Gaslight

Starring:Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Dame May Whitty, Angela Lansbury, Barbara Everest, Emil Rameau, Edmund Breon, Halliwell Hobbes, Tom Stevenson, Heather Thatcher, Lawrence Grossmith, Jakob Gimpel, Roger Gray, Wilson Benge, Terry Moore, Bobby Hale, Florence Benson, Gary Gray, Frank Eldredge
Director: George Cukor, Thorold Dickinson
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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George Cukor helped transform a moody Victorian stage melodrama (previously filmed in Britain in 1939) into a gothic Hollywood romantic thriller. Ingrid Bergman stars as a meek, uncertain heiress courted and married in a whirlwind romance by the debonair Charles Boyer, but when they move back into her childhood home she begins losing her grip on reality and becomes convinced that her husband is trying to drive her insane. Joseph Cotten, rather stiff and colorless next to the anguished Bergman and charming and lively Boyer, is the heroic Scotland Yard detective who becomes enamored of the skittish woman who is slowly succumbing to madness. The grand, glorious sets and elegant photography recall Hitchcock's Rebecca, another lush Hollywood gothic melodrama of a retiring young wife overwhelmed by the history of her abode, and Gaslight is still assumed by some to be a Hitchcock film (the Bergman connection doesn't help the confusion). It's really a rather straightforward thriller with a forced plot device, but under Cukor's control the tightly constructed script is given the full MGM treatment, then reined in for intimate moments of harrowing suspense. Boyer brilliantly played off his continental lover reputation by adding an undercurrent of malevolence and Bergman won an Oscar for her haunted performance. It also marks the memorable debut of Angela Lansbury as a saucy maid unwittingly drawn into Boyer's master plan. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Beautiful and trusting, Paula Anton is slowly tormented by mysterious happenings in her luxurious Victorian home. The suspect is her devoted husband. But viewing the world through the dim glow of the gaslight, it is difficult to tell what is real and what is imagined.

Customer Reviews:

Gaslight.......2007-06-22

This lavish, eerie remake of the 1941 British psychological thriller is worthy of its predecessor thanks to the wily interventions of MGM head Louis B. Mayer, who oversaw the production. Bergman is a vision of luminous grace and beauty, but fragile, too, as a deeply troubled socialite who finally receives help from Joseph Cotten's detective. Anton, a schemer who's wed Paula for ulterior motives, is played with sinister aplomb by Boyer. Of course, one of the great pleasures of this Gothic melodrama is watching the tart-tongued debut of Angela Lansbury, playing Boyer's flinty, flirtatious young maid. "Gaslight" is a petulant puzzler with a chilling climax.

For the Movie Fanatic.......2007-01-16

Not as scary as I remembered it to be however good to have in a collection. Ingrid Bergman as always is wonderful.

Gaslight.......2006-08-06

I found this movie a classic without a doubt. The quality was excellent and the casing is in good conditions. The only objection was that it was not spanish spoken but the subtitles are. Since I prefer my movies spoken in spanish that would be a nice detail.

Excellent double-pack.......2006-02-20

There are two movies and three strong reasons to love this dvd. The disk contains two versions of GASLIGHT, based on Patrick Hamilton's stage play. The first, from 1940, is director Thorold Dickinson's English version starring Diana Wynyard as the retiring young wife and Anton Walbrook as the husband who is trying to drive her insane. The second is the famous one, directed in Hollywood by George Cukor in 1944, starring Ingrid Bergman (she won an Oscar for this one) and Charles Boyer.

I watched the 1940's version first and, somewhat to my surprise, enjoyed it very much. Walbrook's character in the first movie is the epitome of effete villainy, a hiss-able cad whose cruelty made me squirm. Boyer's husband, on the other hand, is a charming rogue with a cold, calculating, concealed and congealed heart. They both get the job done, but Boyer does so in a more believable manner. In the first movie Diana Wynyard's character is extremely shy and retiring, almost to the point where you wonder how she ever managed to make it to adulthood. Ingrid Bergman is given a character more assertive, even though still under her husband's control.

