Product Details

• Actors: James Mason, Ann Todd, Herbert Lom, Hugh McDermott, Manning Whiley
• Directors: Compton Bennett
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: English
• Studio: VidAmerica
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000O9YR4C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,836 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Francesca Cunningham (played by Ann Todd) is a suicidal, amnaesiac, mental patient being treated by Dr. Larsen (Herbert Lom). Larsen leads her to describe her life so he can investigate the events that brought her to attempt suicide. The film largely consists of a series of flash-backs in which Francesca talks about her life, removing successive "veils" to recover memories. Francesca discovers she has had a difficult life and been abused by many. Only Nicholas, a crippled musician (played by James Mason), has ever shown her compassion, though he is jealous, faintly sadistic and has relentlessly driven her on to practice the piano and avoid romantic entanglements. When she does become interested in another man Nicholas crashes his car, with Francesca a passenger, severely burning her hands. Mason, as usual, is sardonic and brooding. During the therapy, Francisca discovers who her real love is. The lush, piano concerto score includes works by Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Beethoven. It successfully counterpoints the action. Eileen Joyce doubled the concert scenes, without credit. Filmed for less than £100,000 the film was the biggest British box-office success of 1946. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (for Sydney and Muriel Box).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting psychological drama, November 18, 2001

By 

Jennifer Squires-Miller (Salt Lake City, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seventh Veil [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A young James Mason molds a distant relative into a world-class pianist (Ann Todd). The film begins in the present with Francesca (Ann Todd) being hypnotized by a psychiatrist to probe her fear of injury to her hands. Through flashbacks the story of an orphaned young girl and a controlling guardian is told amid beautiful piano music. I loved the focus of Beethoven's Adagio from the Pathetique as well as the ever popular Rachmaninoff 2nd piano concerto. The title, "The Seventh Veil" refers to each level of disclosure a person reveals about themselves. The psychiatrist must reveal the last and most deep..."The Seventh Veil". Superb acting and wonderful music make this film at the top of my list of classics. Ann Todd is especially withdrawn and emotionless dealing with her guardian, James Mason. James Mason is quite handsome and sometimes infuriating. Turn off your phone and curl up with this magnetic movie, you won't be disappointed!! (It won a best original screenplay oscar in 1946).

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An understated and elegant movie, July 15, 2003

By 

Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seventh Veil [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a fascinating and intense movie, a classic of its genre and one which is teeming with repressed sexuality. The two lead performers, James Mason and Ann Todd, were romantically involved throughout the making of this film and had an affair in real life (as Todd later admitted). Their chemistry is quite palpable, though not in the same way as Tracy and Hepburn; the entire movie is an exercise is repression, caution and masked motions. In fact, with a few exceptions, neither star even touches one another throughout the movie, but there is more overt sex here than in many more graphic films. One must simply strain harder to discern it.

Mason is beautifully wicked here, his evil nature and sadism are extremely attractive to watch. Ann Todd is a repressed and frightened pianist who suffers to horror of having Mason slam his cane down upon her hands while she scales the keyboard. Delicious! This scene, above any other, catapulted James Mason to the forefront of British cinema stars. Watch the scene where a white kitty is curled on his lap as he dourly pets it and stares daggers as Todd in the background. You can cut the psychological melodrama here with a thick butter knife.

This isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you appreciate a beautiful man in Mason, a terrified lamb of a starlet like Ann Todd, and an adroit and mature screenplay, then watch "The Seventh Veil." It has worn very well in the ensuing decades and still makes for gripping viewing.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully acted Soap opera, January 31, 2005

By 

Eugenia Renskoff (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seventh Veil [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I loved watching The Seventh Veil. I think it's one of James Mason's best roles and his chemistry with Ann Todd is beautiful to witness. The story is a simple one( orphan goes to live with with handsome and moody relative, they fall in love). The music is superb and the ending is what we would have expected, but it was very enjoyable. James Mason was a very good actor and deserved to be a bigger star. His was one of the best voices of any actor of his generation. The Seventh Veil passes the test of time.