Gaslight (1944)

George Cukor helped transform a moody Victorian stage melodrama (previously filmed in Britain in 1939) into a gothic Hollywood romantic thriller. Ingrid Bergman stars as a meek, uncertain heiress courted and married in a whirlwind romance by the debonair Charles Boyer, but when they move back into her childhood home she begins losing her grip on reality and becomes convinced that her husband is trying to drive her insane. Joseph Cotten, rather stiff and colorless next to the anguished Bergman and charming and lively Boyer, is the heroic Scotland Yard detective who becomes enamored of the skittish woman who is slowly succumbing to madness. The grand, glorious sets and elegant photography recall Hitchcock's Rebecca, another lush Hollywood gothic melodrama of a retiring young wife overwhelmed by the history of her abode, and Gaslight is still assumed by some to be a Hitchcock film (the Bergman connection doesn't help the confusion). It's really a rather straightforward thriller with a forced plot device, but under Cukor's control the tightly constructed script is given the full MGM treatment, then reined in for intimate moments of harrowing suspense. Boyer brilliantly played off his continental lover reputation by adding an undercurrent of malevolence and Bergman won an Oscar for her haunted performance. It also marks the memorable debut of Angela Lansbury as a saucy maid unwittingly drawn into Boyer's master plan. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Riveting!

This is truly a GREAT suspense film with believable characters and excellent actors, director, and story. Ingrid Bergman as the helpless wife and Charles Boyer as the manipulative husband are excellent. The eerie mood that keeps building is highly effective, and Angela Lansbury's performance was memorable even though short. Well worth seeing several times, as I did. The black and white color, the foggy night scenes in the glow of the street gaslights couldn't be more befitting for this story. October 8, 2008

True Classic

If you like clasics of this time period, this is a very good one. I do ! January 9, 2008

iNCREDIBLY STUPID FILM

This film really made me angry and pissed off I bothered watching it. The characters were cardboard and I can't believe Ingrid Bergman starred in this junk.The main character totally lost it, believing all what her husband was saying about her. She was totally unthinking in the whole episode until it was revealed that her husband was a con. May 5, 2006

Are you "gaslighting" me? (recommended)

When Roz asks: 'Are you "gaslighting" me?' in a first-season FRASIER episode, movie buffs instantly recall the tortured Paula (Ingrid Bergman) in GASLIGHT -- a movie classic so symbolic that it is immortalized in verb form. Paula's loyalty and sanity are tested to the limit as the deceitful Gregory (Charles Boyer) convinces his wife she "has no brain at'all" just like her mother. His obsession with gems, confiscation of letters, and mysterious disappearances in the night coincide with unexplained footsteps and dimming gas lanterns. Can her would-be hero (Joseph Cotten) save Paula from a fate worse than death? The conclusion may appear spellbinding to first-time viewers but in retrospect, provides sensible vindication. Each actor plays his part well but Bergman delivers considerable emotion in her facial expressions.

Movie quote: "I am mad. I'm always losing things and hiding things and I can never find them, I don't know where I've put them." April 12, 2006

"I HEAR VOICES IN THE NIGHT, BUT I AM NOT GOING MAD!"

Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman star in this dazzling mystery about two newlyweds who move into the wife's family mansion. While at the house Paula (Bergman) fears she is going mad when she begins to imagine things. Such as the lights flickering and hearing voices in the middle of the night. Joseph Cotten co stars as a man after ten years digging up a file on the murder of Alice Alquist (Who was killed in that house). While seeing Paula nearly frightened to death at a concert he knows that she is not mad, she is being driven mad. If this macabe nightmare continues Paula could be placed in an insane asylum. A macabeish film that unlock hidden secrets of the mind. Starring Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten and Dame May Whitty. Directed by George Cukor. 114 minutes. April 23, 2005

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