Gaslight (1944) User Reviews (193)

Psychological terror distilled and made utterly palpable

[secondtake · 9/10 · 13 April 2010]

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.

Solidly-written ground-breaking psychological mystery; it's Bergman's show

[silverscreen888 · 7/10 · 24 July 2007]

"Gaslight" (1944) was in its time first a play by Patrick Hamilton and next a psychological thriller of great influence. Since the work was directed by George Cukor, one expects fine performances, and the film delivers several of these; it is in fact unusually well-done in many respects in my judgment. The screenplay by John Van Druten, Walter Reisch and John Balderston has also been widely admired for retaining the theatrical tension of the original work. As produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr., this intelligent but somewhat unsettling drama features understated music by Bronislau Kaper, the fine cinematography of Joseph Ruttenberg, art direction by the great Cedric Gibbons, unusually good set decorations by Edwin B. Willis and costumes design by Irene (Sharaff). But because of the understatement of its scenes, the lack of large scenes of action and image, and the sheer amount of its meaningful dialog, it is an actor's film. The minor players such as Dame May Witty as the heroine's neighbor, Tom Stevenson as Wlliams the policeman, Angela Lansbury as the saucy aid, Barbar Everest as the faithful maid Elizabeth, Emil Rmeau as the maestro, Heather Thatcher as Lady Dalroy, Halliwell Hobbes and Edmund Breon and Lawrence Grossman range in ability from good to exceptional. As the policeman who discerns what is going on that troubles the heroine, played by Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten is dashing, attractive and acceptable as both potential lover and man of action. Charles Boyer has in this film a thankless role, that of a devouring immoralist who has only two possible moods-- brief burst of anger needing to be controlled and an exuded charm that must be slightly overdone at times. These moods he plays very professionally at all points, his timing being not the least of his accomplishments during the film. In the difficult role of a Victorian young woman of intelligence, honesty and vulnerability, Oscar winner Ingrid Bergman earns the award by sustaining a sunny and intelligent personality undergoing a series of slowly-revealed and subtle attacks from her husband, who is trying to convince her she is incapable of independent function. Everything in the film--lighting, use of flights of stairs, objects, blocking, gestures, observers, character and dialog contribute to the overall effect. Even the title, referring to the mysterious changes in the lighting of the house Bergman and Boyer inhabit has meaning here. The film is not a sunny one; but the suspense is in my opinion rather admirably sustained. In tribute to its quality as a drama, I can only say that in the more than six decades since the film was created, no imitation of its male to female menace has come close to achieving anything really approaching its sterling qualities. To have ushered in a sub-genre--the Victorian menaced-female type, and set so high a mark is no small feat. The mystery's solid construction and simplicity of design certainly play a part in the building of its sustained fascination.

Them there eyes

[srella · 9/10 · 6 November 2001]

If you're looking for everything you've ever wanted to know about horror, mystery, depression, and suspense, go take a peek into Ingrid Bergman's eyes.

The actress -- who would soon become blacklisted after her marriage to Italian director Roberto Rossellini -- can convey every emotion and nuance of her character through her amazingly expressive eyes. Completely believable in George Cukor's Gaslight as a wife whose husband (Charles Boyer) is trying to make insane, Bergman can show you all her turmoil and emotional stress just by looking around.

The plot is simple, perhaps even arcane. A famous opera singer is murdered in London, leaving behind no motive, no clues, and Paula, the young niece who discovered the body. Paula is sent to Italy, where she, too, studies music, until she elopes with an older, dashing pianist (Boyer). He convinces her to move back to the exact same house where her aunt was murdered, where nothing has been changed in all those years. And, naturally, here is where the movie really begins.

Soon, her husband starts acting very strangely, and starts convincing her that she is very ill and unable to go out. Trapped in the house, alone with her husband, a somewhat-deaf cook, and a tart of a housekeeper, Paula soon starts to hear noises, see things, lose things, and even hide things. Or is she? Is she going mad? Or is her husband -- who she is supposed to love, honor, and obey -- making her mad?

The show is Bergman's to steal, and she does so with gusto, garnering an Oscar for her endeavor. With her performance, Bergman transforms the character of Paula Alquist from a weak, paranoid wimp of a wife into a woman struggling with her own identity and her role in marriage and society. Perhaps unintentionally, perhaps unwittingly, Bergman's Paula is a symbol and a superhero for all women trapped in an abusive marriage. Even today.

Granted, the story line is somewhat contrived, and one can't help but wonder how Paula never notices that her husband is completely evil BEFORE the marriage. Also, Joseph Cotten, as the Scotland Yard detective smitten with Paula's beauty, seems to come out of nowhere. Still, the acting prevails over the plot, and what better actor to come out of nowhere than Cotten? His charm and charisma make up for his character's two-dimensionality.

Although there are faults, Gaslight is an extraordinary film, generating its suspense not from an evil lurking in the shadows, but from the psychology of the mind itself. Perhaps one of the first "pure" psychological thrillers, Gaslight, just like Ingrid Bergman's eyes, contains the perfect blend of mystery, suspense, and beauty.

