The Seventh Sin

The Seventh Sin
The Seventh Sin
Directed by	Ronald Neame
Written by	Karl Tunberg
Based on	The Painted Veil (1925 novel); by W. Somerset Maugham
Starring	Eleanor Parker; Bill Travers; George Sanders
Cinematography	Ray June
Edited by	Gene Ruggiero
Music by	Miklós Rózsa
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	June 28, 1957 (US);
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,577,000
Box office	$725,000

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 (Eleanor Parker) has an affair with Paul (Jean Pierre Aumont), a married man. Her physician husband Walter (Bill Travers) 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 (George Sanders). 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

Eleanor Parker as Carol Carwin
Bill Travers as Walter Carwin
George Sanders as Tim Waddington
Jean-Pierre Aumont as Paul Duvelle
Françoise Rosay as Mother Superior
Ellen Corby as Sister Saint Joseph
George Chan as Town Elder
Mary Chan as Elderly Chinese Woman
David Chow as Chinese Businessman
Wong Chung as Elderly Chinese Man
Judy Dan as Mrs. Tim Waddington
Leslie Denison as Governor Neville
Sam Harris as Party Guest
James Hong as Chinese Officer
Colin Kenny as Party Guest
Esther Ying Lee as Secretary
Gai Lee as Chinese Waiter
Bruce Lester as Allan
Edwin Luke as Houseboy
Owen McGiveney as Butler
Forbes Murray as Party Guest
Henry S. Quan as Houseboy
Jennifer Raine as Other Woman
Leoda Richards as Party Guest
George Saurel as Gentleman
Phyllis Stanley as Dorothy Duvelle
Frank Tang as Dr. Ling
Kam Tong as Colonel Yu
William Yip as Chinese Owner

Production

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

It was adapted for the screen by Karl Tunberg and directed by Ronald Neame. Neame left the film during production, and Vincente Minnelli took over and was uncredited.^[3]

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]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
^ THOMAS M PRYOR (Apr 16, 1955). "METRO TO REMAKE 'THE PAINTED VEIL'". New York Times. ProQuest 113462352.
^ Brian McFarlane, Autobiography of British Cinema p 433

External links

The Seventh Sin at IMDb
The Seventh Sin at AllMovie
The Seventh Sin at the TCM Movie Database
The Seventh Sin at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

This 1950s drama film-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[Mannix-1] 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] Brian McFarlane, Autobiography of British Cinema p 433

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v t e Works by W. Somerset Maugham
Novels	Liza of Lambeth (1897) Mrs Craddock (1902) The Magician (1908) Of Human Bondage (1915) The Moon and Sixpence (1919) The Painted Veil (1925) Cakes and Ale (1930) The Narrow Corner (1932) Theatre (1937) Christmas Holiday (1939) Up at the Villa (1941) The Razor's Edge (1944) Then and Now (1946) Catalina (1948)
Short story collections	The Trembling of a Leaf (1921) The Casuarina Tree (1926) Ashenden (1928) Ah King (1933) The Mixture as Before (1940) Creatures of Circumstance (1947)
Short stories	"Rain" "The Vessel of Wrath" "The Lotus Eater" "The Unconquered"
Plays	Loaves and Fishes (1902) Lady Frederick (1907) Smith (1909) Penelope (1909) The Land of Promise (1913) Our Betters (1917) Caesar's Wife (1919) The Circle (1921) The Constant Wife (1926) The Letter (1927) The Sacred Flame (1928) The Bread-Winner (1930) For Services Rendered (1932) Sheppey (1933)
Non-fiction	On a Chinese Screen (1922) The Summing Up (1938) Ten Novels and Their Authors (1954)
Adaptations	The Explorer (1915) The Land of Promise (1917) Smith (1917) The Divorcée (1919) Jack Straw (1920) East of Suez (1925) The Circle (1925) The Canadian (1926) The Magician (1926) Sadie Thompson (1928) The Letter (1929) Charming Sinners (1929) Strictly Unconventional (1930) Rain (1932) The Narrow Corner (1933) Our Betters (1933) Of Human Bondage (1934) The Painted Veil (1934) The Right to Live (1935) Secret Agent (1936) The Tenth Man (1936) Isle of Fury (1936) Another Dawn (1937) The Vessel of Wrath (1938) The Letter (1940) Too Many Husbands (1940) The Moon and Sixpence (1942) Christmas Holiday (1944) The Hour Before the Dawn (1944) Dirty Gertie from Harlem U.S.A. (1946) The Razor's Edge (1946) Of Human Bondage (1946) The Unfaithful (1947) Quartet (1948) Trio (1950) Encore (1951) Miss Sadie Thompson (1953) The Beachcomber (1954) The Seventh Sin (1957) Adorable Julia (1962) Of Human Bondage (1964) The Razor's Edge (1984) Up at the Villa (2000) Being Julia (2004) The Painted Veil (2006)
Related	Somerset Maugham Award