When I first watched Gaslight (1944), I was blown away by the standard of the performances overall. It is still my favourite Charles Boyer role, and I think that Ingrid Bergman really shows her capacity for exhaustive emotional depth in her portrayal of the beleaguered woman, desperate to not succumb to insanity. But I think that Angela Lansbury’s performance as the conniving, disrespectful and openly sexually mature young maid, who treats the lady of the house disparagingly and flirts with her husband in front of her, is my favourite performance of the film. That may seem like an odd thing to say. Her character is probably as unlikable as Charles Boyer’s, and almost as destructive, because she is complicit in his abuse of his wife. But what Angela Lansbury shows, is that she is one of the greatest actresses of her generation.
Like many, I grew up watching her in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Murder, She Wrote. For me, Angela Lansbury was like my gran: clever, witty and possessing of a lovely softness and twinkling eyes. She was never young to me. But when I watched Gaslight, I realised that she had had an entire career before she played either Miss Price or Jessica Fletcher. And she had also been beautiful, with light brown hair and large eyes, and a lovely mouth.
And she had not been afraid to play very different roles. The part of Nancy Oliver in Gaslight is entirely removed from Miss Price. She is of the working class, she is nasty and she is keenly ambitious, very much desiring of getting out of her current status and possibly becoming the second Mrs Gregory Anton. She has no loyalty to anyone. It is quite clear from the moment she is introduced that she likes Gregory because she sees him as a kindred spirit: manipulative to the extreme.
Not for one moment is Angela unconvincing in the role. Her entire demeanour is spot on throughout. The way she carries herself, the way she addresses Ingrid Bergman as if she is beneath her, even though it’s really the other way around in terms of social position; and the way she angles her body when she is in scenes with Charles Boyer.
Every scene the two of them are in is layered with a discomfiting sexual charge. Even though the viewer is desperate for Ingrid Bergman to escape, to realise the dark, sick truth about her husband, watching Charles Boyer and Angela Lansbury interact is like watching a snake charming, hypnotic and dangerously fascinating.
Angela was rightfully nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, her first, followed by a nod for her performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray the following year. It is staggering to think that at the time of filming Gaslight, Angela was only seventeen years old. She had secured the part after meeting the co-author of the film script, John Van Druten, who suggested her for the role. She had to be accompanied onset by a social worker, and was paid $500 per week and was signed to a seven year contract at MGM. And it’s not difficult to see why the studio decided to secure her services so smartly. Her performance as Nancy is absolutely incredible for a film debut. She does not make a wrong step throughout the film. While the 1940 version of Gaslight, starring Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard is excellent, Angela’s performance as Nancy completely outstrips Catherine Cordell’s in the same part. While Catherine isn’t at all bad in the role, there is just something far more compelling about Angela, something far more knowing and unsettling. The way she looks at Charles Boyer, as if she knows what he’s all about, what he’s doing to Ingrid Bergman, but that she doesn’t care, that she may have done similar things herself in the past, and enjoyed them, too.
I think that while Charles and Ingrid are brilliant together, there is something that always draws me more to Charles and Angela’s scenes. Maybe it’s because I become so upset every time I see Ingrid wailing and begging for relief. But I think it is more likely that dark part of all of us, where we want to see what happens when things are forbidden, like a chambermaid having designs on her master, when souls as black as one another interact. While it may be argued that Nancy is very young and doesn’t fully realise what Gregory is up to, I think that it’s more likely that she may not know the why, but that she recognises the how. And that’s all down to Angela’s performance, about how she manages to convey so many unspoken things in her face, how she makes it utterly clear that she has no intention of passing up what she sees as a golden opportunity.
If you’ve only seen Dame Angela in later roles, or in one of the many roles where she was made to play a woman much older than she actually was, then definitely make a point of watching Gaslight. You’ll thank me later.
This is my contribution for The Adoring Angela Lansbury Blogathon, being hosted by Realweegiemidget Reviews. Please check out her blog for more information and to read everyone’s posts.
Pale Writer 
Lovely post Gabriela, can tell how much you adored this film and definitely on my to check out post now… and you may have inspired me for this for the Ingrid Brgman yearly blogathon. Thanks for joining.
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Thank you! I’m very glad I’ve had some part in inspiring you to see the film! And thanks for letting me take part 😊
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No problem, your reviews are always welcome to my blogathons.
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‘Gaslight’ is essentially one of those rare, perfect films that stand the test of time. Everything about it is brilliant, particularly the incredible cast. Now, Gregory is downright deplorable even when he’s supposed to be a charming piano man. (What was poor Paula thinking?) Nancy is very much a villain in her own way but she’s also very interesting and mysterious. (The cops on the beat also feel the same. 😏) Angela does not shroud herself in any way from giving an amazing performance, even when it was her debut starring alongside the already legendary Bergman, Boyer & Cotten, not to mention the lovable Dame May Whitty. This will always be my favourite role of Angela’s. 😊
Btw, Gregory was already married when marrying Paula, therefore lived as a bigamist. His estranged wife was in Prague or some other whereabouts. Nancy would have absolutely sunk her teeth into becoming Mrs. Anton but which number was it really? I have the feeling Gregory might have had quite a few wives in his scheming life.
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Absolutely agree! I am dazzled by how extraordinary she was beside seasoned pros. At seventeen, I was most definitely not that self assured or talented.
That’s a good point. In my mind Paula was the first Mrs Gregory Anton, but the second Mrs Sergius Bauer. So Nancy would be the second Mrs Anton and the third Mrs Bauers. But as you say, this probably wasn’t his second rodeo. He probably did have a few other wives, but we will never know! Thanks for leaving such a lovely comment 😊
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Sorry, Gabriela, for I forgot to tell you that you did a wonderful job on this article! 🤗 I know this film so well that it was an absolute treat to read your thoughts.
You bring up such a good point about him being Bauer and that Nancy would be his second as Mrs. Anton. Nancy was absolutely playing with fire there as she had no idea what kind of monster he really was. I can’t tell you how long it took for me to appreciate Boyer as an actor because he’s terrifying in this.
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Please don’t apologise, Erica! 🤗 You’re always encouraging me so marvellously! 💜 Yes I think she suspected his awful motivations, but she wasn’t quite in that league. He is so scary. I think that’s why I like him in it so much. He wasn’t afraid to send up the lovely, charming image he’d displayed in Love Affair.
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Great post, extremely well written. Gaslight still oozes so much atmosphere. Hard to believe it was her debut as she’s so confident in playing such a sly and scheming character.
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Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Oh definitely. Such a fascinating film. I know! So much for someone of her tender age to manage, she was born to be a star 🌟 Thank you for your lovely comment.
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Can’t believe she was so young and managed to hold her own against such experienced company.
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I have come to appreciate Gaslight more with each viewing. I have never tried to put those feelings into words, but suspect they wouldn’t come close to your description of Angela’s stellar performance.
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Thank you! I’m so glad you think I did her justice. It really is such a brilliant film.
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No wonder she became a star–newcomer Lansbury almost steals the movie away form the also-wonderful Ingrid Bergman! Powerful film…one of director Cukor’s best; he was not known for suspense but does it as well as Hitchcock here.
-Chris
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Agree on all points! Thank you for leaving such a lovely comment 😊
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I’m with you in the sense that my discovery of Angela Lansbury came from Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Murder, She Wrote. So seeing her in this movie was right up there with seeing Fred “Absent-Minded Professor” MacMurray as the bad guy in “Double Indemnity” or “The Caine Mutiny”…or Henry Fonda in “Once Upon A Time In The West.”
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Exactly! It makes you look at them in an entirely different way and makes you realise how they were able to adapt and change as their career progressed.
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It also made me a sucker for actors “playing against type.”
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I’ve written about Gaslight for the blogathon as well, and there was something in Angela’s performance that I couldn’t quite touch, but I think your post enlightened me. Gregory and the maid are made of the same material, or at least have the same intentions, and that’s why she is a fascinating character. No I understand her Oscar nomination.
Thanks and congratulations on the post!
Le
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Thanks Le! So glad you enjoyed it! 🤗
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Reblogged this on Monsters After Midnight.
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