Gaslight
Tags: insanity, murder

Plot synopsis:
Alice Barlow (Marie Wright) is murdered by an unknown man, who then ransacks her house, looking for her valuable and famous rubies. The house remains empty for years, until newlyweds Paul and Bella Mallen move in. Bella (Diana Wynyard) soon finds herself misplacing small objects; and, before long, Paul (Anton Walbrook) has her believing she is losing her sanity. B. G. Rough (Frank Pettingell), a former detective involved in the original murder investigation, immediately suspects him of Alice Barlow's murder.
Paul uses the gas lamps to search the closed off upper floors, which causes the rest of the lamps in the house to dim slightly. When Bella comments on the lights' dimming, he tells her she is imagining things. Bella is persuaded she is hearing noises, unaware that Paul enters the upper floors from the house next door. The sinister interpretation of the change in light levels is part of a larger pattern of deception to which Bella is subjected. It is revealed Paul is a bigamist. He is the wanted Louis Bauer, who has returned to the house to search for the rubies he was unable to find after the murder.

Review: Wynyard is nearly overshadowed by my favorite character of the film, Paul Mallen, played with so much evil by Anton Walbrook.
Having eluded the police for a number of years and changed his name to Paul Mallen, he takes a wife in the fragile Bella (Wynyard), and the couple move back into the house so that he can continue his search under cover as a respectable Victorian husband.
At the same time he tries to drive his wife out of her mind because he is afraid that she might discover his guilty secret...The first film version of Patrick Hamilton's successful stage play is technically modest compared to the 1944 Hollywood remake (see my review), but this British National production directed by Thorold Dickinson creates an atmosphere of genuine electric tension that Hollywood could only envy.
Wynyard does well as the tortured wife while Cathleen Cordell is fine as the tarty parlour maid whom Walbrook uses to add insult to his wife's injury.The film was available in the UK on VHS but it has since been deleted, although the Hollywood version is out on DVD.
I love Diana Wynyard - she was lovely to look at and seemed wonderfully edgy and vulnerable - I wasn't surprised to learn that she played the anguished mother in the West End production of THE BAD SEED - she's really only remembered today for this film and CAVALCADE (1933), but she's definitely worth watching.
Anton Walbrook is a little hammier than Boyer was, and there are those obvious streaks in his hair to make him look a little older - but he has a wonderful moment at the films end when, quite suddenly, his eyes go wild and you can tell that he's completely lost his mind - might have been a nice touch if the 1944 had included such a moment.
Hearst - fortunately they didn't (just imagine the history of film since 1941 if they had!) And although MGM didn't destroy all prints of GASLIGHT, they did manage to keep it out of sight for many years - I think I first saw it on a cable station in the early 1980s - I tuned in expecting Boyer and Bergman and got Walbrook and Wynyard - as it turned out I didn't mind at all, and have enjoyed it many times since!
The stars here are Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, Frank Pettingel, Robert Newton, and Cathleen Cordell.In this version, the plot centers on a retired detective (Pettingel) recognizing a Mr. Mallen (Walbrook) as a man named Bauer, rather than a hot young detective recognizing the wife as the relative of a late opera singer who was once kind to him.
Mallen has moved into a house with his wife Bella (Wynyard) where a vicious murder had occurred 20 years earlier by a robber searching for the resident's famed rubies.
His motive in this version for wanting Bella declared insane is different from the Hollywood version, but his departure from the house each evening and the dimming of the gaslight is due to the same goal.If you're familiar with the Boyer/Bergman "Gaslight," this "Gaslight" feels like it starts in the middle, as there is no backstory in this one, though Mallen remains a pianist.
It's an excellent performance, but one in which the weight of the film is transferred, as it's supposed to be, over to the character here called Mallen, played by Anton Walbrook - the exact opposite of what Hollywood does with the story.
It's easy to see why MGM locked this away in their vaults when they issued their 1944 remake--it's really great!An evil crook (Anton Walbrook) slowly tries to drive his wife (Diana Wynyard) mad for some jewels.This isn't as lush as the remake, but it more than makes up for it in other departments.
