Customer Reviews

Gaslight

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After seeing Anton Walbrook in "49th Parallel" (1941), "The Life and Times of Colonel Blimp" (1943), "Red Shoes" (1948), I am definitely a Walbrook fan. His acting is skilled and magical. This amazing talent was clearly borne out in the 1940 British version of "Gaslight", which I believe to be vastly superior to the slick, Hollywood remake in 1944 with Boyer and Bergman. Overall, Walbrook's performance is just more psychologically correct as the consummate narcissistic, evil killer, who brings his wife, played by Diana Wynyard, repeatedly up, then down with surprising dramatic intensity, in his relentless plan to drive her mad. In the Hollywood remake, I can never quite believe that Bergman's overdone beauty is even physically suited to the role of a victimized, Victorian female, in fact, she seems like she could knock Boyer out, at any time. Not surprisingly, the British version clearly portrays the Victorian social of dominance of men, and in particular, husbands who could have their spouses involuntarily committed to an asylum, simply by summoning a doctor. The painful reality of female status and vulnerability in Victorian England was also sensationally portrayed in the plots of novels like "Jane Eyre" by Bronte, "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins, "Lady Audley's Secret" by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, (all of which I highly recommend). Someday, I hope the 1940 British version of "Gaslight" with Walbrook will be restored or remastered to the best optical and sound quality possible. It simply deserves to be enjoyed, appreciated and treasured, despite MGM's best efforts to have it suppressed, forever. At $4.99 it's a steal!

This movie is excellcent and very worthwhile having in my collection, being the orginal it is far better than the remake. The pictire quality was very good for such an old movie, It holds up really well for how old it even though I enjoy watching the remake of haslight and Ihgrid Bergman's preformance is fantastic I enjoy both verisions of the movie.

Superb realisation of the original Patrick Hamilton stage play. Authentic recreation of Edwardian setting in central London. Striking performances from Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard. Atmospheric drama directed with great insight by Thorold Dickinson.

A shadowy, gaslight London row house in which the brutal slaying of an old woman once took place... A beautiful young wife whose very sanity seems to be in question... A debonair husband whose concern for his emotionally unstable bride seemingly moves him to isolate her from the world... A portrait of evil, greed, ruthless ambition... All this in the version of Gaslight you were never meant to see! Yes, in order to have a monopoly on the flashier, star-filled version of Gaslight it was releasing in 1944, MGM attempted to purchase all existing film of this quietly superior 1940 motion picture and destroy them. Thankfully MGM failed and we have this excellent classic today. Telling the tale of a Victorian murderer's sadistic efforts to convince his frail spouse that she is going insane, Gaslight sets the standard for psychological thriller. Even its very name is shorthand for someone attempting to wreck someone's mind and undermine his or her self-confidence, as in, "Gee, she totally Gaslighted me about that whole pregnancy thing." Yep, well, anyway, Gaslight is a suspense story par excellence, and in my view this is the best telling of it that's ever been done.

This is a GREAT movie, but the 'Synergy' transfer to DVD looks like it was taken from an old 'Public Domain' VHS copy. It's muddy and dark; it's difficult to watch if you've seen a better transfer. Buy the 'Warner Home Video' DVD version instead.

Gaslight

It has mint condition versions of BOTH the 1940 AND 1944 version. Seeing both versions of this great tale (back to back) will make the 'Gaslight' movie experience even better for you.

The actual movie deserves 4 stars,dvd 3 stars due to the 1944 film on DVD having THIS 1940 VERSION on the flip side. Both of these films are classic gold.The 1944 two for one dvd is the better buy
depending on the pricing,the cost varies from time
to time.

Paul and Bella marry and move into a home where a woman(Alice Barlow) was murdered,unknown to Bella the woman was rumored to have valuable Rubies,that were never found. Paul once attentive and kind turns into a cruel, manipulative husband, isolating her from the outside world.He cunningly convinces Bella she is going mad. A former detective assigned to Alice Barlow's case begins to suspect Paul's behavior.

Not that long ago Amazon had the reviews and descriptions of the movies combined for both versions. Also the run time as stated at this time for the 1940 film is wrong, it is 84 minutes long (versus the actual 113 minutes for the 1944 film,&the character names are different)

While I love this 1940 film,and closely follows the stage play, my preference leans toward the 1944 film because of the longer run time and character development.

felt that the '44 Cukor remake was much better than the 1940 British version. The later version fleshed out the background of the story, making the 'chance' meet-up of the murderer with the niece credible, rather than dropping the couple into the middle of the action--at the beginning of the movie. The one advantage of the earlier version is the more-credible insertion of the victim's cousin as a safety net for her rather than the improbably American-accented Joseph Cotten playing a Scotland Yard detective, although such an individual would have been more likely to crack the case than a former policeman. And in the later version, it is wonderful to watch the victim come to life as Cotten presents her aunt's glove to her and persuades her that, no, she didn't lose her mind. Her fury in the last scene is much more credible than in the earlier version when we are asked to wonder, "Did she really lose her mind?!"--No, she didn't.

Patrick Hamilton, British author of Hangover Square, wrote the play Gas Light in 1938. Produced on stage in the U.S. as Angel Street, the script has been adapted for the screen twice: by A.R. Rawlinson and later by John van Druten.* The first version is directed by Thorold Dickinson, the second by George Cukor.

The 1944 Gaslight starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman (who won her first Academy Award for her role) is the better known of the two films. But the 1940 British version is worth watching for nuanced and subtle performances, and for plot variations that arguably surpass the classic Hollywood adaptation.

