Bound and Gagged: Gregory (minus the gagged), after Brian and the constable overpower him.Paula is a Horrible Judge of Character to not notice it. Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Gregory, who initially acts like the love of Paula's life, but slowly reveals his manipulative and cruel nature as time goes on.Alone with the Psycho: Paula being confronted by Gregory in the film's finale, while Brian is not around to help her. Adaptation Name Change: In the play the husband and wife were named Jack and Bella Manningham.Adaptational Nationality: The original play's (English) Jack Manningham becomes the film's (French) Gregory Anton.The film is notable for coining the term Gaslighting, a form of psychological abuse of which the film's plot is an example. But shortly afterwards, Gregory suddenly starts going out of his way to Mind Rape Paula.Ĭan Paula find out the reason for her husband's cruelty? Can a sympathetic Scotland Yard officer ( Joseph Cotten) save the day?Ī very young Angela Lansbury made her film debut as the quirky maid, Nancy she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. After studying abroad for the ten years since the incident, she returns to England with a new husband, Gregory ( Charles Boyer). One day, the aunt is suddenly murdered and robbed by the mysterious Sergius Bauer, leaving Paula alone. She plays Paula, a young girl who lived with her aunt, a famous opera singer. Rough), Cathleen Cordell (Nancy, the Parlour Maid), Robert Newton (Vincent Ullswater), Minnie Rayner (Elizabeth, the Cook).Adapted from Patrick Hamilton's 1938 British play Gas Light (aka Angel Street), note it ran on Broadway under the latter title Gaslight is a 1944 Psychological Thriller film directed by George Cukor and starring Ingrid Bergman in her first Academy Award-winning performance. Principal Cast: Anton Walbrook (Paul Mallen, aka Louis Bauer), Diana Wynyard (Bella Mallen), Frank Pettingell (B.G. Rawlinson, Bridget Boland, from play Angel Street by Patrick Hamilton Producers: John Corfield, Richard Vernon (associate) Vienna-born Walbrook (1900-1967) established himself as a star of stage and films in Germany and Austria before emigrating to England and becoming a Continental leading man in such films as The Red Shoes (1948) and La Ronde (1950). In the 1940s she was married for four years to the celebrated film director Carol Reed. London-born Wynyard (1906-1964) was a distinguished star of the British stage who also succeeded on Broadway and in American and English films, winning an Oscar nomination for Cavalcade (1933). Walbrook was singled out by critics of the day for particular praise as the husband, whose outward veneer of suave sophistication hides inner cruelty, greed and desperation. Bella at last finds an unlikely aide in an ex-Scotland Yard detective (Frank Pettingell) she has met socially.īoth roles offer plum parts for actors, with Wynyard delivering a convincing performance in the role that would win Bergman a Best Actress Oscar. In the British film, Walbrook plays Paul Mallen, who convinces his bride Bella (Wynyard) that she is losing her memory and indeed her mind while he searches her Victorian mansion for the rubies that had belonged to her late aunt. Luckily for film fans, the original somehow survived and may be enjoyed today.īoth versions of Gaslight were adapted from Patrick Hamilton's Angel Street, a long-running London stage mystery that also enjoyed success on Broadway in 1941 with Vincent Price and Judith Evans in the leading roles. Indeed, many critics still feel that the British version is superior, portraying as it does the casual cruelty of the English class system. Because the original had won high critical praise, the studio hoped in this manner to avoid unfavorable comparisons to the lavishly produced remake. When MGM bought the rights to remake this Victorian mystery-thriller with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman in the leading roles, it ordered all copies of the British film destroyed. The original stars Anton Walbrook as the villainous husband in search of a fortune in rubies and Diana Wynyard as the unfortunate wife who is almost driven insane by his devious ways. The British version of Gaslight (1940), also known in England as A Strange Case of Murder, preceded its American remake by four years.
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