Top ‘Gaslighting’ Classic Movies You Must Watch

Not many plays or films can be credited with coining a new word, but the 1938 British play Gas Light by Patrick Hamilton did just that. Film adaptations were made in Great Britain in 1940 and in the United States in 1944.

The “verb” form of the play’s name didn’t come into use in its current meaning of misleading someone for personal gain until the mid-20th century and derives from the dimming of gaslights in the 1880s home where the story unfolds.

“Gaslighting” has been described as a trait that defines toxic masculinity, but women are just as capable of using its basic elements, which include…

Trying to convince intended victims that something untrue is true by insisting on it or by marshaling superficial evidence for its truth,
Denying something someone has said or done that they actually did say or do,
Dismissing intended victims’ contrary perceptions or feelings as invalid or pathological,
Questioning knowledge and impugning motives of anyone who contradicts the gaslighter’s viewpoint,
Gradually isolating intended victims from independent sources of information and validation, and
Manipulating the physical environment so intended victims doubt the truth of their memories or perception.

Among this week’s three classic movie picks is the 1944 US remake of the film, starring the sublime Ingrid Bergman, as well as two others that use gaslighting to cover up suspicious events. Enjoy the twists and turns!

Gaslight

RELEASE DATE: 1944 DIRECTOR: George Cukor STUDIO: MGM Headliners: Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten, Angela Lansbury RUN TIME: 1 hour, 54 minutes FILMED IN: Black and white IMDb RANK: 7.8

SYNOPSIS: An accompanist seduces an unworldly classical singer into marriage then slowly manipulates her into thinking she’s going insane. The couple’s young maid, anxious to become mistress of the house, aids and abets the husband.

NOTES: Bergman won best actress Oscar and Golden Globe for her portrayal of Paula Alquist, while a 17-year-old Angel Lansbury won Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in her debut role as the devious maid Nancy. Boyer was nominated for best actor Oscar.

LINKS: Trailer | Full film

Scream of Fear (US), Taste of Fear (UK)

RELEASE DATE: 1961 DIRECTOR: Seth Holt STUDIO: Columbia HEADLINERS: Susan Strasberg, Ann Todd, Ronald Lewis, Christopher Lee RUN TIME: 1 hours, 21 minutes FILMED IN: black and white IMDb RANK: 7.4

SYNOPSIS: After the suicide of her best friend, a wheelchair-bound young woman, raised by her divorced but now deceased mother, returns to her father’s estate after ten years. And although her new stepmother says the father is away, the daughter keeps seeing his dead body on the estate. In the “gaslighting” genre, everyone conspires to convince her she’s going mad.

NOTES: Well-received at box offices in both Britain and the US, though critics panned it as somewhat melodramatic and predictable. The stars themselves had mixed emotions. Lee said the film “was the best film I was in that Hammer ever made,” with “the best director, the best cast and the best story.” Todd disagreed and said “it was a terrible film. I didn’t like my part, and I found Susan Strasberg impossible to work with – all that ‘Method’ stuff.” Maybe I’m unsophisticated, but I was left guessing until the end. Loved the classic 60s women’s costumes and the French Riviera backdrop.

LINKS: Trailer | Full film

So Long at the Fair

RELEASE DATE: 1950 DIRECTORS: Antony Darnborough & Terence Fisher STUDIO: Rank HEADLINERS: Jean Simmons, Dirk Bogarde, David Tomlinson, Cathleen Nesbitt RUN TIME: 1 hour, 26 minutes FILMED IN: Black & White IMDb RANK: 7.1

SYNOPSIS: Vicky Barton and her brother Johnny travel from Naples to visit the 1889 Paris Exhibition. They sleep in separate rooms in their hotel. When she gets up in the following morning she finds her brother and his actual room have disappeared, and no one will even acknowledge he was ever there. She enlists a sympathetic artist, the only one who remembers seeing him to help her unravel the mystery.

NOTES: The general plot derives from a 19th-century urban legend, known as “The Vanishing Hotel Room,” which has inspired several fictional works. The ending seems a bit abrupt and convenient, but still a good story. Jean Simmons is lovely as always.

LINKS: Trailer | Full film