Gaslight (1944)
Directed by George Cukor

Film Review

It is hard to believe that this creepy gothic mix of melodrama and psychological thriller was directed by George Cukor, a filmmaker who is better associated with lighter fare such as romantic comedies and glossy Technicolor musicals.  Whilst it may lack the charm and smoothness of Cukor's later films, Gaslight is a pretty good example of his early work, a sombre piece which is serviced by some admirable performances and a well-structured plot that ends with a chilling denouement.

This was the second screen adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's stage play Gas Light.  The first version was made in Britain in 1940, directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Diana Wynyard and Anton Walbrook.  It is reported that after he had bought the rights to the play, MGM boss Louis B. Mayer ordered all prints of the 1940 film to be tracked down and destroyed so that his studio's film would have no competition.  As it turned out, some prints of the British film survived, and today it is widely acknowledged that this version is somewhat superior to the more cautious MGM remake.

What most sells Cukor's version of Gaslight are the exceptional contributions from a superlative cast.  Charles Boyer gives one of the best performances of his career, conveying real menace and nastiness, a far cry from the gentle matinee idol roles he is best known for.  Ingrid Bergman is equally stunning, particularly in the film's later scenes, where her character's struggle to hang on to her sanity is almost too painful to watch.  The scene where she turns the tables on Boyer and viciously taunts him is the stuff of pure dominatrix fantasy. 

17 year-old Angela Lansbury made her screen debut in this film, and almost succeeds in stealing Bergman's thunder in the role of the housemaid who has more sauce than a town composed entirely of tomato ketchup factories.  The only let down is Joseph Cotton, who, miscast in the supporting role of London's most dashing detective (more Richard Hannay than P.C. Plod), is pretty much wasted in this film.

The impact of Gaslight is helped by its lush chiaroscuro design, a style that was prevalent in mid-1940s Hollywood thrillers.  The expressionistic lighting and confined sets work well to create the film's oppressive, claustrophobic mood.  The camerawork and direction are perhaps less imaginative, possibly too restrained, with the result that the film isn't as dark or sinister as it could have been.  If Alfred Hitchcock had been at the helm, you can bet the result would have been far more terrifying...

Thanks mainly to the highly attractive Bergman-Boyer billing, Gaslight was an immense success and was nominated for seven Academy Awards.  Ingrid Bergman won the first of her three Oscars, and the film also won an Oscar for its interior set design.  Boyer was nominated but failed to get the Best Actor award.  In a straight fight, the 1940 British version will win hands down, but judged on its own merits, this version of Gaslight certainly has a lot going for it.  It may not give you nightmares, but it will certainly send a few icy tingles down the spine.

Film Synopsis

Shortly after their marriage, Gregory Anton persuades his wife Paula that he has a burning desire to live in the centre of London.  The house he chooses is the one in which Paula lived with her aunt when she was a small girl.  It was also the house in which Paula's aunt, a famous opera singer, was murdered.  The motive for the killing has never been established and the murderer has never been brought to justice.  Paula is so in love with her husband that she has no objection to returning to the old house of her past.  But, after a few weeks, she begins to see and hear things that disturb her.  Gregory insists that she is imagining things, that she is starting to lose her mind...