“Madonna of the Seven Moons” may be farfetched and unbelievable, but its strength lies in the fact that studio, its filmmakers and writers wanted to accomplish something different ala post-World War II. A tragic psychological film that is preposterously entertaining, “Madonna of the Seven Moons” is an excellent addition to the “Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures – Eclipse Series #36” DVD Box Set.
Image courtesy of © Carlton Film Distributors 1944. © 2012 All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Madonna of the Seven Moons (as part of the Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures – Eclipse Series #36)
RELEASE OF FILM: 1945
DURATION: 110 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: B&W, Monaural, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, Subtitles: English SDH
COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection
RELEASED: October 2, 2012
Directed by Arthur Crabtree
Based on the novel “The Madonna of Seven Moons” by Margery Lawrence
Screenplay by Roland Pertwee
Produced by R.J. Minney
Associate Produced: R.E. Dearing
Music by Hans May
Cinematography by Jack E. Cox
Edited by Lito Carruthers
Art Direction by Andrew Mazzei
Starring:
Phyllis Calvert as Maddalena
Stewart Granger as Nino
Patricia Roc as Angela
Peter Glenville as Sandro
John Stuart as Guiseppe
Reginald Tate as Ackroyd
Peter Murray-Hill as Logan
Dulcie Gray as Nesta
Alan Haines as Evelyn
A lurid tale of sex and psychosis, Madonna of the Seven Moons, directed by Arthur Crabtree, is among the wildest of the Gainsborough melodramas. Set in Italy, it begins as a comparatively sedate tale about a respectable, convent-raised woman (Phyllis Calvert) who is haunted by the memory of being raped as a teenager. But when her grown daughter returns from school, her life begins to unravel in monumentally surprising ways.
Back in 1924, Gainsborough Studios was founded by English film producer Michael Balcon and filmmaker Victor Saville. A small studio at the time, it was also a studio where a young man named Alfred Hitchcock would eventually work and get the opportunity to direct.
As Gainsborough Pictures would become a sister company of the Gaumont Film Company and become part of their British division through the 1930’s, Balcon would successfully produce Alfred Hitchcock’s films and these films would eventually establish the names of both men.
While Balcon moved on to work for the British division of MGM, due to Gaumont-British facing financial crisis and the film industry facing more problems due to World War II, Gaumont-British, along with Gainsborough Pictures, Lime Grove Studios and 251 cinemas would be sold to the Rank Organisation.
And the new direction of the company and the war would lead to Gainsborough Pictures focusing on melodramas from 1942-1946. These films would no doubt be controversial as countries focused on war films to boost the image of their military and in Britain, British Parliament wanted the films to be honorable, to become more noble, not for the Gainsborough Pictures melodramas. These films would show the wickedness of individuals. Showcasing protagonists that were sinful and even dangerous. And suffice to say, in Britain, these films were a major hit!
In honor of this period in time for Gainsborough Pictures, the Criterion Collection will be releasing three of the more prominent titles from the company under their Eclipse Series banner.
Titled “Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures – Eclipse Series #36”, the DVD set would feature the following three films: “The Man in Grey” (1943), “Madonna of the Seven Moons” (1945) and “The Wicked Lady” (1945).
In 1945, after being a camera operator and cinematographer for Gainsborough Pictures, Arthur Crabtree (“Fiend without a Face”, “Horrors of the Black Museum”) was given his first directorial opportunity for the film “Madonna of the Seven Moons”. A film that is an adaptation by Roland Pertwee of Margery Lawrence’s 1931 novel “The Madonna of Seven Moons”. The film would star Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger, Patricia Roc, Peter Glenville, John Stuart and Reginald Tate.
“Madonna of the Seven Moons” is set in Italy and revolves around a wealthy woman named Maddalena Labardi (portrayed by Phyllis Calvert). Raised in a convent and would eventually marry a respectable man and live a life of wealth, all would seem right in the life of Maddalena. But in truth, she is still mentally scarred when she was raped while walking through the woods.
And with her daughter Angela (portrayed by Patricia Roc) coming home from school and the family throwing a party for her, Maddalena for some reason is starting to panic and reacting to sounds of a whistle and images that causes her to feel unwell. Memories of her past are starting to come back.
And at the night of the party, memories of her dark past becomes too much for her that Maddalena collapses. Taken to her bedroom and the family is advised by the doctor to let her rest, when Maddalena awakens, she is no longer the same person. She is now Rosanna, Rosanna of the Seven Moons. Thinking she is a gypsy, Rosanna takes all the jewels inside her room, including the very rare “Madonna of the Seven Moons” jewelry and escapes to a seedy area of Florence where she reunites with her old boyfriend, a jewel swindler named Nino Barucci (portrayed by Stewart Granger). Rosanna surprises the hot tempered Rosanna and gives him all of the jewels she found and the two rekindle their passion.
