Gaslight

Plot synopsis:
Why does the flame go down? Lights in the London house are from fixtures with gas flames, and when you light one light, it reduces gas supply to the other lights in the house that are close by, and the light dims. Yet no one in the house has lit any other lights! And there are also footsteps overhead, from a nailed-closed attic. Neither of the two servants sees or hears either of these signs. Paula Anton (Ingrid Bergman) thinks she is losing her mind, just as she has lost the brooch her husband Gregory (Charles Boyer) gave her.Her new marriage is falling apart; she cannot go out lest she make another embarrassing scene. Is it the house, where Paula's aunt, a famous and beautiful concert singer, was murdered when the young Paula resided there? What does her new husband, who plays the piano beautifully, do for a living? Nothing. Why does he go out every night and leave her alone to fret and worry?Who is the man who sees them at unexpected times and places, a man we soon learn is Scotland Yard detective Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotton)? Cameron is curious about the unsolved murder of Aunt Alice Alquist, who looked a great deal like Paula does now -- a murder that defied the investigators. No motive, no suspects, no clues.You now have the clues to this Oscar-winning (Best Actress) dark mystery. Introducing (first picture) Angela Lansbury (Best Supporting Actress nominee) in the role of one of the servants. Also nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Boyer), and three more.

Tags: insanity, suspenseful, horror, murder, atmospheric

Review:
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.
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.
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).
Not being a big fan of older movies myself (for some reason I really don't know) I decided to go out on a recommendation and rent "Gaslight." And I must be honest, I was impressed.When Paula was younger, her aunt with whom lived with in Thornton Square in London was murdered by a strangler roaming the streets.
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.
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.
"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..
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.
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.
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..
Ingrid Bergman plays Paula, an orphaned Victorian-era Londoner whose opera-singer aunt is murdered at the beginning of the movie.
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.
"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...
It lives up to all of the Hitchcock's and despite the fact that we know that Bergman's character is not insane, the film depicts a woman's suffering from her Husband.
It is shot in close ups and foggy streets as the film was made in California.Charles Boyer marries Ingrid Bergman in Italy and they return to her London home, long been abandoned since her aunt, a world famous Opera singer was killed.
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.
His meticulous, somewhat fussy attention to every little detail of sets and costumes softens the suspense.Based on a stage play called "Angel Street", it shows its stage origins with mostly interior scenes of Bergman slowly being driven mad by a husband who is searching for jewels in the attic.
Angela Lansbury makes an auspicious film debut, looking very confident indeed as a saucy Cockney maid.The only flaws are the slow pace and the casting of Joseph Cotten as the Scotland Yard detective.
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).
When the Scotland Yard policeman Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotten) sees Gregory Anton in a tourist place, he immediately recognizes Gregory and decides to investigate and find evidences to connect Gregory with the unsolved murder, while Paula is being driven mad and menaced of being interned in an asylum by her husband.The American version of "Gaslight" is not as good as the claustrophobic and Machiavellian original 1940 British version, but it is also a great movie.
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!
And perhaps Ingrid Bergman's menaced, anguished role in "Gaslight" inspired Hitchcock to cast her as the similarly tortured heroines of "Spellbound" and "Notorious."Here, Bergman plays Paula, newlywed wife of the dashing Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer).
Angela Lansbury makes a memorable film debut as the impudent housemaid, and even gets to sing a few bars in her distinctive voice.The foggy streets of Victorian London are effective and atmospheric, and recall other, more famous thrillers like "Dracula" or "Dorian Grey." But unlike those two stories, there's nothing supernatural about "Gaslight." Instead, it's a great psychological thriller, just the right blend of florid melodrama, riveting suspense, and believable human emotion..
Combining the fantastic acting talents of the beautiful Ingrid Bergman and handsome Charles Boyer plus the supreme, intelligent direction George Cukor and a great supporting cast you get Gaslight: a cinematic masterpiece.
Brian decides to look into the goings-on in the Anton house and when he uncovers the mystery, must convince Paula of the truth in order to save her life."Gaslight" is an essential film in the suspense genre; at times it was easy to forget that it was not a Hitchcock film, rather, directed by the masterful George Cukor, a man as known for his romantic comedies as for his melodramas.
Good beat evil at the Academy Awards that year (at least on screen it was Bing Crosby that won for "Going my Way", but at least he didn't beat his kids until he got home) but Boyer's performance should have won out.There were several suspense films that were released in 1944, (one of them, "The Uninvited" is quite good) but "Gaslight" has a hint of originality to it.
GASLIGHT directed by George Cukor, a director that was more familiar with melodramatic stories of intense female sensibility (consider CAMILLE with Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor), displays a truly engrossing combination of film noir and psychology, something that was still winning widespread acclaim at the time.And the film won two Academy Awards being nominated for seven: Ingrid Bergman as Best Actress and Art Direction.
Berardinelli rightly concludes that hardly any film can match "this picture's intricate psychology."It is nothing but a masterwork in the depiction of Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman) being planted the seeds of doubt about her husband and Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer) slowly growing horns of tyranny and greed.
The supporting characters need a special mention as well, primarily Joseph Cotten as Scotland Yard officer Brian Cameron who soon contributes to Paula's way to fresh air, charming luminous humour of Dame May Witty's in the role of Miss Thwaites who finally manages to see the couple, Barbara Everest as Elizabeth and, in her debut role, a newcomer to the screen Angela Lansbury as Nancy.