Best Kept Secrets: Gaslight

[philadelphiastorygirl · 1 March 2007]

The first scene establishes the dreary tone of the film. It is nighttime in London and a murder goes unsolved. The magnificent Ingrid Bergman portrays Paula, the niece of the deceased woman. After living ten years trying to forget the past, Paula returns to her house in London at the suggestion of her new husband, Gregory (Charles Boyer). "I've found peace in loving you," Paula says and decides with the help of her husband, she is ready to face the past. Fear is an essential element in the story. It seems the police cannot find a motive for the murder but when a new young assistant comes to Scotland Yard, he sees something that others did not notice or would not pursue. The murderer remains at large and his next potential victim has returned to the very house where the first murder was committed.

The cast's flawless talent makes the film absolutely unforgettable. Charles Boyer is exceedingly ominous as Paula's obsessive husband. As the high-strung wife, Ingrid Bergman gives an outstanding performance. She is startling and brilliant. Brian Cameron, played by Joseph Cotton, makes his appearance later in the film but is wonderful nonetheless. Watch for the emphasis on foreshadowing and the beautiful lighting achieved in Gaslight, as well as the particular attention to the many details that make it spectacular. George Cukor's fantastic direction of this intriguing and suspicious tale will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Insanity Tiptoeing Over Haunting Stairs

[ElMaruecan82 · 9/10 · 15 August 2018]

They say a film is as good as the villain, but sometimes, the villain might be too good for the film's own good. I don't think I've been as distraught and upset by a villain as I was by the manipulative expert Gregory Anton in George Cukor's "Gaslight", the most famous and best adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's play.

Indeed, enduring the psychological torture he applied to his love-seeking wife Paula, played by an emotionally versatile Ingrid Bergman, was such an infuriating experience that I left almost one decade between the first and the second viewing, and I literally tiptoed to the DVD to force myself to refresh my memory. After the first fifteen minutes, just when I thought I could stand it, I realized that any horror movie would have been more supportable... or am I overreacting?

I think there must have been some strong reaction toward that novelty of a plot where a person drove another one insane through mental manipulation to the point that "gas light" became part of common language... that's how impactful it was. Not many movies deal with that particular device, but this is how "Gaslight" was revolutionary and sophisticated in a twisted way, suiting the emerging noir genre.

The "gas light" effect referring to the dimming of the light that made Paula believe she was going crazy isn't effective on a narrative level because it's driven by a fact but rather by the seeds of doubt it sows on her mind. We know for a fact that a woman is being manipulated but only suspicion can heal her from her husband's cruel dominance.But she can't suspect him because she loves him in a way that echoes Stockholm Syndrome and he's a Machiavellian gourmet who knows exactly the amount of cruelty and suavity to apply.

Charles Boyer's with all these cunning eyes, that mouth always wary about not letting a word slip, and his faux-affable "French lover" manners, elevate his characters to summits of vileness and gaining extra altitude by a symmetric effect with Ingrid Bergman who brings an extraordinary level of pathos while maintaining a strange aura of dignity. This is a woman whose heart and mind are slowly shred to pieces but she's resigned to believe any word of her beloved husband because she can envision anything except such capability of vileness.

Why would the gaslight dim every night? Why would she hear noises the servant doesn't notice and why would Gregory be wrong if the second maid wasn't so arrogant and defiant? Even Angela Lansbury in her screen debut is perfect in the role of Nancy, the street smart and slightly slutty maid whose deadpan and snarky attitude is more affecting than any hint of false empathy or true detachment. This is a free-spirited woman yet manipulated by the way Gregory exploits every element of the environment and every possible situation. So what we have is a conspiracy perfectly oiled where Cukor makes us witness the action while making us as powerless as Paula. We're like passive observers bound and gagged and undergoing the villain's sadism. In a way, if we consider anger as a brief madness, we're also being "gaslighted" by Cukor.

The mark of great films is to elicit strong responses; and watching "Gaslight" a second time reminded me of something I meant as a compliment after my initial viewing, I thought it was the most Hitchcockian non-Hitchcock film... and the presence of Dame May Whitty or Joseph Cotten play like interesting nods to "The Lady Vanishes" and "Shadow of a Doubt". In"Vanishes", the main protagonist was toyed with her own certitudes and lured into doubting her own sanity and "Shadow" is about a villain who's a close parent. "Gaslight" makes these two plot points converge beautifully but there is another Hitchcock classic it bears a kinship with: "Suspicion".

And I think I can now be more explicit about what bothered me with "Suspicion" and that makes "Gaslight" a superior movie. In "Suspicion", the husband's guilt was the central theme but worked as a double edged word, if he was guilty, then he left too many hints to be a believable villain, if he wasn't, it was anticlimactic. In "Gaslight", we know the villain from the start and we know he's good at hiding his vileness (the essence of 'gaslighting') and the frustration doesn't come from the act but the lack of suspicion, the point is the psychological struggle within a woman whose passion blinds her mind and endangers it, a woman who trades her self-esteem for the sake of the most harmful person she could ever meet.

