Nathaniel Hawthorne Filming Locations

We see Hawthorne's birthplace, in Salem, and then the Salem Customs House where the discovery of some old records inspired Hawthorne to write "The Scarlet Letter." Among other landmarks of Salem is its pride, the House of Seven Gables - the original of Hawthorne's best known work. And here, in a most skillfully managed transition, with the words, "Even in this day it is not difficult to imagine Phoebe Pyncheon . . .," we see re-created the characters of the story, moving among familiar surroundings. There are Aunt Hepzibah who opened her little shop in the House of Seven Gables, and the half-demented Clifford, and Jaffrey Pyncheon, the wicked judge. Quite as naturally as though it were the outcome to be expected from the judge's morning call at the shop, there follows the "big scene" of the story- after which poor Clifford, standing over the limp body of the judge, exclaims: "Let him be quiet What can he do better? As for us, Hepzibah, we can dance now. We can sing, laugh, play, do what we will - the weight is gone, Hepzibah!"