Gaslight (1944)

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Patrick Hamilton (play)
John Van Druten (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

11 May 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Strange drama of a captive sweetheart!

Plot:

Paula's aunt Alice Alquist, a famous entertainer, is murdered in her home. Paula, who lives with her aunt finds the body...

Plot Keywords:

Scotland Yard | Italy | Nervous Breakdown | Letter | Driven Mad

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Charles Boyer	...	Gregory Anton
Ingrid Bergman	...	Paula Alquist
Joseph Cotten	...	Brian Cameron
Dame May Whitty	...	Miss Bessie Thwaites
Angela Lansbury	...	Nancy Oliver
Barbara Everest	...	Elizabeth Tompkins
Emil Rameau	...	Maestro Mario Guardi
Edmund Breon	...	Gen. Huddleston
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Mr. Muffin
Tom Stevenson	...	Williams
Heather Thatcher	...	Lady Dalroy
Lawrence Grossmith	...	Lord Dalroy
Jakob Gimpel	...	Pianist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gary Gray	...	Boy in Park with Nanny
Terry Moore	...	Paula Alquist - Age 14 (as Judy Ford)
Harry Adams	...	Policeman (uncredited)
John Ardizoni	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Major Frank Baker	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Wilson Benge	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Arnold Bennett	...	Footman (uncredited)
Florence Benson	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Arthur Blake	...	Butler (uncredited)
Lillian Bronson	...	Lady (uncredited)
Leonard Carey	...	Guide (uncredited)
Alec Craig	...	Turnkey (uncredited)
Antonio D'Amore	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Frank Eldredge	...	Lamplighter (uncredited)
Maude Fealy	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Helen Flint	...	Franchette (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland	...	Servant (uncredited)
Roger Gray	...	Stranger (uncredited)
Bobby Hale	...	Lamplighter (uncredited)
Joy Harington	...	Miss Laura Pritchard (uncredited)
Tom Hughes	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Jack Kirk	...	Cab Driver (uncredited)
Pat Malone	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Al Masiello	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Charles McNaughton	...	Wilkins (uncredited)
Clive Morgan	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Georgie Nokes	...	Boy (uncredited)
Joseph North	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Simon Olivier	...	Boy in Museum (uncredited)
Elsie Prescott	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Joseph Romantini	...	Bit Part (uncredited)
Syd Saylor	...	Baggage Clerk (uncredited)
Arthur Stone	...	Durkin (uncredited)
Alix Terry	...	Girl (uncredited)
Morgan Wallace	...	Fred Garrett (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Valet (uncredited)
Eustace Wyatt	...	Budge (uncredited)
Phyllis Yuse	...	Young Girl (uncredited)
Guy Zanette	...	Bit Part (uncredited)

Directed by
George Cukor

Writing credits
Patrick Hamilton		(play "Angel Street")
John Van Druten		(screenplay) and
Walter Reisch		(screenplay) and
John L. Balderston		(screenplay)

Produced by
Arthur Hornblow Jr.	....	producer

Original Music by
Bronislau Kaper

Cinematography by
Joseph Ruttenberg

Film Editing by
Ralph E. Winters

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Set Decoration by
Edwin B. Willis

Costume Design by
Irene

Makeup Department
Jack Dawn	....	makeup artist
Irma Kusely	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Greenwood	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
William Ferrari	....	associate art director
Paul Huldschinsky	....	associate set decorator

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Joe Edmondson	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Warren Newcombe	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Harry Stradling Jr.	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marion Herwood Keyes	....	associate costume supervisor (as Marion Herwood)

Editorial Department
William Webb	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Jakob Gimpel	....	musician: piano solos
Arthur Rosenstein	....	vocal coach (uncredited)

Other crew
David O. Selznick	....	special advisor (uncredited)
Charles Walters	....	dance director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1946) (France) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1947) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Turner Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• TwellV (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  presents

Also Known As:

Murder in Thornton Square (UK)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #9800)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The aria that Ingrid Bergman is singing when we see her in the first scene of her in the present day is from the Gaetano Donizetti opera "Lucia Di Lammermoor". The opera is famous for its so-called "mad scene", in which the eponymous Lucia goes insane.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Nancy is following Elizabeth up the stairs, they are both carrying several folded sheets. Immediately when they reach the top of the landing the camera focuses close-up on Nancy, who is looking at the closed off top floor - in this shot she is not carrying the sheets.

Quotes:

Nancy Oliver: Gonna work on your tunes again tonight, sir? You're always working, aren't you?
Gregory Anton: Yes. What are you doing with your evening out?
Nancy Oliver: Oh, I'm going to a music hall...
[starts to sing 'Up in a balloon']
Gregory Anton: I've never been to an English music hall.
Nancy Oliver: Oh, you don't know what you've missed, sir...
Gregory Anton: And whom are you going to the music hall with?
Nancy Oliver: A gentleman friend, sir.
Gregory Anton: Oh, now you know, Nancy, don't you, that gentlemen friends are sometimes inclined to take liberties with young ladies.
Nancy Oliver: Oh no, sir, not with me. I can take care of myself - when I want to.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Rab C. Nesbitt: Heal (#9.1)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

A good suspense film that could have been great.

Ingrid Bergman plays Paula, an orphaned Victorian-era Londoner whose opera-singer aunt is murdered at the beginning of the movie. She moves to Italy to follow in her aunt's footsteps as a diva, but falls in love and returns to London with her new husband (Boyer) to live in her aunt's empty house. There, she becomes the victim of a carefully-orchestrated campaign to drive her insane.

GASLIGHT is richly atmospheric, mostly well-acted, and beautifully photographed. There are chills aplenty as seemingly innocent people grow progressively creepier, and the movie is well-paced with each successive scene increasing Paula's terror. The climax is tense and has a certain poetic justice to it.

The chief flaw in the movie is that we are clearly shown from the beginning that Paula is the victim of a third party and is not insane. Thus we cannot share the doubts and terror that she feels. We are not, like her, wondering if we can trust our senses, but merely wondering who is doing this to her. And the latter question isn't very challenging to answer. With a little more subtlety, Cukor could have left us as much in the dark as Paula about why she is experiencing so many strange phenomena, and made this effective little film into a true masterwork of suspense. As it is, GASLIGHT is good, but fails to achieve its potential to match such classics as REBECCA or VERTIGO.

Bergman and Boyer make a very dynamic on-screen duo. The film does suffer from Joseph Cotten, whose apple-pie American accent makes for a very unconvincing Scotland Yard inspector. Angela Lansbury is delightfully saucy in her film debut as a Cockney maidservant. Dame May Whitty provides effective comic relief.

GASLIGHT is well worth a rental at any price, so long as your expectations aren't overly high.

Rating: *** (out of ****).