Movie Review: The Seventh Victim (1943)
Synopsis: When Mary Gibson learns her tuition to a boarding school hasn't been paid by her older sister, Jacqueline, in months, she travels to New York and learns Jacqueline gave away her cosmetics business before disappearing and even Jacqueline's husband, Gregory Ward, doesn't know where she is. Things become more sinister when a private investigator helping Mary is murdered and Jacqueline, who has been involved with a satanic cult, may have been the one who killed him.
Who's in it? The movie stars Kim Hunter, Tom Conway, Hugh Beaumont, Jean Brooks and Isabel Jewell.
Review: I came across The Seventh Victim while scrolling through movies last night and thought it sounded interesting enough to watch this morning. I finished watching it a short while ago and it proved to be a good choice.
The mystery surrounding Jacqueline's (Brooks) disappearance was an intriguing one. It was clear her husband, Gregory (Beaumont) and others probably knew more than they were letting on, making it hard to tell who Mary (Hunter) could trust. At the same time, there were indications Jacqueline was just fine and choosing not to be found.
It was also unclear just how safe Mary was in all of this because she already witnessed one person get murdered but continued to look for clues to help her locate her sister, even after receiving a very clear threat from Esther Redi (Mary Newton), the woman Jacqueline allegedly gave her successful cosmetics business to.
The growing romance between Mary and Gregory added an extra element to the film, both because he was married to Jacqueline and because the other man assisting her, Jason Hoag (Erford Gage) clearly was in love with her as well. This kept things interesting because it was unclear which, if either, of the romances would work out at the end.
I honestly wasn't a huge fan of the ending. This was both because it was kind of depressing and because the movie's villains ultimately don't face any consequences for their actions. That said, I'm not sure I could think of a better ending for the movie. I didn't like it, but in the context of things, it at least made some sense and was unexpected. This can't always be said about movie endings.
Final Opinion: It's an intriguing drama and mystery that has a few twists and turns as well as an ending I didn't see coming. It's worth taking the time to watch it.
My Grade: A
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