The Seventh Victim
Encyclopedia
The Seventh Victim is a 1943
horror
and film noir
starring Tom Conway
, Jean Brooks
, Isabel Jewell
, Kim Hunter
(in her first film), and Hugh Beaumont, directed by Mark Robson
, and produced by Val Lewton
for RKO Radio Pictures. The film focuses on a young woman who stumbles upon an underground cult
of Satanists
in Greenwich Village
while searching for her missing sister.
) at Miss Highcliff's boarding school, finds out that her sister Jacqueline (Brooks), who is her only relative, has gone missing and has not paid her tuition in months. The school officials tell her she can only stay on if she works for the school, to pay her tuition.
Mary decides to leave school and try to find her sister. She returns to New York City, and finds that her sister had sold her cosmetics business eight months earlier. She locates the apartment Jacqueline was renting, and finds the only things in the room are a chair and a noose hanging from the ceiling. Knowing that her sister has never feared death only makes Mary more anxious and determined to find her.
Her investigation leads her to Jacqueline's secret husband Gregory Ward (Hugh Beaumont), a failed poet (Erford Gage), and a mysterious psychiatrist, Dr. Judd (Tom Conway
). A private detective (Lou Lubin) helps her in her investigation, but is stabbed and dies.
Dr. Judd helps her locate the sister, who turns out to be hiding from a Satanic cult
her co-workers were part of called the Palladists
. During the investigation, Ward falls in love with Mary, his sister-in-law. Meanwhile, Jacqueline is kidnapped by the cult members who insist that she kill herself, because the rules of the cult state that anyone who talks about the cult must die. She would be the seventh person condemned under these rules, hence the film's title.
However, the cult has rules against violence, and decides that Jacqueline, who is suicidal anyway, should kill herself. When she refuses, the cult members let her leave, only to be stalked on the streets by an assassin
. She escapes and returns to Mary's apartment, which is next to her own. Before she can enter though, she meets her neighbor, a deathly ill young woman (Elizabeth Russell). The woman tells her she’s afraid to die, but she is tired of keeping quiet and fearing death. She decides to have a night out before she dies.
Jacqueline, having lost the will to live, enters the room she rented and kills herself. The sick woman walks down the stairs dressed for a night out and hears a thud, but thinks nothing of it.
).
Some critics have suggested that it is in fact a sequel to Cat People. This interpretation suggests that Judd was not killed, but only severely injured, when attacked by Irena-as-panther in Cat People, and that a scene where Judd tells a poet who is fascinated with the suicidal Jacqueline that he once knew a beautiful and mysterious woman who became a raving lunatic is a reference to Irena.
Cast notes
's Psycho
(1960). (However, the shower murder scene was included in the original novel Psycho (1959) by Robert Bloch
.)
The film was initially criticized in reviews for having too many characters and a storyline that doesn't always make sense. (According to the film's DVD commentary, scenes containing additional story lines, some that may have made the film clearer, were cut before the film's release.) Most controversially, the film resolves with the suicide of one of the main characters (contrary to the spirit if not the letter of the Production Code
), and is possibly the only Hollywood film score of the period to end in a minor key
. The story goes that Lewton was warned not to make a film with a message, and he replied that this film did have a message: "Death is good."
The contrast between the innocent, feminine and domestically-oriented Mary (whose love of children is emphasized when she gets a job at a kindergarten) and the worldly, glamorous and doomed businesswoman Jacqueline can be read as implicitly anti-feminist. There are also purported homosexual undercurrents that run through the film, particularly in Jacqueline's character and her relationship with Frances in the film; because of this, the film was featured in Turner Classic Movies
Channel's Screened Out, which celebrated gay
and lesbian
themes in classic Hollywood cinema.
Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
has cited this as his favorite horror film. It is the only movie of that genre in his list of 100 favorite movies.
1943 in film
The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
and film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
starring Tom Conway
Tom Conway
Tom Conway was a British film and radio actor, and elder brother of actor George Sanders.-Early life:...
, Jean Brooks
Jean Brooks
Jean Brooks born Ruby M. Kelly was an American film actress who appeared in over 30 films. She was raised in both New York City and Costa Rica, and was fluent in both English and Spanish. She never achieved major stardom in Hollywood, though she landed a number of prominent roles in the early 1940s...
, Isabel Jewell
Isabel Jewell
Isabel Jewell was an American actress most active in the 1930s and early 1940s.-Early life and career:...
, Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter was an American film, theatre, and television actress. She won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, each as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire...
