Gaslight
Short description
Paula Alquist, a young singer, meets a charming pianist named Gregory Anton while travelling in Italy. They marry and he persuades her to settle in London, in the house she inherited from her aunt, an opera singer who was murdered there years earlier. Paula has tried to put that death behind her, but living in the house brings it back. She hears noises at night, notices the gas lights dimming for no reason, and finds her husband growing cold and remote while insisting that her memory and her senses are failing her.
George Cukor directed this 1944 American film, the ninth of the seventeen features he made, following A Woman's Face and preceding Winged Victory. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced it on a budget of two million dollars, from a screenplay by John L. Balderston, Walter Reisch and Patrick Hamilton, with Arthur Hornblow Jr. producing. Ingrid Bergman plays Paula opposite Charles Boyer as Gregory, with Joseph Cotten as Brian Cameron, May Whitty, Angela Lansbury and Barbara Everest in support; fifty-six performers are credited.
The film is classed as crime, drama, mystery and thriller, and runs 114 minutes. On IMDb it holds 7.8 out of 10 from around 38,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.5 from 592 votes. A critics' rating of 8 out of 10 across 86 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores, indicating firm critical standing alongside broad viewer approval.
What's left behind the scenes
- According to the script, Charles Boyer's character tells Ingrid Bergman at the end of the film that he has always loved her. The screenwriters added this line to the text, even though it wasn't in the play. Screenwriter and producer David O. Selznick, after reading the script, produced one of his famous pronouncements addressed to the studio management, demanding that this line be removed.
- Ingrid Bergman was very happy to have starred in this film later on, but initially she didn't want to take it on. She considered herself strong and independent and feared she wouldn't be able to convincingly play a shy person with a delicate emotional makeup, but later considered this role one of the highest achievements of her career.
- Bergman felt very awkward filming the love scene. So awkward, in fact, that she vowed never to film love scenes with partners she had just met for the rest of her career.
- The term “gaslighting” – a form of psychological abuse that makes a person doubt the validity of their perception of reality – originated from the title of the film.
- While working on the film, MGM ordered the destruction of all existing copies of the first screen adaptation of "Gaslight." The effort ultimately failed, although the film was shown relatively rarely for the next several decades.
- According to the script provided by MGM, Charles Boyer's character was supposed to tell Ingrid Bergman's character at the end of the film that he had always loved her. The scriptwriters inserted this line into the text, although it was not originally in the play. Screenwriter and producer David O. Selznick read the script and immediately produced one of his famous writings addressed to the film company's management, demanding that this line be removed. And it was removed.
- Bergman also found it very awkward to film love scenes. So awkward that she vowed for the rest of her career not to film love scenes with partners she had just met. A similar situation arose during the filming of Anatole Litvak's melodrama "Do You Love Brahms?", where Anthony Perkins was her partner. Bergman asked Perkins to rehearse with her in the makeup room to prepare for the on-screen kisses and avoid looking too flustered and blushing.
- Initially, Ingrid Bergman did not want to take on the role. She considered herself strong and independent and feared she wouldn’t be able to convincingly play a shy and sensitive person, and later considered this role one of the highest achievements of her career.
- Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer met on the day they filmed the scene where they meet and kiss at the train station. Boyer and Bergman were the same height, and to appear taller, he stood on a box, but the actress kept bumping into and knocking it over when she ran into the frame. Furthermore, during filming, Boyer wore shoes with a five-centimeter platform.
- Angela Lansbury’s character smokes in the film. Filming began when Lansbury was 17, so she was accompanied by a social worker on set who forbade her from smoking until she came of age. This scene was filmed at the very end, after Lansbury turned 18, and her birthday was celebrated by the entire film crew.
- The scene in which Angela Lansbury's character smokes a cigarette was filmed at the very end. Filming began when Lansbury was 17 years old, so a social worker accompanied her on set and forbade her from smoking until she came of age. This scene was filmed at the very end, after Lansbury turned 18, and her birthday was celebrated by the entire film crew.
- At the time of filming, Angela Lansbury was 17 years old. She worked in a store in Los Angeles, and when she told her boss she was leaving, he offered to let her stay and promised to raise her salary to the level she had been promised at her new job. He assumed this would be roughly the same amount she was earning at the store ($27 a week) and was astonished to learn that she would be making $500 a week.
- During filming, Charles Boyer’s wife, actress Pat Paterson, was pregnant. Boyer and Paterson had long dreamed of a child, so Boyer was noticeably nervous on set. As the due date approached, he would call home and ask his wife how she was feeling. The birth was expected to occur after filming wrapped, but the baby was born prematurely while Boyer was on set. When he was informed of his son's birth, he burst into tears. Filming was halted, and champagne was opened.
- In preparing for the role, Ingrid Bergman, at the suggestion of director George Cukor, studied patients at a psychiatric clinic.
- The film is based on the eponymous play by Patrick Hamilton, which was staged in America under the title “Angel Street” (1938).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