I will not fall into this trap - I liked each film as much as the other..true, Walbrook looks more evil as a villain than Charles BOyer, and the 1940 version is perhaps a little more picturesque with the sets ( carriages, children etc ) but both films were very well done.
Viewed this film in 1944 and thought this was the one and only cast with Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten and Angela Lansbury.
Diana Wynyard,(Bella Mallen),"An Ideal Husband",'47 gave a great performance without the beauty of Ingrid Bergman and the dull Charles Boyer.
Because of the murder, the house stays empty for twenty years, when Paul Mallen (Anton Walbrook) and his sick wife Bella (Diana Wynyard) move to the place.
Anton Walbrook performs one of the most despicable villains I have ever seen and Diana Wynyard plays a very convincing fragile and confused Bella.
My version is called "Gaslight." It is the story of a man who marries a young woman and then movies into a house where he had previously murdered an old woman, the elderly aunt of his bride.
It is inevitable that this 1940 film and the 1944 "remake" with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman are going to be compared, and people will have different opinions as to which is the better version.To me, both 'Gaslight' films are great in their own way, and this reviewer ranks them equally, yet with one or two things in things that are done better in the other.
Although Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer got a lot of press for the movie GASLIGHT, the film was actually a remake of a British film made only a few years earlier.
Not unlike what Paramount did with Frank Capra's Broadway Bill when that studio made Riding High, MGM destroyed this original British made version of Gaslight that came out four years before MGM remade it with Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten, that classic that won Ingrid Bergman her first Oscar.
Fortunately MGM was not thorough and we can enjoy Diana Wynyard and Anton Walbrook in this original film version of the play Angel Street.It might have been nice to have a version of that surviving as well.
After sitting empty for years, Alice's house finally gets new owners, Paul (Walbrook) and Bella (Wynyard) Mallen.
(Apparently, when MGM bought the rights to the story, based on a play by Patrick Hamilton, the studio attempted to destroy all existing prints of the earlier version, but they weren't successful.) In the opening scene, an old woman is strangled to death, and her killer ransacks her apartment in search of...
Years later, Paul Mallen (Anton Walbrook), a debonair society lord in London, moves with his wife Bella (Diana Wynyard) to the posh Pimlico Square, directly below the apartment of the murdered.
Walbrook, who by that time had been in motion pictures for 25 years, is perfect as the sly, debonair, and viciously evil Mallen; Wynyard exudes vulnerability and panic; her Bella is terrified that she might be quite sincerely insane, vacillating from dignified serenity to sheer panic.This movie is highly recommended to fans of noir film, particularly those who've seen the more-famous 1944 Hollywood version..
However, ex-detective Frank Pettingell (Rough) recognizes Anton from his past and is determined to find out what he is up to.I've read that MGM tried to destroy all copies of this film so that their 1944 remake would be the definitive version.
At no time do the performances of ANTON WALBROOK (usually such a strong actor) and DIANA WYNYARD (who has a masklike beauty like Valerie Hobson) equal those in the later MGM version starring Bergman and Boyer with Joseph Cotten as the detective.Nor is the performance of CATHLEEN CORDELL in any way equivalent to the tart and sassy performance of the Cockney maid that ANGELA LANSBURY delivered so deliciously in the George Cukor version.
Cordell merely grins her way through a part that hasn't much teeth to it (deliberate pun!) The only other decent supporting performance comes from ROBERT NEWTON, almost unrecognizable here in his more youthful persona as Wynyard's concerned cousin.The house is not replicated with as much skill as it was in the Bergman/Boyer version, full of so much bric-a-brac that you wonder what the set designer was thinking.
Too overstuffed with antiques with not an inch of bare space on the walls, giving the whole piece a more claustrophobic feeling than it calls for.ANTON WALBROOK does do well in his final scene where he sees the jewels that he's been hunting for all those years--but his performance has none of the subtle shadings that Charles Boyer gave the role.
