The Seventh Sin

The Seventh Sin is a reasonably faithful adaptation of Somerset Maugham's novel, "The Painted Veil," about the redemption of a hedonistic woman. Dr. Walter Carwin (Bill Travers) discovers that his wife, Carolyn (Eleanor Parker), is having a torrid affair with a married man, Paul Duvel (Jean-Pierre Aumont). He demands that she choose, and, as he expected, she chooses Duvel who then dumps her. Bereft, she resentfully goes with her husband to rural China, where he joins the forces fighting a cholera epidemic.

There they meet Tim Waddington (George Sanders), a government functionary who takes Carolyn under his wing. They visit to the local convent, which is also an orphanage and hospital where we witness this vain, shallow woman's abrupt metamorphosis: her maternal instincts bloom at the sight of all the newborns in the maternity ward, and she offers to volunteer. Sudden satori? It happens, I gather, but Carolyn has never seen babies before? I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and assume it's the circumstances-- i.e., her boredom.

Never mind. It's a wonderful development, no? No. The Mother Superior (the legendary Françoise Rosay) refuses Carolyn's offer on the grounds that it isn't properly motivated. Seriously. She echoes the original novel: "You know, my dear child, that one cannot find peace in work or in pleasure, in the world or in a convent, but only in one's soul."

Wrong. In fact, on the contrary, doing good work is a source of both peace and pleasure. That would be a worthy theme for a movie about a woman finally realizing that giving is more satisfying than receiving. But-- and here's the underlying problem-- Carolyn isn't a credible woman, she's a construct similar to most of Maugham's women, and not a few of his men: European expats immersed in a foreign culture-- more like a Petri dish of anonymous humans than an actual civilization-- that nurtures their growth. "A Passage to India" is arguably an exception. Even so, when it comes to writing about White people unmoored in the world, give me Andre Malraux or Graham Greene.

THE SEVENTH SIN is a remake of the Greta Garbo vehicle, "The Painted Veil", taken from a Somerset Maugham novel about a woman's journey to redeem herself. This time the unhappily married woman is ELEANOR PARKER and the husband is played by BILL TRAVERS (rather than the jilted dullard Herbert Marshall played in the Garbo version). Obviously designed to satisfy movie-goers who loved romantic stories of this sort, it manages to hold interest without ever becoming a great film.

Parker is poised and beautiful throughout, giving a very understated performance as a woman caught in the throes of what she believes is a great romance with JEAN-PIERRE AUMONT, who disappoints her when he refuses to divorce his wife. She flees to China with her doctor husband who is going to administer to those caught in a plague of cholera, eventually realizing that her selfish nature is capable of undergoing a change and working at a convent for orphaned Chinese children.

The plot resolution is a bit disappointing for anyone expecting a happy ending, but it's all tastefully handled material performed admirably by Parker and Travers. GEORGE SANDERS, as a brandy guzzling friend with some acid comments (in the Sanders manner), gives the story a lift with his wit and cynical charm.

Not bad as these sort of melodramas go, but nothing really special.

I love Somerset Maugham's novels, but they tend to be full of internal monologues and emotional and spiritual struggles that can be difficult to dramatize (his short stories make much better material for movies). THE PAINTED VEIL is a terrific book and a good read, veering from sexual melodrama to spiritual regeneration, full of psychological insight, tension and vivid descriptions of life in China during a cholera epidemic.

But this movie is just dreadful. It's dull, literal-minded and a travesty of a great story and promising concept. The credibility problems start (but don't end) with the fact that handsome Bill Travers was miscast as the cuckold. Tall and masculine with sensual features, a brooding sexiness, and a resonant, beautiful voice, it's absurd that we are expected to believe he is unappealing to Eleanor Parker. How can she not want to grab him and ride him ten ways from Sunday? I have often liked beautiful Eleanor Parker, but her archness here is hard to take and not what the part needs. The only bright spot is George Sanders, cast against type as a warm, sympathetic guy.

One thing I'm curious about is why Vincente Minnelli abandoned the project (his name appears nowhere in the final credits). Had he directed it (preferably in Technicolor) it might at least have been more enjoyable. Skip this dreary soap opera. Or if you see it and actually like it, read Somerset Maugham's novel, which is far better and certainly more entertaining.

Somerset Maugham's novella from 1925, inspired by an episode in Dante's 'Purgatorio', has been filmed three times over a period of seventy years with decidedly mixed results.

This second version credits Ronald Neame as director but for reasons which are not readily apparent but can easily be guessed at, he left the production which was then assigned to Vincente Minnelli. Anyone curious as to the extent of Minnelli's contribution should read the earlier review by John Howard Reid who got it straight from the horse's mouth.

By Hollywood standards this adaptation by Karl Tunberg is reasonably faithful to the original with a few exceptions. Selfish social climber Kitty has now become fundamentally decent and self-effacing Carolyn of Eleanor Parker whilst the love rat is no longer a suave Englishman but a suave Frenchman played by Jean Pierre Aumont. The character of Carolyn's husband has become rather one-dimensional in the hands of Bill Travers and this actor's limitations are all too obvious. As Waddington the inveterate gossip, George Sanders is excellent and reminds us once again what a very fine actor he could be when granted the opportunity whilst the always-good-value Francoise Rosay lends gravitas to the proceedings as Mother Superior.

Miss Parker had earlier played Mildred in Maugham's 'Of Human Bondage' which was shelved for two years and badly received on release and the reception given to this one was not much better. These disappointments do not reflect badly on her performances and she remains one of Hollywood's finest, if somewhat underrated actresses who always gave her best regardless of the material.

As one would expect from MGM the production values are first class with Miklós Rozsá providing one of his best scores. Although not as entertaining as Boleslawski's bowdlerised version with Greta Garbo it is, for this viewer at any rate, far more engrossing than the more recent attempt by John Curran.

Somerset Maugham's novella is highly recommended and one in which he draws upon his own loveless marriage, his knowledge of medicine and of course his customary scalpel-like dissection of the human species.

Hardly similar to the 1934 film The Painted Veil, Eleanor Parker starred in a 1957 remake, The Seventh Sin. I saw the cast list of Bill Travers and George Sanders, and naturally I assumed George would be the rigid, unforgiving husband with Bill as the young lover. Imagine my surprise to find that Bill was cast as the husband!

Eleanor's young lover was a French actor, Jean-Pierre Aumont, and George played a friend in their new surroundings when they relocate to treat the cholera epidemic. I absolutely loved George in this movie, both his character and the spunky delivery he brought to his lines. He's funny and charming, but without the acerbic Addison Dewitt typecast. Eleanor and Bill are also very good in the film, and with both characters being extremely flawed, it's hard to make them likable. But you feel very sorry for Bill, and Eleanor is so beautiful, it's hard to believe she ever does anything wrong. Even though Bill treats her infidelity as justification for a thinly-veiled death penalty, he acts out from being in pain rather than from cruelty. If you have never seen version of this classic story, you can try either film. This one has a different ending than the original, but don't let that stand in your way. Pick which cast appeals to you and get ready for a very good acting and in a very heavy story. And just forget about Ellen Corby's "French" accent.