The House of the Seven Gables [Blu-ray]

Director: Joe May

Overview

This fine adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic tale about a cursed family opens with a title card that reveals how the Pyncheon family stole, cheated, lied, and murdered their way to wealth. But within the hearts of the family's bloodline lay fear of the curse of Matthew Maule, a man they crossed many years earlier. Jumping to the year 1828, upstart judge Jaffrey Pyncheon (George Sanders) is called to his family's beloved seven-gabled house where he is told by his father (Gilbert Emery) and brother Clifford (Vincent Price) that the home is to be sold in order to pay their debts. A bitter, loathsome man who deeply believes in Maule's curse -- and the legend that gold is hidden in the house -- Jaffrey takes the opportunity of his father's death to accuse the innocent Clifford of murdering their patriarch. Clifford is sentenced to life in prison, but in a bizarre quirk of legal fate, the house is left in the care of Clifford's lively fianc?e Hepzibah (Margaret Lindsay), who immediately boots out the hateful Jaffrey. The passage of 20 years leaves the house in shambles and Hepzibah a bitter spinster. The arrival of two people -- Hepzibah's pretty young cousin Phoebe (Nan Grey) and a mysterious boarder named Matthew Holgrave (Dick Foran) -- spark Hepzibah into opening the old house as a business. Clifford is finally released from prison and returns home for a touching reunion, but after a serious a strange reports about him leak out, Jaffrey plots to have his brother committed. However, Clifford has some plans for his evil brother and a plan to end the family's curse.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/23/2019
UPC:	0738329237127
Original Release:	1940
Rating:	NR
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:29:00
Sales rank:	24,901

Special Features

Audio Commentary by Film Historian Troy Howarth; Trailers

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Vincent Price	Clifford Pyncheon
Margaret Lindsay	Hepzibah Pyncheon
George Sanders	Jeffrey Pyncheon
Nan Grey	Phoebe Pyncheon
Dick Foran	Matthew Holgrave
Cecil Kellaway	Philip Barton
Alan Napier	Fuller
Gilbert Emery	Gerald Pyncheon
Miles Mander	Deacon Foster
Charles Trowbridge	Judge
Harry Woods	Wainwright
Margaret Fealy	Town Gossip
Caroline Cooke	Town Gossip
Jane K. Loofbourrow	Town Gossip
Martin Faust	Town Gossip
Murdock MacQuarrie	Town Gossip
Hugh Sothern	Rev. Smith
Edgar Norton	Weed
Mira McKinney	Mrs. Reynold
Ellis Irving	Man
Harry Stubbs	Printer
Harry Cording	Blacksmith
Kernan Cripps	Workman
Colin Kenny	Foreman
Robert Dudley	Bailiff
Etta McDaniel	Black Woman
Nelson McDowell	Courtroom Spectator
Hal Budlong	Driver
Ed Brady	Man with Blacksmith
Russ Powell	Grocer,Grocer
Leigh De Lacy	Laundress
Claire Whitney	Woman
John K. Loofbourrow	Actor
Frank Skinner	Composer

Technical Credits

Lester Cole

Harold R. Greene

Burt Kelly	Producer
Lester Cole	Screenwriter
Harold R. Greene	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

The second film version (the first was a silent made in 1910) of Nathaniel Hawthorne's tale of a family cursed by its own avarice, The House of the Seven Gables is a dark, haunting picture that is carried by strong performances and excellent source material. Adapted by Harold R.Greene from Lester Cole's tight, taut script, the film centers on the war between two brothers -- one good, one evil -- over the squandering of their family fortune and its last remaining asset, the house. While it is only shown from a distance, the house leaves a lasting image for it stands at the heart of the conflict. Vincent Price in the heroic role of Clifford and George Sanders as his usual devious bad guy are both excellent, while Margaret Lindsay provides a fine turn as the perky lass-turned-spinsterish hermit, Hepzibah. Director Joe May keeps the pace moving along at a good clip in this sturdy Universal production, although the film comes up short of the classic status that probably could have been brought to it by a better director.