"Gaslight" foreshadowed, no pun intended, the way film noir would dominate post-war cinema, at a time where many people were blinded by patriotism and driven to real madness by leaders who had contempt for them. "Gaslight" is also a marvel of film noir in its use of the nightmarish fog of London Victorian streets used as the perfect camouflage for a Jekyll/Hyde villain, and where d the walls of respectability of an ordinary house, hid the claustrophobic nightmare of a woman lost among so many useless items and trophies, being the most precious one of all... or the most disposable.

Boyer, Lansbury were all Oscar-nominated, but it was Bergman who won the first of her three Oscars and deservedly so. In what could have been a one-note performance she explores every possible shade of fragility, doubt and panic, disbelief and resignation, whiplash moods orchestrated by her evil husband until her shining moment at the end, perhaps one of the most satisfying cinematic rants, when the whole scheme of Gregory backfires in the most delightful way.

But I still wonder why he wasn't listed in AFI's Top 50 villains, the film made the "thrills" list but hey, who made the thrills?

Slightly better than the 1940 original.

[garethcrook · 8/10 · 25 July 2020]

They don't make them like they used to is a lazy thing to say, but they really don't. There's a wonderful tangible and hypnotic innocence to early cinema that we've lost... or progressed from depending how you look at it, but it's great to be able to relive films like this. Paula (Ingrid Bergman) hasn't had a happy start in life, her aunt murdered in her foggy london home. Escaping to Italy she meets and falls for Gregory (Charles Boyer). It's an affluent life, palatial hotels on Lake Como. Were lives of the poor depicted often in 40s cinema? I don't think so, I guess it was a medium purely of escape. Anyway, Gregory fancies settling in London and Paula still owns her aunts house at 9 Thornton Square an address that haunts her, but she puts that aside for Gregory's wishes. I must admit I'm captivated by old London. Cobble streets, horse drawn carriages and of course gaslights. The house is stunning and thanks to the eerie score, quite spooky. Unchanged since that fateful night of the unsolved murder... and full of clues. I don't trust dear Gregory and I'm not sure about Nancy (Angela Lansbury) the new maid either. The sneaky sod is playing mind games, undermining poor Paula, trying to convince her she's losing it. He's a gold digger. Not like Brian (Joseph Cotten) and Miss Thwaites (May Whitty), both who bring much needed warmth. Brian works at Scotland Yard and smells a rat... and a jewel thief, every murder needs a motive. The elderly Miss Thwaites, well she loves a good story and is fascinated by the things that happened at number 9. And might well she be, there's a lot going on in it's walls. Largely down to poor Paula rarely leaving them, slowly being pushed into the role of reclusive madness, by an increasingly manipulative Gregory. It's partly frustrating knowing that Paula is being bullied and unsettling to modern eyes. Yet it's captivating as we expect repercussion, relief, truth and justice. The gaslit house with its shadows and aunties old memorabilia locked up in its top floor, brings an odd supernatural sense to proceedings, but we know what's really going on and Brian is onto something too. Bergman is fantastic in her increasing frailty. Boyer in his domineering menace. Lansbury in with her east end flirting and Cotten as the hero detective. It's a lovely slow burner with fantastic finale.

A frightened Ingrid....

[jem132 · 8/10 · 10 April 2008]

Cukor's GASLIGHT is a classic of the Gothic melodrama genre, which hit it's apex in the early-to-mid forties, starting with Hitchcock's REBECCA. Bergman won a Best Actress Oscar for her role in GASLIGHT, and she is indeed convincing as a wife terrified she is losing her sanity, in the face of the tricks of her cunning and opportune jewel-thief husband Charles Boyer (remarkably sinister yet attractive).

It's an engrossing work for the most part, with great performances by the two leads. Joseph Cotten plays the romantic rescuer of Bergman, and even if it is only a one-note role, he is still pleasing. We also get great supporting work from the likes of the inimitable Dame May Witty and saucy servant Angela Lansbury (they add a touch of English that would have been missing otherwise in this story set in the Londin fog). I did feel, however, that the film dragged in a few places and the ending was just a little too cute. Nevertheless, the atmosphere Cukor creates is very convincing, and the cinematography is appropriately shadowy and dark. The house, presumably created on the studio lot specially for the film, is a marvelous set, conveying the wealth yet emotional emptiness of Bergman's life, and meticulously decorated so it appears as a true evocation of the Victorian era.

one classy thriller

[postmanwhoalwaysringstwice · 10/10 · 29 January 2007]

George Cukor's 1944 Hollywood suspense flick "Gaslight" was originally made in 1940 in England under the title "Murder in Thorton Square". When the Hollywood producers got a hold of this hot commodity, they attempted to make the original film vanish from sight and memory by destroying many of the prints. Interesting how this particular tale parallels some of the mental manipulations employed in the film itself.

This tense, atmospheric film takes place in London in the 1870's several years after a murder shocked the residents of Thorton Square. Paula, the niece of the deceased woman, has inherited her aunt's house. Strange things start happening when she begins to occupy the place with her new husband. Through a steady thematic build we watch as she slowly loses her mind. "Gaslight" is a classic psychological thriller in the vein of the best Hitchcock with Ingrid Bergman, fresh off "Casablanca", stealing the show as the innocent victim of mental illness.

