Main Cast: Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Billy House, Glenn Vernon, Jason Robards, Sr.
Release Year: 1945
Country: US
Run Time: 79 minutes
Plot
Bedlam is one of the costlier psychological-horror efforts from RKO producer Val (Curse of the Cat People) Lewton. Boris Karloff stars as the supervisor of the notorious 18th century British insane asylum St. Mary's of Bethlehem, better known as "Bedlam." Anna Lee, who co-stars as the feisty mistress of a fatuous government official, is appalled by the miserable treatment afforded the Bedlam inmates and insists that reforms be initiated. The crafty, politically connected Karloff responds by having Lee herself incarcerated in the institution: she is a "willful woman", and therefore must be insane. With the help of a few of the more rational patients, Lee stages a mutiny, capturing Karloff and giving him a mock trial. Though they don't truly intend to harm Karloff, he is seriously injured by one of his tormented patients. Assuming that Karloff is dead, the other inmates wall up his body in the cellar--and as the last brick is put in place, we see Karloff's eyes suddenly open! Though it has it moments of genuine terror, Bedlam is as historically accurate as possible, right down to the archaic dialogue passages. For the most part, the film is an indictment against political corruption, with Karloff (in a terrific, multi-faceted performance) alternately bullying and wheedling to save his own behind. Val Lewton (writing under the pseudonym Carlos Keith) based his film on one of the illustrations in Hogarth's "The Rake's Progress," glimpses of which are seen throughout the film as transitional devices. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Joan Newton - Dorothea; Richard Fraser - Hannay; Ian Wolfe - Sidney Long; Leyland Hodgson - John Wilkes; Elizabeth Russell - Mistress Simms; Polly Bailey - Scrub Woman; Ellen Corby - Queen of the Artichokes; Bruce Edwards - The Warder; Harry Harvey - John Gray; George Holmes - 2nd Stonemason; John Ince - Judge; Skelton Knaggs - Varney; Donna Lee - Cockney Girl; Nan Leslie - Cockney Girl; James Logan - Bailiff; Robert Manning - John the Footman; Lawrence Wheat - Podge; Robert Clarke - Dan the Dog; Tommy Noonan - 1st Stonemason; Frank Pharr - 2nd Commissioner; John W. Goldsworthy - Chief Commissioner; John Meredith - 1st Maniac; Victor Travers - Sims' Friend; John Beck - Solomon
Credit
Albert S. D'Agostino - Art Director, Walter E. Keller - Art Director, Edward Stevenson - Costume Designer, Mark Robson - Director, Lyle Boyer - Editor, Jack J. Gross - Executive Producer, Roy Webb - Composer (Music Score), Constantin Bakaleinikoff - Musical Direction/Supervision, Nick Musuraca - Cinematographer, Val Lewton - Producer, Darrell Silvera - Set Designer, John Sturtevant - Set Designer, Vernon Walker - Special Effects, Jean L. Speak - Sound/Sound Designer, Terry Kellum - Sound/Sound Designer, Carlos Keith - Screenwriter, Mark Robson - Screenwriter
Set in 1761London, England, the film focuses on events at St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum, a fictionalized version of Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as "Bedlam". After an acquaintance of aristocrat Lord Mortimer dies in an attempt to escape from the asylum, apothecary general Master George Sims (played by Karloff, a fictionalized version of an infamous head physician at Bethlem, John Monro) appeases Mortimer by having his "loonies" put on a show for him. Mortified by the treatment of the patients, Mortimer's protege Nell Bowen (Lee) seeks the help of Whig politician John Wilks to reform the asylum. Mortimer and Sims conspire to committ Nell to the asylum, where her initial fears of the fellow inmates do not sway her sympathetic commitment to improving their conditions. Frustrated by Nell's progress with the inmates, Sims threatens her with his strongest "cure" but his attempt is thwarted by the very inmates that Nell helped. Ultimately, Sims is literally "deposed" and Nell is rescued by her Quaker friend who had counseled her through the whole process.
The film has been released on DVD by Warner Bros. as part of a double release with Isle Of The Dead[1] and as part of the Val Lewton Horror Collection.[3] It features a commentary by film historian Tom Weaver.
