father's death.
Because of this, the now embittered Hepzibar, who has acquired the deed of ownership by the family lawyer (Cecil Kellaway), not only does she forbid Jeffrey from Seven Gables, but boards up the house, living in seclusion.
Twenty years later, 1848, Phoebe (Nan Grey), Hepzibar's young cousin, moves in to the house after years of decay, and brings life into it again by setting up a Cent Shop.
Others in the cast include: Miles Mander (Arnold Foster); Harry Woods (Mr. Wainwright); Charles Trowbridge, Edgar Norton and Harry Cording in smaller roles.Of the many screen adaptations to classic literature dating back to the silent film era, with the exception of an obscure 1910 short, this happens to be the only SEVEN GABLES movie produced during the days of classic Hollywood.
As much as this adaptation elevated Vincent Price further exposure to leading man status, and the top-billed George Sanders gathering enough attention as the greedy and jealous brother, it's Margaret Lindsay who comes off best with her performance.
Virtually underrated, yet talented actress when a good role comes her way, she is quite convincing with her early scenes as a happy young girl, and even more convincing later on as a bitter woman living a reclusive life while the man she loves is in prison.
Vincent Price even gets a rare chance of singing a song, "The Color of Your Eyes."While many who have read the Hawthorne novel may find changes and deletions of characters from the book to become disappointed with the outcome, overlooking that, the final script is good enough to hold interest throughout.
Formerly distributed to video cassette, and later available on DVD as part of the Universal vault collection, to date, THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES, almost forgotten and overlooked, did have cable television showing such as American Movie Classics (1993-1999).
Watch it for the screen adaptation by Nathaniel Hawthorne; the youthful Vincent Price years before his other house movie titles of HOUSE OF WAX (1953), HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959) and HOUSE OF USHER (1962) came his way; the sinister George Sanders; or the very fine performance given by the often overlooked Margaret Lindsay in a rare meaty role.
I love the house of seven gables.
"The House of Seven Gables" had been standing on my personal must- see list for more than 10 years now; ever since I saw a heavily shortened and altered version of the same tale in the sixties' horror omnibus "Twice-Told Tales".
During this decade of abstinence, my admiration for the fantastic Vincent Price only increased and likewise also my passion for macabre stories about cursed mansions and family feuds.
Needless to say I highly anticipated my viewing of "The House of Seven Gables" (and thus I'm probably biased and unreliably partial), and it promptly became one of the finest film experiences of the year.
Even though its running time is slightly under an hour and a half, "The House of Seven Gables" often still resembles more of a soap-opera rather than a feature film, what with the many supportive characters that are introduced in the middle of the story, convoluted structure and several sub plots that largely remain undeveloped.
In 1828, Jaffrey Pyncheon is summoned to his family estate and the legendary parental house of seven gables.
When their father Gerald suffers from a stroke and dies during a heated discussion with Clifford, Jaffrey sees the opportunity to cowardly accuse his brother of murder and thus become the sole heir to the house.
For more than 20 long years, Hephzibah waits for her man to get released from prison, and only towards the end of this period she decides to flourish up the decaying house by taking in a lodger and opening a shop together with the newly arrived and beautiful younger cousin Phoebe.
All these years, Jaffrey has been repeatedly trying to take ownership of the house at last, but he shouldn't have underestimated his brother, as he has had twenty long years in prison to carefully study the Pyncheon's cursed family history and develop a slick plan to get revenge.
"The House of Seven Gables" has everything I could possibly look for in a classic horror/mystery tale.
Vincent Price is my favorite actor of all times, although admittedly this is largely based on the immortal horror roles he played as per the 1950s and onward.
Still, in his earlier and more dramatic 40s roles like "Laura", "Dragonwyck" and definitely also this "The House of Seven Gables", Vincent Price certainly proved that he's a magnificent all-round actor!
Price isn't the only one responsible for the stellar performances in "The House of Seven Gables".
Last but certainly not least, Margaret Lindsay truly gives away one of the most remarkable female performances of the classic film era.
George Sanders (Jaffrey) is called to the family home – the House of Seven Gables – where his father Gilbert Emery tells him that he has to sell the house.
Brother Vincent Price (Clifford) is keen on the idea but Sanders is not.
Vincent Price provides some hilarious over-the-top bad acting at the end of a court case when he breaks into hysterical laughter, deserved of a 60's camp horror film.
While not perfectly true to the novel, House of the Seven Gables is a good movie to watch alone on a late evening - it does keep you on your toes.
Few great novels have been altered so completely for the screen as this one, but the result is, to say the least, interesting, and actually not worse than the book; lighter, of course, but adding very much to it of good quality, especially by the outstanding acting throughout, among which Vincent Price and Margaret Lindsay make very memorable performances.
There is no music even mentioned in Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel, but here it is made to play an important part, underscored by Frank Skinner's wonderful score, and Vincent Price even sings and sings well.In brief, it's not a very extraordinary film, but it certainly makes the best of all resources at hand of the figures, the actors, the music and the gloomy story, while perhaps the greatest scene of all in the film is that between the women, two very different women, one marked by disaster and outrage and the other as fresh as a new spring..
George Sanders and Vincent Price.
You can see it in other films when he's trying hard to act, but he's not really an actor, he just needs a good script and a good director to get the best out of him.
The end scene in this film highlights his limited acting ability.Vincent Price on the other hand is the superior actor and wins out in the end.
His career lasts longer, and delivers a more varied performance in this film compared with Sanders.
But in spite of his performance this is not a good film for Sanders or Price fans.
Bela and Boris never played brothers (how could they?), but in "The House of the Seven Gables", George Sanders and Vincent Price do.
After the decent Vincent Price reminds his brother George Sanders of their somewhat evil family history, the same thing happens to their father, who had just disowned Vincent.
Murderer!", Vincent ends up in prison and his foster sister/lady love Margaret Lindsay somehow inherits the property, kicking George to the curb.
Price makes Sanders think he is going balmy, searching for buried treasure that never existed, all the while plotting revenge.Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic Gothic tale of life in one of the original thirteen colonies is an entertaining saga of greed, romance, revenge and justice.
Price and Sanders would go on to play many roles both evil and heroic (but always colorful).
Price would later re-visit this house a decade later as part of "Tales of Terror" in which another part of the family's saga was told.