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 book from which Ingrid Bergman reads aloud is "Villette" by Charlotte Brontë.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Paula finds the letter in her aunt's music score, Gregory crumples up the letter and jams it into his pocket. Later, when she finds the letter in Gregory's desk, it's neatly folded, with no evidence of crumpling.

Quotes:

Gregory Anton: For the last time, what do you want of me?
Brian Cameron: The jewels - and justice. How does it feel, Bauer, to have planned and killed and tortured for something and then to know it's been for nothing?
Gregory Anton: For nothing?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sanford: Gaslight (#2.7)" (1981)

Soundtrack:

Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

Them there eyes

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. A famous opera singer is murdered in London, leaving behind no motive, no clues, and Paula, the young niece who discovered the body. Paula is sent to Italy, where she, too, studies music, until she elopes with an older, dashing pianist (Boyer). He convinces her to move back to the exact same house where her aunt was murdered, where nothing has been changed in all those years. And, naturally, here is where the movie really begins.

Soon, her husband starts acting very strangely, and starts convincing her that she is very ill and unable to go out. Trapped in the house, alone with her husband, a somewhat-deaf cook, and a tart of a housekeeper, Paula soon starts to hear noises, see things, lose things, and even hide things. Or is she? Is she going mad? Or is her husband -- who she is supposed to love, honor, and obey -- making her mad?

The show is Bergman's to steal, and she does so with gusto, garnering an Oscar for her endeavor. With her performance, Bergman transforms the character of Paula Alquist from a weak, paranoid wimp of a wife into a woman struggling with her own identity and her role in marriage and society. Perhaps unintentionally, perhaps unwittingly, Bergman's Paula is a symbol and a superhero for all women trapped in an abusive marriage. Even today.

Granted, the story line is somewhat contrived, and one can't help but wonder how Paula never notices that her husband is completely evil BEFORE the marriage. Also, Joseph Cotten, as the Scotland Yard detective smitten with Paula's beauty, seems to come out of nowhere. Still, the acting prevails over the plot, and what better actor to come out of nowhere than Cotten? His charm and charisma make up for his character's two-dimensionality.

Although there are faults, Gaslight is an extraordinary film, generating its suspense not from an evil lurking in the shadows, but from the psychology of the mind itself. Perhaps one of the first "pure" psychological thrillers, Gaslight, just like Ingrid Bergman's eyes, contains the perfect blend of mystery, suspense, and beauty.