The Seventh Victim
In 1943 producer Val Lewton, (1904-1951), started work on his fourth film for RKO’s B movie horror unit. He was working with writers Charles O’Neal and DeWitt Bodeen. The original plot line involved the hunt for a serial killer in the oil fields of California’s Signal Hills. Lewton wasn’t pleased with the direction the story was following so he discarded it in favor of a completely new idea. He decided to tell a tale about Satan worshippers in Greenwich Village. To research the story DeWitt Bodeen actually visited a congregation of Satanists in New York City. Jacques Tourneur, (1904-1977), had directed Lewton’s first three pictures, but wasn’t available this time. The producer offered the film to the talented editor Mark Robson, (1913-1978), as his debut feature.
This week’s movie was “The Seventh Victim” from RKO in 1943. Actress Kim Hunter, (1922-2002), made her film debut as “Mary Gibson,” a student in a private boarding school. Mary is informed that her wealthy sister has failed to pay her tuition and the school has been unable to reach her. Mary goes to New York City to look for her sister “Jacqueline,” (Jean Brooks). She visits her sister’s cosmetics company “La Sagesse” and speaks to the manager “Esther Redi,” (Mary Newton), who informs her that she is now the owner. Mary discovers that attorney “Gregory Ward,” (Hugh Beaumont), is also searching for Jacqueline and with good reason: he is her husband! Gregory is contacted by psychiatrist “Dr. Louis Judd,” (Tom Conway), who knows where Jacqueline is hiding. Mary and Gregory encounter several oddball characters who get involved with the search including frustrated poet “Jason Hoag,” (Erford Gage), and private investigator “Irving August,” (Lou Lubin). Eventually they discover that Jacqueline had joined a group of Satan worshippers called the “Palladists.” She tried to leave this cult but that means that she is doomed to death. They recapture Jacqueline and try to convince her to drink poison. When she refuses they free her but send a knife-wielding assassin to hunt her down. Meanwhile both Gregory and Jason have fallen in love with Mary. Jacqueline escapes the assassin, but decides to commit suicide for her own personal reasons that really are never expressed.
This movie starts off well and begins to build tension in the early scenes. Kim Hunter is excellent. As the story progresses the number of characters begins to multiply but their goals and motives are not entirely clear. The Palladists are never very convincing as villains. Some of the revelations are just not believable. Gregory and Jacqueline are married, but don’t act like it even in scenes they share together. The growing romance between Gregory and Mary serves no purpose in the plot and occurs in spite of a total lack of romantic chemistry between the two actors. The character of Jacqueline is repeatedly described as having an incredibly irresistible personality, but actress Jean Brooks demonstrates none of this appeal when she finally appears. It doesn’t help that the actress wears a ridiculous and obvious black wig throughout the picture. This is a rambling and confusing movie with far too many characters and an abrupt and unsatisfying ending. I really did not like this movie.
RKO didn’t like it either. Neither did the critics or the audiences of the day. It has built up a bit of a cult following in the years since its original release, but I don’t see why.
The character of “Dr. Louis Judd,” (Tom Conway), also appeared in the 1942 movie “Cat People” where he is murdered. This makes “The Seventh Victim” a prequel to the earlier film, although the two pictures don’t have anything else in common.
In spite of this movie’s failure Val Lewton maintained his faith in Mark Robson and invited him to direct his next picture “The Ghost Ship” later that same year. The resulting film was a marked improvement over this one.
“Seventh Victim” was also a 1953 short story by science fiction writer Robert Sheckley. It was adapted in 1965 as the Italian film “The 10th Victim,” (“La decima vittima”). Sheckley wrote a novelization of the film as well as two sequels.