Great Film, Fairly True to the Book, Mild Spoilers

The House of the Seven Gables is a pretty good adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel for a movie of its time. First, the house is quite a reasonable representation of the real thing, unlike the utter travesty perpetrated in the later Vincent Price film Twice-Told Tales. Changes to the plot are, in the book Clifford Pyncheon and Judge Pyncheon are cousins while Clifford and Hepzibah are siblings. In the film, quite the opposite, Clifford and Judge Pyncheon are siblings while Hepzibah is their cousin. It gave me a start at first seeing Clifford kiss Hepzibah passionately as in the book she’s his sedate spinster sister, but, I got used to it.

The time and place of the setting are as in the book. In the book, Clifford was framed for the death of his uncle and spent thirty years in prison. In the film, he was framed for the death of his father and spent twenty years. Vincent Price as the young Clifford is very lively and animated, and even does some singing, pretty well in fact. He and Margaret Lindsay as Hepzibah do a fantastic job of aging, particularly Margaret Lindsay, who mostly changes her clothing, hairstyle, and facial expression, without a lot of makeup. Hers is a remarkable performance.

Alan Napier who played Alfred the Butler in Batman is in this movie. I’m pretty sure he was the postman.

The characters of Phoebe Pyncheon and Matthew Holgrave are pretty similar to the book although how Matthew meets Clifford is different. The plot, including the ending, are also similar to the book with a few basic changes. I found this movie well done and very entertaining. Okay, I liked it much better than the book but unfair advantage as the book doesn’t have Vincent Price. It is fine to watch for all ages.