Gaslight (*****)

Although many of George Cukor’s films are well known (My Fair Lady, The Philadelphia Story, Holiday, etc), Gaslight, which was filmed in 1944, has relatively slipped under the radar. That is a shame. It is a wonderfully suspenseful film that keeps you at the edge of your seat from start to finish. Don’t let the film’s Victorian London setting fool you, this is no sentimental Jane Austin period piece. It has many of the classic film noir motifs and is in the same vein as Les Diaboliques and Sudden Fear. The film follows a young heiress named Paula, played by Ingrid Bergman, who tries to escape her dark past by rebuilding her life through marriage to her new husband. Together the newlyweds return to her family home, which has been untouched since the murder of Paula’s aunt 10 years earlier. Shortly after their arrival, Paula’s behavior becomes increasingly odd. She appears absent minded, misplacing household artifacts, forgetting things, and eventually begins hearing voices. Her husband becomes isolated from her and seems convinced that she is going insane. Or is she?…

I highly recommend this movie. It is worth it to see a 17-year-old Angela Lansbury playing the couples’ saucy little cockney housemaid in her debut role.

Interesting fact: The movie influenced the term gaslighting. The definition is included below, but watch out, it includes a movie spoiler!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting