CLASSIC FILMS

KEITH UHLICH

Gaslight (1944, George Cukor, U.S.) “Beware the Ides of March,” so the saying goes. Since we’re in the month of betrayal, there’s no better time to spotlight four classic films that hinge on treachery, though this quartet might be best grouped under Judas kisses as opposed to Brutus-like breaches of trust. Begin with George Cukor’s psychological thriller in which Ingrid Bergman’s meek and anxious Paula is unwittingly tormented by her devious spouse Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer), whom she marries after a whirlwind romance. Big mistake. Anton works overtime to convince Paula that she is mad—no dear, he insists, our maid (memorably played by a very young Angela Lansbury), doesn’t hate you…it’s all in your head. But this is just one piece of an elaborate scheme by Anton to swindle Paula out of a fortune in jewels. When the tables are turned, Paula doesn’t hesitate to avenge herself, via an operatic monologue that only Bergman could pull off with such cathartic dexterity. (Streaming on Criterion Channel.)

Beware the Ides of March

The Godfather: Part II (1974, Francis Ford Coppola, United States) There are myriad riches in the classic second installment of Francis Ford Coppola’s gangster series, though perhaps none quite so affecting as the arc of middle brother Fredo Corleone (John Cazale). His betrayal of his brother Michael (Al Pacino) is discovered on the eve of the overthrow of the Batista government in Cuba, so the end result of the kiss of death that Michael plants on his flesh and blood (“I knew it was you, Fredo”) is deferred. In Cazale’s centerpiece scene, he flails around like a rag doll while unloading the familial resentments he feels toward Michael, one of the most upsetting scenes in a series filled with them. The betrayer eventually becomes the betrayed, as Michael forgives Fredo, then orders his murder. A vicious cycle is completed; any and all humanity is squelched from existence. (Available via Amazon.)

Reservoir Dogs (1992, Quentin Tarantino, United States) The betrayer in Quentin Tarantino’s bloody and profane robberygone-wrong debut is technically the good guy. Tim Roth’s Mr. Orange is an undercover cop