A good suspense film that could have been great.

[Danimal-7 · 7/10 · 19 August 1999]

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 ****).

Foggy nights in London's Thornton Square

[jotix100 · 9/10 · 22 May 2005]

Patrick Hamilton's "Angel Street", an American stage classic, was turned into "Gaslight" in 1944. This atmospheric account about a woman being driven out of her mind, was directed by George Cukor. The film has always been a favorite of classic movie fans all over the world because it holds the viewer interested in watching the psychological drama with echoes of Gothic overtones, unfold on the screen.

This was not the first adaptation of Mr. Hamilton's play, although in our humble opinion, it is much better than the previous account, in part helped by the great cast that Mr. Cukor assembled to portray these characters. Thanks to the magnificent black and white cinematography by Joseph Ruttengerg and the musical score by Bronislau Kaper, the film ultimately rewards the viewer.

We are taken to No. 9 Thornton Square, at the start of the film. A murder of a famous opera singer has been committed. We watch as a young woman is taken away. Paula, is being sent away to Italy to recuperate from the tragedy she has just witnessed. The idea was for her to follow her aunt, the murdered diva's footsteps, but just listening to the young woman sing, one realizes opera is not going to gain a new star.

The young pianist, Greorgy Anton, who is seen at Maestro Gardi's home, seems to be in love with Paula; she, in turn, has fallen in love with this much older figure. They prepare to return to London and live in the house at Thornton Square. Paula, alas, is not too happy because of her traumatic experience there. Little by little we watch as Gregory, now in charge of the household, begins to terrorize his wife. The key seems to be hidden in the attic where all the things that belonged to the late diva has been stored.

A young man living near the Antons, Brian Cameron, takes an interest in what he sees is definitively wrong with the woman at No. 9, and takes things into his own hands. It's through this man's intervention that Paula is able to see all that has been inflicted upon her. Whatever Gregory has done, succeeded in giving Paula a deep sense of insecurity and fear.

Ingrid Bergman, who makes a magnificent Paula, was born to play this troubled woman. She is seen as a young girl at the beginning of the film, then as a blossoming beautiful woman and at the end she is transformed into a person afraid of her own shadow. One look into Ms. Bergman's eyes and we know what's going on in her mind. She conveys all the emotions convincingly. There's not a thing wrong with her performance.

Charles Boyer also makes a great Gregory Anton, a man who is duplicitous and sly, with a hidden agenda to get whatever he can out of poor Paula. Gregory is an evil man who will go to great lengths to get what he wants. Gregory Anton offered the actor one of his best characters. His chemistry with Ms. Bergman is wonderful.

The other supporting characters are well performed, especially by a young and interesting Angela Lansbury, who plays the parlor maid, Nancy. Joseph Cotten, on the other hand, seems to be out of character as Brian Cameron. His American accent ruins his appearance and we don't believe in him. Dame May Witty is about the sunniest one in this film.

"Gaslight" is an excellent way to spend the time in the company of Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, thanks to the detailed production directed by George Cukor.

Unpopular opinion here...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 4 August 2021]

In that I have NEVER liked this film. I put it in the same category as I do "The Yearling" or "Old Yeller" - a classic, well directed, acted, and produced and memorable - to me - for all the wrong reasons. And since this is in the Turner Classic Movies library it gets trotted out a lot, and so I have tried to watch it several times, but I just don't like it and don't care to see it ever again.

Part of it may be that I have never really liked period pieces or Charles Boyer. No, unlike other reviewers, I don't like him from the start. I don't even believe the cheerful beginning where he and Paula seem in love. The film shows his true side soon enough, and I also don't like seeing a true innocent - Paula - put through all of that mental torment just so Boyer's murdering thief can get his rubies.

It does have some good and amusing parts - mainly Angela Lansbury as the maid who sees herself as the next Mrs. Anton, even if she sees what is happening to the first Mrs. Anton and that Mr. Anton is not exactly a husband to be trusted. Like those class boundaries would have ever been breeched in Victorian England.

The end leaves things open for Bergman's Paula and Joseph Cotten's cop to get romantic without waiting for her husband to go to the gallows. It turns out Mr. Anton AKA Sergis Bower was already married to somebody else when he married Paula. So from the beginning the whole relationship was a lie. I think I'd need ten years of therapy before I believed anybody ever again about anything if I was Paula. But in the time period portrayed there were no therapists only madhouses, and on top of that Paula would have been ostracized for being involved in a bigamy even if she had been completely deceived. An unforgiving era indeed. Your mileage may vary.

Playing the Long Game...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 24 March 2023]

A murder leads to leaving and new life, ten years later and you find yourself a wife, a man who lifts you off your feet, then takes you straight back to that street, and the house that's full of pain, riven with strife. You're imprisoned in the place in which you live, turns out that Gregory is controlling, coercive, as you start to lose your mind, there are things you lose, can't find, and your relationship's aggressive, combative. Brian Cameron takes an interest in your plight, as an officer of the law takes up your fight, investigates what's going on, if there's misdeed, any wrong, always under careful watch, of the gaslight.

Great performances all round.

