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Gaslight Overview:

Gaslight (1944) was a Drama - Mystery Film directed by George Cukor and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr..

The film was based on the play Angel Street (aka Gas Light) written by Patrick Hamilton performed at the John Golden Theatre, NY, & Bijou Theatre, NY from 1938 (performed in NY Dec 5, 1941 - Dec 30, 1944).

SYNOPSIS

Cukor captures the smoky, smoggy feel of Victorian London for this atmospheric mystery. The husband of innocent new bride Bergman may have a dark past, and he may be trying to drive her insane to get his hands on her family's jewels. Lansbury's film debut.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1944 --- Ceremony Number 17 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorCharles BoyerNominated
Best ActressIngrid BergmanWon
Best Supporting ActressAngela LansburyNominated
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Cedric Gibbons, William Ferrari; Interior Decoration: Edwin B. Willis, Paul HuldscWon
Best CinematographyJoseph RuttenbergNominated
Best PictureMetro-Goldwyn-MayerNominated
Best WritingJohn Van Druten, Walter Reisch, John L. BalderstonNominated
See More Oscar Winners

Gaslight BlogHub Articles:

Gaslight Noir on the Criterion Channel

By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 1, 2023 From Virtual Virago

While many of the Criterion Channel's featured categories highlight newer or international films, the lineup for September 2023 also includes one of my favorite classic sub-genres, "Gaslight Noir." If you love films like Gaslight (whether the 1940 or 1944 version), this is a collection sure to send ... Read full article

On Blu-ray: Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer in Gaslight (1944) and the 1940 Original That Preceded It

By KC on Sep 19, 2019 From Classic Movies

The 1944 version of Gaslight is one of the first classic films I saw and I return to it frequently. It is Hollywood filmmaking at its best, where talent, story, and production value are so good that a simple entertainment becomes an artistic triumph. I recently revisited the George Cukor-directed fi... Read full article

Offbeat Blu-ray Review: Gaslight

By Devon Powell on Jul 10, 2019 From Hitchcock Master

Distributor: Warner Archives Release Date: June 25, 2019 Region: Region Free Length: 01:53:46 Video: 1080P (MPEG-4, AVC) Main Audio: 2.0 English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio (48kHz, 24-bit) Subtitles: English SDH Ratio: 1.37:1 Bitrate: 34.99 Mbps George Cukor’s Gaslight has long drawn comparisons to ... Read full article

À Meia Luz (1944) / Gaslight (1944)

By Lê on Feb 16, 2019 From Critica Retro

À Meia Luz (1944) / Gaslight (1944) Este é o filme que deu a Ingrid Bergman seu primeiro Oscar de Melhor Atriz. Este é o primeiro filme feito pela atriz Angela Lansbury. Este é mais um filme com uma protagonista forte dirigido por George Cukor. E este é o filme que originou o termo &#82... Read full article

Gaslight (1944, George Cukor)

By Andrew Wickliffe on Sep 5, 2018 From The Stop Button

... Read full article

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Gaslight Quotes:

Gregory Anton: Jewels are wonderful things. They have a life of their own.
Nancy Oliver: Gonna work on your tunes again tonight, sir? You're always working, aren't you?
Gregory Anton: Yes. What are you doing with your evening out?
Nancy Oliver: Oh, I'm going to a music hall...
[starts to sing 'Up in a balloon']
Gregory Anton: I've never been to an English music hall.
Nancy Oliver: Oh, you don't know what you've missed, sir...
Gregory Anton: And whom are you going to the music hall with?
Nancy Oliver: A gentleman friend, sir.
Gregory Anton: Oh, now you know, Nancy, don't you, that gentlemen friends are sometimes inclined to take liberties with young ladies.
Nancy Oliver: Oh no, sir, not with me. I can take care of myself - when I want to.
Gregory Anton: You know, Nancy, it strikes me that you're not at all the kind of girl that your mistress should have for a housemaid.
Nancy Oliver: [flirtatiously] No, sir? She's not the only one in the house - is she?
Paula Alquist Anton: [holding the brooch] I've found it at last, you see, but it doesn't help you, does it, and I'm trying to help you, aren't I, trying to help you to escape. How can a mad woman help her husband to escape?
Paula Alquist Anton: If I were not mad, I could have helped you. Whatever you had done, I could have pitied and protected you. But because I am mad, I hate you. Because I am mad, I have betrayed you. And because I'm mad, I'm rejoicing in my heart, without a shred of pity, without a shred of regret, watching you go with glory in my heart!
Paula Alquist Anton: Yes, that's it.
[throws the knife away]
Paula Alquist Anton: I am mad. I'm always losing things and hiding things and I can never find them, I don't know where I've put them.
See More Quotes from Gaslight
Gaslight Facts
The sets are deliberately overfilled with bric-a-brac to emphasize Paula's increasing sense of claustrophobia.
Both Irene Dunne and Hedy Lamarr both turned down the chance to play Paula.
The original Broadway stage play and source for the screen play was "Angel Street" by Patrick Hamilton which opened at the John Golden Theater on December 5, 1941 and ran for 1295 performances. The original stage cast included Leo G. Carroll, Vincent Price, and Judith Evelyn.
Angela Lansbury was only 17 when she made this, her film debut. She had been working at Bullocks Department Store in Los Angeles and when she told her boss that she was leaving, he offered to match the pay at her new job. Expecting it to be in the region of her Bullocks salary of the equivalent of $27 a week, he was somewhat taken aback when she told him she would be earning $500 a week.
In MGM's script, Charles Boyer was supposed to have told Ingrid Bergman at the end that he had loved her all along. This was an addition to the play made by the screenwriter. David O. Selznick, when reading over the script, was horrified and promptly sent MGM one of his famous long and involved memos, this one ordering the studio to omit the line, which it did.
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