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Gaslight

Posted by ESC on August 04, 2004

In Reply to: Gas lighted???? posted by Brian from Shawnee on August 04, 2004

: : I was watch a political talk show and the term gas lighted was used. The conversation ws about the current threat level from Homeland security. I assue it means "being suckered" , "mislead" or something like that. Does anybody have a clue to it's meaning/ origin?

: In the classic movie Gaslight directed by George Cukor, Charles Boyer tried to drive his wife Ingrid Bergman insane in order to collect her inheritance. Lots of film noir gothic haunted house-type scenes. The 1944 version is actually a remake of a 1940 British movie of the same name.

: "Gaslighted" as a verb turns up on lots of soap opera-oriented websites. One can imagine it's a well-worn plot device on those shows that the faithful never get tired of.

One of my favorite movies. A key plot point is when the husband leaves the house in the evenings, his wife Paula notices that the gaslights dim and she hears noises in the attic.

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