Last night's movie was a melodramatic masterpiece entitled "The Seventh Veil"(1945), starring Ann Todd as "Francesca", a concert pianist with amnesia and Chames Mason as her mentor "Nicholas". Herbert Lom (who's gaining Marius Goring-like status as a tremendous actor) plays the psychiatrist trying to cure her. As the movie opens, Todd jumps from her hospital room into a river, trying to drown herself. She's distraught about her bandaged hands, injured in a car accident. She fears she'll never play again. Lom tells a team of doctors he can make her well again, using a combination of hypnosis and narcosis, the administration of a truth drug to aid the process.
As Lom takes Francesca back in time, we learn that she was orphaned at 17 and went to live with her second cousin Nicholas, a wealthy, embittered bachelor fifteen years her senior. Their life together is shown in flashback. At first, Nicholas treats Francesca with disdain, ordering her about his mansion. It seems he had a domineering mother who treated him the same way, only to abandon him by running off with a married man. Things change when Nicholas learns Francesca is a pianist. "Let me hear you play", he says. She refuses. Earlier, Francesca revealed to Lom under hypnosis that when she was 14, a schoolteacher caned her hands for misbehavior. Her fingers were sore and swollen and she swore she'd never play the piano again, if only out of spite. "Play something"!, Nicholas repeats, his voice rising. His manner is fearsome, so she does play, and though she's a little rusty, her talent comes through.
Nicholas steps back. His mood changes. "I see......you're quite good aren't you"? It turns out he's a music lover with an encyclopedic knowledge of the classical repertoire and an innate ability to teach piano technique, though he doesn't play himself. He immediately makes plans to send Francesca off to the Royal College of Music, a world class conservatory in London. "I'll work with you in your off hours. Between your professors and myself, we'll make a concert pianist of you". In London, he's got Francesca practicing 5 hours a day. Soon, she's shredding Rachmaninoff, but inside she's miserable. In the hypnotist's chair, she tells Lom "Yes I was developing my talent. But I had no friends, no one to laugh with. There was only Nicholas, demanding more and more from me". She cuts class one night to go to a jazz club (Nicholas hates jazz and would be horrified). There she meets "Peter" (Hugh McDermott), a saxophonist. They hit it off and end up getting together for secret dates in parks and restaurants. She's afraid to tell Nicholas she's got a boyfriend, but when Peter proposes, she has no choice. Nicholas is livid. "You're going to throw away the promise of a career to marry some chap you met at a jazz club? And after all I've done to help you? I won't have it"! Francesca fights back. "I'll do as I please! You have no say over who I marry"! "Maybe not", admits Nicholas, "but I do have a say over when you can marry. You're still only 17 and by law you're my ward. I'm in charge of you until you're 21 which means you'll need my permission, and I say you can't marry that man"!
At first Francesca is crushed, and hates Nicholas for his tyranny. But as time passes, he's as good as his word as far as her career is concerned. Francesca becomes a star. Nicholas has her booked at prestigious halls all over England and Europe. Slowly she forgets about Peter - not entirely because he was her first love - but the demands of playing and touring have now consumed her life and mostly she enjoys it. For his part, Nicholas has modified his behavior. He now treats Francesca with respect and greater care, though he still pulls rank as her manager. He's got her playing before royalty, she hobnobs with the rich and famous. One day Nicholas hires a well-known artist to paint Francesca's portrait. "Maxwell Leyden" (Albert Lieden) is a bit of a flirt. He brings out the girlishness in Francesca. As she poses for him, she feels that sense of emotional liberation she once had with Peter. Maxwell declares he's in love with her and Francesca - confused now because of her dependency on Nicholas - believes she's in love with Maxwell too. It's only infatuation, and Maxwell refuses to marry her. "Why should we do that? We have each other; isn't that enough"? I'll step in here to note that this is the first time I've seen the subject of "shacking up" broached in a mid-40s movie in such an open way. Usually it's only hinted at. But the thing is, when Nicholas hears about it, he's once again furious. "How can you say you love a man who won't even marry you"?! "It doesn't matter this time! I'll soon be 21 and you won't be able to stop us living together", Francesca tells him.
Then one night while they're driving, Maxwell runs their car off the road. Francesca wakes up in the hospital with her hands bandaged. It's deja vu all over again as she assumes her playing days are over. Maxwell visits with his arm in a cast - he's all banged up too - and tells her the damage is minor. "The doctors say your hands will heal in a few weeks". But she refuses to believe him, which leads to her suicide attempt.
