The Critics' Corner on GASLIGHT

"Nice little personal vignettes are interestingly contributed by Joseph Cotten as a stubborn detective, Dame May Whitty, and Angela Lansbury as a maid." ­ - Bosley Crowther, The New York Times, 1944.

"If subtlety is the hallmark of Boyer's dramatic art, then Gaslight exemplifies it, and not only in his scenes with Bergman. Consider the scene wherein Gregory, alone, discovers by accident the jewels he has quietly been seeking with Javert-like doggedness. It might have provided an eye-popping display for a lesser actor, but it revealed Boyer's power for understatement." - Larry Swindell, Charles Boyer: The Reluctant Love (Doubleday, 1983).

"Cukor plants an indefinable sense of unease during the sunnily romantic Italian holiday (a lengthy addition in this version), then gradually orchestrates it into a genuinely harrowing crescendo of terror in the claustrophobically cluttered house in fogbound London where the husband is methodically driving his wife insane. One of Bergman's best performances, with Boyer not too far behind, and Lansbury unforgettable...." ­- Tom Milne, TimeOut Film Guide (Penguin, 1999).

"A terrifying study of how a husband can dominate and abuse his wife through manipulative words and actions as easily as with fists." ­- Danny Peary, Guide for the Film Fanatic (Simon & Schuster, 1986).

"[Bergman] runs the gamut from antimacassar to antimacassar, and it's good scary fun all the way." ­- Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies (Henry Holt and Co., 1982.

"...an exciting screen treatment by Arthur Hornblow Jr's excellent production...There are times when the screen treatment verges on a type of drama that must be linked to the period upon which the title is based, but this factor only serves to hypo the film's dramatic suspense where normally it might be construed as corny theatrics." - Variety Movie Guide.

"There is no subtlety, and it's rather like watching zee Frenchman kick zee puppy poodle for an hour and a half. There's also an unconvincing attempt to turn the sanity tables on Anton in the final act, where his passion for precious stones is meant to mirror Paula's need for marital understanding even at the cost of her mind. Mind you, Gaslight is an expertly directed and evenly paced slow burn (and Dame May Whitty is a stitch, though underused, as a nosy neighbor lady), but its lack of a sound moral and psychological center renders it totally transitory and forgettable." - Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine.

AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS

Gaslight won Academy Awards for Best Actress (Ingrid Bergman) and Art Direction-Interior Decoration. It also secured nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Charles Boyer), Best Supporting Actress (Angela Lansbury), Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography.

A Golden Globe also went to Ingrid Bergman as Best Actress for Gaslight.

Compiled by Rob Nixon