If you can't tell by now, the third reason I love this dvd is the chance it gives to see the evolution of a screenplay by comparing the two movies. That we're given the opportunity to make the comparison is ironic - reports have it that the studio tried to destroy all copies of the '40 GASLIGHT when they released Cukor's version. They shouldn't have worried. Although the `40 version is good, Cukor's is a classic. Wynyard is good is her showcase role while Bergman is transcendent.

Just saw this film.......2006-01-12

and I really enjoyed it! "Gaslight" is a suspense thriller with a Hitchcock eeriness to it - I was hooked. I felt as though I was being driven out of my own mind just watching Charles Boyer cunningly captivate Ingrid Bergman and manipulate her thoughts and emotions. I was burning with fury as he was so agrivatingly sly, and so subtle. Meanwhile, Bergman was perfect at playing the downslide from independence to vulnerable destruction. What was great about it was the two were believable as husband and wife - there was a sexual tone and moments of redemption on Boyer's part that complicated my sympathies. It's films like this that make you question your own sanity just a little as you realize how blurred the line is between what you think you know and don't know at all...

Angela Lansbury was also a real surprise, playing a brilliantly cheerful maid who manages to brighten this otherwise chilling drama. Excellent entertainment, my mother and I were hooked. If you like Hitchcock-style thrillers, this one is for you!

Average customer rating:

Gaslight

Manufacturer: Braun Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Release Date: 2006-08-08

HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT with Charles Boyer (Ahistoria Comecou a Noite) (High Quality Import Edition-NTSC format-Region 1-Playable in North America)

Average customer rating:

"I've never been happy before"

HISTORY IS MADE AT NIGHT with Charles Boyer (Ahistoria Comecou a Noite) (High Quality Import Edition-NTSC format-Region 1-Playable in North America)

Manufacturer: Classicline
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Product Description

Brand new, factory sealed, fully licensed DVD manufactured in Brazil. NTSC format. Playable on any North American DVD player. High quality full screen black and white image. Original English dialog with optional subtitles in Portuguese. Portuguese subtitles can be easily turned off. The following review appears in the Internet Movie Database: "Luminous, 29 August 2005 Author: hildacrane from United States This mixture of suspense, comedy, and romance might seem unlikely to work, but it does, due to director Borzage's vision of a love that magically transcends even the most dire of obstacles. This movie is in love with love and the improbable, and in some ways is a Cinderella story almost in reverse (including the removal of a lady's slippers on two occasions). Arthur and Boyer are lovely together. Some of their scenes, luminously lit and heightened by Alfred Newman's lyrical score, are heartbreaking: their beautiful voices are almost like cellos. (Newman wrote a number of such tender and yearning scores in the thirties, including those for "Stella Dallas" and "These Three.") There's also an interesting paralleling of the love/passion that Arthur's husband has for her and that Boyer's friend has for him, although one is destructive and the other nurturing." Cast:Charles Boyer as Paul Dumond, Jean Arthur as Irene Vail, Leo Carrillo as Cesare, Colin Clive as Bruce Vail, Ivan Lebedeff as Michael Browsky, Vail's Chauffeur, George Meeker as Mr. Norton, Lucien Prival as Private Detective, George Davis as Maestro, Dora Clement, Bobby Barber as Paul, a Waiter at Victor's, Phyllis Barry as Bit Part, Joseph E. Bernard as Headwaiter at Victor's.

Customer Reviews:

"I've never been happy before".......2006-06-01

Though it is almost forgotten today, "History is Made at Night" is one of the most beautiful and romantic films ever to grace a movie screen. Not made by one of the major studios and released through Mary Pickford's United Artist in 1937, this film has a fine screenplay from Gene Towne and Graham Baker, and some lovely words of dialog from Vincent Lawrence and David Hertz. A young and luminous Jean Arthur and the continental Charles Boyer utter those words in charming, funny, and poignant fashion.

