Gaslight (1944)

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

John Van Druten (screenplay) &
Walter Reisch (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

11 May 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Strange drama of a captive sweetheart!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Driven Mad | Murder | Nervous Breakdown | Scotland Yard | Italy

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Adams	...	Policeman (uncredited)
John Ardizoni	...	Cab Man (uncredited)
Frank Baker	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Wilson Benge	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Arnold Bennett	...	Footman (uncredited)
Florence Benson	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Arthur Blake	...	Butler (uncredited)
Lillian Bronson	...	Lady (uncredited)
Leonard Carey	...	Guide (uncredited)
Alec Craig	...	Turnkey (uncredited)
Antonio D'Amore	...	Cab Man (uncredited)
Wynne Davis	...	Singing Flower Vendor (uncredited)
Frank Eldredge	...	Lamplighter (uncredited)
Maude Fealy	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Helen Flint	...	Franchette (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland	...	Servant (uncredited)
Gary Gray	...	Boy in Park with Nanny (uncredited)
Roger Gray	...	Stranger (uncredited)
Bobby Hale	...	Lamplighter (uncredited)
Joy Harington	...	Miss Laura Pritchard (uncredited)
Tom Hughes	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Jack Kirk	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Pat Malone	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Al Masiello	...	Cab Man (uncredited)
Charles McNaughton	...	Wilkins (uncredited)
Terry Moore	...	Paula Alquist - Age 14 (uncredited)
Clive Morgan	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Georgie Nokes	...	Boy (uncredited)
Joseph North	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Simon Olivier	...	Boy in Museum (uncredited)
Elsie Prescott	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Joseph Romantini	...	Cab Man (uncredited)
Syd Saylor	...	Baggage Clerk (uncredited)
Arthur Stone	...	Durkin (uncredited)
Alix Terry	...	Girl (uncredited)
Morgan Wallace	...	Fred Garrett (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Valet (uncredited)
Eustace Wyatt	...	Budge (uncredited)
Phyllis Yuse	...	Young Girl (uncredited)
Guy Zanette	...	Cab Man (uncredited)

Directed by
George Cukor

Writing credits
John Van Druten		(screenplay) &
Walter Reisch		(screenplay) and
John L. Balderston		(screenplay)
Patrick Hamilton		(play "Angel Street")

Produced by
Arthur Hornblow Jr.	....	producer

Original Music by
Bronislau Kaper

Cinematography by
Joseph Ruttenberg		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ralph E. Winters

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Irene		(costume supervision)

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup creator
Irma Kusely	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Eddie Woehler	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Greenwood	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
William Ferrari	....	associate art director
Paul Huldschinsky	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Joe Edmondson	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Harry Stradling Jr.	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marion Herwood Keyes	....	associate costume supervisor (as Marion Herwood)
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)

Editorial Department
William Webb	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Jakob Gimpel	....	piano solos
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
Pietro Cimini	....	music technical advisor (uncredited)
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Nat W. Finston	....	conductor (uncredited)
Robert Franklyn	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Arthur Rosenstein	....	vocal coach (uncredited)
Conrad Salinger	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Ruth Roberts	....	dialogue coach: Ingrid Bergman (uncredited)
David O. Selznick	....	special advisor (uncredited)
Charles Walters	....	dance director (uncredited)

Thanks
David O. Selznick	....	acknowledgment: Miss Bergman and Mr. Cotten through courtesy of

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (presents)
• Loew's (produced by) (as Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1945) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1946) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1947) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1965) (Finland) (TV)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Turner Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. Entertainment Finland Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• TwellV (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #9800) | Netherlands:6 | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

In MGM's script, Charles Boyer was supposed to have told Ingrid Bergman at the end that he had loved her all along. This was an addition to the play made by the screenwriter. David O. Selznick, when reading over the script, was horrified and promptly sent MGM one of his famous long and involved memos, this one ordering the studio to omit the line, which it did.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Quotes:

Paula Alquist Anton:Yes, that's it.
[throws the knife away]
Paula Alquist Anton:I am mad. I'm always losing things and hiding things and I can never find them, I don't know where I've put them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Remington Steele: Premium Steele (#4.7)" (1985)

Soundtrack:

Mattinata

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 ****).