It's one of those old-fashioned movies that has dated in the best possible way, with all the plot ingredients straight out of a Victorian melodrama: missing jewels, a husband trying to drive his wife insane, an unsolved murder, a killer on the loose.The film drips with atmosphere and a sense of Gothic dread, to the degree that it outdoes many all-out horror films of the era.
Anton Walbrook's villain chews the scenery in the best possible taste, while Diana Wynyard is effective as the wife who begins to suspect her own sanity.GASLIGHT falls just short of being a classic, but it's a creepily effective film for its genre and well worth watching for fans of this particular type of movie..
Even in the UK, this British version from 1940 of Patrick Hamilton's play is less well known than the American version with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman from four years later.
Diana Wynyard's Bella is similar to some Hitchcock heroines, especially the characters played by Joan Fontaine in "Rebecca" and "Suspicion" who initially seem weak and passive but later reveal hidden strengths of character.It is a long time since I last saw the MGM version, so I will not attempt to compare the merits of the two films.
Diana Wynyard is well cast in the 'victim' role, but the main reason to see this film is Anton Walbrook's mesmerising portrayal of obsession and insanity.
All characters give excellent performances, with extra praise to Diana Wynyard as Bella and Anton Walbrook as Paul.
She was commenting on the 1944 film with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman and NOT the one, in this listing, with Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard, from 1940.
I got to see the Walbrook and Wynyard version this past Saturday night on my local PBS station, after they showed the Boyer and Bergman version.I do, though, agree with Alice about this film being a good tool for showing domestic, not just spousal, abuse.
Bella Mallen (Diana Wynyard) turns in a wonderful and sympathetic performance as a woman who is being driven to her wit's end by her obsessive, controlling and deceitful husband Paul Mallen (Anton Walbrook).
Bella Mallen (Diana Wynyard) turns in a wonderful and sympathetic performance as a woman who is being driven to her wit's end by her obsessive, controlling and deceitful husband Paul Mallen (Anton Walbrook).
The behavior of Mrs. Mallens' gas light is the very clever device that eventually allows the film's central mystery to begin to unravel - hopefully before it is too late This film exhibits some truly startlingly well-created and detailed Victorian interiors, relatively typical but quite competent camera-work for its time, very strong performances - especially by Wynyard and Frank Pettingill (Rough) and a solid theatrical script.
The behavior of Mrs. Mallens' gas light is the very clever device that eventually allows the film's central mystery to begin to unravel - hopefully before it is too late This film exhibits some truly startlingly well-created and detailed Victorian interiors, relatively typical but quite competent camera-work for its time, very strong performances - especially by Wynyard and Frank Pettingill (Rough) and a solid theatrical script.
This 1940 UK film has very good production values, and two strong performances from Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard as the leads.Some may feel it was short sighted of MGM to buy this 1940 film and then proceed to destroy the negative, just before embarking on its own Hollywood production in 1944.
This original, British version of "Gaslight" was released in 1940, four years before the Hollywood remake.
It also clocks in at about half an hour less than the later version.In the film, a husband and wife move into a house that had been vacant since a murder took place there years before.
He is attempting to protect a secret from his past but, little does he know, a retired policeman is already on his trail.The cast is pretty good but Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard & Cathleen Cordell just can't compare to their counterparts in the Hollywood remake.
Both movies are based on a stage play, originally titled "Angel Street," about a husband (called Paul Mallen in 1940, Gregory Anton in 1944) who tries to drive his wife (Bella/Paula) insane.
This original 1940 version of Gaslight is occasionally shown on U.K. TV - I watched it this time as part of Film 4's Movies for Life series, though shown about lunchtime, so many would have missed it.Which is a pity.
Ladies' man Paul (Anton Walbrook) and his insecure wife Bella (Diana Wynyard) move into the creepy house.
Acting trends melodramatic, especially the performance of Walbrook.Originating as a play, this 1940 screen version is superior to the 1944 MGM remake, which is long and drawn out.