(in her first film), and Hugh Beaumont, directed by Mark Robson
Mark Robson
Mark Robson was a Canadian-born film editor, film director and producer in Hollywood.-Career:Born in Montreal, Quebec, he moved to the United States at a young age. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles then found work in the prop department at 20th Century Fox studios...
, and produced by Val Lewton
Val Lewton
Val Lewton was an American film producer and screenwriter, best known for a string of low-budget horror films he produced for RKO Pictures in the 1940s.-Early life:...
for RKO Radio Pictures. The film focuses on a young woman who stumbles upon an underground cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
of Satanists
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
while searching for her missing sister.
Plot
Mary, a young woman (Kim HunterKim Hunter
Kim Hunter was an American film, theatre, and television actress. She won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, each as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire...
) at Miss Highcliff's boarding school, finds out that her sister Jacqueline (Brooks), who is her only relative, has gone missing and has not paid her tuition in months. The school officials tell her she can only stay on if she works for the school, to pay her tuition.
Mary decides to leave school and try to find her sister. She returns to New York City, and finds that her sister had sold her cosmetics business eight months earlier. She locates the apartment Jacqueline was renting, and finds the only things in the room are a chair and a noose hanging from the ceiling. Knowing that her sister has never feared death only makes Mary more anxious and determined to find her.
Her investigation leads her to Jacqueline's secret husband Gregory Ward (Hugh Beaumont), a failed poet (Erford Gage), and a mysterious psychiatrist, Dr. Judd (Tom Conway
Tom Conway
Tom Conway was a British film and radio actor, and elder brother of actor George Sanders.-Early life:...
). A private detective (Lou Lubin) helps her in her investigation, but is stabbed and dies.
Dr. Judd helps her locate the sister, who turns out to be hiding from a Satanic cult
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
her co-workers were part of called the Palladists
Palladists
Palladists is a name for an alleged Theistic Satanist society or member of that society. The name Palladian comes from Pallas and refers to wisdom and learning. It is of no relation to the palladian style of Andrea Palladio.-History:...
. During the investigation, Ward falls in love with Mary, his sister-in-law. Meanwhile, Jacqueline is kidnapped by the cult members who insist that she kill herself, because the rules of the cult state that anyone who talks about the cult must die. She would be the seventh person condemned under these rules, hence the film's title.
However, the cult has rules against violence, and decides that Jacqueline, who is suicidal anyway, should kill herself. When she refuses, the cult members let her leave, only to be stalked on the streets by an assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
. She escapes and returns to Mary's apartment, which is next to her own. Before she can enter though, she meets her neighbor, a deathly ill young woman (Elizabeth Russell). The woman tells her she’s afraid to die, but she is tired of keeping quiet and fearing death. She decides to have a night out before she dies.
Jacqueline, having lost the will to live, enters the room she rented and kills herself. The sick woman walks down the stairs dressed for a night out and hears a thud, but thinks nothing of it.
Background
The Seventh Victim may be regarded as an unofficial prequel to Lewton's 1942 film Cat People. Tom Conway's character Dr. Judd appears in both films, and Elizabeth Russell, who plays Mimi, the dying woman, in this film, reappears (in the same clothes) as the unnamed "cat woman" (she also appears as a different character in The Curse of the Cat PeopleThe Curse of the Cat People
The Curse of the Cat People is a 1944 film directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, and produced by Val Lewton. This film, which was then-film editor Robert Wise's first directing credit, is the sequel to Cat People and has many of the same characters...
).
Some critics have suggested that it is in fact a sequel to Cat People. This interpretation suggests that Judd was not killed, but only severely injured, when attacked by Irena-as-panther in Cat People, and that a scene where Judd tells a poet who is fascinated with the suicidal Jacqueline that he once knew a beautiful and mysterious woman who became a raving lunatic is a reference to Irena.
