Gaslight

Gaslight
1944 - MGM
Directed by George Cukor



SYNOPSIS

A young girl leaves her London home after her famous singing aunt/caretaker is murdered. 10 years later, Paula (Ingrid Bergman) returns to live in the home with her new husband (Charles Boyer.) Her husband increasingly isolates her from the world... but is it because she's going crazy... or being driven crazy? A detective from Scotland Yard (Joseph Cotten) who was a fan of Paula's aunt, believes something is amiss in the home.



MY THOUGHTS

An atmospheric classic that delivers in every possible way!

I loved the way during the first hour it was somewhat ambiguous whether Bergman's character was really going crazy and Boyer was sheltering her... or he was the one trying to driver her crazy. This made the reveal that much more powerful.

Gaslight may be even more atmospheric than any Universal horror film. the Oscar-winning set design offers a claustrophobic feel to the interiors of the home. They're so cluttered with furniture, knick-knacks and pictures. The exteriors are flooded with fog at night lit only by the gaslights of the title.
Mostly only gas-lit lights also illuminate the interiors, giving it a practically noir-ish feel with heavy shadows and many dark corners.
These visuals give the film a dark and bleak... but beautiful look... and a perfect setting for some great performances.

Ingrid Bergman won her first of three Oscars for her performance. She wasn't even nominated the year before for Casablanca (though she was for another film,) but this award wasn't a consolation prize. She is amazing and even light-years better. You really feel she's going nuts.

Charles Boyer mixes nice guy with sinister so well that he makes the ambiguous-ness of the first hour possible. He was nominated.

In her first film, Angela Lansbury was also singled out by Oscar for her role as the cockney, slutty housekeeper, but didn't win. She turned 18 while making this film.

Joseph Cotten gives an understated by great performance as the detective who becomes a hero.

Gaslight was also nominated for Best Picture and it remains a stylish, atmospheric, exciting film to this day.