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 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Joe May
USA 1940

 

Jealousy, loyalty, and a family feud between two brothers are all at play in The House of the Seven Gables, based on the classic novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Twice-Told Tales). The sudden death of Jaffrey (George Sanders, The Lodger) and Clifford (Vincent Price, Tales of Terror) Pyncheon’s father provides the vengeful and vindictive Jaffrey with the perfect opportunity to get his brother out of the way and seize the family fortune. Framed for murder and forced to leave his fiancée (Margaret Lindsay, Scarlet Street) behind, Clifford is sent off to prison, where he befriends Matthew Holgrave (Dick Foran, Fort Apache), the descendent of the Maule family, with whom the Pyncheons have a long history of turbulence. Can the two join together to foil Jaffrey, or are the families destined to repeat the mistakes of the past and live out the curse of their ancestors? Joe May (Asphalt) directed this classic thriller featuring Cecil Kellaway (Harvey) and Alan Napier (The Uninvited).

***

This fine adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic tale about a cursed family opens with a title card that reveals how the Pyncheon family stole, cheated, lied, and murdered their way to wealth. But within the hearts of the family's bloodline lay fear of the curse of Matthew Maule, a man they crossed many years earlier. Jumping to the year 1828, upstart judge Jaffrey Pyncheon (George Sanders) is called to his family's beloved seven-gabled house where he is told by his father (Gilbert Emery) and brother Clifford (Vincent Price) that the home is to be sold in order to pay their debts. A bitter, loathsome man who deeply believes in Maule's curse -- and the legend that gold is hidden in the house -- Jaffrey takes the opportunity of his father's death to accuse the innocent Clifford of murdering their patriarch. Clifford is sentenced to life in prison, but in a bizarre quirk of legal fate, the house is left in the care of Clifford's lively fiancée Hepzibah (Margaret Lindsay), who immediately boots out the hateful Jaffrey.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 29th, 1940

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:28:30.305        
Video

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,604,345,516 bytes

Feature: 20,592,955,392 bytes

Video Bitrate: 27.54 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Kino

 

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,604,345,516 bytes

Feature: 20,592,955,392 bytes

Video Bitrate: 27.54 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Troy Howarth
• Trailers:
*Tales of Terror (02:21)
*The Lodger (02:16)
*The Oblong Box (01:57)
*Witness to Murder (02:09)
*Twice-Told Tales (02:44)


 Blu-ray Release Date: April; 23rd, 2019
 Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 8

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Kino Lorber transfer the 1940 film "The House of the Seven Gables" on a single-layer Blu-ray. The 1.33:1 HD image is backed with a supportive bitrate. There are very few instances of damage, with only the occasional tiny white fleck or blip for a single frame. There is a hefty range of blacks and grays in this presentation, displaying a noble contrast throughout the picture. The moving image shows a complexity of detail, with a fine grain throughout. Nice work from Kino.

The audio of "The House of the Seven Gables" is transferred via a 16-bit DTS-HD Master audio track. The film features a few effects and a supportive score by Frank Skinner (The Appaloosa, Madame X, Magnificent Obsession, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, All That Heaven Allows, and The Naked City). There are optional English subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

Aside from a handful of trailers, the sole extra here is an audio commentary from film historian Troy Howarth. The always well-informed Howarth is usually focused on European horror and the Universal horror movement of the 30s and 40s. Though this film doesn't necessarily fit into either of those categories, Howarth notes that this IS a Vincent Price starring "gothic tale full of deep dark family secrets, containing madness and murder and building to an appropriately blood and thunder finale" and Howarth is more than qualified to tackle this film. The commentary track is full of interesting tidbits regarding this influential film from 1940. The aforementioned trailers are for; "Tales of Terror", "The Lodger", "The Oblong Box", "Witness to Murder", and "Twice-Told Tales".

"The House of the Seven Gables" is a beautifully shot gothic tale, starring the always fascinating George Sanders and Vincent Price. Kino's transfer looks pretty impressive, with few instances of damage and fine amounts of detail. Troy Howarth's commentary is a deep-dive into the film that is worthy of your time. Highly recommended.

Colin Zavitz

 

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Box Cover

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Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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