The Seventh Veil (1945)
Director:
Compton Bennett
Writers:
Muriel Box (original story and screenplay), Sydney Box (original story and screenplay)
Stars:
James Mason, Ann Todd, Herbert Lom
Ann Todd stars as an amnesiac mental patient, Francesca Cunningham, who hopes that psychiatrist Dr. Larsen (Herbert Lom) will help her lift the veils of her memory. In a series of flashbacks counterpointed by a lush piano concerto background score, Francesca discovers that she has been a victim of the cruelties of others all her life. Only Nicholas (James Mason), an embittered, crippled musician, has ever shown her any compassion, training the girl to become a top concert pianist. Even he turned on Francesca when she becomes romantically involved with other men, but as the flashbacks end, Francesca arrives at a startling realization about Nicholas's true feelings for her. Filmed on a shoestring, The Seventh Veil rang in as the biggest British box-office success of 1946.