Wikipedia

Gaslight(1944 film)

Gaslightis a 1944 Americanpsychological thrillerfilm directed byGeorge Cukor,and starringCharles Boyer,Ingrid Bergman,Joseph CottenandAngela Lansburyin her film debut. Adapted byJohn Van Druten,Walter Reisch,andJohn L. BalderstonfromPatrick Hamilton's playGas Light(1938), it follows a young woman whose husband slowly manipulates her into believing that she is descending intoinsanity.[4][5]

Gaslight
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGeorge Cukor
Screenplay by
[1]
Based onGas Light
1938 play
byPatrick Hamilton
Produced byArthur Hornblow Jr.
Starring
CinematographyJoseph Ruttenberg
Edited byRalph E. Winters
Music byBronisław Kaper
Production
company
Distributed byLoew's, Inc.[2]
Release date
  • May 4, 1944(1944-05-04)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million[3]
Box office$4.6 million[3]

A remake of the 1940 Britishfilm of the same namedirected byThorold Dickinson,Cukor's version had a larger scale and budget than the earlier film, and lends a different feel to the material. To avoid confusion with the first film, Cukor's version was originally titledThe Murder in Thornton Squarein the UK.[6]The film features numerous deviations from the original stage play, though the central drama remains that of a husband trying to drive his wife insane in order to distract her from his criminal activities.

Gaslightwas released theatrically on May 4, 1944, byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayerto critical acclaim, and received seven nominations for the17th Academy Awards,including forBest Picture,winning two:Best Actress(for Bergman);Best Production Design.In 2019, the film was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registryby theLibrary of Congressas being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[7][8][9]

Plot

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In1875,after world-famousoperasinger Alice Alquist is murdered at her home inVictorianLondon,herorphanniece Paula is sent toItalyto follow in her footsteps. As an adult, Paula marries her accompanist Gregory Anton after a two-week whirlwind romance. They agree to settle in London and occupy her late aunt's long-vacant townhouse. Paula grapples with the memory of her aunt's murder, and Gregory suggests storing Alice's furnishings in the attic. When Paula finds a letter to her aunt from a man named Sergis Bauer, Gregory reacts violently but apologizes. He hires a young maid, Nancy, and insists that she never bother his "high-strung" wife. Paula is surprised when Gregory chides her supposed forgetfulness, but on a visit to theTower of London,she cannot find an heirloombroochhe gave her, although it was stored safely in her handbag. She is plagued by noises coming from the boarded-up attic, and notices thegaslightsdimming for no apparent reason when Gregory is not home, which he assures her is only her imagination.

With Gregory looking on, Paula has discovered the letter from Sergis Bauer.

Gregory flirts with Nancy, whose disgust for his wife only worsens Paula's nerves. Her anxious behavior is noticed byInspectorBrian Cameron ofScotland Yard,a childhood admirer of Alice. Struck by Paula's resemblance to her aunt, Cameron attempts to reopen thecold case,discovering that a gift of royal jewels was not recovered after Alice's murder. Isolating his wife from the world, Gregory convinces her that she is akleptomaniac,responsible for hiding a painting, and is too unwell to be in public. Unable to prevent her from attending a party hosted by her old family friend, Gregory accuses Paula of stealing hispocket watch.When he "finds" it in her handbag, Paula becomes hysterical in front of the guests. Taking Paula home, Gregory angrily claims that her mother died in anasylum,and that the letter she discovered from Sergis Bauer never existed. Doubting her own sanity, Paula breaks down.

Meanwhile, Cameron has recruited a patrolman to watch Gregory, who they learn often visits an abandoned house nearby, and is planning to institutionalize Paula. While Gregory is out, Cameron offers Paula his help, confirming that the attic noises and flickering gaslights are indeed real. He deduces that Gregory has been entering his own attic through a skylight via the neighboring vacant house, to search through Alice's belongings. When he lights the attic lights, the gas to the downstairs lights is reduced. Cameron pries open Gregory's desk, and Paula finds the letter from Bauer that her husband insisted was a delusion. "Gregory" is actually Sergis Bauer, who murdered Alice but was interrupted by a young Paula before he could find her jewels. His marriage to Paula was a scheme to gain access to her aunt's home, followed by a cunning strategy to have Paula institutionalized and so gain full access to Alice's estate.

