The definition of 'gaslighting' is a "psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment."
The term came from a 1938 British play 'Gas Light' by Patrick Hamilton that was made into the British movie, June 1940 "Gaslight." The England version is lesser known to the more famous MGM's 1944 Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman film. Bergman won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as a newlywed whose husband is searching for the hidden jewels after he killed her aunt to steal them.
In a practice film historians shake their heads but say was done back then, MGM didn't want its newer version to be judged against the earlier British film. When the studio purchased the American film rights of the play, it insisted all prints, even the negative, of the 1940 movie be destroyed. MGM nearly succeeded in suppressing all traces of the English movie, but director Thorold Dickinson possessed a copy he made before the negative was destroyed.
Film reviewer Andy Webb is thankful for the preservation of the 1940 picture, remarking, "It still remains one of the best movies which features a storyline about a person trying to manipulate a loved one into thinking the are going crazy."
The tale involves the recently married Mallans, Paul (Anton Walbrook) and Bella (Diana Wynyard), who rent a London apartment which hadn't been occupied in quite some time. Shortly after settling down, Paul begins to accuse his wife of misplacing objects. He plays secret tricks on her which triggers Bella to question her sanity. A neighbor, former detective B. G. Rough (Frank Pettingell), who had investigated the murder of elderly Alice Barlow (Marie Wright), hears about the strange occurrences in the apartment where Alice was found dead. Paul has been searching for the missing jewels in the two top floor rooms which have been cordoned off. He uses the apartment's gas system to illuminate the upstairs while rummaging, so much so he inadvertently dims the gas-lit lamps downstairs.
Time Out magazine's reviewer wrote, "Lurking menace hangs in the air like a fog, the atmosphere is electric, and Wynyard suffers exquisitely as she struggles to keep dementia at bay." Playing the confused Bella, Diana Wynyard was known for her Academy Award Best Actress nomination in 1933's Best Movie, "Cavalcade," the first British actress nominated in that category. As the villainous Paul, Austrian actor Anton Walbrook later was known for his roles in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1943 "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" and 1948's "The Red Shoes."
The American version of the play opened on Broadway soon after the movie "Gaslight" premiered in the United Kingdom, with Vincent Price as Paul and Judith Evelyn as Bella. After 1,300 performances, the longest-running melodrama on Broadway at the time, 'Gas Light,' is ranked as the 81st all-time longest-running play in the New York City theatre district. MGM capitalized on its popularity by producing the 1944 movie. Critics recognize the British film remains closer to the play, with many, such as film reviewer Bill Thompson expressing, "I find the 1940 Gaslight to be far superior to the 1944 Gaslight. I tend to like stripped down movies over bloated affairs, and the actors in the 1940 Gaslight outshone their 1944 counterparts by a good margin. Gaslight, the 1940 version, is a really good 'what's he doing' mystery that plays well on the screen and brings you in with the story." Film reviewer Fredrick recognized, "They are respectively excellent examples of British and Hollywood 1940s productions, and even though the basic plot is the same, the two movies are very different. Not only in the details, but also in the entire build-up of the plot and the interplay between the main characters."
Fortunately, MGM didn't realize its objective to squash any evidence of the British movie, allowing today's viewers to draw their own conclusions.
The term came from a 1938 British play 'Gas Light' by Patrick Hamilton that was made into the British movie, June 1940 "Gaslight." The England version is lesser known to the more famous MGM's 1944 Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman film. Bergman won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as a newlywed whose husband is searching for the hidden jewels after he killed her aunt to steal them.
In a practice film historians shake their heads but say was done back then, MGM didn't want its newer version to be judged against the earlier British film. When the studio purchased the American film rights of the play, it insisted all prints, even the negative, of the 1940 movie be destroyed. MGM nearly succeeded in suppressing all traces of the English movie, but director Thorold Dickinson possessed a copy he made before the negative was destroyed.
Film reviewer Andy Webb is thankful for the preservation of the 1940 picture, remarking, "It still remains one of the best movies which features a storyline about a person trying to manipulate a loved one into thinking the are going crazy."
The tale involves the recently married Mallans, Paul (Anton Walbrook) and Bella (Diana Wynyard), who rent a London apartment which hadn't been occupied in quite some time. Shortly after settling down, Paul begins to accuse his wife of misplacing objects. He plays secret tricks on her which triggers Bella to question her sanity. A neighbor, former detective B. G. Rough (Frank Pettingell), who had investigated the murder of elderly Alice Barlow (Marie Wright), hears about the strange occurrences in the apartment where Alice was found dead. Paul has been searching for the missing jewels in the two top floor rooms which have been cordoned off. He uses the apartment's gas system to illuminate the upstairs while rummaging, so much so he inadvertently dims the gas-lit lamps downstairs.
Time Out magazine's reviewer wrote, "Lurking menace hangs in the air like a fog, the atmosphere is electric, and Wynyard suffers exquisitely as she struggles to keep dementia at bay." Playing the confused Bella, Diana Wynyard was known for her Academy Award Best Actress nomination in 1933's Best Movie, "Cavalcade," the first British actress nominated in that category. As the villainous Paul, Austrian actor Anton Walbrook later was known for his roles in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1943 "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" and 1948's "The Red Shoes."
The American version of the play opened on Broadway soon after the movie "Gaslight" premiered in the United Kingdom, with Vincent Price as Paul and Judith Evelyn as Bella. After 1,300 performances, the longest-running melodrama on Broadway at the time, 'Gas Light,' is ranked as the 81st all-time longest-running play in the New York City theatre district. MGM capitalized on its popularity by producing the 1944 movie. Critics recognize the British film remains closer to the play, with many, such as film reviewer Bill Thompson expressing, "I find the 1940 Gaslight to be far superior to the 1944 Gaslight. I tend to like stripped down movies over bloated affairs, and the actors in the 1940 Gaslight outshone their 1944 counterparts by a good margin. Gaslight, the 1940 version, is a really good 'what's he doing' mystery that plays well on the screen and brings you in with the story." Film reviewer Fredrick recognized, "They are respectively excellent examples of British and Hollywood 1940s productions, and even though the basic plot is the same, the two movies are very different. Not only in the details, but also in the entire build-up of the plot and the interplay between the main characters."
Fortunately, MGM didn't realize its objective to squash any evidence of the British movie, allowing today's viewers to draw their own conclusions.