The basic set-up of the story is that a woman, Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman) has lost her closest and dearest relative, a famous opera singer, at a very young age and now, as an adult, returns to the very place of crime with her husband, Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer).
With Oscars for Ingrid Bergman (Best Actress) and William Ferrari (Best Black and White Art Direction) besides a string of other nominations and awards, Gaslight is a must see for all classic movie fans.The plot centers upon the psychological terror exerted upon a woman by her husband whose greed for jewels leads to deception and murder.
It stars Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten and Angela Lansbury.This "Gaslight" has some differences from the British film, in that it switches the connection to the woman murdered in the house where the Antons live from the husband (Boyer) to the wife (Bergman), and the old detective interested in Gregory is now an attractive young detective interested in Paula (though the names are changed here too).
It also gives us a back story as to how the couple met.For reasons of his own (also different in both films) the lovely Paula's new husband, Gregroy, starts slowly driving her mad, accusing her of forgetting things, losing items, and setting her up to be frightful of going out or being social, and when she does, having hysterics so everyone knows she is disturbed.
With a cast including the beautiful Ingrid Bergman, the suave Charles Boyer, and the sophisticated Joseph Cotton (not to mention a very young Angela Lansbury), this film had a lot going for it.
Ingrid Bergman plays Paula, a troubled young woman trying to escape her memories of her aunt's unsolved murder.
Gaslight is the story of a beautiful, innocent woman (Ingrid Bergman) who marries a charming man (Charles Boyer) who tries to drive her insane.
Boasting a lavish, detailed production that perfectly recreates the Victorian era, Gaslight is one of the greatest psychological thrillers ever made, thanks to Bergman's stellar, Oscar-winning performance.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.
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.
Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten and debut of Angela Lansbury.
Perhaps one of the first "pure" psychological thrillers, Gaslight, just like Ingrid Bergman's eyes, contains the perfect blend of mystery, suspense, and beauty.
Perhaps one of the first "pure" psychological thrillers, Gaslight, just like Ingrid Bergman's eyes, contains the perfect blend of mystery, suspense, and beauty.
Paula (Ingrid Bergman) begins to doubt her sanity after she, with her suave new husband Gregory (Charles Boyer), moves back to the childhood home where her beloved aunt had been murdered years earlier.
Charles Boyer is deliciously creepy and evil in this psychological thriller from 1944, and Ingrid Bergman plays the part of his young wife well, slowly tricked into believing she's losing her mind.
Gaslight is a nice little thriller/drama where poor Bergman thinks she's going mad, courtesy of her not so loving husband.It isn't the most original or unpredictable of plots, at least not by today's standards, but it has some nice moments in it.
This is another stand out performance along with Dame May Whitty as Miss Thwaites, an inquisitive neighbour with a taste for murder mysteries who keeps on trying to get into that house where the murder happened.Academy Awards went to Ingrid Bergman and Art Director Cedric Gibbons, while the film was nominated as best picture as was Cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg, Charles Boyer and even Angela Lansbury.
But as the story goes on, and this gaslighting takes place - as this has been coined now due to this film - I bought into Boyer's performance more, as this man who can turn on and off the charm when he needs to, at a whim, and is rapidly making this woman go out of her mind.It's all about, of course, where one puts the blame for things.
She won a richly deserved Oscar for this performance, by the way.This is classic suspense, the kind of material Hitchcock could have had fun with, and in George Cukor's hands is moody at times (watch for the scenes of the London fog, with Boyer walking like someone surely with something to hide), and then also engrossing but in an entertaining way.
Bergman is so Lovable and Quaint Her Abuse, from the outset, Rides the Edge that keeps Sympathies with Her and is in Danger of Losing Not only Her Mind, but the Audience as well.In Fact, both Leads Play the One Note of Good and Evil Continuously for the Long Running Time and Joseph Cotten as a Scotland Yard Investigator Figures Things Out maybe a Reel to Late to Save the Movie from Collapsing under its own Weight of Repetitive Similarity.In Support, Angela Lansbury got the Oscar, as well as Bergman, and is Creepy as can be, but May Witty as the Comedy Relief, like most of the Movie, tends to Grate on the Nerves.Overall, a Must See for Classic Film Fans, the Movie has a Reputation that Cannot be Denied.
A young bride (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband (Charles Boyer) move into the house where her aunt was murdered years before.
Bergman won a "Best Actress" Oscar for her high strung portrayal and Ms. Lansbury got a nomination in her first screen credit.******** Gaslight (5/4/44) George Cukor ~ Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten, Angela Lansbury.
Not until Brian (Joseph Cotten) appears on the scene does she have any real hope of discovering that something sinister has been in the air.Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer are excellent in the lead roles - Bergman plays the victim well and she is never quite so weak as to be annoying - and it is good to see her fight back at the end.
Joseph Cotten is wonderful as well but he is horribly underused as an American-sounding detective from Scotland Yard who has a strange fascination with Bergman's case.One of the best things about Gaslight is the fact that it shows director George Cukor's ability to go outside his usual sophisticated comedies and melodramas and make a bleak, moody thriller focusing more on the psychological aspects of the main character than the physical actions.
However, my point is not the film itself, but one particular scene-- the drawing room recital at Lady Dalroy's where Paula (Ingrid Bergman) is finally driven to emotional collapse by her fortune-hunting husband Gregory (Charles Boyer).
Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman star in this chilling and creepy drama of a woman slowly driven to madness in her London home - the same house where her aunt was murdered.
The latter also features Ingrid Bergman who won her first Oscar for Gaslight, one of the more atmospheric of the psychological thrillers.Based on the Patrick Hamilton play, this one features terrific lead performances by Ms. Bergman and Charles Boyer, a role quite against type for France's romantic leading man.
Classic suspense tale with Oscar winner Bergman playing the frightened wife of husband Charles Boyer, who is devilishly clever in his performance.
The film contains incredible performances by Ingrid Bergman(who won an Oscar for Best Actress),Charles Boyer,and Angela Lansbury in her film debut.
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.
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.