Bedlam is a 1946 film starring Boris Karloff and Anna Lee, and was the last in a series of stylish horror B films produced by Val Lewton (who also wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym Carlos Keith) for RKO Radio Pictures. The film was inspired by William Hogarth‘s A Rake’s Progress, and Hogarth was given a writing credit. It was a box office failure.
Set in 1761 London, 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 protégé Nell Bowen (Lee) seeks the help of Whig politician John Wilkes to reform the asylum. Mortimer and Sims conspire to commit Nell to the asylum, where her initial fears of the fellow inmates do not sway her sympathetic commitment to improving their conditions.
Bedlam has been released on DVD by Warner Bros. as part of a double release with Isle of the Dead and as part of the Val Lewton Horror Collection. It features a commentary by film historian Tom Weaver.
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“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.” Movie Review Query Engine
“Even Val Lewton’s staunchest fans don’t claim Bedlam as one of his most successful productions, but its tale of the celebrated 18th century madhouse is both intelligently written and admirably acted. Its major pretension is also its greatest weakness: the design is scrupulously modelled on Hogarth prints, and the aestheticism finally swamps most of the gusto in the plot. Robson’s notably unpoetic direction doesn’t help, either; yet few Hollywood films ever had such ambition.” Time Out
