Filmoteca
By Kit Macdonald
Anyone looking to play a fun practical joke on a friend or partner who hasn't seen George Cukor's 1944 film Gaslight might consider mentioning it to them, waiting for them to say they haven't seen it and then repeatedly and loudly insisting that they definitely have, and that you know because you were there. The concept of "gaslighting" has firmly established itself in recent years, and though this version of the work that led to it was preceded by a stage play in 1938 and a 1940 British film adaptation, Cukor's version is without doubt the definitive one.
Set in Victorian London, the film stars the ever-magnetic Ingrid Bergman as Paula, a woman slowly driven to doubt her sanity by her seemingly loving husband, Gregory, played by Charles Boyer. Unbeknownst to her, Gregory is secretly searching their house for hidden jewels once owned by Paula’s murdered aunt. He begins to isolate, mentally destabilise and psychologically manipulate her to keep his agenda hidden.