Gaslight (1940)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Thorold Dickinson

Writers:

Patrick Hamilton (play)
A.R. Rawlinson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 November 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

A melodrama of a strange love!

Plot:

Twenty years ago, old Mrs. Barlow was killed in her home at 12, Pimlico Square for her priceless rubies...

Plot Keywords:

Rubies | Driven Mad | Murder | Paranoia | Pianist

Cast

Anton Walbrook	...	Paul Mallen
Diana Wynyard	...	Bella Mallen
Frank Pettingell	...	B.G. Rough
Cathleen Cordell	...	Nancy the Parlour Maid
Robert Newton	...	Vincent Ullswater
Minnie Rayner	...	Elizabeth, the Cook
Jimmy Hanley	...	Cobb
Marie Wright	...	Alice Barlow
Aubrey Dexter	...	House Agent
Mary Hinton	...	Lady Winterbourne
Angus Morrison	...	Pianist
Jack Barty	...	Chairman of Music Hall
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
The Darmora Ballet

Also Known As:

A Strange Case of Murder
Angel Street (USA)
The Murder in Thornton Square (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Warwick Way, Pimlico, London, England, UK

Company:

British National Films

Trivia:

The original play, "Gas Light", opened in London on 31 January 1939.

Goofs:

Continuity: Camera pans across the tossed room with woman's dead body. When the police come up, the position of the woman's hand has changed.

Quotes:

Another song at Cadbury Music Hall: The boy I love is up in the gallery, / The boy I love is looking down at me...

Movie Connections:

Version of Gas Light (1939) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Boy I Love

Streamlined & Suspenseful

Let's face it - the British do psychological suspense VERY well! This 1940 British production is more streamlined and suspenseful than the MGM version of 1944, as it sticks more closely to Patrick Hamilton's play. The MGM version had more 'back-story' and padding to it. I love Diana Wynyard - she was lovely to look at and seemed wonderfully edgy and vulnerable - I wasn't surprised to learn that she played the anguished mother in the West End production of THE BAD SEED - she's really only remembered today for this film and CAVALCADE (1933), but she's definitely worth watching. Anton Walbrook is a little hammier than Boyer was, and there are those obvious streaks in his hair to make him look a little older - but he has a wonderful moment at the films end when, quite suddenly, his eyes go wild and you can tell that he's completely lost his mind - might have been a nice touch if the 1944 had included such a moment. Highly recommended.

I've noticed that people seem surprised that MGM attempted to suppress the 1940 British version of GASLIGHT to avoid any competition with their version. I don't know why anyone should be surprised - Hollywood's business is a cut-throat one: remember that L.B. Mayer, along with Jack Warner and others, offered to buy CITIZEN KANE from RKO and then destroy it, all to appease William R. Hearst - fortunately they didn't (just imagine the history of film since 1941 if they had!) And although MGM didn't destroy all prints of GASLIGHT, they did manage to keep it out of sight for many years - I think I first saw it on a cable station in the early 1980s - I tuned in expecting Boyer and Bergman and got Walbrook and Wynyard - as it turned out I didn't mind at all, and have enjoyed it many times since! MGM did the same thing with Paramount's 1932 DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE which, except for an occasional screening, went unseen (but much written about) until it came out on video around 1990 (under the MGM label - imagine that!)