Gaslight (1944)

Years after her aunt was murdered in her home, a young woman moves back into the house with her new husband. However, he has a secret which he will do anything to protect, even if that means driving his wife insane.

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

John Van Druten (screenplay), Walter Reisch (screenplay),

Stars:

Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Boyer	...	Gregory Anton
Ingrid Bergman	...	Paula Alquist
Joseph Cotten	...	Brian Cameron
Dame May Whitty	...	Miss Thwaites
Angela Lansbury	...	Nancy
Barbara Everest	...	Elizabeth
Emil Rameau	...	Maestro Guardi
Edmund Breon	...	General Huddleston
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Mr. Muffin
Tom Stevenson	...	Williams
Heather Thatcher	...	Lady Dalroy
Lawrence Grossmith	...	Lord Dalroy
Jakob Gimpel	...	Pianist

Storyline

Paula's aunt Alice Alquist, a famous entertainer, is murdered in her home. Paula, who lives with her aunt finds the body. Police fail to find the killer and Paula is sent away to school. Ten years later, Paula returns to London with her new husband. They take up residence in her aunt's house, which she has inherited. Paula is increasingly isolated by her husband but does come to the attention of an admirerer of her aunt, Mr. Brian Cameron.

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Plot Keywords:

driven mad | murder | nervous breakdown | scotland yard | italy | 

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Taglines:

Strange drama of a captive sweetheart!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 May 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Haus der Lady Alquist

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Loew's

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

New scenes not in the original play were added to this version of "Gaslight", and the names of most of the characters were changed. The character that Joseph Cotten plays in this version was changed from a stout, humorously sardonic elderly man to a young, handsome one in order to serve as a potential love interest for Ingrid Bergman in the film, and in order to appeal more to the audience.

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Goofs

When Nancy is following Elizabeth up the stairs, they are both carrying several folded sheets. Immediately when they reach the top of the landing the camera focuses close-up on Nancy, who is looking at the closed off top floor - in this shot she is not carrying the sheets.

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Quotes

Paula Alquist Anton: It isn't here, you must have dreamed you put it there. Are you suggesting that this is a knife I hold in my hand? Have you gone mad, my husband?

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Connections

Referenced in Remington Steele: Steele in Circulation (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Die Fledermaus: Waltz"
(1874) (uncredited)
Music by Johann Strauß

User Reviews

A good suspense film that could have been great.

Ingrid Bergman plays Paula, an orphaned Victorian-era Londoner whose opera-singer aunt is murdered at the beginning of the movie. She moves to Italy to follow in her aunt's footsteps as a diva, but falls in love and returns to London with her new husband (Boyer) to live in her aunt's empty house. There, she becomes the victim of a carefully-orchestrated campaign to drive her insane.

GASLIGHT is richly atmospheric, mostly well-acted, and beautifully photographed. There are chills aplenty as seemingly innocent people grow progressively creepier, and the movie is well-paced with each successive scene increasing Paula's terror. The climax is tense and has a certain poetic justice to it.

The chief flaw in the movie is that we are clearly shown from the beginning that Paula is the victim of a third party and is not insane. Thus we cannot share the doubts and terror that she feels. We are not, like her, wondering if we can trust our senses, but merely wondering who is doing this to her. And the latter question isn't very challenging to answer. With a little more subtlety, Cukor could have left us as much in the dark as Paula about why she is experiencing so many strange phenomena, and made this effective little film into a true masterwork of suspense. As it is, GASLIGHT is good, but fails to achieve its potential to match such classics as REBECCA or VERTIGO.

Bergman and Boyer make a very dynamic on-screen duo. The film does suffer from Joseph Cotten, whose apple-pie American accent makes for a very unconvincing Scotland Yard inspector. Angela Lansbury is delightfully saucy in her film debut as a Cockney maidservant. Dame May Whitty provides effective comic relief.

GASLIGHT is well worth a rental at any price, so long as your expectations aren't overly high.

Rating: *** (out of ****).