This is where we came in to the movie, and now we flash forward to Francesca in the psychiatrist's office. Lom has a plan to remove "the seventh veil" from her memory. It will cause Francesca to recall her last night with Peter, years ago, before she became famous. Lom tells the other doctors, and Nicholas too, that the recovery of this memory will lead her to play piano again. It's an incredible ending to a phenomenal film, one that gets Two Gigantic Thumbs Up, our highest rating. I need to mention the pianism first. Ann Todd, besides being fantastic as Francesca, does one of the best jobs of simulating a virtuoso that I've seen. Now, the actual pianist who overdubbed the soundtrack was an Austrailian named Eileen Joyce. I'd never heard of her, apparently she wasn't well known outside of England, but holy smokes can she play. As I watched the concert scenes - in which the close-ups are of Joyce's hands - I was going "who the heck is that"? I figured when the credits rolled it'd be some legend like Clara Haskil, but the pianist wasn't listed. I finally had to consult IMDB, and when it said Eileen Joyce I looked her up on Wiki. She was considered one of the most technically advanced players of her day, but the thing that got me was her musicality. As you know, modern piano shredders like Yuja Wang do absolutely nothing for me because, as with fast rock guitarists, it's just a lot of notes. To play dynamically yet with feeling and melodicism is a whole 'nuther ballgame, and so rare. That's why Eileen Joyce got my attention. There's a box set of her complete recordings that I'll be adding soon to my collection.
Chames Mason is outstanding (as always) as Nicholas, who alternately dominates and champions his protege. He's somewhat of a tragic figure in the story, which makes the conclusion that more poignant. The movie's been restored by Criterion. As with Eileen Joyce, I'd never heard of it before either, but it's got every ingredient a great film needs : a multilayered script incorporating romance, tragedy, cruelty, perseverance and success; it's got Oscar-caliber acting by the two leads and Herbert Lom; gorgeous, full grey scale photography; and again, that musical score featuring well known works by Greig, Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven in addition to the aforementioned Rachmaninoff. "The Seventh Veil" could not be more highly recommended. See it at your earliest convenience. ////
The previous night's picture was "Moss Rose"(1947), a Gothic romance/murder mystery set in England at the turn of the century. Irish actress Peggy Cummins stars as "Rose Lynton", a dancer whose stage name is "Belle Adair". She comes home one night to find her fellow dancer and flatmate dead. "Daisy Arrow" (Margo Woode) was last seen getting into a carriage with a tall, dark gentleman. Rose saw the same man leaving Daisy's room before she found her. She takes it upon herself to track him down, and after finding the carriage driver in a bar - by recognizing his horse - she badgers him until he reveals the dark gent's whereabouts. He's staying at a nearby hotel. Rose inquires at the desk and learns his name is "Michael Drego" (Victor Mature). When she confronts him, he (of course) denies having known Daisy, but Rose doesn't give up easily. She's got the cab driver as a witness and threatens to go to the police. Drego asks how much she wants. To his surprise, she doesn't ask for money. When she finds out he lives at a well known estate, she asks to be taken there instead. "You'll say I'm your guest. I want to see what it's like to live like a real lady (pronounced lye-dy, i.e. Cockney style). Rose has some Eliza Doolittle in her, and when she gets to the Manor (because Drego agrees to her terms), she uses her acting skills to approximate a Queen's English accent. Drego's mother "Lady Margaret" (Ethel Barrymore) takes to Rose and puts her in an upstairs bedroom, remarking "It's so nice that Michael has a new friend".
Now that Rose is in the house, she starts investigating the death of Daisy. She snoops around, looking in drawers and other rooms. She also cozies up to Michael Drego, pretending to fall in love with him. But is she just pretending, or does she have real feelings? He continues to deny being Daisy's killer. Rose wants to believe him, yet she knows he's the man she saw running out of Daisy's apartment. Complicating things romantically is the fact that Drego is engaged. His fiancee lives at the Manor also, and is becoming increasingly miffed at Drego's attentions toward Rose.
Then one night, the whole house gets a shock when a police detective shows up. "Inspector Clinner" (Vincent Price) has a few questions for Rose and takes her down to the station. Whatever she says doesn't satisfy his curiosity because he continues to snoop around. Since the butler is played by George Zucco I was tempted to think he did it. Especially when there's another murder which takes place right there at the estate.
I loved "Moss Rose" for it's atmosphere as much as it's plot, which is telegraphed just a tad though I won't reveal in what way. But the mood screams Victorian Murder Mystery, and that - plus Peggy Cummins' articulated performance - is enough to win over any fan of Veddy Brrrittish crime movies. I give it Two Big Thumbs Up. The photography and sets are lush. Add just the smallest pinch of "Psycho" and you've got it. It's highly recommended! ////
So there you have it for tonight. I wish you a great weekend and send you Tons of Love as always!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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