GASLIGHT (1944) B/W 114m dir: George Cukor

w/Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Dame May Whitty, Angela Lansbury, Barbara Everest, Terry Moore, Eustace Wyatt, Emil Rameau, Edmund Breon, Halliwell Hobbes

From Variety's contemporary review of the film: "Patrick Hamilton's London stage melodrama is given an exciting screen treatment by Arthur Hornblow, Jr.'s excellent production starring Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman and Joseph Cotten.

"It is a faithful adaptation, conspicuously notable for fine performances of the stars and the screenplay by John Van Druten, Walter Reisch and John L. Balderston. There are times when the screen treatment verges on a type of drama that must be linked to the period upon which the title is based, but this factor only serves to hypo the film's dramatic suspense where normally it might be construed as corny theatrics.

"Gaslight is the story of a murderer who escaped detection for many years. He kills a famous opera singer for her jewels but is never able to uncover the baubles. Years later he marries the singer's niece so that he can continue his search for the gems in the late singer's home, which has been inherited by her niece and in which the newlyweds make their home.

"Director George Cukor keeps the film at an even pace and is responsible for the film lacking the ten-twent-thirt element that was a factor in the stage play."

From The Movie Guide: "Lusher, ornate version of Angel Street, without the telling chill of the 1940 Diana Wynward GASLIGHT, but satisfactorily directed all the same. Bergman is deeply sympathetic as the wealthy socialite married to Boyer, who turns into an insidious monster in his attempt to drive his ravishing wife mad. But the lengthy Italian honeymoon starts the picture on too sunny a disposition, and Bergman's victim does look as healthy as a horse. Boyer nearly steals the picture, aided and abetted by the stunning debut of Angela Lansbury --- only 18, she grabbed the role and chewed it to bits. The climax is a workmanlike rise of psychological terror, but the whole exercise looks self-consciously careful."

GASLIGHT won Academy Awards for Best Actress for Bergman's luminous and touching portrayal of the wife and for B&W Art Direction (Cedric Gibbons, William Ferrari, Edwin B. Willis, Paul Huldschinsky). The film was also nominated for Best Picture, Actor (Boyer), Supporting Actress (Lansbury), Screenplay, and B&W Cinematography (Joseph Ruttenberg).