Fans of Greta Garbo, the exotic and mysterious actress who captivated the world in a somewhat brief film career, will probably be agape to find one of her films ("The Painted Veil") remade and starring Parker, who couldn't be more opposite a persona than Garbo. However, this film, on it's own terms, does justice to the story and pays tribute to the skill of Parker, a different but very talented actress in her own right. She plays a woman in Hong Kong married to a chemist, but who enjoys an affair with another married man (Aumont.) When the husband (Travers) discovers the affair, he coerces Parker to join him in fighting a cholera epidemic in a far off village. She very reluctantly accompanies him and is bored out of her skull except for the visits of a local cad (Sanders) who seems to understand her predicament. Eventually, her eyes are opened to the squalor and pain around her and she begins to find redemption in helping others, though it may be too late to save her own marriage. Parker is exquisitely beautiful and poised in the film. The script has a tendency towards the pat and trite, but she rises above it, giving a solid, multifaceted performance. Travers is rather one-note and somnambulistic throughout and is never really given an opportunity to gain any audience affection. Parker works overtime to creates some sparks between them, but, only once ina while, does he rise to the occasion. One flaw of the film is its lack of a scene that really demonstrates that these characters have a chance at reconciliation or understanding. Sanders is always terrific and has many snarky, textured moments here. He and Parker work well together. Aumont is slick, but a little slight and mealy-mouthed to convince viewers that he has what it takes to satisfy Parker. Rosay has a nice role as a straight-talking nun and Corby has an amusing part as a kind and easily-tickled fellow sister. The production is well-appointed (despite some rather obvious backdrops and studio sets) and features a decent score by Miklos Rozsa. The original film varied from the book and this one tries to correct that somewhat, though any Hollywood interpretation is likely to stray from the source novel to some degree. This story actually has some parallels to the one in Parker's "The Naked Jungle", but she was better served there by a stronger leading man and the benefit of gorgeous color photography. Still, this is a fairly compelling film that, once started, is pretty hard to turn off.
Review of The Seventh Sin