Like this film, director Frank Borzage is almost forgotten today, but through an impressive body of work that includes films such as "Street Angel" and "Three Comrades," lives on in the minds of true film buffs. "History is Made at Night" is a tender and romantic masterpiece. It easily makes my top ten list of the most romantic films of all time. It is a story of two people who try to cram a lifetime of memories into one night, and then one moment, when tragedy looms on the horizon in the form of an iceberg.

Jean Arthur is Irene Vail, the wife of a cold and unhappy shipping magnate who holds on to her too tight, his jealousy finally driving her to divorce. Colin Clive is her bitter and obsessed husband Bruce, who hatches a plan in Paris to catch her in a compromising position before the divorce decree can become final. But Bruce's plan goes awry and their history will never be the same.

Charles Boyer is Paul Dumond, headwaiter at Chateau Bleu, and Leo Carillo is his very funny chef pal Cesare. Paul is tucking in a drunk customer he has taken to the room next to Irene's in Paris, and overhears the commotion as Irene is set up for a scandal that will tie her to a loveless marriage forever. He steps in through the balcony and rescues her, charading as a jewel thief and wisking her away into the moonlight. It is one of the great scenes ever, in a film full of them.

They share a cab and drive around Paris, ending up at Chateau Bleu, Irene unaware Paul is the headwaiter there. Paul charms his pal Cesare into an after hours meal and he and Irene spend the night there falling in love. It is a long, extended scene full of charm and humor, with some sadness as well. Paul uses a hand puppet to get Irene to open up about her unhappiness and they dance the tango. Carillo is warm and funny as Paul's pal for life who watches and cooks while Paul and the silly American girl from Kansas who dances with naked feet find happiness. It is a happiness Irene has never known, and one she would give her soul for.

They agree to meet the next day when the happy Paul is planning on proposing. Irene doesn't show up, however, and Paul calls her, knowing if she is going back to a loveless marriage then something is wrong. Irene tells him she can never come back to him and he must never try to find her. What Paul does not know is her husband Bruce killed the man he hired to come into Irene's room, in an effort to frame him for murder.

The friendship of Paul and Cesare adds a charming humor to the story, and there is a running joke regarding salad dressing. Their repore is marvelous as they travel to the big apple in an effort to make Irene come to Paul rather than searching for her. The two come up with a scheme to make a place called Victor's in New York the "in" spot everyone comes. Holding a special table for her, Irene finally shows, but it is with the abusive husband she does not love.

Irene is joyous, but Paul thinks she is laughing at him due to his lowly position. Their deep love quickly overcomes this misunderstanding and Irene leaves Bruce once more, planning to run off to Tahiti so she and Paul can truly be happy. But a dark cloud hangs over their dream as an innocent man is set to go on trial back in Paris. Paul is not the kind of man who could let another take the blame or Irene would not love him so. They book passage back to France on Bruce's newest ocean liner, the S.S. Princess Irene.

As the two lovers head towards their destiny, her bitter husband Bruce fumes to discover the French papers are sympathetic to Irene's sacrifice and Paul's gallantry. When it becomes clear Paul will never be convicted for the crime, Bruce dangerously orders the captain to break the transatlantic record in a deep fog and cold water, bringing about a tragedy reminiscent of the Titanic's fate.

Many drown and all left aboard are presumed dead. There is a heartwrenching scene as Paul tries to get Irene onboard the last lifeboat and she clings to him for the love she knows she can not live without. Bruce writes a confession for his crime now that he has nothing to live for and makes one last, violent gesture. But Paul and Irene are not dead yet, clinging to a staircase on deck and desperately trying to know everything they can about each other while they await their fate. They and a handful of survivors hold their breaths to see if the last bulkhead will hold, and keep the S.S. Princess Irene afloat long enough for a rescue.