Good Movie, with an Unmotivated Villain

[VikingBurialService · 7/10 · 7 February 2022]

Pretty good. The movie where the term 'gaslighting' comes from. Husband manipulates wife into thinking she is insane so he can steal her jewels. If there's a shortcoming, it's the characters. The bad guy has no motivation other than "I want these jewels". Ingrid Bergman plays a woman being driven to insanity splendidly, but she is a 'reactionary' main character throughout the whole thing, and it is all the other characters that move the plot forward. It's certainly tense, but it's frustrating to have an MC who does nothing until the very last scene. Otherwise, the movie gets it all right. Unrelated, but Ingrid Bergman smiles like sunrise after an ice storm.

Interesting classic but it's hard to suspend disbelief

[Bob Pr. · 4/10 · 11 June 2004]

This 1944 movie is obviously a classic and to mention "Gaslight" is to refer to one spouse who tries to drive the other insane.

The storyline is based on a 1940 British movie of the same name which was based on a British play of the 1930s. That's an important factor because the psychological/psychiatric sophistication of expert treatment personnel in that era -- or the general public's sophistication -- was pretty primitive. That makes the story plausible for THAT time; it's far less so for many of us now. People in those years did not understand where madness comes from. This movie suggests that it's easy for one person to quite deliberately drive another person mad.

I'm a retired clinical psychologist with 40 years of practice, 10 of them in state hospitals and then, for 30 years, some of my outpatient clients had been hospitalized.

It's NOT that one person could not shake the grasp on reality of another. BUT, in order to do so as in this story, the victim would have to obviously be already very shaky from the start and lacking even a moderately fair sureness of her grasp of reality. Not the type of character Bergman plays at the beginning.

That said, Boyer plays an excellent cad; Bergman plays an increasingly distraught and troubled bride; Cotten plays a handsome savior; while Lansbury plays a spicy, uppity maid. Given this script, they've given it their best and their best is very, very good.

In 1944, I doubt that the script was that predictable. Sixty years later, you can see clues dropped here and there which you absolutely know will resurface later.

My quibbles are too harsh for many. My companion (almost half my age and certainly without the psychological experience) thought it was excellent -- compelling and gripping. My occasional whispers to her that I bet that THAT clue is going to reappear didn't spoil it for her one bit.

A Well-Crafted, Well-Acted Thriller

[Snow Leopard · 1 December 2004]

This American-made version of the English thriller "Gaslight" is well-crafted and well-acted, with many moments of good suspense and tension.

Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer work very well in the two leads, and they get considerable help from the rest of the cast and the production.

The character of the fragile, self-doubting Paula is an ideal role for Bergman, who conveys Paula's anxious uncertainty while keeping her sympathetic and even engaging. Boyer likewise comes across very believably as her calculating husband, and the two leads make their characters into a strong foundation for the tense story.

Joseph Cotten does not really seem as if he could be a Scotland Yard detective, but in a more general way, he succeeds pretty well as a sympathetic policeman who wants to help personally while striving to get at the facts of the matter. A very young Angela Lansbury gives her character some pointed moments, and she becomes a useful part of creating the right atmosphere.

The story does, of course, have some less plausible elements, but it is written carefully enough that the seams rarely show. In fact, it seems to have been constructed rather carefully, so as to provide subtle hints that can be made use of later on. It all makes for a satisfying drama that also provides a pretty good showcase for its stars.

A great film!

[zetes · 10/10 · 17 October 2002]

Ingrid Bergman experiences the murder of the aunt who has raised her. Ten years later, she returns to the house in which it happened with her new husband (Charles Boyer). Something is wrong, though, as her husband, once so kind to her, grows cold and cruel. Furthermore, Bergman begins to lose things, misplace things, and develop a case of kleptomania, or at least that's her husband's explanation. Boyer convinces his wife that she is going insane, that she is sick, and she becomes little more than a shut-in. She becomes paranoid, especially at her maids (the younger of which is played by Angela Lansbury in her first film role). Meanwhile, Joseph Cotten, a detective, gets an inkling that something is up in that household, and that it might be related to the aunt's murder. Gaslight is a very atmospheric film. The black and white cinematography is full of shadows, and there are interesting things going on in the focus. The music is also quite excellent, and very original. Classical music is also used to great effect. The plot is great, although maybe a tiny bit predictable (it didn't harm my enjoyment of the film whatsoever). The performances are top-notch, although Cotten doesn't add much to the picture. I mean, he's good, but his role perhaps isn't the one the original playwright or the screenwriters were most interested in. Anyone probably could have done just as well. Bergman's performances is to be counted amongst her best. Charles Boyer, an actor with whom I am unfamiliar, is so wicked in the film. You hate him, but you've got to admit it's an effective performance! And I can't finish without praising Angela Lansbury. Dame May Whitty also has a nice supporting role, although the role - the comic relief - is sometimes used at a bad time. I don't think, for instance, she should have come back in during the final sequence. Anyway, little flaws don't detract much from this masterpiece. Bravo, Mr. Cukor! 10/10.