At the same time, Sergis discovers the jewels hidden in plain sight, sewn into one of Alice's famous costumes. He returns downstairs to find his desk unlocked. He questions the mentally exhausted Paula, who admits the desk was opened by a man that was visiting her. To protect Paula, the kindlycookElizabeth denies seeing any man and assures Sergis that this was merely a figment of Paula's imagination, driving Paula to despair. Cameron appears and confronts Sergis, chasing him into the attic and tying him to a chair. Finally convinced of her own sanity, Paula is left alone with Sergis, who urges her to cut him free. Instead, Paula taunts him, musing that the knife in her hand might not be real and also finding the "missing" brooch. As the police drive Sergis away, Cameron expresses interest in seeing Paula again.

Cast

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Gregory and Paula in their final confrontation

Uncredited

Production

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Encouraged by the success of the play and the British1940 film,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayerbought the remake rights, but with a clause insisting that all existing prints of the first film be destroyed,[11]even to the point of trying to destroy the negative.[12][13]Evidently that order was not honored to the letter, since the 1940Gaslightremains available for both theatrical exhibition, television screenings, and DVD release.

Denominalization of the play's title

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Further information:Gaslighting

Self-help and popular psychology authors sometimesdenominalizethe film's title (also known as "verbing" ) and use it as a verb.Gaslighting,in this context, refers to manipulating a person or a group of people, in a way similar to the way the protagonist in the film was manipulated.[14]

Reception

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Box office

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According to MGM records the film earned $2,263,000 in the US and Canada and $2,350,000 in other markets resulting in a profit of $941,000.[3]

Critical response

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Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman

Critics generally consider the American remake to also be a classic. Bergman's Oscar-winning performance has long been considered among the greatest of all time, while Boyer's portrayal of Gregory was also Oscar nominated.The New York Timesfilm criticBosley Crowtherpraised the actors. He wrote, "And with Mr. Boyer doing the driving in his best dead-pan hypnotic style, while the flames flicker strangely in the gas-jets and the mood music bongs with heavy threats, it is no wonder that Miss Bergman goes to pieces in a most distressing way. Both of these popular performers play their roles right to the hilt. Nice little personality vignettes are interestingly contributed, too, by Joseph Cotten as a stubborn detective, Dame May Whitty and Angela Lansbury as a maid."[15]

Film criticManny Farber,writing inThe New Republicregistered this appraisal of Bergman’s performance:

A lot of the credit for the quality of [the picture] is due to Miss Bergman, who is able to strike variations of hysteria, perplexity or love that make actually static episodes seem adequately flexible and meaningful…she is one of the few actresses who are expected—and allowed—to do this in films. Her acting zeal and ability sometimes run her on unnecessarily…but she gives a nice rendition of an unwary and unworldly woman being hurt and bewildered, and her more notorious ability to portray the most adoring and lovely of wives makes the nature of the tragedy and cruelty seem even more extreme.[16]

OnRotten Tomatoesthe film has an approval rating of 89% based on reviews from 35 critics.[17]

Noir analysis

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In 2006, film criticEmanuel Levydiscussed thefilm noiraspects of the film:

A thriller soaked in paranoia,Gaslightis a period films [sic] noir that, likeHitchcock'sThe LodgerandHangover Square,is set in theEdwardian age.It's interesting to speculate about the prominence of a film cycle in the 1940s that can be described as 'Don't Trust Your Husband'. It began with three Hitchcock films:Rebecca(1940),Suspicion(1941), andShadow of a Doubt(1943), and continued withGaslightandJane Eyre(both in 1944),Dragonwyck(1945),NotoriousandThe Spiral Staircase(both 1946),The Two Mrs. Carrolls(1947), andSorry, Wrong NumberandSleep, My Love(both 1948). All of these films use the noir visual vocabulary and share the same premise and narrative structure: The life of a rich, sheltered woman is threatened by an older, deranged man, often her husband. In all of them, the house, usually a symbol of sheltered security in Hollywood movies, becomes a trap of terror.[18]

