110 Years of Ingrid Bergman Blogathon–“Gaslight” (1944)

It’s been such a long time since I’ve posted last. I apologize to everyone whose Blogathon I missed. I’ve been so busy, pretty much the entire summer that it’s been difficult to find the time, and frankly, the ambition, to write a blog entry. I have a ton of posts I need to write, including the much belated entry about my visit to this year’s TCM Film Festival in April. In July, I attended Noir City: Portland, which was a great event. While I may not have been writing about classic film, I have still been watching it. When I saw the Ingrid Bergman blogathon, I knew I wanted to get back to my blog–I love Ingrid Bergman and the film that I’m going to write about, Gaslight (1944).

Gaslight (1944) is based on Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play, Gas Light. In 1940, the play was adapted into the UK film, Gaslight. 1944’s Gaslight, starring Ingrid, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten, was MGM’s remake of the 1940 film. I have not seen the UK version nor have I seen/read the play, so I am not going to compare and contrast the different versions. I am exclusively speaking to the 1944 version. Warning: it is impossible for me to discuss this film without spoiling the ending.

Recently, the term “gas light” has emerged as a popular buzzword to throw around when someone discusses a problem with their relationship. It was even named Merriam-Webster’s “Word of the Year” in 2022. Unfortunately, most of the time when the word “gaslighting” is being thrown around, it is being misused. Gaslighting is not about lying. It is not about disagreeing with your partner. Gaslighting is specifically a form of psychological manipulation and emotional abuse where someone essentially starts questioning their sanity, memory, experience, and their overall grip on reality.

The title “Gas Light” was chosen because of the gas lights used in Victorian homes. When a gas light would be turned in in one room, it would be dimmed in another room. In all iterations of Gaslight, the antagonist husband knows that turning on the gas light in the attic will dim the other lights in the home, informing his wife that someone is in another room. Also, she will hear footsteps and other commotion coming from the attic. The husband knows he’s got to make her doubt what she’s seeing and hearing–hence the term “gas light.”

Gaslight (1944) opens in 1875 London with a young woman, Paula Alquist (Ingrid Bergman), being escorted away from the home of her famous aunt, Alice, an opera singer. Alice has just been murdered. Flash forward a few years and a now adult Paula is living in Italy, taking singing lessons with the hope of following in her Aunt’s footsteps. However, let’s face it, Paula is not going to become an opera singer. Accompanying Paula’s singing lessons is pianist, Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer). We quickly learn that Paula and Gregory are romantically involved. They marry and soon re-locate to London. Knowing that Paula still owns her aunt Alice’s home at 9 Thornton Square, Gregory insists that he and Paula set up shop there. All of Alice’s possessions also still reside in the attic.

Gregory soon hires a young woman, Nancy (17-year old Angela Lansbury in her film debut), who can only be described as “a tart” to be his and Paula’s maid. Upon being hired, Gregory plants it in Nancy’s mind that his wife Paula is losing her mind and to ignore whatever she says. Nancy, also having the hots for Gregory, happily goes along with his instructions. She is very cruel to Paula and seems to take pride in how rotten she can be. Nancy seems to take pride in terrorizing Paula.

In this film, Gregory comes up with various methods to slowly torment Paula, and drive her mad. As an example, he hands her items, such as a brooch to wear, then secretly steals it back. When she’s unable to find it, he chides her on her “forgetfulness.” Later, he removes a painting off the wall and hides it, then accuses Ingrid of taking the painting and hiding it. The poor woman is an absolute wreck by the end of the film. The goal of Gregory’s entire plan is to be able to search through Paula’s aunt’s possessions in search of some expensive jewels she owned. It is revealed in the film that Gregory was actually Sergis Bauer, the man who murdered Paula’s aunt some years earlier. He was looking for the jewels then and was interrupted. His entire marriage to Paula was just a ruse to get back into the home and continue looking for the jewels. He wants to drive Paula mad so he can search for the jewels right under her nose. Talk about playing the long game!

Gregory’s plan seems to be working very well, except for the presence of two busy bodies–Brian Cameron (Joseph Cotten) and Miss Thwaites (Dame Mae Whitty). Paula apparently bears a striking resemblance to her famous aunt. When she and Gregory visit the Tower of London, Brian just happens to be on the same tour. Brian was a childhood admirer of Paula’s aunt. He is drawn to Paula upon spotting her. Further observation reveals her to be nervous and anxious. Brian feels something is “off.” Brian also works at Scotland Yard. Out of concern for Paula and respect for her aunt, he decides to re-open Paula’s aunt’s cold case and goes to work investigating. Miss Thwaites is an older woman, and a neighbor of Paula and Gregory’s. She just happened to meet Paula on a train earlier in the film. She is more or less harmless, but she reveals herself to be a big fan of murder mysteries. She also becomes suspicious of Paula and Gregory when she witnesses Paula emerging from the home and quickly running back inside.

Ingrid Bergman’s tour-de-force performance in the final act where Gregory is caught is the scene which I imagine clinched her Oscar for Best Actress. She is absolutely fantastic in this scene and fully deserved all accolades she received. I love when she starts discovering that he was the one responsible for her mental breakdown while he still tries to maintain the charade. It is only out of his desperation to escape from Scotland Yard when he admits his guilt. Then, Paula brilliantly turns the tables on Gregory and makes him think he’s insane when she can’t find the knife he insists is in the drawer.

PAULA: [The knife] isn’t here. You must have dreamed you put it here. Are you suggesting that this is a knife? Have you gone mad, my husband? I could have set you free, couldn’t I? I could have cut those ropes and set you free. But I can’t find it. What shall we do?…Perhaps I’ve lost the knife as I’ve lost those other things. I must look for it, mustn’t I? If I don’t find it, you’re going to have me locked up, aren’t you?…If I had the knife, I could have had pity. But I could also kill. I could kill as you killed. You killed her as you tried to kill my mind. Without pity. Without pity you killed her as I can kill…Kill! Kill!