A Good Psychological Thriller

[Rainey-Dawn · 8/10 · 12 May 2016]

This drama turned out to be a really good Gothic psychological thriller. It's worthwhile watching if you like these kinds of films.

In short: It's about a man who murdered an opera singer over the rubies she is said to own, he searches for them but doesn't find them. Years later Gregory meets Paula, the niece of the woman he killed years ago, and she accidentally uncovers his real identity so he decides to drive her mad to have her locked away while looking for her aunt's rubies. Paula is just lucky that a snoop is interested in what goes on in number 12.

The film is pretty dramatic, starts slow while it takes time for the tension to build. It's beautifully filmed, well acted out and a story of madness, murder and crime.

8/10

Folks, it's a remake....

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 25 March 2017]

Back in 1940, an exceptional movie, "Murder in Thornton Square", was made in the UK. Just a few years later, Hollywood wanted to do a remake and did something unusual...they bought up every copy of the original picture that they could find in the hope that folks wouldn't realize that "Gaslight" was not an original picture. It worked, as "Gaslight" went on to win two academy awards, including one for Best Actress. I have seen both films and strongly recommend you do the same...since the original should also be considered a classic.

When the film begins, there's been a murder in a home on fashionable Thornton Square. The lady of the house was killed and her young niece, Paula (Ingrid Bergman) discovered the body. Years pass and Paula seems like a normal woman. She's met Gregory (Charles Boyer) and he romances her quite vigorously. They marry and he talks about wanting to move with her to London. Well, Paula owns the home where her aunt was killed and suggests they go there. The house holds some frightful memories...but she wants to make Gregory happy.

At first things seem ideal, but over time there is a change in Gregory. He no longer seems so thoughtful and kind but has become distance and sullen. He also begins insisting that Paula is stealing things and hiding them...though she has no recollection of any of this. Is she losing her mind? After all, she now seems emotionally fragile and weak. Or, is this all some elaborate plot to drive her out of her mind?

"Gaslight" is an exquisite film with an exciting script. Good enough to nearly earn a 10. But since it is a remake, it cannot in my eyes deserve a 10. Well worth seeing.

Entering our English Lexicon

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 6 March 2006]

It is not often that a proper name or title enters the common use of any language, but maybe the highest possible praise Gaslight could receive is the fact that the title is now a verb. To gaslight someone now is to do little deliberate things and blame articles disappearing or misplaced on a person in an effort to make them think they are losing their minds.

That is exactly what the suave sophisticated continental Charles Boyer is trying to do to his new bride Ingrid Bergman in the house that they live in. It was previously occupied by Bergman's aunt, a noted soprano who was murdered several years earlier.

A good mad act is always guaranteed to draw Oscar attention and in this case it got Ingrid Bergman her first Academy Award. She is really something to watch as the poor woman really starts to believe she's losing her mind.

Charles Boyer goes against type in this film. Usually the charming European of many nationalities besides his native French, Boyer starts out the film in a typical Boyer mold. But he gradually changes into a hardened stone cold killer. The audience ever so gradually realizes he didn't marry Bergman for love. Boyer was also nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, but no one was beating Bing Crosby that year in Going My Way.

Joseph Cotten plays the stalwart Scotland Yard inspector and a very young Angela Lansbury has an early part in Gaslight as a tart cockney maid.

George Cukor directs it all with a Hitchcock type flair that even the master of suspense would tip his hat to. In fact I'm surprised that Alfred Hitchcock didn't consider Gaslight as a film property for himself.

A classic film that will make you want to strangle someone

[rooprect · 7/10 · 12 February 2007]

Joseph Cotten's performance is, as always, a class act. Ingrid Bergman... well I'll get to her in a minute. Charles Boyer's performance is so affecting that I almost kicked a hole in the TV. This is both good and bad. Obviously he's a powerful actor, but it's laid on so thick that it becomes downright aggravating by halftime. That is, the idea of an egotistical, domineering husband (and the wife's diffident acceptance of the situation) is so infuriating that I was hardly able to enjoy myself. I almost shut off the movie halfway through because it's no fun to see a woman getting abused and tormented with no recourse. But then I realized that Joseph Cotten, the main reason why I was watching the film, hadn't yet made an appearance (he doesn't come in until the 2nd act when things start picking up).

But I'm so glad that I stuck around, because once things get rolling--once the director begins to make his statement--the film becomes truly powerful, engaging and poignant. The coup de grâce is an absolutely stellar performance by Ingrid Bergman in the last 10 minutes which I won't spoil for you. Suffice it to say that I think it's one of the finest monologues since Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, and it puts the whole film into perspective.

I'm rating this only a 7 because of my disappointment with the 1st half which I felt was a bit of a gratuitous pity party, but the more I think about it, perhaps it was necessary in order to have such a powerful payoff in the 2nd half. I'll definitely be watching this movie twice, and I urge you to do the same. Cheers.

Superbly menacing melodrama

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 7 June 2016]

As a fan of classic film 'Gaslight' is not quite one of my favourites, but it has a great cast who give almost uniformly fine performances and although the story has been done to death and is somewhat "dated" (a criticism this reviewer dislikes on the most part) much is done to make it gripping (especially the atmosphere) and the film has much to offer.