There are some beautiful and poignant exchanges between Boyer and Arthur in a film that is sweet, funny and tender all at the same time, sometimes in the same moment. Perhaps no other director of his time could have pulled all the elements of this story together so well. Borzage was always looked to by his peers as the go-to guy for any story which required a tender and romantic touch other directors could not pull off.

Jean Arthur is wonderful as the woman clinging to a happiness she has never known and Boyer had one of his finest moments in American film portraying the affable and charming Paul. Borzage sets a very special mood for this touching story of a love that sails with no wind and a full moon. Not just a great romantic film, but one of the great films period, "History is Made at Night" is a forgotten film from a forgotten director, and both deserve to be remembered. All those who love romance will certainly never forget either once they have seen this most beautiful of films for the first time.

Average customer rating:

iNCREDIBLY STUPID FILM
Are you "gaslighting" me? (recommended)
"I HEAR VOICES IN THE NIGHT, BUT I AM NOT GOING MAD!"
Passive-aggressive behavior & effects, fabulously acted.
A classic and a great vehicle for Ingrid Bergman

Gaslight [Region 2]
Starring: Charles Boyer , Ingrid Bergman , Joseph Cotten , Dame May Whitty , and Angela Lansbury
Director: George Cukor
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

iNCREDIBLY STUPID FILM.......2006-05-06

This film really made me angry and pissed off I bothered watching it. The characters were cardboard and I can't believe Ingrid Bergman starred in this junk.The main character totally lost it, believing all what her husband was saying about her. She was totally unthinking in the whole episode until it was revealed that her husband was a con.

Are you "gaslighting" me? (recommended).......2006-04-13

When Roz asks: 'Are you "gaslighting" me?' in a first-season FRASIER episode, movie buffs instantly recall the tortured Paula (Ingrid Bergman) in GASLIGHT -- a movie classic so symbolic that it is immortalized in verb form. Paula's loyalty and sanity are tested to the limit as the deceitful Gregory (Charles Boyer) convinces his wife she "has no brain at'all" just like her mother. His obsession with gems, confiscation of letters, and mysterious disappearances in the night coincide with unexplained footsteps and dimming gas lanterns. Can her would-be hero (Joseph Cotten) save Paula from a fate worse than death? The conclusion may appear spellbinding to first-time viewers but in retrospect, provides sensible vindication. Each actor plays his part well but Bergman delivers considerable emotion in her facial expressions.

Movie quote: "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."

"I HEAR VOICES IN THE NIGHT, BUT I AM NOT GOING MAD!".......2005-04-23

Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman star in this dazzling mystery about two newlyweds who move into the wife's family mansion. While at the house Paula (Bergman) fears she is going mad when she begins to imagine things. Such as the lights flickering and hearing voices in the middle of the night. Joseph Cotten co stars as a man after ten years digging up a file on the murder of Alice Alquist (Who was killed in that house). While seeing Paula nearly frightened to death at a concert he knows that she is not mad, she is being driven mad. If this macabe nightmare continues Paula could be placed in an insane asylum. A macabeish film that unlock hidden secrets of the mind. Starring Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten and Dame May Whitty. Directed by George Cukor. 114 minutes.

Passive-aggressive behavior & effects, fabulously acted........2005-03-17

Books on passive-aggressive behavior often refer the reader to the 1944 movie Gaslight, where passive-aggressive behavior and its effects are splendidly acted by a cast of old time movie greats. The term "gaslighting" (attempting to drive someone crazy by hiding things and other psychologically coercive behavior originates from this movie.) Set in Victorian England, husband Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer) uses a variety of techniques to convince his wife Paula (Ingrid Bergman) that she's crazy. Smooth-talking, intensely romantic Gregory does a fine job of sweeping Ingrid Bergman's character off her feet and convincing her to marry him after only two weeks. They move into the Victorian townhouse she inherited from her famous opera star aunt who had been murdered there when Paula was a teenager. There the self-absorbed Gregory uses a variety of psychological tricks to drive Paula crazy-tricks still in use today like isolating her from visitors, commenting under the guise of concern that she's tired and forgetful, hiding jewelry, etc. He even tries to make her think the house is haunted. Ingrid Bergman does a brilliant job of playing the distressed Paula who increasingly doubts her own sanity and is driven to the brink of nervous breakdown. Gaslight showcases Bergman's acting better than Casablanca filmed two years prior.