Accolades

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Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Motion Picture Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Nominated [19]
[20]
Best Actor Charles Boyer Nominated
Best Actress Ingrid Bergman Won
Best Supporting Actress Angela Lansbury Nominated
Best Screenplay John L. Balderston,Walter Reisch,andJohn Van Druten Nominated
Best Art Direction – Black-and-White Art Direction:Cedric GibbonsandWilliam Ferrari;
Interior Decoration:Paul HuldschinskyandEdwin B. Willis 		Won
Best Cinematography – Black-and-White Joseph Ruttenberg Nominated
Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize of the Festival George Cukor Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Ingrid Bergman Won [21]
National Board of Review Awards Best Acting Won [22]
National Film Preservation Board National Film Registry Inducted [23]
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actress Ingrid Bergman Nominated
Online Film & Television Association Awards Film Hall of Fame: Productions Inducted [24]

The film is recognized by theAmerican Film Institutein the following lists:

See also

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References

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  1. ^Van Druten (Screenplay), John; Reisch (Screenplay), Walter; Balderston (Screenplay), John L.; Hamilton (Original Theater Play), Patrick."Gaslight screenplay (October 8, 1943)".Scripts on Screen.RetrievedNovember 19,2021.
  2. ^Gaslightat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
  3. ^abcThe Eddie Mannix Ledger.Los Angeles..
  4. ^Hoberman, J. (August 21, 2019)."Why 'Gaslight' Hasn't Lost Its Glow".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedNovember 15,2021.
  5. ^Wise, Sarah (May 7, 2013)."Gaslight Stories: Driving 'Ingrid Bergman' Insane".Psychology Today.RetrievedApril 6,2022.
  6. ^BBFC:The Murder in Thornton SquareLinked March 8, 2014
  7. ^Tartaglione, Nancy (December 11, 2019)."National Film Registry Adds 'Purple Rain', 'Clerks', 'Gaslight' & More; 'Boys Don't Cry' One Of Record 7 Pics From Female Helmers".Deadline Hollywood.RetrievedDecember 11,2019.
  8. ^"Complete National Film Registry Listing".Library of Congress.RetrievedOctober 2,2020.
  9. ^"Women Rule 2019 National Film Registry".Library of Congress.RetrievedOctober 2,2020.
  10. ^abcd"Gaslight (1944) – Credits".AFI Catalog of Feature Films.RetrievedJuly 31,2024.
  11. ^"BFI Screenonline: Dickinson, Thorold (1903–1984) Biography".BFI.RetrievedFebruary 22,2014.
  12. ^"Gaslight (1944)"onTurner Classic Movies.
  13. ^Horne, Philip (October 10, 2008)."Thorold Dickinson's 1949 film The Queen of Spades has been called 'a masterpiece' by Martin Scorsese – so why is his work not better known?".The Guardian.London.RetrievedMay 30,2009.
  14. ^DiGiulio, Sarah (July 13, 2018)."What is gaslighting? And how do you know if it's happening to you?".NBC News.RetrievedApril 6,2022.
  15. ^Crowther, Bosley(May 5, 1944)."'Gaslight,' Adapted From Play 'Angel Street,' at Capitol -'Hardy's Blonde 'Trouble' Is Shown at Loew's State ".The New York Times.RetrievedJuly 24,2013.
  16. ^Farber, 2009 p. 165: from The New Republic, May 22, 1944
  17. ^"Gaslight (1944)".Rotten Tomatoes.RetrievedOctober 11,2022.
  18. ^Levy, Emanuel (2006)."Gaslight: Cukor's Masterpiece Starring Ingrid Bergman in Oscar-Winning Performance".Emanuel Levy Cinema 24/7.
  19. ^"The 17th Academy Awards (1945) Nominees and Winners".Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.Archivedfrom the original on July 6, 2011.RetrievedAugust 14,2011.
  20. ^"Gaslight".Movies & TV Dept.The New York Times.2012. Archived fromthe originalon August 17, 2012.RetrievedDecember 18,2008.
  21. ^"Gaslight".Golden Globe Awards.RetrievedNovember 24,2024.
  22. ^"1944 Award Winners".National Board of Review.RetrievedNovember 24,2024.
  23. ^"Complete National Film Registry Listing".Library of Congress.Archivedfrom the original on March 5, 2016.RetrievedDecember 16,2015.
  24. ^"Film Hall of Fame: Productions".Online Film & Television Association.RetrievedNovember 24,2024.

Sources

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