It is from this film that the term ‘ gaslighting‘ originated, for the villain, Gregory Anton (Boyer), uses this very tactic–tricking his wife, Paula (Bergman), into doubting her own perception, memory, and sanity by staging bizarre scenarios for her–in an elaborate scheme to drive her mad, have her committed to an insane asylum, then take possession of her old London house, originally owned by her aunt, Alice Alquist, whom he murdered years before. The film got a total of seven Oscar nominations. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, and it won Best Art Direction. Fortunately, the original film wasn’t ever destroyed, but this 1944 version still eclipsed it.īergman won her first Academy Award for Best Actress with this movie, while Boyer was nominated for Best Actor, and Angela Lansbury was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Another movie version was done in 1940, adhering more closely to the original play but when MGM did the 1944 remake so soon after this first film, they wanted to have all existing prints of it destroyed. It was directed by George Cukor, and based on the 1938 stage play Gas Light, written by Patrick Hamilton. Gaslight is a 1944 thriller film starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten, and co-starring Angela Lansbury and Dame May Whitty.
