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:

M-G-M's melodrama

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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

Columbia Pictures initially bought the property as a vehicle for its contract player Irene Dunne, as the prospect of reteaming her with Charles Boyer was tempting. However, the studio sold the rights to MGM, which wanted to star Hedy Lamarr. Eventually Ingrid Bergman played the Paula role.

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Goofs

Gregory is shown leaving the house from the inside, opening the door most of the way. Cut to the next moment outside, but it repeats most of the door-opening.

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Quotes

Gregory Anton: I don't ask you to understand me. Between us all the time were those jewels, like a fire - a fire in my brain that separated us - those jewels which I wanted all my life. I don't know why... Goodbye, Paula.

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Connections

Featured in Ingrid (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Mattinata"
(1904) (uncredited)
Written by Ruggero Leoncavallo

User Reviews

Psychological terror distilled and made utterly palpable

Gaslight (1944)

This is an uncharacteristic film for George Cukor, slipping sideways into Hitchcock turf for this period. Psychological suspense was never more focused, and less distracted, than you'll find in Gaslight however. You might find the plot too linear, to predictable overall, to be blown away, but in fact that's partly why the suspense works. As with great Hitchcock, you have a sense of where you going, and you want to stop it.

So we have Charles Boyer, smarmy, deceptive, and ultimately evil, leading his new wife down a path of mental anguish and, he hopes, madness. The wife is played with usual high stakes perfection by Ingrid Bergman (between her stunning roles in Casablanca and Spellbound). Cukor gets the most of her excesses, and her nuances. Boyer is more nuance, and is a perfect match. The movie is really about their back and forth, with Joseph Cotten making his appearance as a necessary line of safety and hope because we can't stand to see the woman go down without a fight.

Most of the film occurs in an old, lavishly decorated house, and the lights and camera-work are dreamy, dripping in rim light and shadow, in odd angles and closeups of their faces. It's quite an involving experience, and because you are limited to mostly these two characters, you get very intimate with them. Yes, the two maids are perfect, including a sassy Angela Lansbury in her first movie role. And the cop, too, is a classic bobby, handsome and cooperative.

The plot, alas, is the one weakness here. The man's obsession with gems is fair enough, but when we finally get to the attic, after many months of him being there searching for them, it's as if he's up there for the first time, opening drawers with cobwebs on them, scattering through drawers like a thief with five minutes and no more. It just undermines the whole premise of a man resolutely devoting his whole devious, murderous life to this one goal.

So forget the plot, exactly. It's a MacGuffin. The real movie is in the acting, the characters in their personal wringings out, and in how beautifully it is done.