The Seventh Veil (1945)

Directed by Compton Bennett. Starring Ann Todd, James Mason, Herbert Lom, Albert Lieven, Hugh McDermott, Yvette Owen.

Shades of Pygmalion course through this British melodrama of suicidal hospital patient Todd and doctor Lom’s efforts to peel away at the layers of her subconscious to discover the root of the problem. Flashbacks show her under the domineering care of her “uncle” Mason, who remains coldly withdrawn while encouraging her to work at becoming a concert pianist, as well as her romantic relationships with two different men (American student McDermott and artist Lieven), much to Mason’s stern disapproval. Opens as an eerie and unsettling mood piece, and promises psychological puzzles and intrigue, but the tepid romances are shakier than the science of Lom’s approach, and the resolution is not the emotional release it’s designed to be. McDermott is unappealing and disposable (and not remotely American), and Todd is too timorous to inspire much interest in her fate, but Mason always excels at playing musty, emotionally-withdrawn types. Title refers to the human mind being compared to Salome’s dance for Herod: “hidden from the outside world by seven veils—veils of reserve, shyness, fear.” Oscar-winning script by Sidney and Muriel Box.

67/100