The House Of The Seven Gables (1940)

The sudden death of the family patriarch (Gilbert Emery) provides the opportunity for a devious son (George Sanders) to accuse his brother (Vincent Price) of murdering his father in order to inherit the family fortune after his brother is sent to prison. Based on the 1851 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne and directed by Joe May (THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS). While the screenplay is altered from Hawthorne's novel in many ways (the brother and sister of the novel are now lovers and a leftist political tone is added), it is faithful in spirit to Hawthorne's book. While purists may object, I found this version a solid Gothic revenge thriller. Although the intimidating presence of Sanders and Price add weight to the film, the stand out performance comes from Margaret Lindsay. A workhorse at Warners during the 1930s (usually cast as the other woman), her performance from young ingenue in love to a lonely aging woman is good enough to suggest that Warners didn't take full advantage of her talents. With Dick Foran, Nan Grey, Cecil Kellaway and Alan Napier.