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IMDbPro

Bedlam

  • 19461946
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 19m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
4K
YOUR RATING
Bedlam (1946)
  • Drama
  • Horror
  • Thriller
Nell Bowen, the protégé of Lord Mortimer, wants to help change the conditions of notorious St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum (Bedlam). Though she tries to reform Bedlam, but the cruel Master Si... Read allNell Bowen, the protégé of Lord Mortimer, wants to help change the conditions of notorious St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum (Bedlam). Though she tries to reform Bedlam, but the cruel Master Sims who runs it has her committed there, though ultimate, it's the lunatics who've taken ov... Read allNell Bowen, the protégé of Lord Mortimer, wants to help change the conditions of notorious St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum (Bedlam). Though she tries to reform Bedlam, but the cruel Master Sims who runs it has her committed there, though ultimate, it's the lunatics who've taken over the asylum.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
4K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Mark Robson
  • Writers
    • William Hogarth(suggested by The William Hogarth painting Bedlam Plate #8 "The Rake's Progress")
    • Val Lewton(screenplay)
    • Mark Robson(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Boris Karloff
    • Anna Lee
    • Billy House
Top credits
  • Director
    • Mark Robson
  • Writers
    • William Hogarth(suggested by The William Hogarth painting Bedlam Plate #8 "The Rake's Progress")
    • Val Lewton(screenplay)
    • Mark Robson(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Boris Karloff
    • Anna Lee
    • Billy House
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 74User reviews
    • 49Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations

    Photos97

    Boris Karloff and Anna Lee in Bedlam (1946)
    Boris Karloff, Richard Fraser, and Anna Lee in Bedlam (1946)
    Anna Lee in Bedlam (1946)
    Bedlam (1946)
    Bedlam (1946)
    Bedlam (1946)
    Bedlam (1946)
    Bedlam (1946)
    Bedlam (1946)
    Bedlam (1946)
    Bedlam (1946)
    Bedlam (1946)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Boris Karloff
    Boris Karloff
    • Master George Simsas Master George Sims
    Anna Lee
    Anna Lee
    • Nell Bowenas Nell Bowen
    Billy House
    Billy House
    • Lord Mortimeras Lord Mortimer
    Richard Fraser
    Richard Fraser
    • The Stonemasonas The Stonemason
    Glen Vernon
    Glen Vernon
    • The Gilded Boyas The Gilded Boy
    • (as Glenn Vernon)
    Ian Wolfe
    Ian Wolfe
    • Sidney Longas Sidney Long
    Jason Robards Sr.
    Jason Robards Sr.
    • Oliver Toddas Oliver Todd
    • (as Jason Robards)
    Leyland Hodgson
    Leyland Hodgson
    • That Devil Wilkesas That Devil Wilkes
    • (as Leland Hodgson)
    Joan Newton
    • Dorothea the Doveas Dorothea the Dove
    Elizabeth Russell
    Elizabeth Russell
    • Mistress Simsas Mistress Sims
    Polly Bailey
    • Scrub Womanas Scrub Woman
    • (uncredited)
    John Beck
    • Solomonas Solomon
    • (uncredited)
    Ted Billings
    • Inmateas Inmate
    • (uncredited)
    Hamilton Camp
    Hamilton Camp
    • Pompeyas Pompey
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Robert Clarke
    Robert Clarke
    • Dan the Dogas Dan the Dog
    • (uncredited)
    Ellen Corby
    Ellen Corby
    • Queen of the Artichokesas Queen of the Artichokes
    • (uncredited)
    Jane Crowley
    • Inmateas Inmate
    • (uncredited)
    Frankie Dee
    • Pompeyas Pompey
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Mark Robson
    • Writers
      • William Hogarth(suggested by The William Hogarth painting Bedlam Plate #8 "The Rake's Progress")
      • Val Lewton(screenplay)
      • Mark Robson(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The dress Anna Lee is wearing as she mounts her horse is the one Vivien Leigh made from the curtains in Gone with the Wind (1939).
    • Goofs
      At the fête, the violinists are shown playing with 20th-century bows.
    • Quotes

      Lord Mortimer: A capital fellow, this Sims, a capital fellow.

      Nell Bowen: If you ask me, M'Lord, he's a stench in the nostrils, a sewer of ugliness, and a gutter brimming with slop.

    • Connections
      Featured in TJ and the All Night Theatre: Bedlam (1977)
    • Soundtracks
      Who Will Buy My Lavender?
      (Uncredited)

      Traditional

      Performed by Donna Lee

      [Sung by a flower girl as Nell first goes to St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum]

    User reviews74

    Review
    Top review
    Political Allegory
    True, the film is from horror-meister Val Lewton and stars that icon of fright, Boris Karloff; yet, beneath the credits lurks an insistent glimpse into 18th century social conscience. Apparently the film failed on release. That's not surprising since the script hews closely to what Hollywood would consider elevated speech of that day, which sounds a lot like drawing-room Shakespeare. I expect audiences turned away in droves-- Lewton was always an unsteady mix of the frightful and the literary.

    Nonetheless, the story line does much to balance out the conventional conclusion. At first, the gross Billy House comes across like a sadistic nobleman who considers grim death little more than amusing party entertainment. But then we find he's simply typical of his titled class for whom commoners exist mainly to be used. If we condemn him, then we must condemn the class from which he springs. At first, Anna Lee appears to be House's arrogant plaything, elevated from the common herd by House's eye for a quick wit and a pretty face, (implausibly, the script implies her companionship doesn't extend to the bedroom).

    But Lee can't suppress her natural sympathies despite the privileged standing. She turns against her benefactor and House's cruel right arm, the chief apothecary of the Bedlam madhouse, the redoubtable Karloff. Her ally and conscience, in a poorly performed part, is Richard Fraser as a free man and pacifist Quaker. Together they challenge the inhumane conditions locked into place by the conniving Karloff and the uncaring House.

    Now, much of this can be read as political allegory with House standing in for decadent nobility, Karloff as his Machiavellian enforcer, Lee as the collaborator turned fiery reformer, and Fraser as the principled free man foreshadowing the rise of the productive class and the American revolution. The "loonies" compose the most damaged and victimized of the commoners, while their "trial proceeding" shows a repressed potential among even the most benighted. In short, there's a strong carry-over of Progressive reformism in this 1946 production.

    One scene in particular suggests the film's underlying ambition. Karloff is being tried before the inmates he has so callously abused. Ordinarily a horror script would simply assume Karloff' wicked nature. Here, however, he confesses to the fear he feels at losing his standing in the class hierarchy should he not flatter those on the rungs above and demean those on the rungs below. As a scholar, his position is necessarily an ambiguous and perilous one. So he takes the easy way out, in effect selling his soul to the undeserving House in return for a measure of power and prestige. Thus he is exposed not as a monster, but as a weak man simply overcome by an understandable fear-- which is not your usual horror-level motivation behind wicked behavior.

    Allegories aside, the performances are excellent, with the exception of Fraser. Lee's and Karloff's verbal sparring in House's bed chamber amounts to a minor masterpiece of upper-crust sarcasm. In fact, the attractive but unglamorous Lee remains persuasive throughout. House too adds considerable color, as does the venerable Ian Wolfe as the loony lawyer, along with the small uncredited boy who manages some characterization as House's well-upholstered attendant.

    This may not be cult-favorite Lewton's best or scariest film. But it does show real heart, along with the usual number of intelligent Lewton touches.
    helpful•10
    2
    • dougdoepke
    • Dec 23, 2007

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 10, 1946 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Chamber of Horrors
    • Filming locations
      • RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • RKO Radio Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 19 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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