On this day in movie and book history - Gaslight (1944)

Gaslight

directed by George Cukor,

written by John Van Druten, Walter Reisch and John L. Balderston,

based on the play Gas Light by Patrick Hamilton,

was released in the United States on May 4, 1944.

Music by Bronislau Kaper.

Cast:

Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotton, May Whitty, Angela Lansbury, Barbara Everest, Emil Rameau, Edmund Breon, Halliwell Hobbes, Tom Stevenson, Heather Thatcher, Lawrence Grossmith, Jakob Gimpel, Harry Adams, Lassie Lou Ahern, John Ardizoni, Frank Baker, Wilson Benge, Arnold Bennett, Florence Benson, Arthur Blake, Lillian Bronson, Alec Craig, Antonio D'Amore, Wynne Davis, Frank Eldredge, Maude Fealy, Al Ferguson, Helen Flint, Gibson Gowland, Gary Gray, Roger Gray, Bobbie Hale, Joy Harington, Tom Hughes, Jack Kirk, Pat Malone, Al Masiello, Charles McNaughton, Terry Moore, Clive Morgan, Georgie Nokes, Joseph North, Tarquin Olivier, Elsie Prescott, Joseph Romantini, Syd Saylor, Arthur Stone, Alix Terry, Morgan Wallace, Eric Wilton, Eustace Wyatt, Katherine Yorke, Phyllis Yuse, Guy Zanette.

Recommended reading:

Gas Light

a play by Patrick Hamilton.

Filmed as:
Gaslight (1940), directed by Thorold Dickinson.
Gaslight (1944), directed by George Cukor.

Published by Constable and Company Ltd.
First published 1939.
ASIN: B0DSZRVND4
Paperback.
 
Description:

This classic Victorian thriller was first produced in 1935. Jack Manningham is slowly, deliberately driving his wife, Bella, insane. He has almost succeeded when help arrives in the form of a former detective, Rough, who believes Manningham to be a thief and murderer. Aided by Bella, Rough proves Manningham's true identity and finally Bella achieves a few moments of sweet revenge for the suffering inflicted on her.

On this day in movie history - Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982)

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid

directed by Carl Reiner,

written by Carl Reiner, George Gipe and Steve Martin,

was released in the United States on May 4, 1982.

Music by Miklós Rózsa and Steve Goodman.

Cast:

Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Alan Ladd, Carl Reiner, Barbara Stanwyck, Ray Milland, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Veronica Lake, Bette Davis, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold, Kirk Douglas, Fred MacMurray, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Reni Santoni, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, George Gaynes, Francis X. McCarthy, Adrian Ricard, Charlie Picerni, Gene LeBell, George Sawaya, Britt Nilsson, Jean Beaudine, John Easton Stuart, Ronald Spivey, Bob Hevelone, Dieter Curt, Phillip Kearns, Kent Deigaard, Eugene Brezany, Brad Baird, William Conrad, Charles McGraw, Jeff Corey, John Miljan, Brian Donlevy, Norma Varden, Edmond O'Brien, Wally Brown, David LeBell, Cheryl Smith.

On this day in movie and book history - Rage in Heaven (1941 and 1925)

Rage in Heaven

directed by W.S. Van Dyke, Robert B. Sinclair and Richard Thorpe,

written by Christopher Isherwood and Robert Thoeren,

based on the novel by James Hilton,

was released in the United States on March 7, 1941

Music by Bronislau Kaper, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Eugene Zador.

Cast:

Robert Montgomery, Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders, Lucile Watson, Oskar Homolka, Philip Merivale, Matthew Boulton, Aubrey Mather, Frederick Worlock, Francis Compton, Gilbert Emery, Ludwig Hardt.

Recommended reading:

 

Rage in Heaven

by James Hilton.
a.k.a. Dawn of Reckoning.

Filmed as Rage in Heaven (1941) directed by W.S. Van Dyke.

ASIN: B00087E97K

Published by A.H. King.

First published 1925.First Edition.
 
Description:

The novel Dawn of Reckoning, was first published in London in 1925. In 1932, it was published in New York under the title Rage in Heaven. In 1941, it was adapted in the movie 'A Rage in Heaven', a psychological thriller about the destructive power of jealousy which was directed by W. S. Van.

In this story, Phillip Monrell and his former college roommate Ward Andrews arrive at the Monrell home, where they meet Phillip's mother's secretary Stella Bergen. They are both strongly attracted to her but she ends up marrying the idle Phillip. Phillip is put in charge of the family steel mill, but is not suited for the job. He begins to exhibit signs of mental illness, particularly abnormal jealousy of any competition for his wife's affections. Despite this, he hires Ward to be the chief engineer at the mill. Eventually, Phillip's paranoid suspicion that Ward and Stella love each other drives him to try to kill his rival at work. Ward confronts him and quits. Stella, convinced that her husband is insane, leaves him and meets Ward. Phillip phones them and promises to grant her a divorce if Ward will talk with him in person. Despite Stella's misgivings, Ward agrees to see him. However, Phillip provokes a loud argument and Ward leaves. Afterwards, the madman kills himself, carefully framing Ward for the crime. Ward is arrested, convicted of murder and sentenced to be executed. A frantic Stella is unable to convince anyone of his innocence. The day before the execution, she is visited by Dr. Rameau, a psychiatrist who had been treating Phillip. He is convinced that Phillip committed suicide and that he would have left some message bragging about it. They go to the Monrell mansion and start searching. Mrs. Monrell reveals that her son kept diaries; then, Clark, the butler, recalls that he mailed a package to Paris. They take a flight to France and find the book, which saves Ward from execution.

On this day in movie history - Casablanca (1942)

Casablanca

directed by Michael Curtiz,

written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch,

based on the play Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison,

was released in the United States on November 26, 1942.

Music by Max Steiner.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Madeleine Lebeau, Dooley Wilson, Joy Page, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey, Curt Bois.