The only real issue this reviewer found with 'Gaslight' was Joseph Cotten. It is not an awful performance, he is often sympathetic and charismatic and not as wooden as he sometimes could be. But he is very unconvincing as a Scotland Yard police officer, too young, too American and sometimes stiff, so he does seem out of place sometimes as a character that should have been introduced earlier and perhaps been in the film more.

However, 'Gaslight' is a beautifully made film, the lighting just adds so much to the atmosphere and the tone of the film, the cinematography is haunting and luminous and the Victorian setting is so striking in its elegance and evocative atmosphere. Other excellent assets are George Cukor's intelligent direction, Bonislau Kaper's nail-biting, orchestrally lush and melodically rich music score (great use of classical music too) and a cracking script, which sizzles with subtle tension with the odd spot of wry humour that is surprisingly well balanced with everything else. Despite being a melodrama, 'Gaslight's' script avoids being too hammy or over-dramatic.

'Gaslight's' story is not going to work for all tastes now and one can see the reservations. The criticisms that it is contrived, "dated" and that it has been done to death are valid and understandable. This said, this reviewer found herself absolutely riveted throughout the whole duration of 'Gaslight', even if the earlier film version is tighter structurally and a little less obvious (which were not problems at all to me, because the story on the whole is really well executed). The slow-folding tension and suspense was very effective, making the overwhelming intensity of the ending as this tension and suspense crescendos all the more powerful. Equally powerful was the whole dynamic between Bergman and Boyer, the intensity in the last half of the film genuinely frightening.

Cotten aside, the acting is uniformly great. While Barbara Stanwyk in 'Double Idemnity' was my Best Actress pick for that year, Ingrid Bergman was still a more than worthy win in one of her best performances, she radiates on screen and performs her character's vulnerability with raw edge and poignancy. Have yet to see a better performance from Charles Boyer than the one he gives here in 'Gaslight', he is handsome and suave to begin with and then later on the more sadistic edge he brings is absolutely chilling. Dame May Witty brings a delightful dottiness and wryness, and Angela Lansbury is deliciously auspicious in a very early role.

Overall, superbly menacing and very highly recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Can Your Spouse Drive You Nuts?

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 30 September 2007]

Based on personal experience, many of us might answer the question, "Can your spouse drive you nuts?", with an unequivocal YES, but this story is a little different than what our everyday experiences might be. Here, the husband (Charles Boyer), with the complicity of a nasty bitchy maid (Angela Lansbury, her debut), deliberately tries to arrange events in his gas-lighted Victorian house, so that his weak-willed wife (Ingrid Berman) will believe that she's losing her mind -- again.

Boyer commits minor acts of deception. He hides objects, moves portraits, claims he had nothing to do with it, that Bergman is going nuts and not remembering her own irrational behavior. The object? Boyer is trying to locate some extremely expensive jewelry that Bergman inherited. Neither of them knows where it is, but Boyer is convinced they're locked securely away somewhere in an overstuffed attic. In order to search the attic he leaves the house and reenters it by a secret passage from another street. Then he lights the gas in the attic and pokes through the chests and armoirs and other doo-dads, looking for the jewels. Now, gas light is not like electricity. There's only so much of it being pumped into a house, so when you light an extra outlet or two, as Boyer does in the attic, the flames in the rest of the house are lowered noticeably. Gas has other disadvantages. It explodes sometimes and it can smother you. You know who was at pains to point out these dangers? The whale oil lobby, that's who! (I just threw that in and, though it's true, you may ignore it except as evidence that plus ca change, plus ca meme chose.) Back to the movie. Yes. Bergman wanders around the house, half stoned from anxiety, watching the gas light go up and down, while no one else notices it, hearing boards creak and drawers roll shut in the attic where no one can possibly be. She becomes dreamier and is convinced that she's going bonkers again.

Enter Joseph Cotten who clears things up in a jiffy. Like Poe's purloined letter, the jewels were hidden in plain sight. The bad folks are whisked away and Bergman is freed of a husband with a baritone French accent but a malevolent character.

Could Boyer really have driven her clinically insane? Probably not, though he might have convinced her that she was going round the bend. Those are two different things. Oh, it's perfectly reasonable to expect that she'd be scared out of her wits, but not gravely disabled. For that you'd be better off bringing an organismic vulnerability to the situation, a genetic component. And the stress would have to be vastly greater than discovering hidden objects and hearing boards creak. Otherwise, as soon as the hiding and the creaking stopped, Bergman's belief in her own insanity would probably fade soon enough.

George Cukor has staged the movie and executed it well. I vaguely remember seeing it as a kid and it scared the heck out of me. Except for the psychology, it's almost one of those spooky, haunted old mansion movies. A good movie for the whole family on a Friday night. Watch it with the kids. And every once in a while, during a particularly frightening moment, shout into their ears and tickle their ribs and watch what happens.

A Very Different Kind of Mystery

[gavin6942 · 8/10 · 17 March 2012]

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

I think this is a very different kind of mystery. It involves a murder, but there is never really any doubt about the killer. And it involves a wife thinking she is going crazy, yet we know all along that she is not. (In fact, despite the praise she has received, I think Bergman overdid it a little bit on her acting here... I found it hard to believe that she was that stupid.)

