Fanny by Gaslight (US title – Man of Evil) is a 1944 British drama film, directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Gainsborough Pictures, set in the 1870s and adapted from a 1940 novel by Michael Sadleir (also adapted as a 1981 TV serial).

Stewart Granger later said he "didn't like" the film because of its "drippy characters" but thought "Asquith was much the best of those directors I worked with at Gainsborough.

It is clearer that her father owns and runs the nearby nightclub and brothel and has a secret door in his house that links down to it.

The husband Clive Seymore reveals he is her true father and he paid William Hopwood to look after her (it is implied he was a client).

One day a visitor Lord Manderstoke encounters her on the stair and recognises her as Hopwood's daughter.

[10] The film's release in the US was delayed over three years due to American censor concerns over scenes set in a brothel.

[12] The BFI listed it as one of the most popular British films of all time, with an estimated attendance of 11.7 million.

[13] According to Kinematograph Weekly the 'biggest winners' at the box office in 1944 Britain were For Whom the Bell Tolls, This Happy Breed, Song of Bernadette, Going My Way, This Is the Army, Jane Eyre, The Story of Dr Wassell, Cover Girl, White Cliffs of Dover, Sweet Rosie O'Grady and Fanny By Gaslight.

The biggest British hits of the year were, in order, Breed, Fanny By Gaslight, The Way Ahead and Love Story.

[3] The film deals with themes of illegitimacy, social class, blackmail and duelling.