Episode 113: Are You Gaslighting Me?

 In recent weeks, Perry and I have been revisiting old movies, some of which have aged better than others.

The 1944 film, Gaslight, directed by George Cukor, still deserves four stars. The film starred Ingrid Bergman, who won an Oscar for her performance, Charles Boyer and Joseph Cotten.

The story:

Ten years after her aunt was murdered in their London home, a woman, played by Bergman, returns from Italy in the 1880s to resume residence with her new husband (Boyer). His obsessive interest in the home rises from a secret that may require driving his wife insane, which he is happy to do. Cotten plays the American Scotland Yard consultant determined to save her.

From left: Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Joseph Cotten.

This film had me on the edge of my seat every time Boyer went to work on his wife, determined to have her committed to the insane asylum.

The modern term ‘gaslighting’ is based on this film.