Purely Joyful Movie!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

A young protégé of the obese Lord Mortimer, Nell is offended by his friendship with Sims, the director of an asylum where a man is killed while trying to escape. During a dinner party, one of Sims' inmates is forced to perform but dies after being covered in gold paint. Mortimer and his friends find this highly amusing but Nell is not so happy with the conditions in the asylum, which she finds barbaric. She befriends a Quaker and the pair begin to initiate asylum reforms, but there are repercussions to come...Boris Karloff and producer Val Lewton band together once again to create a typically atmospheric slice of psychological horror, full of shadows and a general spooky ambiance. This time, the horrors are more real in the sense of the mentally ill, who are here treated in a respectful, if disturbing, light. Asylums have always come in useful in horror films and this is one of the best. The scenes with the inmates are quite disturbing, especially the mute staring girl and the man in the cage.Karloff is on top form once more and steals the entire picture with his portrayal of Sims, the director who is cruel and yet human. He stands out in the trial scene at the end of the film (which has influences going back to Shakespeare's KING LEAR) where the inmates test his sanity and find that he only practices cruelty as he is afraid of society. This trial is the highlight of the film and is well worth waiting for. Unfortunately, Anna Lee, the supposed heroine of the film, comes off as being more unlikeable than Karloff himself although the rest of the cast do their jobs admirably.The setting here is the mid-to-late 1700s, which means that the costumes are all fine and extravagant, while the scenes of the London and the way that the central upper classes of the story deal with the working classes are much the same as the themes in THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS (at least what little we see of them). BEDLAM definitely benefits from Lewton's presence and both the plot and the atmosphere tie together nicely. While BEDLAM is short on shocks and scares used by numerous other horror films, it's high on visual images and an overall sense of oppression. And for that reason it's one to add to the collection.

This is not a horror movie! It is a brilliant attack on the ignorance of politics and how those with insanity were mistreated in the 18th Century. Boris Karloff, and his beautifully horrid face, gives us those campy looks of disdain he has for the inmates of the once notorious St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum (aka Bedlam). His character George Sims has his own backward way of treating the inmates, and a cruel one at that. Along comes Nell Bowen, a socialite of the rich, who finds that she has a conscious and wants to better the lives of the inmates who live in the appalling conditions. George Sims will have no one telling him how to do his nasty job, and seeks the help of politicians to falsely imprisoned Nell in the asylum.As long as it took me to write the set up to the story, is how long it took BEDLAM to get to that point... too long! After a clumsy start to the movie, we eventually get within the asylum walls and observe how Nell deals with her new lifestyle. This is the most interesting part of the movie and I wish the filmmakers had spent more time in developing the inmates of the asylum and built a stronger bond between them and Nell.Overall, an interesting piece to come out of the Val Lewton stable of horror movies.

In 1761 London, sadistic headmaster Boris Karloff (as George Sims) runs the "St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum" for lunatics with an iron fist. The place is more commonly and appropriately called "Bedlam". After two patients die under Mr. Karloff's cruel care, actress-turned-mistress Anna Lee (as Nell Bowen) decides to expose the mental institution's abusive living conditions. She also hits Karloff with both her riding stick and the palm of her hand. Double ouch. Karloff provides Ms. Lee's fat old lover Billy House (as "Lord" Mortimer) with his gin-loving niece Elizabeth Russell (as Kitty Sims) and has Lee brought before the "Commission of Lunacy". After claiming to be 23-years-old, Lee is committed. Lee must keep her wits as Quaker stonemason friend Richard Fraser (as William Hannay) helps from the outside...****** Bedlam (4/19/46) Mark Robson ~ Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Richard Fraser, Billy House

A society of loose morals beneath and cruelty and indifference atop where the deaths of the mentally ill are as no more than the blink of an eye. This is the setting for the film and Hogarth's sketches are used as chapter headings throughout.A woman kept as a jester by Lord Mortimer, Nell Bowen, has a chance meeting with a Quaker outside an infamous mental institution, St Mary of Bethelhem's Asylum. The Quaker notes in Nell kindness and courage towards the mentally ill she has just visited: tuppence gained entry to laugh and mocked the afflicted. The meeting catalyses a change in Nell and she soon throws off Lord Moritmer and strikes out to reform treatment at the asylum, which is under the rule of a monstrous manipulator called Simms, Boris Karloff at his dastardly best. Simms connives to have Nell sectioned and she ends up in the bedlam that is the asylum, however he underestimates the affect Nell will have on the place and its incarcerated inhabitants.A witty film that will always be relevant as treatment of the mentally ill and the most vulnerable remains an ongoing issue. It is well acted by all and although the plot is perhaps predictable there are lots of quirks along the way that make it interesting including the fate of Simms ...