The Seventh Sin

For the American silent drama film, see The Seventh Sin (1917 film).
The Seventh Sin
Directed byRonald Neame
Written byKarl Tunberg
Based onThe Painted Veil (1925 novel)
by W. Somerset Maugham
StarringEleanor Parker
Bill Travers
George Sanders
CinematographyRay June
Edited byGene Ruggiero
Music byMiklós Rózsa
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • June 28, 1957 (1957-06-28) (US)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,577,000[1]
Box office$725,000[1]

The Seventh Sin is a 1957 American drama film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Eleanor Parker, Bill Travers and George Sanders. It is based on the 1925 novel The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham.

Plot

In post-World War II Hong Kong, unhappily married Carol has an affair with Paul, a married man. Her physician husband Walter discovers it and presents her with a choice: travel with him to a remote mainland village (where he will fight a cholera epidemic) or face the scandal of a very public divorce. She persuades him to reconsider, and he proposes an alternative. If Paul's wife will agree to a divorce and if he marries Carol within one week, Walter will obtain a quiet divorce. Carol presents Walter's offer to Paul, who declines, claiming respect for his wife.

Carol sees her only choice is to accompany Walter to the village, where she meets the rakish and booze-soaked consul Tim. He soon introduces her to nuns at the local hospital-convent, and Carol begins to re-evaluate her self-absorbed life and character.

Working at the convent, Carol learns she is pregnant. She tells Walter she's unsure who is the father, and he regrets her honesty. Shortly after, Walter contracts cholera and dies. Carol returns to Hong Kong with an uncertain future.

Cast

Production

The film was announced as a vehicle for Ava Gardner.[2]

Producer David Lewis felt the story "needed modernizing and a fresh approach" and had a script done by Arthur Laurents. However the produced claimed director Ronald "Neame, with the backing of Thau, had rejected Arthur Laurents’ script to return to the old hat of Maugham, and Karl Tunberg was assigned to do a rewrite. The whole project was pedestrian and Neame, I thought, was doing a very bad job. He has done fine work on other films, but he certainly didn’t on this one. I don’t think he even understood the story—certainly not Laurents’ conception of it."[3]

Filing started 29 October 1956. Neame left the film during production, and Vincente Minnelli took over and was uncredited.[4] Lewis said that he was kicked off the film and Sidney Franklin replaced him.[5][6]

Reception

According to MGM records, the film earned $250,000 in the U.S .and Canada and $475,000 in other markets, resulting in a loss of $1.2 million.[1]

See also

Notes

  • Lewis, David (1993). Curtis, James (ed.). The Creative Producer. Metuchen: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2720-4.

References

  1. ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ^ THOMAS M PRYOR (Apr 16, 1955). "METRO TO REMAKE 'THE PAINTED VEIL'". New York Times. ProQuest 113462352.
  3. ^ Lewis p 214
  4. ^ Brian McFarlane, Autobiography of British Cinema p 433
  5. ^ Lewis p 215
  6. ^ "Shake Up Sin Team". Variety. 16 January 1957. p. 17.
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