Upon acquiring the rights to Patrick Hamilton’s play Gas Light, MGM set about wiping the
slate in preparation for their George Cukor-directed, Ingrid Bergman-starring
1944 adaptation. Unfortunately, that meant suppressing almost to elimination a
British version made four years prior, with this handsome restoration – the
first time the film has been available on DVD – only possible thanks to a
single print preserved by its director Thorold Dickinson, and later gifted to
the BFI.
While it lacks its Hollywood successor’s budget and glamour,
the limitations rather suit the tale’s clammy claustrophobia, as newlywed Bella
(a fragile Diana Wynward) is made to question her sanity by husband Paul (a cruel
Anton Walbrook). Despite an undisguised staginess and sometimes clunky
structure, the material still unnerves, with the abruptness of the opening
murder and the mind games of the last act proving particularly effective,
making this of interest to more than just film historians.
Out now
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