Gaslight

 directed by George Cukor (1944)

 Jesus does Isabella Rossellini ever look like her mom Ingrid Bergman.

 Aside from that observation, I forgot to write anything about this movie right after I watched it, so this review will be brief.

It was good.  The story is great, except for a rather anticlimactic ending, and the acting is stellar by everyone involved.  Joseph Cotton is a snoopy American with a snazzy manner, suspicious of that foreigner Charles Boyer. While Boyer is sleazy and supercilious, he's awsome spooky too.  Ingrid Bergman is the fragile object of affection, eyed possessively by both men and she's more than just a pretty face.  It takes skill to appear vulnerable and tormented.  Angela Lansbury is great in her role as a maid on the make, and she's pretty gorgeous and nasty too.  It's a good portrayal of the upper classes in the fussy and mannerly Victorian era.  I liked the sets and costumes, it looks beautiful, and it's altogether, a pretty great thriller, that's entirely entertaining.  I can see why the term gaslight came in to use, because it's such a memorable production particularly in terms of illustrating the diabolical type of evil it would take to "gaslight" someone.  It makes sense that the title was coined as a term and referenced over time so often because it well depicts the matrix of deceit and manipulation the abusive/Svengali male entangles around their thrall in order to control them and this is an insidious dynamic which gets play in most all abusive relationships. 

I got caught up in the story too.  The villain is a terrible man, and what he does is  soooo wrong.  I was getting mad watching him be such a snakey jerk.  Still, it's soooo sexist!   It's redonkulous how often female characters are written as lambs to the slaughter victims. Whatever though, because it's worth a look.  It's a fun psycho-killer showdown, satisfaction guaranteed!