Search - Gaslight on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Movie Release: 2004 DVD Release: 02/03/2004 Format: DVD - Black and White Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 3 hrs 17 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 24

The first thing you might notice about George Cukor's Gaslight on this DVD is how good it looks, with deep, enveloping velvety blacks and images so crisp that you can see the weave in the fabric of the clothing that people are weaing in the medium shots. And the whole movie looks and sounds that good, and has been preserved in immaculate condition, to judge from what we see, the full-frame (1.33-to-1) transfer glittering at times. The 33 chapters on the 113-minute movie are a generous touch, and the inclusion of a trailer and a documentary about the movie's production are handy extras. But ALL of that, the gorgeous looking transfer of the Oscar-winning movie, the bonus featurette etc., is eclipsed by what Warner Bros. has given us on the second side of the platter: The long-lost 1940 British version of Gaslight, directed by Thorold Dickinson, starring Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard. That movie, withdrawn from distribution at the outset of the 1940's, has been shown theatrically perhaps a half-dozen times in the 60 years prior to the release of the DVD, and was presented on broadcast television . . . never. MGM insisted, when it bought the screen rights to Patrick Hamilton's play from Columbia Pictures, that the British version be thrown into the deal and that it be suppressed; indeed, it was MGM management's intention to destroy all copies of the earlier movie, but luckily for us that plan was never carried out. The magnum opus of Thorold Dickinson -- a top British filmmaking talent of the 1930's and early 1940's, who eventually went to work for the United Nations -- Gaslight (1940) was one of the most well-made thrillers to come out of England this side of Alfred Hitchcock. Opening with one of the most chillingly suspenseful screen murders of its era, done as an extended silent sequence, the movie gets better as it goes along, along the way offering beautifully detailed and authentic period sets, on a small scale in keeping with its budget, and vast amount of talent oozing out of every line of the screenplay and every corner of the screen, starting with Anton Walbrook's scintilatingly sinister portrayal of the tormenting husband and Diana Wynyard as the fragile new bride -- he moves like a cat, or a dancer, and oozes psychological menace, and she looks like a doll that's been broken inside. At 13 and a half minutes in, there is a sequence involving a waltz and a new facet of the wife's torment that is so beautifully understated in its shifts of mood, that it almost makes the MGM version look overloaded and amateurish in the suspense department. The source print for the 1940 version is in pretty good shape, a little bit soft at times, and showing some minor scratches and a bit of noise on the audio track in the quieter moments, but otherwise looking and sounding cleaner, sharper, and better here than it did in its last theatrical presentation in New York, 15 years before the release of the DVD. The studio obviously never had the same interest in preserving this film that they did their own production -- though the obviously paid to secure the rights and suppress it -- but the movie has survived and, indeed, will likely earn Warner Bros. (the successor-owner to MGM) many thousands of sales of this disc more than they otherwise would have had. A great amount of care has been taken to get this film looking this good, bringing out beautiful details in the transfer, in the costuming and sets, and with the audio mastered at an acceptably high level. The 25 chapters are well-placed and give a superb breakdown of the 84 minute movie, which is worth the price of the disc by itself. The bonus materials all appear on the second side with the 1940 British version, and are highlighted by the short "Reflections On Gaslight", hosted by Pia Lindstrom. She gives a somewhat sketchy history of the production's pre-history and some shooting anecdotes as well concerning her mother, Ingrid Bergman, though nowhere does she say if her mother was ever aware that that were a version of the movie done just four years earlier -- Angela Lansbury also appears, recalling her screen debut at 17 and some memories of George Cukor. We also get the Oscar presentations for 1944, which includes Jennifer Jones presenting Bergman with her Academy Award for GAslight, and the theatrical trailer. Both sides of the disc open onto simple menus that are easy to maneuver around, the second side being the more complex of the two. The 1944 version of the movie comes with an optional French language track and English, French, and Spanish subtitles, where the 1940 version only has English-language audio and the same selection of subtitles. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide