His involvement is quite by accident, yet it’s essential to provide relief from the protracted torment. Soon, fear drives their relationship, aiding to quash any brewing distrust.įortunately, there’s a hero amidst Paula’s plight, in the form of the police commissioner’s assistant, Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotten). Tempers flare and mental defenses are torn down as Gregory makes scene after scene to fray Paula’s nerves. In many ways, it possesses a Hitchcockian flavor, exploiting the weak-willed to aggravate the audience in a series of noirish, nerve-wracking confrontations. If it weren’t for the exaggerations and coincidences, it would surely serve as a realistic cautionary tale about rushing into romance (or perhaps in doubting one’s own convictions). “Are you becoming suspicious as well as absentminded, Paula?”īased on the Patrick Hamilton play, “Gaslight” is a masterpiece of deception and manipulation. Through careful, repetitive conditioning, Paula soon loses her identity she’s completely at the mercy of her husband to tell her how to behave and how to feel. From cook Elizabeth (Barbara Everest) to housemaid Nancy (Angela Lansbury), Paula doesn’t get to create much of an impression Gregory dictates not only her actions but also her likes and dislikes. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to be so violent.” As with many great thrillers, the facade of new love swiftly fades, revealing the cold truth of the matter: Paula knows almost nothing about her husband and he designs to control every aspect of her life. With her new husband, she’s certain she won’t be afraid to revisit the macabre location – and so, a month later, the two move in, intending to live happily ever after. In an extreme coincidence, Gregory wishes to live in that very home, which Paula still owns. “I’m afraid I enjoy a good murder now and then.” Thwaites is fascinated by the unsolved slaying, which amuses her further when she happens to acquire a residence near where the crime occurred: 9 Thornton Square in London. But, much to her surprise, Gregory greets Paula at the lake, having rushed ahead to join her. During the carriage ride there, she meets “Bloodthirsty” Bessie Thwaites (Dame May Whitty), who brings up the death of Alice from a decade prior, momentarily jolting Paula into silence. Still madly in love, Paula decides to take a trip to Lake Como to clear her mind. Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer) is the charming suitor, who barely knows Paula (his courting has only lasted about two weeks), though he’s ready to get married. It’s a distraction that should help her to forget the horrible past.Īround ten years later, Paula’s voice and her heart just don’t seem to be focused on performing instead, she’s diverted by true love, prompting her to give up a career in the arts in favor of happiness. The victim was Alice Alquist, a world famous singer – and her niece, Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman), departs shortly thereafter, heading off to Italy to study singing under the great Maestro Guardi (Emil Rameau). Cameron and Paula team up to stop Gregory from pulling off his devious plan.Strangler is still at large near Thornton Square, making the townsfolk edgy, particularly at night. With his help, she learns that Gregory is using an assumed name, that he's a thief, and that he had known her late aunt, a famous singer. Just as Paula's fragile hold on reality is about to break, she's visited by Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotten) of Scotland Yard. Gregory persuades her that these are just her delusions. Every night, while Gregory is away, the gaslights flicker and Paula hears noises from the attic. He convinces her that she's always losing things, that she sees things that are not there, that she's unstable and untrustworthy. Gregory seems solicitous and caring, but he isolates Paula from everyone and makes her doubt herself and her sanity. In GASLIGHT, Paula Alquist ( Ingrid Bergman) falls in love with Gregory Anton ( Charles Boyer), a musician, and once they are married, he persuades her to move into the house she lived in as a child, which has been closed since her aunt was murdered there.
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