Placing the film in the same era as the Jack the Ripper murders was a nice touch, as it could just have easily been the 1940s and the plot would not have been substantially altered. And the debut of Angela Lansbury? Truly remarkable. Who knew she had such a cockney accent inside her? Great film... a very solid performance from very solid talents. George Cukor never fails to succeed.

Good morning daffodils Gaslight

[jaredmobarak · 6/10 · 1 December 2007]

Here is a film that I just don't think aged well with the years. George Cukor's Oscar nominated Gaslight has the feel of something that was fresh and unique back when released in 1944, today, however, it feels as though it was from a bygone era, complete with acting that somehow has become laughable where it once showed brilliance. A slow burning plot is laid out, showing us the systemic destruction of a woman's mind. Our lead Paula found the body of her dead aunt/caretaker when she was young. Now grown up, she has married a man in a whirlwind romance and decides to move back to the place of the murder with him. In that house, her mind begins to wander and frighten from sounds she hears at night and the dimming gaslights surrounding her. It appears she is also losing her mind and possibly stealing artifacts from around the house for no apparent reason and her husband's temper creeps out more and more as the time passes. The handling of the degenerative process concerning Paula is done well, but I feel that having seen so many movies like this one over the years ruined my experience. I pegged the conclusion and twist about fifteen minutes into the story and I have to say it was written on the wall quite loudly. Being, what could be, the first of its kind, that revelation at the end might have really stunned some people, now it just means we have to sit through some monotonous exposition and character progression before seeing what we all knew in the beginning was eventually going to happen.

It's not even like we are on the cusp of sound evading film either, it happened almost two decades previous, but the acting almost comes across as too broad. Especially with lead actor Charles Boyer, who plays Paula's new husband Gregory Anton. He gives us shades of villainous facial expressions right from the get-go and never shows the audience anything to make us wonder if maybe he wasn't pure evil. With his role as it is, there can be no confusion of his motives and that, to me, takes away a huge part of this film. All suspense about what is happening is thrown out the window as soon as Paula discovers a letter from the past addressed to her deceased aunt. That moment seals Gaslight's fate. From there on, the only suspense was whether Paula's forced nervous breakdown would become real, making her fabricated insanity a reality.

As far as Paula is concerned, I do believe Ingrid Bergman does a good job. Was the performance worthy of a Best Actress Oscar? I'd lean more towards no, but then I haven't seen any other film from that year, so for all I know she was the best. Her feigned waif persona comes across a little heavy-handed at the start, almost playing right into the fact that she was being lied to in order to think she was crazy. It felt like she knew her craziness was faked and had to play it up to make it appear more believable. This would have been a brilliant move if she knew what her husband was doing and was subverting his work to trick him, but that is not the case. It was just a somewhat hammy performance. I will say that towards the end, where the truth is slowly being revealed, she steps it up a bit and shines. Half a performance, though, does not a best of the year award make.

The film is not without its charm either. Its conclusion is fun to watch and see what is truly going on with Boyer's role. A big part of that revelation is laid on the back of Joseph Cotten. Now here is a man that could act. I have never seen him in a role that wasn't believable or restrained in the realm of reality. He is the best part of the film and never misses a step. We are also treated to some comic relief from characters played by Dame May Witty, a neighbor, and the couple's live-in maid Angela Lansbury. In her first ever screen performance, Lansbury shows a lot of spunk and sarcastic wit. I also really enjoyed the atmosphere. Every foggy evening outside was beautifully shot and allowed the world without electricity to become a character of its own. As a whole, though, the film ultimately was too by-the-numbers and obvious to uncover its motives. I know this is all easy to say when so much has probably been lifted from it over the years, but that is where I'm coming from. One of the many hindrances to seeing old films today means I can never view them fresh or without the back catalog of cinema I have already seen being recalled to memory.

Lacks mystery and intrigue - quite predictable

[grantss · 5/10 · 10 September 2015]

Lacks mystery and intrigue - quite predictable.

A young woman, Paula Alquist (played by Ingrid Bergman) leaves her home in England for Italy, for singing lessons. There she meets and falls in love with a pianist, Gregory Anton (played by Charles Boyer). They marry and move back to London, to live in the house Paula's aunt was murdered in, 10 years earlier. However, Gregory's intentions toward Paula aren't entirely romantic, or benevolent...

For a movie with such sinister plots involved, this movie is quite predictable. You can see all the links and plans involving Gregory in the first 40 minutes or so. And some of his plans are just plain lame (the watch at the concert...).

Good performances from Bergman and Boyer plus Joseph Cotten and Dame May Witty. 18-year old Angela Lansbury made her debut in this movie and puts in a solid performance.

The minor performances can be quite laughable though - the risk of filming an English setting in the US (and you can thank WW2 for that). Best example of this is the scene with a cop whose accent frequently veers violently between English Cockney and southern-US in mid-sentence! Unintentionally funny.

Ultimately a mediocre story, with some solid performances from the leads. Had heaps of potential, but much of this was squandered.