Bergman and Boyer are helped by a fine cast of supporting actors. They have an intensely curious busybody old woman neighbor, played by Dame Mae Whitty who snoops on them as much as she can while she gardens or feeds the pigeons. She reminded me of Angela Lansbury in the television show "Murder She Wrote." Whitty, born in 1865, was a London stage actress beginning in the 1880s who found Hollywood success in her 70s! Another fine supporting actress was the feisty cockney-accented young maid. My friend with whom I watched the movie (whose review appears elsewhere on page) and I were sure we had seen her somewhere before in a variety of roles. Turns out she was a teenage Angela Lansbury in her movie debut--a role that earned her a best supporting actress nomination and showed that this woman was born to act! Another fine supporting actor was Joseph Cotten who played Scotland Yard investigator Brian Cameron.

It's really a tossup as to whether to give this movie four or five stars. I'm giving it four stars only because the movie has a slow beginning setting up the story that some modern movie viewers might find a bit boring. No spoilers, but this is one movie where it's well worth sticking around for the second half and the ending. You will be well-rewarded for any boredom you may have endured during the first half. :-)

A classic and a great vehicle for Ingrid Bergman.......2005-03-15

Set in the 1870s when the lighting in English households was powered by gas--hence the title--this psychological mystery worked as a diversion from the constant presence of the war for the American public when it was released in 1944. Starring the incomparable Ingrid Bergman (Paula) in an Oscar-winning role as a woman who marries a dark, handsome and mysterious man (Charles Boyer) only to fall prey to his desire to drive her mad and steal her jewels, Gaslight remains one of director George Cukor's many triumphs.

Joseph Cotton, Dame May Whitty, and Angela Lansbury (in her debut at seventeen as a saucy parlor maid) lent strong support. I was particularly delighted with the busybody Whitty, who was born in 1865 and had made her film debut at the age of 49. Here she is rapid-fire sure and feisty at age 78, and funny, both intentionally and unintentionally--or I should say that Whitty turned otherwise prosaic lines into little bits of delight. I also recall her in Hitchcock's Brit classic The Lady Vanishes (1938) in which she had the title role. The interesting thing is that in both movies Whitty meets the young star on a train (Margaret Lockwood there, and Bergman here) and they become friends--well, here their friendship is a bit difficult for Bergman's character for reasons that will become clear when you see the movie.

Some of this will seem familiar, especially the somewhat idiotic idea that a man may drive his wife crazy by playing nasty little tricks on her, such as taking down pictures and hiding them, or dimming the gaslights, or walking like a ghost above her bedroom. And the treatment may be a bit leisurely for today's audiences. However this movie is very carefully constructed with plausible twists of plot and some fine foreshadowing. Boyer is almost comical in his machinations at times, mad with jewel lust and syrupy smooth by turns.

A good reason to see this black and white classic is to compare how past-master Cukor features his leading ladies. He also directed Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (1964), Judy Garland in A Star Is Born (1954) and Katharine Hepburn in Adam's Rib (1950) and Pat and Mike (1952) to name a famous few. One thing is clear, for several decades if you were a leading actress, being in a George Cukor film was an opportunity not to be missed.

But see this for Ingrid Bergman. She dominates the movie with her exquisite beauty and her oh so expressive countenance in one of her more demanding roles. The famous, beguiling Bergman smile however is not much in evidence since her character is so long-suffering and passive--and this too may try the patience of today's audiences. You may find yourself wanting to say to Paula, "Get a backbone," "Live a little" and "Get rid of that rake!" But fear not. Paula does eventual get back at her oppressor culminating in a (somewhat implausible, but nonetheless agreeable) scene near the end where he is tied up and begging her to get a knife and cut him free...

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