Charles Boyer
I think his performance is better than Ingrid Bergman.
shareI agree. Bergman is good in the movie but I think she gave better performances worthier of an Oscar.
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MovieChat Forums > Gaslight (1944) Discussion > Charles Boyer
Ingrid Bergman is a favorite of mine and her and Boyer's performances were equally brilliant imho.
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I think there's not point in comparing them. They both did so well! but I must say this- this movie was SUCH a departure for him- to play a really wicked man instead of the romantic type he usually played was so different for him. I have to admit, he did it well, I hated his character long before the credits rolled.
shareThis was arguably the first dissimulated villain in film history passing off as a respectable man while slowly drawing a victim insane. Boyer gave a great performance as the manipulative husband who publicly loves his wife but secretly torments her to the point of madness.
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Boyer was a gifted actor. Having just watched All This and Heaven Too, where he played a kindly character opposite Bette Davis, this portrayal as an evil false husband was even more impressive to me. As for Bergman, I have only seen her in this and Notorious and do not see the greatness of her reputation. Need to see other films of hers.
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I think Boyer outdoes her throughout this film. Bergman is one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history but, to me, she's just a little miscast in Gaslight. I find it hard to swallow her as a woman weak enough to be so obviously manipulated. She's certainly good - especially in the final scene - but her best work was yet to come. Boyer, meanwhile, is simply mesmerising in this.
Bergman's Oscar should have gone to Barbara Stanwyck, who had her best chance for a win with her electryfying and iconic performance in Double Indemnity.
"I find it hard to swallow her as a woman weak enough to be so obviously manipulated."
I think Bergman's strong personality enhanced the film tremendously - look at what his abuse reduced her to! He completely crumbled her foundation.
The manipulation is obvious to viewers, only because we are "in" on what is going on. The pacing of the film makes it clear that these "little things" were being planted by Boyer over the course of a long period of time, slowly chipping away at her mind each time.
The first time it happened, when she "lost" the brooch he had given her, she was distressed and apologetic, as any normal person would be. But then look at the concert scene in comparison - months down the road when he has established her as being mentally unstable ("ill") amongst society, he is able to make her break down into uncontrollable sobs in front of everyone, by merely saying, "Paula, my watch is gone," and then pulling it out of her bag. The look of horror on her face when he says this is electrifying, showing how tightly he has her twisted around his finger.
I think this is one of the few films in which both lead actors are absolutely perfect in their roles, they were both completely believable and real, Boyer should have won the Oscar as well for his amazing performance, just as amazing as Bergman's (I think she really deserved the praise she got and it is one of her best performances ever!).
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