Gaslight, the 1944 film adapted from Patrick Hamilton’s play entitled Angel Street, was the second version of the story to be filmed. The first, 1940’s The Murder in Thornton Square, was released in Britain. The 1944 version of the film was directed by George Cukor (David Copperfield, The Philadelphia Story). It starred Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, an 18-year old Angela Lansbury in her very first role, and Joseph Cotten.
The film covers the story of Paula (Bergman), a woman with a dark history. Early in her life, Paula lived with her aunt who was a famous entertainer. Paula’s aunt was murdered in her home and Paula found the body when she was very young. The case is never solved and Paula is sent away from the home to go to school. Ten years pass and Paula returns to London with her new husband, an older pianist named Gregory Anton (Boyer). They move into Paula’s aunt’s old house, which Paula inherited. Paula becomes increasingly isolated by her husband and it becomes overwhelmingly obvious that some foul games are afoot. As the plot unravels and the tension increases, the story behind Gregory and the aunt’s old house becomes clear.
The film is essentially a psychological thriller that weaves its web through the use of atmospheric mists and fogs in London and the claustrophobic prison imposed upon Paula by Gregory. Gregory is up to something, for certain, but as he constructs a cell of self-doubt and self-awareness for Paula, the mystery of it all becomes hard to bear. Gregory very slowly and very succinctly turns the key to the lock of this prison, continuing to make poor Paula think she is losing her mind. She “loses things” and is “forgetful”, according to Gregory’s accounts. But is she being set up? Nobody else seems to hear what Paula hears or see what she sees when the gas in the house is turned down after her husband leaves for work.
Gaslight is a film packed with depth and terror, resonating firmly with anything that has ever experienced mind games or some form of psychological abuse. It is a powerful film in that it is very clear that something is going on with Gregory and Paula’s relationship, but Cukor unravels it so slowly and with such diabolical purpose that it’s hard to see what that “something” is through all of the thick London fog.
Ingrid Bergman is a marvel here as Paula. She performs with such purpose and such passion for the part that it becomes clear that greatness is being experienced on screen. Bergman would win a best leading actress Oscar for her portrayal of Paula, too, cementing her role in Gaslight as one of her masterpiece performances. Her transformation from a beautiful young woman filled with hope and promise to a paranoid woman that cannot tell the truth in her own mind and cannot trust her own thoughts is pure brilliance. Bergman has excellent chemistry with Charles Boyer, too. Boyer is almost too evil, almost too diabolical and almost too identifiable as the calculating mastermind behind Paula’s prison of the mind.
Gaslight is a powerful production with atmospheric moody surroundings that help engulf the audience in the smoke and fog of London’s darker corners. The psychological manipulation on screen resonates in its close reality and in its brilliant performances from Bergman and Boyer, making the film an exercise in persistence and patience as one tries to prevent themselves from going quite mad in trying to unravel the mystery. Instead, Gaslight’s intention is to sit back and take it all in. Allow the foggy manipulations of Gregory and the beautiful helplessness of Paula wash over and witness two masterful performances under the direction of a true genius in George Cukor. It is truly a sight to behold.
8/10
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