When MGM remade the film with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman, the studio attempted to have all prints of this earlier version destroyed. Fortunately, several prints escaped the fire (in fact, it is believed that director Thorold Dickinson surreptitiously struck a print himself before the negative was lost).
The original play, "Gas Light," opened in London on 31 January 1939.
The play opened in New York with the title changed to "Angel Street" on 5 December 1941, starring Vincent Price (his first role as a villain) and Judith Evelyn. Leo G. Carroll costarred as Rough. It became the longest-running melodrama in Broadway history, playing for 1,293 performances.
On December 8, 1945 Textron Theatre produced a 30-minute radio version of the original play by Patrick Hamilton and adapted by Robert Cenadella. It was for the CBS program "Textron Theatre Starring Helen Hayes" and featured Boris Karloff, Helen Hayes and Cedric Hardwicke.
Rough (Frank Pettingell) refers to his previous career as a "Peeler". Rough was formerly a London police officer. The concept of a civilian police force was conceived by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 (51 years before the setting of this movie).