Rent Gaslight (1940)
3.7 of 5 from 114 ratings
1h 25min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Based on Patrick Hamilton's celebrated stage play, Thorold Dickinson's 'Gaslight' is a narrowing and claustrophobic study of murder, abuse and lust in Victorian London. By turns charming and cruel, Anton Walbrook excels as the sadistic husband who attempts to drive his wife (Diana Wynyard) mad to prevent her from disclosing his dark past.
- Actors:
- Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, Frank Pettingell, Cathleen Cordell, Robert Newton, Jimmy Hanley, Minnie Rayner, Marie Wright, Aubrey Dexter, Mary Hinton, Angus Morrison, Jack Barty, The Darmora Ballet, Alfred Atkins, Edwin Ellis, Kathleen Harrison, Katie Johnson, Molly Raynor, Pat Ronald, Johnnie Schofield
- Directors:
- Thorold Dickinson
- Producers:
- John Corfield
- Writers:
- Patrick Hamilton, A.R. Rawlinson
- Studio:
- BFI Video
- Genres:
- Classics, Thrillers
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like Citizen Kane, Films to Watch If You Like..., Getting to Know..., Glynis & Angela: Ninetysomething Marvels, Top 10 British Actresses of the 1940s, Top Films
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 18/11/2013
- Run Time:
- 85 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Spanish ABC (Thorold Dickinson and Sidney Cole, 1938,20 mins): a short film on the Republican efforts to improve education standards during the Spanish Civil War
- Behind the Spanish Lines (Sidney Cole and Thorold Dickinson, 1938, 20 mins): a companion piece to Spanish ABC which looks at life in the Republican zone
- Westward Ho! (Thorold Dickinson, 1940,9 mins): a short film to promote the evacuation of urban children to rural areas
- Miss Grant Goes to the Door (Brian Desmond Hurst, 1940,7 mins): a short film about a German invasion from a story by Dickinson
- Yesterday is Over Your Shoulder (Thorold Dickinson, 1940,9 mins):
- a short film encouraging unskilled workers to join free, government-organised engineering training schemes
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Reviews (4) of Gaslight
What a great film - Gaslight review by jd
I'd forgotten just what a great film this is. Suspense is created and held throughout and the camera work is sublime. Anton Walbrook is particularly strong. It feels like Hitchcock or Orson Welles in terms of production quality so I was surprised to see that the director did not do much else of note.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Stagey Thriller. - Gaslight review by Steve
Critics usually prefer this earlier adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's stage play to the MGM remake... and they are right! George Cukor's version has Hollywood stars and a larger budget, but the original is still a handsome production, with a deep period atmosphere. And its actors are well chosen. Anton Walbrook pulls off the trick of being repellent, without being unwatchable.
Walbrook schemes to drive his delicate, unstable wife (Diana Wynyard) into a mental hospital by creating an alternate and frightening reality which always undermines her expectations. Yes, by gaslighting her. Meanwhile, he seeks the rubies hidden in their house of shadows which eluded him years before when he murdered an old woman for them.
The action is mostly staged inside the home, but the studio exteriors evoke a pungent Edwardian London of fog and gas lamps, augmented by a rich orchestral score. The film subtly implies the insanity of the husband in how he uses religion to manipulate and frighten. The scene when he has the servants pray before breakfast is brilliantly freakish.
MGM insisted the negative and all copies be destroyed when they bought the rights. Obviously, they didn't succeed! While some themes have dated, it remains a powerful film about domestic abuse. Interesting how the maid is attracted to her employer's viciousness, without having the imagination to realise he might turn it on her. But primarily, it is a suspenseful thriller.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
“Are you suggesting this is a knife I have in my hand?” - Gaslight review by LJ
The plot of this psychological thriller is intriguing but the execution is clunky, especially with the former detective character as the outside hero taking agency away from the female lead.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.