11-09-2019, 06:16 PM
Gaslight (1940)
This British original is a shade better than the 1944 Hollywood remake. Anton Walbrook (one of my all-time favourite actors) is far superior to Charles Boyer. Walbrook brings that same intoxicating mix of charm, seduction and tyrannical menace that he exudes in 1948's 'The Red Shoes'. On the other hand, Diana Wynyard is no match for Ingrid Bergman in the later MGM version. The young detective played by Joseph Cotten in the US film is fine but the mischievous old pipe-smoking retired Policeman 'B.G. Rough' in the original is so damn good. I wish Frank Pettingell had gone on to play him in a series of amateur sleuth movies. I'm glad MGM were unsuccessful in their attempt to have all materials of this film destroyed, so I can enjoy it in a nice BFI 2K transfer today. Fans of Psychological Alfred Hitchcock murder-mysteries will find much to enjoy in Thorold Dickinson's movie.
This British original is a shade better than the 1944 Hollywood remake. Anton Walbrook (one of my all-time favourite actors) is far superior to Charles Boyer. Walbrook brings that same intoxicating mix of charm, seduction and tyrannical menace that he exudes in 1948's 'The Red Shoes'. On the other hand, Diana Wynyard is no match for Ingrid Bergman in the later MGM version. The young detective played by Joseph Cotten in the US film is fine but the mischievous old pipe-smoking retired Policeman 'B.G. Rough' in the original is so damn good. I wish Frank Pettingell had gone on to play him in a series of amateur sleuth movies. I'm glad MGM were unsuccessful in their attempt to have all materials of this film destroyed, so I can enjoy it in a nice BFI 2K transfer today. Fans of Psychological Alfred Hitchcock murder-mysteries will find much to enjoy in Thorold Dickinson's movie.
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