Back at Maddalena’s home, her husband Giuseppe Labardi (portrayed by John Stuart), her daughter and the housekeeper are shocked to find out that Maddalena is gone. Giuseppe tells her daughter that this has happened once before. And by meeting the psychiatrist, we learn that Maddalena has had these relapses once before and have disappeared. The last time, she was gone for a year. By the time she returned, she had no memory of what had taken place for the entire year and did not know she was gone.
Meanwhile, Rosanna’s return has led to Nino wanting to steal bigger jewels and despite her return making his partners in crime feeling uneasy, Nino makes sure that no one will cross him, as he beats up on those who dare bring up Rosanna’s name in a negative light.
Back at home, Angela intends to find her mother and feels the only way to find her is to track down the “Madonna of the Seven Moons” jewels that her mother may have taken with her. And that’s by traveling to Florence.
Looking for a guide to assist her, she meets up with a friend, Sandro Barucci (portrayed by Peter Glenville), a man who tries to pretend he is from high society (and a man who has always liked Angela), but in truth, he is the brother of Nino Barucci and part of the illegal crime culture.
But what Angela may not be prepared for, is that her mother Maddalena having the dual personality of Rosanna, she may be a violent woman that she is unprepared to deal with.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Madonna of the Seven Moons” is presented in 1:33:1, black and white and in monaural. You will see occasional scratches and white specks but also scenes that include a vertical line of white specks showing up on the screen but it only lasted for under a minute. Picture quality is very good as grays and whites are well-contrast, black levels are nice and deep. Considering the film’s age, overall picture quality is good!
As for audio, dialogue is clear and understandable. I didn’t hear any severe audio problems nor did I hear any crackling or pops during my viewing of “Madonna of the Seven Moons”. But overall audio is very good!
Subtitles are in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Eclipse Series do not come with special features but included on the DVD case insert is background information on “Madonna of the Seven Moons”.
Gainsborough melodramas have managed to showcase a protagonist that were imperfect and people who have had dark pasts. With “Madonna of the Seven Seas”, the film deals with a woman who was raped and the mental damage has led her to have a dual split personality.
While I’m not sure how many films about split personalities were featured in cinema up to that time, having read about people’s reaction to the film at that time, some viewed the film almost like a horror film because a woman suffered a major trauma and was able to become two entirely different people. Also, because the book it was adapted from was from famous horror and detective novelist Margery Lawrence.
While the film probably is seen more by the cineaste of an earlier work of filmmaker Arthur Crabtree, who would go on to work on darker films of the underworld, “Madonna of the Seven Moons” can be looked at as a tame film compared to other works from Crabtree but for a Gainsborough melodrama, the film that is rather fascinating because of how it deals with split personalities and with rape but also how the storyline would work itself in a circle of hope to tragedy but then finding solace in religion. How these things all work together in the film seems unbelievably farfetched. Especially for the fact that the characters of Maddalena (mother) and Angela (daughter) look like their only several years apart in age.
But as a psychological drama, “Madonna of the Seven Moons” still proves itself to be entertaining. Showcasing Crabtree as a director, once again showing that Phyllis Calvert and Stewart Granger (who both starred in “The Man in Grey”) have magnificent chemistry together but also showing their versatility of playing different character roles.
While the film is more demanding of Phyllis Calvert to play a devout Catholic wife who instantly changes to a dangerous gypsy, Stewart Granger plays the criminal kingpin Nino.   But as these two talents are expected to shine in the film, it’s the addition of actress Patricia Roc that would also lend to the film’s popularity as Roc would become one of the top actresses in Britain between 1945-1950.
And like “The Man in Grey”, despite the criticism that the Gainsborough Pictures films have received for being too sinful or indecent, the film was still enjoyed by audiences. While films that showcase marital affairs, rape and violence were not going to go well during a time when other countries such as the United States were following a strict movie code for decency, you can’t help but be intrigued by the bravado of Gainsborough Pictures for creating films that they knew would be criticized by the the government and the film critics.
Overall, “Madonna of the Seven Moons” may be farfetched and unbelievable, but its strength lies in the fact that studio, its filmmakers and writers wanted to accomplish something different, post-World War II. A tragic psychological film that is preposterously entertaining, “Madonna of the Seven Moons” is an excellent addition to the “Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures – Eclipse Series #36” DVD Box Set.
Note: The review is for the film and not the entire DVD box set for “Three Wicked Melodramas from Gainsborough Pictures – Eclipse Series #36”.
