Gas light (1960)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Gas light |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1960 |
| length | 90 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Wilm ten Haaf |
| script | Wilm ten Haaf |
| production | Franz Josef Wild |
| camera | Hans Egon Koch |
| cut | Hilde Sessner |
| occupation | |
| |
The German television play Gaslicht is a film adaptation of the play of the same name by Patrick Hamilton and was produced by Bayerischer Rundfunk . It was first performed on September 15, 1960.
action
Jack Manningham, wealthy London businessman, makes life difficult for his wife. He uses psychological tricks to convince her that she is insane, like her late mother. For example, it takes away her freedom to leave the house whenever she likes, blames her if objects disappear in the house or the dog is injured.
One evening - the master of the house has just left the house - the housemaid reports that an unknown man is visiting. It is the retired Police Inspector William Rough who discovered the Alice Barlow murder twenty years ago, who was the previous owner of the house. He addresses Mrs. Manningham by her maiden name because, according to his research, the marriage between Jack and Bella is invalid. Then he reveals her husband's true identity to her. He is already married, his first wife lives in Australia. Bella begins to trust her interlocutor. For a long time, the broken soul has longed for someone to confide in. She reports of all the insinuations and humiliations of her husband and the noises of footsteps in the attic, which she assigns to her husband with certainty, since they each occur almost 10 minutes after he leaves every evening.
Ambition drives Sergeant Rough to solve his old case. In order to be able to convict the murderer of the benevolent Alice Barlow, he searches the secretary of the house owner for personal documents with Manningham's former name Sidney Power . Instead, some items are revealed that Bella is said to have stolen, including a brooch. Bella shows her guest a secret hiding place in the brooch, eight empty gemstone settings become visible. The eight rubies that were incorporated into the brooch had been removed by Bella earlier because they were already coming off. At the sergeant's request, she takes the jewels from a vase. Rough recognizes the approximately £ 12,000 worth of stones from old Mrs. Barlow's estate and joyfully takes them. This find is enough evidence of Manningham's perpetration. Rough leaves the shocked Mrs. Manningham, only to return shortly afterwards with a crowd of police officers arresting her husband.
Further films
Web links
- Gaslight in the Internet Movie Database (English)