Cast
- Kim HunterKim HunterKim Hunter was an American film, theatre, and television actress. She won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, each as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire...
as Mary Gibson - Hugh Beaumont as Gregory Ward
- Tom ConwayTom ConwayTom Conway was a British film and radio actor, and elder brother of actor George Sanders.-Early life:...
as Doctor Louis Judd - Jean BrooksJean BrooksJean Brooks born Ruby M. Kelly was an American film actress who appeared in over 30 films. She was raised in both New York City and Costa Rica, and was fluent in both English and Spanish. She never achieved major stardom in Hollywood, though she landed a number of prominent roles in the early 1940s...
as Jacqueline Gibson - Isabel JewellIsabel JewellIsabel Jewell was an American actress most active in the 1930s and early 1940s.-Early life and career:...
as Frances Fallon - Evelyn BrentEvelyn BrentEvelyn Brent was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:Born Mary Elizabeth Riggs in Tampa, Florida and known as Betty, she was a child of 10 when her mother Eleanor died, leaving her father Arthur to raise her alone...
as Natalie Cortez - Erford Gage as Jason Hoag
- Elizabeth Russell as Mimi
- Lou Lubin as Irving August, private detective (uncredited)
- Marguerite SylvaMarguerite SylvaMarguerite Sylva was a Belgian born mezzo-soprano who achieved fame not only on the opera stage but also in operetta and musical theatre. She was particularly known for her performances in the title role of Bizet's Carmen, which she sang over 300 times in the course of her career...
as Mrs. Bella Romari (uncredited)
Cast notes
- The Seventh Victim was Kim Hunter's first film.
- Elizabeth Russell, the sister-in-law of Rosalind RussellRosalind RussellRosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
, was a regular in films produced by Val Lewton, appearing in Cat People (1942), its sequel The Curse of the Cat PeopleThe Curse of the Cat PeopleThe Curse of the Cat People is a 1944 film directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, and produced by Val Lewton. This film, which was then-film editor Robert Wise's first directing credit, is the sequel to Cat People and has many of the same characters...
(1944), The Seventh Victim and Youth Runs WildYouth Runs WildYouth Runs Wild is a 1944 B movie about unattentive parents and juvenile delinquency, produced by Val Lewton, directed by Mark Robson and starring Bonita Granville, Kent Smith, Jean Brooks, Glen Vernon and Vanessa Brown...
(1944). She would also appear later in Lewton's BedlamBedlam (film)Bedlam is a film starring Boris Karloff and Anna Lee, and was the last in a series of stylish B films produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures. The film was inspired by William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress, and Hogarth was given a writing credit.-Plot:Set in 1761 London, England, the film...
(1946). - Barbara HaleBarbara HaleBarbara Hale is an American actress best known for her role as legal secretary Della Street on more than 250 episodes of the long-running Perry Mason television series and later reprising the role in dozens of made-for-TV movies....
, who would later play the role of "Della Street", Perry MasonPerry MasonPerry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial...
's trusted secretary, on the long-running TV seriesPerry Mason (TV series)Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, has a bit part as a subway passenger.
Critical legacy
The Seventh Victim has been praised for the shadowy camera work by Musuraca, which prefigured much film noir imagery, including possibly the shower scene in Alfred HitchcockAlfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's Psycho
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. The film is based on the screenplay by Joseph Stefano, who adapted it from the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch...
(1960). (However, the shower murder scene was included in the original novel Psycho (1959) by Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was a prolific American writer, primarily of crime, horror and science fiction. He is best known as the writer of Psycho, the basis for the film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock...
.)
The film was initially criticized in reviews for having too many characters and a storyline that doesn't always make sense. (According to the film's DVD commentary, scenes containing additional story lines, some that may have made the film clearer, were cut before the film's release.) Most controversially, the film resolves with the suicide of one of the main characters (contrary to the spirit if not the letter of the Production Code
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry moral censorship guidelines that governed the production of the vast majority of United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1930 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Hollywood's chief censor of the...
), and is possibly the only Hollywood film score of the period to end in a minor key
Major and minor
In Western music, the adjectives major and minor can describe a musical composition, movement, section, scale, key, chord, or interval.Major and minor are frequently referred to in the titles of classical compositions, especially in reference to the key of a piece.-Intervals and chords:With regard...
. The story goes that Lewton was warned not to make a film with a message, and he replied that this film did have a message: "Death is good."
The contrast between the innocent, feminine and domestically-oriented Mary (whose love of children is emphasized when she gets a job at a kindergarten) and the worldly, glamorous and doomed businesswoman Jacqueline can be read as implicitly anti-feminist. There are also purported homosexual undercurrents that run through the film, particularly in Jacqueline's character and her relationship with Frances in the film; because of this, the film was featured in Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
Channel's Screened Out, which celebrated gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
themes in classic Hollywood cinema.
Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
has cited this as his favorite horror film. It is the only movie of that genre in his list of 100 favorite movies.
Remake
A remake, along with several other '40s era RKO movies, is currently in the works. Production is expected to begin early 2009.External links
- The Seventh Victim at Metamovie
- Dialogue from the movie