Gaslight (1944)

          Director: George Cukor; Screenplay: John Van Druten, Walter Reisch and John L. Balderston; Cinematography. Joseph Ruttenberg;    Cast: Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten; based upon a play by Patrick Hamilton

  Gaslight is one of those movies which doesn't strike you as overly fast paced and thrilling, but as you start watching it captivates your attention. An unsolved murder, a young woman, her secretive husband and a house full of bad memories...If this doesn't say thriller then what will.                                                                                                                                                                  

    Paula's aunt was murdered and it was a cold case from the start. She moves back to the house where it happened along with her husband whom she picked up somewhere in Europe. Things are going fine and she feels as she has overcome her demons. But strange events make her question her sanity. She gets the usual loony package: noises in an empty house, footsteps on the squeaky floor and a husband who constantly tells her she is crazy. Gregory, her hubby, is obsessive and he made me feel uneasy from the beginning. But nevertheless he does a good job in driving Paula insane and my stone heart went out for her. Charles Boyer definitely has the psychopath husband wrapped up nicely. Paula, who was slowly slipping into La La land, had those wet puppy eyes and her confusion was very real. Kudos to Ingrid Bergman for being able to play a vulnerable and scared woman without making her look like she was on crack and in need for another fix. I personally liked the old lady Miss Thwaites. She kept poking her nose into other people's business. At least she wasn't a crazy cat lady or a sinister spinster and no one seemed to mind her. I was surprised to find out that Nancy the maid was portrayed by a young Angela Lansbury. I only knew her from the Murder, She Wrote TV-series, where she played an extremely annoying lady who kept thinking she was a super crime fighter.  In Gaslight she had this f*cking accent, which got on my nerves, but as a maid she'll do fine.                                                                                                                                                              

In a way, Gaslight was entertaining and had me on the edge of my seat. Even though I figured out the plot and the bad guy out pretty fast, I still kept watching just to say 'I knew that' in the end.                                                                                                 

Written by Frank

links: IMDb