(imdb)THE SEVENTH VICTIM-1943-Mary Gibson (Kim Hunter in her film debut) leaves a girls school to look for her elusive sister Jacqueline (Jean Brooks; THE LEOPARD MAN) in NYC. In a Greenwich Village restaurant, the owners tell her Jacqueline rented a room but never used it. She convinces them to unlock the room. Inside she finds a noose and chair. She goes to the police and then a lawyer, Gregory Ward (Hugh Beaumont) who just happens to be in love with Jacqueline. August (Lou Lubin), a shady PI says he knows where Jacqueline is but when they investigate, he's killed.
Later Mary sees 2 guys toting August's corpse on the subway. Ward has secret dealings with Dr. Judd (Tom Conway), under whose care Jacqueline seems to be. Things get very mysterious after this. Judd acts strange, Jacqueline shows up then disappears and it turns out Ward is her husband. Then local Poet Hoag (Erford Gage) says he'll find Jacqueline. Mrs. Redi (Mary Newton), the new owner of Jacqueline's cosmetic shop, tells Mary her sister is the one who killed August and warns her to leave town. Later sis reappears to explain things. This leads to a cult of devil worshipers, betrayal, forced suicide and an enigmatic ending. Isabel Jewel and Dewey Robertson are also in it.
This dark and mysterious Val Lewton production was the directorial debut of Mark Robson (BEDLAM, ISLE OF THE DEAD) who'd make THE GHOST SHIP for Lewton the same year. Tom Conway (the real-life brother of George Saunders) played the character of “Dr. Judd” a year earlier in CAT PEOPLE. Some have theorized he's reprising the same role here although Judd was killed in CAT PEOPLE. Actor Erford Gage was unfortunately killed in WW 2 in 1945. In the middle 1950's Hugh Beaumont played the father (his first name was Ward) on TV's long running “Leave It To Beaver”.
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