Gaslight (1944)

Directed by George Cukor. Starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten, Angela Lansbury, May Whitty, Barbara Everest, Emil Rameau, Halliwell Hobbes, Edmund Breon.

Superior psychological thriller of paranoia and captivity shows sinister, controlling Boyer gradually driving his new wife (Bergman) insane for his own insidious purposes. Cukor’s claustrophobic and noir-ish atmosphere, Joseph Ruttenberg’s suggestive and shadow-heavy photography, and Bergman’s sympathetic vulnerability underline the diabolical spell that the film casts. The story was previously filmed in 1940, and today, the term “gaslighting” is recognizable to people who’ve never even seen either film (or Patrick Hamilton’s play on which it’s based). Hindered by some dated elements and final act deficiencies, but there’s still plenty of deep satisfaction in the final confrontation between the spouses. Bergman won a well-deserved Academy Award for her portrayal (the first of three across her career), and she’s nearly matched by Boyer’s suave cunning and almost hypnotic voice, as well as Lansbury’s prickly and forthright maid (she was only seventeen when cameras started rolling on her film debut). Initially released as The Murder in Thornton Square in the UK to avoid confusion with the previous film adaptation.

83/100