The Curse[]
Vier Sieben is the title of an unfinished German film, based on an old Polish Gypsy folk tale which was said to be cursed. This is also the tale being repeated by Axxon N. (the "longest-running radio program" playing in loops on a record player). "Vier sieben" is German for "four seven" (the number of the Rabbits door). The film was started some time in the past, but the filmmakers discovered "something inside the story," and both leads ended up murdered before the film could be finished. On High in Blue Tomorrows is a remake of that unfinished film. The original events have been repeated as a radio play on record, an unfinished German film, and now a Hollywood production. The original Polish people involved in the story (including Piotrek, the Lost Girl, and the Phantom) seem to be trapped in repeating cycles of the tale (sometimes in different roles) along with performers from Vier Sieben and On High in Blue Tomorrows. Nikki soon finds herself trapped in world of the film as Sue.
The tale presumably involved an affair between two married people, as this seems to be the central storyline in On High in Blue Tomorrows. The curse and the tale seem related to the Phantom. After being cheated on by his wife, the Phantom uses his powers to force his wife's lover to relive the story over and over in the place of the cuckolded husband, while other innocent people are drawn into the Phantom's web to play the other roles, always ending in murder and tragedy. It is likely that the folk tale preexisted the Phantom, who appeared to live in late nineteenth or early twentieth century. It is possible that he simply commandeered the existing curse, or assumed the mantle of "the Phantom" from someone else.
Other Folk Tales[]
The First Visitor, a Polish woman, tells Nikki "an old tale" and "a variation."
The Old Tale:
A little boy went out to play. When he opened his door, he saw the world. As he passed through the doorway, he caused a reflection. Evil was born. Evil was born and followed the boy.
The Variation:
A little girl went out to play. Lost in the marketplace, as if half-born. Then, not through the marketplace — you see that, don’t you? — but through the alley behind the marketplace ... this is the way to the palace. But it isn’t something you remember.
Room 47[]
The Rabbits' home is accessible through a door numbered "47." While this is clearly a reference to "Vier Sieben" (four seven), the German word for "forty seven" is actually "siebenundvierzig" (seven and forty).
Analysis[]
Mr. Zydowicz calls Nikki, "A half..." possibly referencing the girl "lost in the marketplace, as if half-born" in the Visitor's variation. Nikki/Sue does pass through a door in "the alley behind the marketplace." This leads her back in time to Stage 4, and then to becoming completely trapped in the world of On High in Blue Tomorrows.