Faces in the Dark

John Gregson is a businessman and an inventor. He's impatient, with his business advisors who have no vision, with his partner, Michael Denison, with his wife, Mai Zetterling, who keeps showing up at the office and bothering him when he's trying to get something accomplished. He's grown curt and nasty to all those around him. Then he gets into an accident and loses his sight. When he returns home after some time in the hospital, he's constantly in a rage, despite the kindness of people around him. The electric plugs are in the wrong places, the cat is the wrong cat, and it gradually comes upon him that Denison and his wife are having an affair, and that they are gaslighting him somehow.

It's a bold and interesting take on the theme. It's easy to sympathize with Ingrid Bergman or Diana Wynyard, even when they are made to think themselves mad when their persecutor is suave Charles Boyer, or gentle Anton Walbrook. When it's boorish Gregson who may be the victim, our sympathies can easily be diverted elsewhere..... even if the strange tale they tell is true.

Nicely directed by David Eady, and shot with a mild fish-eye lens by Ken Hodges this is a compelling little thriller about a man who may be being driven mad.... and we can't help but wonder if he deserves it!