Gaslight (1940)

Recommended

UK

Feature Film

Director: Thorold Dickinson

Writers: Bridget Boland, A.R. Rawlinson, Patrick Hamilton

Cinematographer: Bernard Knowles

Composer: Richard Addinsell

Cast: Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, Frank Pettingell, Cathleen Cordell, Robert Newton, Minnie Rayner, Jimmy Hanley

A man (Walbrook, deliciously sinister) systematically attempts to drive his sweet natured wife (Wynyard, outstanding) insane, in order to cover up a grisly secret from his past, but, unbeknownst to him, a retired policeman is quietly investigating his nefarious actions, in Dickinson’s stylish, inventively directed, and wonderfully acted 1880s set thriller. Iain.Stott

Patrick Hamilton's 1938 play Gas Light was subsequently adapted as Gaslight (1944).