If you're a fan of psychological suspense and intelligent acting, sans blood and physical torture, it doesn't get much better than this. For extra fun, check out both versions of Gaslight and screen a double feature.


Minor Spoilers Follow

Set in Victorian London, Gaslight opens with the murder of elderly Alice Barlow. The scene is brutal, although no blood is shown. At one point the killer, whose face we do not see, lifts the victim's body just enough to shove her aside during a frantic search for valuables. When the scene ends, the camera pulls back to show us every piece of furniture has been gutted or broken. The Barlow home lies in ruins, and a newspaper article informs us that the family's priceless collection of rubies is missing.

Years pass while the house remains unoccupied, presumably due to its violent and scandalous history. But eventually a couple takes over the property and begins renovations. These include blocking off the top floor and acquiring an adjacent house, which they refuse to rent or sell.

As soon as we meet this couple, Paul and Bella Mallen, we sense something is wrong. Paul (Anton Walbrook) is tense and terse, gentlemanly in appearance yet not refined in his manner. Bella (Diana Wynyard) appears to suffer from an undefined nervous disorder. Above all they seem unhappy and uneasy with one another.

We quickly move from unease to something much more sinister. We discover that Paul likes to play games with Bella. These include:

* Hiding precious objects and then pretending that she is the culprit.

* Making her break down in front of neighbors at social events.

* Turning household servants against her by insinuating that she suspects them of stealing.

* Keeping her from her family so that she has no outside reality check.

* Telling her that her lack of memory about stealing indicates that she is going mad.

The innocent are often at the mercy of those more cunning and selfish by nature. Gaslight perfectly captures how this grim reality plays out in an unhappy marriage, especially if one spouse is favored by the laws and customs of the time. Paul has practical reasons for driving his wife to the brink of insanity, but the creepiness of the drama lies in its continuous indication that he derives deep personal pleasure from his control and abuse of his loving wife.

If you're a fan of the 1944 Gaslight, you will notice significant differences early on. For example: In the scenes following the murder we travel to Europe for a romantic interlude. We see Ingrid Bergman, as the young niece of the murder victim, whisked away to Italy to follow in her aunt's footsteps by studying opera. In the 1940 version Barlow is not an opera singer.

Now that I've seen the earlier film, I realize that this European adventure--in which the niece falls madly in love with the man who accompanies her on piano at school--is pure Hollywood fluff. Cukor was all about fluff when it came to his leading ladies, and this completely unnecessary side trip gave Bergman a chance to show more emotional range than the original script allowed. We can see her as a girl--an overgrown girl, to say the least--swept off her feet by her accompanist (Charles Boyer) and giving up a bright future in opera to marry him. Once you examine it closely, the premise seems ludicrous.

The British Gaslight emphasizes plot, while the Hollywood Gaslight is a showcase for the luminous beauty and grace of Ingrid Bergman. This explains why her role has been expanded.

Previously, the elderly Barlow had only one living relative: a nephew, who disappeared after the murder. When this nephew is recognized years later by a former police officer who decides to find out why Louis Bauer has returned to his aunt's residence with a new name and a wife who is clearly a nervous wreck, we are drawn inexorably into the heart of the mystery.

Even the longest arm of coincidence can't make it plausible that a criminal would stalk young Bergman all the way to music school in another country, and then weasel his way into a job as a piano player so that he could seduce her. In other words, Charles Boyer's role has been both diminished and distorted to make more room for Bergman. Which brings me to another bit of implausibility.

At several points in the British Gaslight the husband seems physically menacing. It is obvious in this Victorian household that the man is capable of violence against his wife. She shrinks from him because he might actually harm her. The threat of assault is real, and it adds to the fragile wife's confusion and distress.

In the more famous incarnation, no matter how many times Bergman cowers and cringes from her cruel husband, we don't see a sense of real physical danger. This is about casting. In a knockdown, drag-out brawl the hearty Bergman could easily overtake the fastidious Boyer, and this makes the imbalance of their relationship seem odd rather than scary.

Further distortions include the characterization of the sleuth, who decides to solve the mystery. In the original film, this intrepid former policeman is called B.G. Rough and he's played by Frank Pettingell, an engaging fellow who is more Charles Laughton than Joseph Cotten.

Cukor's decision to cast Cotten opposite Bergman allowed her character the possibility of a romantic alternative to Boyer. Pettingell is terrific, but his interest in the manipulated young wife is more paternal than romantic. Again, the Hollywood alteration draws attention from the story and places the wife's emotional life center stage.

I won't reveal what has happened to the Barlow rubies, because this part of the plot is ingenious. The subsequent adaptation is clumsy by comparison.

As a fan of black and white Hollywood glamor I find the 1944 film irreplaceable. As a writer who has dabbled in the dramatic arts, I am appalled by the concessions made to vanity. But Cukor was a master at showcasing beautiful actresses, van Druten had a long and distinguished career (with credits ranging from Bell, Book and Candle to Cabaret) and Bergman won an Oscar. So what do I know?


*There are also two TV versions of the story and, of course, Gaslight has inspired countless other films and TV movies, and engendered a particular term for the kind of psychological abuse it portrays, known as "gaslighting."

I was a bit troubled by the dark psychological abuse in this movie. Hard not to think about people actually living out there in an already troubled world doing this to another human being.

I watched it once. I won't entertain viewing it again. Left me feeling weird.

This is the FIRST "Gaslight," made in England before the one with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman. MGM tried to buy up all the copies, which is why it's not well-known. This a very good movie, driven by an excellent performance by Viennese actor Anton Walbrook. Diana Wynward is also good, but Walbrook steals the show.