Bedlam (1946)

Director:

Mark Robson

Writers:

William Hogarth (engravings The Rake's Progress)
Val Lewton (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 May 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Sensational Secrets of Infamous Mad-house EXPOSED! (1946 one-sheet poster)

Plot:

Nell Bowen, the spirited protege of rich Lord Mortimer, becomes interested in the conditions of notorious St...

Plot Keywords:

Asylum | Quaker | Reform | B Movie | Period Piece

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Boris Karloff	...	Master George Sims
Anna Lee	...	Nell Bowen
Billy House	...	Lord Mortimer
Richard Fraser	...	Hannay
Glen Vernon	...	The Gilded Boy (as Glenn Vernon)
Ian Wolfe	...	Sidney Long
Jason Robards Sr.	...	Oliver Todd (as Jason Robards)
Leyland Hodgson	...	John Wilkes (as Leland Hodgson)
Joan Newton	...	Dorothea the Dove
Elizabeth Russell	...	Mistress Sims

Also Known As:

Chamber of Horrors (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16 (1986) | USA:Approved (PCA #11077, Adult Audience) | UK:PG

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Contrary to popular belief the film was never banned in the UK. However despite some TV showings it was never submitted to the BBFC until 1998 where it received an uncut video PG video certificate.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Nell Bowen's bird is a Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo, native to Australia. As the movie is set in 1761, nine years before Captain Cook discovered Australia and 27 years before European settlement, it is impossible that Nell Bowen would have such a bird as a pet.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Goldfinger (1964)

"Are we lovers, that you thee and thou me?"

I've been a fan of Boris Karloff movies ever since I was sixteen, when Channel 4 had a late night season on Friday nights, showing great films like The Man They Couldn't Hang and The Boogie Man Will Get You. I really wish we'd have a VCR, as these films don't appear to have seen the light of day since. I've only seen Bedlam for the first time recently, but it came with great credentials (Boris Karloff AND Val Lewton) so I was more than willing to give it a try.

Karloff was born to play Master George Sims, the man who ran Bedlam, London's solution for the mentally ill or those who needed to be put away for fear of embarrassment to their families. In all his performances he manages to combine a natural warmth and sincerity with a just a hint of sadism beneath the surface. Even when playing an all out evil bad guy, like in The Black Cat, he still manages to be charming and polite. In Bedlam he is completely convincing as he ingratiates himself with the upper classes whilst threatening both the inmates and Nell Bowen, the woman who tries to improve conditions and ends up in the Institute herself.

The atmosphere portrayed in the dank, murky chambers and corridors of Bedlam is suitably dark and oppressive, and as such it invokes pity towards those incarcerated there, rather than fear. This is also probably an extension of the pity and care that Nell herself shows towards them, despite Karloff's attempts to show her compassion as limited and hypocritical.

My only real complaint about the film is the drawn out scenes between Nell and her Quaker friend who constantly reminds her of the need for non-violence and love for all around her, even Karloff himself. After a while you just want her to punch him in the face! It becomes more of a romance or even melodrama, which serves to a certain extent to undermine the more sinister elements of the film. There are also several comedic scenes with Nell's benefactor Lord Mortimer which feel slightly forced into the film, as though RKO wanted this to be lighter in tone than was usual for Lewton's horror films. Despite these minor gripes, Bedlam is still worth viewing for anyone who is a fan of Karloff, or the horror films of the 1940s. The final scenes alone, where the inmates get their revenge on the cowardly Sims, make this a film that deserves its status as a classic.