The 7th Victim ( 1943 )

Directed by Mark Robson

Starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Kim Hunter, Evelyn Brent, Isabel Jewell, Hugh Beaumont,Erford Gage

The very first shot we see in the movie is one of a stain glass window inside a school. It reads as follows I Runne to death, and death meets me as fast, and all my pleasures are like yesterday.

This is taken from the Holy Sonnet VII Jonne Donne and pretty well sums up the entire movie.

A young Mary Gibson( Hunter ) is trying to make her way upstairs to the head mistress' office as a herd of girls are descending. Inside the office, Mary explains that she needs to go to New York city to find her missing sister, Jacqueline(Brooks ). Jacqueline pays Mary's tuition fees for the all girls school. Outside the office the head mistress' assistant warns Mary not to come back to the school whether she finds her sister or not. When Mary arrives in New York , the first place the amateur detective decides to investigate is her sister's cosmetic factory.After talking to Mrs Redi , Mary learns that the business was sold to her eight months prior. On her way out of the factory Mary bumps into Francis ( Jewell ) who adores Jacqueline, maybe even a little too much, if you know what I mean. After talking to Francis , Mary goes to pay a little Italian restaurant a visit where Jacqueline was last seen. The chef seen in the restaurant was a famous Italian chef, talk about your typecasting. Mary discovers that her sister has rented a room from the owners above the restaurant. She convinces them to let her inside for some kind of a clue to her where abouts. When the door to the tiny apartment is opened , it is found to be empty except for a chair and a hangman's noose dangling from the ceiling. Mary is urged by the police and Jason Hoag ( Gage ) a writer who happens to be at the eatery, to go to the missing persons bureau. Filing the necessary information about her missing sister, Mary is approached by a funny little man by the name of Erbine August who claims to be a private investigator, and willing to do the leg work like looking in the city morgue. Mary tells him , she doesn't have any money right now, and August loses interest. Arriving at Gregory Ward's office after coming straight from the morgue, Mary faints. Gregory Ward is played by actor Hugh Beaumont, whose movie career didn't sky rocket, but made a name for himself on the television hit Leave it to Beaver. What I found ironic here is Beaumont is playing an attorney Gregory Ward, and his character's name on Leave it to Beaver was Ward Cleaver. That evening August tells Mary " good news I'm willing to take on your case". The two end up back at the cosmetic factory, all is quiet except for the sound of a swinging pendulum clock, there is the absent of music which amps up the tension already created by the lighting effects creating shadows down the corridor where they must go. The door they must open is at the far end of the hall. Mary shames August into venturing down the darkened hall into the unknown. When he finally builds up the courage to do so , he will stagger back towards Mary with his final steps,August has been stabbed. Frightened Mary runs towards the subway, where she rides the train to the end of the line and back.Now back at her original station, three drunken men stumble onto the train, the outer two holding up the third. The trio of drunks sit across from Mary, when the train takes off again,the middle drunks hat falls off and Mary can clearly see that it is the dead body of Mr. August. Panicking Mary scurries to the next compartment for help. When she returns with a subway officer the trio is gone.

Dr. Louis Judd (Conway ) arrives at Gregory Ward's office ,stating Jacqueline needs money,Judd has been keeping her safe. When Mary does finally see Jacqueline alive and safe it is only for mere seconds. After a knock at the door of the apartment where Jacqueline is supposed to be is opened , Mary briefly see her sibling's finger touch her lips as to tell her to keep quiet, the door is slammed closed. When Mary opens the door to follow Jacqueline she has now descended the stairs, was it the right side or the left ? The movie has many scenes of symbolism regarding good and evil. Jacqueline , as we and Mary will discover is a thrill seeker, she leads a meaningless existence and tries to find meaning in her life by joining a Satanic cult. Upon discovering joining the Satanic cult still leaves her empty inside,she wants out. Feeling betrayed by Jacqueline for exposing the Satanists, they want her dead. The usually non violent group who have killed only six other times has made Jacqueline the seventh victim. What I find most disturbing about the Satanists here is how ordinary they seem to be. They could be your neighbour, an aunt or an uncle, maybe even your own parents.Just everyday folk who hold nine to five jobs, barbecue on the week ends and whose front yards are neat and tidy , except for that one darn weed or two.Just like everyone else except for their change in faith.I found this to be more eerie and ominous than if they were sacrificing small farm animals. A Satanic cult not very threatening but still willing to kill if and when they needed.

This movie has a lot going on in it's short 71 minutes, it deals with religion, existentialism, fate, and it's all rolled up into a horror film that comes across much like a film noir. I found it interesting that almost every character is doing some sort of his or her investigation, after all,we are all looking for something.

In the last scene, we see Mimi,usually donning a ratty house coat. An occupant of a room where Jacqueline has rented an apartment with the chair and noose. Mimi as it has been established is dying. In this last scene she is exiting her apartment dressed to the nines, perhaps with a renew interest in life as we hear a chair topple over coming from Jacqueline's apartment.

An interesting side note, the 7th victim was supposed to be the film to elevate Val Lewton from a B movie producer to an A movie producer. But the big shots at RKO studios were not too pleased with Lewton's choice of director, Mark Robson. This was to be Robson's directorial debut, having worked himself up from a stock boy to an editor. Robson did direct, but Lewton remained on B films .

My Thoughts: This is an excellent film. Story wise it is wonderfully written and directed. Technically, for a low budget picture, it looks like no corners were cut. Acting, you could'nt ask for much better. Unfortunately people will look at the date of 1943 and automatically lose interest, and that is a shame.These great little gems that producer Val Lewton had released in the 1940's are a must see IMHO.

My Rating: 4 Go Go Girls out of 5