The killer is Anton (Charles Boyer), a man obsessed with priceless jewels. Anton murdered the aunt for her bling but fled the scene before he could locate them. Anton eventually tracks down the surprisingly unattached Paula. He courts and marries her, and sweet talks her into moving back into the same London home where he killed her aunt.
Anton hires two servants, young, promiscuous, and ill-mannered Nancy (Angela Lansbury), and older and wiser Elizabeth (Barbara Everest). Anton begins a relentless campaign to make Paula believe she is insane, to put into an asylum. He also makes nightly pilgrimages to the attic, in search of the aunt's well-concealed stones.
How others will see it. Gaslight was a box office hit, ending up as the 13th highest grossing film in America that year. Critics were also pleased, particularly with Bergman's performance. She won the Oscar for Best Actress, while Boyer and Lansbury had to settle for nominations, respectively as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress. The screenplay, script, sets, and cinematography also received Oscar nods. In addition, it was nominated for Best Picture, losing to the crowd pleaser Going My Way. Oddly, Cukor was snubbed by the Academy, and went without a Best Director nomination.
Today, the movie has a fairly high 13.7K user votes at imdb.com, and a high user rating of 7.9 out of 10. The ratings are consistent across age demographics, but women vote the film moderately higher than do men, 8.1 versus 7.8.
How I felt about it. Gaslight has the feel of a Hitchcock movie, so it is little surprise that the "master of suspense" used plot elements from the present film in Notorious (1946) and Under Capricorn (1949). Bergman was in both those films as well, and was joined by Cotten in the latter. She was married to a would-be murderer in both movies.
Gaslight was preceded by a 1940 British version, and the source play, by Patrick Hamilton, was also a success. Hamilton's other two well-known works were "Rope," later adapted by Hitchcock as a Universal vehicle for the able Jimmy Stewart; and Hangover Square (1945), a creepy pseudo-horror movie starring the ill-fated Laird Cregar.
Hamilton's apparent obsession with murderers makes him ideal for a Hitchcock direction, so it is a surprise that Cukor got the nod instead. Cukor was a master of drawing room drama, but not usually with such unpleasant source material.
Today, Gaslight is best known for the film debut of the plucky Angela Lansbury, whose onscreen career has now covered seven decades. It is hinted, within the limitations of the Production Code, that Anton has a sexual connection with Nancy, who takes equal pleasure in manipulating and intimidating poor Paula.
Given that Anton is married to a woman as gorgeous as Paula, you would think that his aunt's jewels could wait until Paula loses her A-list looks. It is also odd that Anton keeps the incriminating letter in the desk instead of burning it. And since Anton effectively keeps Paula a prisoner, it is some coincidence that she twice encounters Brian (Joseph Cotten), who, by coincidence, is top-ranking local detective, despite his relative youth.
Further, it seems unlikely that Paula would be a very close physical resemblance to her aunt. We also wonder why Anton goes to the trouble of locating, courting, marrying, and living with Paula, when he could instead simply burglarize the empty house. Or, why it takes so long for Anton to find the coveted jewelry. He also happens to find it at the same time Brian forces his way inside. It also seems odd that Paula doesn't know anyone in London, despite having grown up there.
Further, Paula is truly an airhead to fall for Anton's game of losing things and hiding paintings. And she can't connect the overhead footsteps with Anton's absence and return soon after? We also wonder why Anton is up to the murder of the aunt but flees in fear once he realizes that her underage daughter is also in the house.
So, the plot has more holes that a stack of slim slices of Swiss cheese. One has to disregard it altogether, and concentrate on the acting and direction, both of which are excellent and manage to make the film worth watching.