It seemed to have more nuances or shades of colour added to the story that make it much more realistic than what is found in the Ch. Boyer performance.Since everyone else has commented on the plot and the actors I don't want to repeat it all again here, so suffice to say, I found this earlier version far more interesting and believable, truer to the characters and events as the story unfolds.Particularly good and convincing was the performance of Diana Wynyard as the delicate, emotionally unstable wife - talk about mental cruelty in marriage, this would be a first rate example!Anton Walbrook is always intriguing to me and I recall him best in "The Red Shoes" as the self-centred ballet director who habitually manipulated those around him, dancers and musicians.How nice to have made this discovery, although rather late in life for me..
Original British version of the story later remade with Ingrid Bergman.
Although I really enjoy both versions of this suspense filled story, I just like the British 1940 film a little more.
Most people are familiar with the 1944 American Version starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer & the screen debut of Angela Lansbury.Released in 1940 starring Anton Walbrook & Diane Wynyard this was as classic a tale then as it is now.
By the way Walbrook & Wynyard were big stars then & the acting is best in the British version.The story begins with a cruel & foul murder of an old woman knitting in her home.
A tighter British version of its remake Gaslight (1944); stars Anton Walbrook.
aka The Murder in Thornton Square (1940) or Angel StreetDirected by Thorold Dickinson, with a screenplay by A.R. Rawlinson and Bridget Boland that was based on the play by Patrick Hamilton, this above average British thriller is tighter (half an hour shorter) than the Academy Award nominated American remake which earned Ingrid Bergman her first Oscar, four years later.Anton Walbrook plays the role of the mysterious Paul Mallen, who's attempting to drive his wife Bella (Diana Wynyard, in the Bergman role) crazy for reasons of his own.
Frank Pettingell plays a retired policeman B.G. Rough, who now takes care of horses (in the day when carriages were the primary transportation in the city), that recognizes Mr. Mallen as Louis Bauer, the nephew of Alice Barlow (Marie Wright), who had been murdered in her home many years earlier, a crime that was never solved.Walbrook is every bit as good as, if not better than, Charles Boyer in the American version, Wynyard is merely adequate, and Pettingell can't be compared to Joseph Cotten because the latter's role was played as a potential love interest for Bella (whereas Pettingell's was not).Much different than the aforementioned later production, this film's story begins with Barlow's murder; the culprit (whose face is not shown) ransacks the townhouse trying to find (what we come to find out were) her 20,000 pounds worth of rubies.
Dripping with Gothic shadows and atmosphere it also features an unforgettable central performance by Anton Walbrook which is as chilling now as it was upon the films release.Gaslight is directed by Thorold Dickinson, is based on the stage play by Patrick Hamilton and stars Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard and Frank Pettingell.The film begins one night at number 12,Pimlico Square.
An elderly lady is murdered by a man who's face we never see.After killing her the man searches the house for some jewels which he never finds.Twenty years later the now empty house is once again occupied, this time by Paul Mallen(Anton Walbrook)and his beautiful but highly nervous wife Bella (Diana Wynyard).Bella according to her husband is a thief who takes his things and claims not to remember doing so(kleptomania)however we soon discover Paul is the one taking the items,with the intention of driving Bella mad.Bella has one supporter in all of this a former policeman(who worked on the case of the murder at the house)B.G Rough(Frank Pettingell)who suspects Paul to be the nephew and possible killer of the old woman.Can he save Bella and unmask the killer in time?
Diana Wynyard, Frank Pettingell, and Cathleen Cordell don't have the acting chops of Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, and Angela Lansbury, but Anton Walbrook's performance as the sinister Paul Mallen blows away Charles Boyer as Gregory Anton.
Still MGM thought enough of this version to purchase and suppress it in advance of their own production.Unlike the slick Hollywood version that provides a gratuitous romantic interlude to showcase Boyer's and Bergman's sex-appeal, the British film doesn't need to explain why the abused wife found her husband appealing in the first place.
No matter, the original British National Film is a suspenseful story, and is one of the better films I've seen using the husband driving his wife crazy plot.