The Seventh Veil

1945
Approved
1h 34m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

A concert pianist with amnesia fights to regain her memory.A concert pianist with amnesia fights to regain her memory.A concert pianist with amnesia fights to regain her memory.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

2.4K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 1 nomination total

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
After he saw a rough cut of the film towards the end of the shoot, James Mason insisted that Ann Todd be given equal billing.

Goofs
When Peter writes a note to Francesca in a nightclub, she turns it over and writes her reply on its back. When Peter holds up the note to read her answer, however, its back is blank; his original note is missing.

Quotes
Dr. Larsen: Dr. Kendall, a surgeon doesn't operate without first taking off the patient's clothes, nor do we with the mind. You know what, uh, Staples says? The human mind is like Salome at the beginning of her dance, hidden from the outside world by seven veils: veils of reserve, shyness, fear. Now with friends, the average person will drop first one veil, then another, maybe three or four altogether. With a lover, she will take off five, or even six, but never the seventh. Never, you see the human mind likes to cover its nakedness too and keep its private thoughts to itself. Salome drops her seventh veil of her own free will, but you will never get the human mind to do that, and that is why I use narcosis. Five minutes under narcosis and down comes the seventh veil. Then we can see what is actually going on behind it. Then we can really help.

Connections
Featured in James Mason: The Star They Loved to Hate (1984)

Excellent psychological thriller about a repressed pianist (Ann Todd) and her equally repressed cousin (James Mason) who is also her guardian.

Slow but compelling story about a young girl with musical talent who is sent to live with her odd cousin. They seem to despise one another and have only music in common. He tries to mold her into a concert pianist but she falls in love with an American band leader (Hugh McDermott). He whisks her off to Europe to continue her education. She becomes a famous pianist but is always under the Svengali-like spell of her lame cousin until she attempts suicide by jumping off a bride. Enter the doctor (Herbert Lom) who tries to unlock her secrets.

The music is glorious but it's the stunning Ann Todd who is mesmerizing here. A cool icy blonde with a Garbo mouth, Miss Todd (once married to David Lean) is one of the greatly underrated English actresses of the 40s. She is just superb here as Francesca (not Francis and she's NOT Ann Harding as mentioned in other reviews here). Todd has an uncanny ability to play repressed yet volcanic women. She was equally excellent in films like SO EVIL MY LOVE, MADELEINE, TIME WITHOUT PITY, and THE PASSIONATE FRIENDS. She also got to work for Hitchcock in the US in THE PARADINE CASE.

As Todd and Mason play cat and mouse, the viewer is left to guess what their secrets are and how the men in her life fit in. Todd's story is basically told in flashback while she;s under hypnosis. We never learn Mason's story.

Handsome film and well worth sticking with. Also a word must be said for Todd's amazing piano-playing scenes. She displays about the best keyboard work in any film I can think of. Her scenes as the pianist as excellent; my guess is she could also play in real life.

While Deborah Kerr, Greer Garson, and even Margaret Lockwood became major stars and well-known in the US, Ann Todd remains virtually unknown. What a pity. She's superb.