Let’s say you were always wondering where the term “Gaslighting” came from. I’m not going to judge, ok, maybe a little bit. But let’s say you were just sitting around on a slow sunday evening, slowly driving your spouse crazy by dimming the lights, and then when she asks: “Did you see the lights just dimmed?” You respond, “No, the lights are the same. You must be craaazzzzyyy.”

There you go, the plot to the 1944 movie Gaslight, preceded by the 1940 movie Gaslight preceded by the 1938 play Gas Light. Paula, played by Ingrid Bergman, is living with her famous opera singer aunt who is killed. When we later see Paula she is in Italy studying opera and having a flirtation with her accompanist Gregory Anton. They marry and move back to her aunt’s townhouse in London.

Charles Boyer plays Gregory and we don’t trust him one bit. Did I mention it’s Victorian London? No, well it is. Stick with me though, you won’t regret it. Soon after moving to London, Gregory suggests that they move all of Alice’s (Paula’s aunt) belongings to the attic. While looking through the things, Paula discovers a letter written to her aunt from Sergius Bower. Gregory reacts violently to her discovery, grabs the letter from her but then quickly recovers his smarmy charm.

Things start to go awry for young Paula. Gregory leaves her alone at night to go to “work,” and she starts hearing funny sounds. The lights (the GAS LIGHTS, get it) dim, because, in case you didn’t know this, when you have gas lights in a house and you turn the gas on in another room the gas dims a little bit in the room you are in. However, no one else witnesses these things, and no one believes her.

Then items start going missing, paintings are taken from the walls and hidden in strange places. Gregory, while at the same time acting sympathetic to Paula’s plight, also uses these strange happenings to convince Paula she is losing her mind. Gregory has a motive, leading back to Alice and Sergius, her belongings, and the attic, to drive Paula insane and commit her to an insane asylum, and get her out of the house.

At the same time we meet Brian Cameron, played by Joseph Cotten. Brian is an American police officer “working” for the Scotland Yard. He spots Paula at the Tower of London and is intrigued. As a boy he had been a great fan of Paula’s aunt, and Paula is a dead ringer for Alice. It inspires him to look into Alice’s murder which brings him closer to the strange goings on at the Anton household.

George Cukor, the director of this film, has always been known as a great director of women. To prove it, he directed a movie called “The Women” in 1939. In Gaslight, a movie made in the 1940s that takes place in the late 1800’s, the woman character is written with remarkable depth. The transformation of Paula from the meek wife being manipulated by her husband, to a strong woman who triumphs over him is truly something to behold. It is the very reaction of Paula when she discovers the deception and duplicity of Gregory, with the help of Brian, that makes this such a rare and extraordinary film. They let Paula, the victim, take her power back, and Bergman does it in grand Oscar-winning style.

So add to that a really awesome leading man in Cotten’s Brian. He holds your hand through the bad parts because you know that he knows she’s not crazy, and no matter what, he going to save her. And what’s so awesome is that ultimately he helps her but doesn’t save her, she saves herself, and well, there you go, it’s a winner for me.

Let me admit that I’m not a huge fan of costume dramas. The fact that this film was set in Victorian London turned me off for a long time. However, I have to admit that once I finally watched it, I was an instant fan. I even started to wonder what color Joseph Cotten’s hair was in non-black and white. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that. And, a very young Angela Lansbury is in this film playing the not-very-helpful maid Nancy, which makes you realize how very old Angela Lansbury really is. But it’s neat to see her so young.

So, the next time you decide to slowly drive your spouse crazy, “No honey I don’t think the volume is getting quieter on the radio. Maybe something is wrong with your hearing?” Remember it’s called “Gaslighting” and watch this movie to see the origins of it all.