The House of the Seven Gables

1940 "AN ANCIENT HOUSE! A MURDER SECRET! A HIDDEN TREASURE!"
7| 1h29m| NR| en
Details

In 1828, the bankrupt Pyncheon family fight over Seven Gables, the ancestral mansion. To obtain the house, Jaffrey Pyncheon obtains his brother Clifford's false conviction for murder. Hepzibah, Clifford's sweet fiancée, patiently waits twenty years for his release, whereupon Clifford and his former cellmate, abolitionist Matthew, have a certain scheme in mind.

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Reviews

Btexxamar I like Black Panther, but I didn't like this movie.
MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise
ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
utgard14 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. Often included in Universal horror discussions, though it's not a horror film. 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. She really brings it when the plot moves forward and she becomes older and more jaded. Vincent Price does well in one of his earliest big roles. George Sanders reportedly didn't care for his role or the film but you would never know it by his great turn. Dick Foran holds his own against far more talented co-stars.None of the changes to the novel seem to hurt it, in my opinion. It's a very enjoyable film. Even though it's not a horror movie, I do think it will appeal to people who like those Universal classics. Some nice atmosphere, a good story, and a great cast.
Neil Doyle 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. In fact, the acting is on the strong side and better than the script deserves.But for all its strengths, the story is too complex to be told in 90 minutes and much had to be handled too swiftly to give any of the characters real depth. It's a nice try, and the film itself is worth seeing as a product of its time.
sergio choren First of all, I never read the book, so my opinion is based on the movie as it is, and I think is very good. Being a Vincent Price fan, I must said that he delivers a terrific performance. His joy, his sadness, his fury, he really put his soul on the character. It only confirms how great actor he was, not only for the horror genre as many people think.. and he even sings here!! The films is more a romantic story than a mystery one, but works well all over. Vincent will do "House..." again several years later, as part of the "Twice Told Tales" trilogy, but this is the best version. A very curious detail: pay attention to the music when Vincent's brother (George Sanders)is looking for something in the basement... it's clearly the first melody of Danny Elfman's Batman!! I'll be waiting for the DVD from now on...
tsmith-22 I didn't notice the knuckle-biting faux pas noticed by the last commentator, but agree with him that the acting is very well done. Margaret Lockwood is outstanding! I disagree that the book is better. The movie is far better. 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. It also has some anti-racist, anti-slave politics completely absent from the book. When is it going DVD--I'll scoop it right up!Now if only somebody would get around to filming Melville's PIERRE!