The atmosphere of late-Victorian era London lends itself wonderfully well to mystery films... the long, deep shadows cast on cobblestone streets by lamplight... Those settings make Jack "The Ripper" and Sherlock Holmes stories all the more mysterious. Gaslight (1944), a remake of a similar 1940 film, captures the mood, time and place in compelling fashion. The cinematography is striking in it's tonality and drama. The starring cast of Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Angela Lansbury and Joseph Cotten are impeccable. Dame May Whitty has an entertaining role as well, as a nosy neighbor.
Following the unsolved murder of her Opera-singer Aunt in a failed burglary of their posh London town house, the niece (Ingrid Bergman) goes off to live on the Continent. There she meets a charming piano player (Charles Boyer) and they are soon wed. His dream, he tells her, is to live in a fashionable London town house. Although she is still traumatized by the crime committed there, she agrees to move back to her deceased Aunt's house with her new husband...
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| Gaslight. 1944: Ingrid Bergman |
Things are creepy from the start. Her husband is constantly accusing her of losing things, forgetting things, becoming distant and confusing her. He keeps trying to convince her that she is mentally ill... But why?
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| Gaslight. 1944: Ingrid Bergman |
Every night when he leaves for work, she sees the gaslights dim in the house and hears footsteps in the attic...
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| Gaslight. 1944: Ingrid Bergman |
By way of her husband's systematic accusations and her strange surroundings. She really does believe she is going insane...
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| Gaslight. 1944: Ingrid Bergman |
She is about to crack, when a detective (Joseph Cotten) who has been watching her husband, informs her that things are not as they seem...
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| Gaslight. 1944: Ingrid Bergman |
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| Gaslight. 1944: Ingrid Bergman |
