Bedlam is an odd and interesting film. Anna Lee is Nell, a witty young woman who functions as a sort of court jester for a noble. She is goaded into visiting Bedlam, an insane asylum that holds tours so the rich can laugh at the insane. Nell affects the air of a cynical, frivolous wit, but she is disturbed by the treatment of the inmates at the hands of Boris Karloff's psychopathic George Sims. Karloff and Lee are both terrific, and the atmosphere is beautifully created, both in the lush homes of the elite and in the chaotic Bedlam. While producer Val Lewton was known as a horror movie producer, his movies were always more complex than that, and this is a movie of psychological horror. The story is compelling and the movie does a good job of showing the power of both hate and love to affect people.

Val Lewton's final horror production may not be his best effort, but it is nevertheless a fantastic movie, much better than its reputation. I think the reason why many horror movie fans dismiss this one is that it really isn't much of a horror movie per-say: it's more of a melodrama with Gothic elements taken right out of a Poe story.Allegedly based off the paintings of 18th century painter William Hogarth, Bedlam follows Nell Bowen (Anna Lee), the witty young "protege" of a jolly if heartless nobleman (really, she's more of a kept woman, but a Production Code era movie can hardly imply the heroine is a woman of easy virtue), who seeks to reform the ghastly asylum, Bedlam, run by the much ghastlier George Sims (Boris Karloff in one of his best performances). Displeased with the idea of losing what little social power he has as the head of the asylum, Sims pulls some strings to have Nell committed and hopes to both drive her mad and prove her theories that the mentally ill do possess the right to human dignity wrong. Meanwhile, Nell reaches out to the other inmates with compassion, all while plotting her escape with the aid of a young Quaker.The scenes in the asylum are hardly frightening or shocking by today's standards (mistreatment of the inmates with sexual abuse and physical torture are merely implied, and lightly at that), but the lighting and the sounds of shrieks and moaning do conjure a creepy atmosphere. The Quaker love interest is quite bland. The real highlights of the film are Karloff's gleefully wicked performance as the sadistic yet human physician and the philosophical battle between Bowen and Sims over the brotherhood of mankind. Their exchanges are entertaining and dramatically powerful. I've often heard Anna Lee's Nell described as the first feminist heroine of horror cinema, and while I think Zita Johann's character in The Mummy beats her to the punch, she is a strong female character without doubt, active and courageous. She is no angel either; she begins the movie as a greedy person who's reluctant to let the plight of the asylum inmates move her. She has to battle her own hypocrisies in order to change for the better.Truly underrated. Just don't come in expecting a chiller like Cat People or The Body Snatcher.

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.

I remember seeing "Bedlam" on television in the late 1950s. One scene in particular stayed with me – a man walking down a dark corridor in the asylum with inmates hands reaching out for him from their cells – the stuff that nightmares are made of.Has "Bedlam" travelled well over the years? That depends on your expectations. In the intervening 67 years since it was made, we have seen all kinds of horror movies. After 1968, when the ratings system was introduced, much of the last four decades were with the gloves off – just about anything could be shown. As a horror movie, "Bedlam" can't compete with all that, but it is a film full of ideas, features a subject almost unique to cinema, and still manages to deliver a chill or two.The film is set in London in 1761. Nell Bowen, played by Anna Lee, is a woman associated with Lord Mortimer, an administrator of St Mary of Bethlehem Hospital, more commonly known as Bedlam.Nell becomes upset when Mortimer allows Boris Karloff's character, Master George Simms, the Apothecary General of Bedlam, to use the inmates of the asylum as amusements for paying customers. Nell has a conscience and befriends a Quaker stonemason named Hannay played by Richard Fraser. Together they attempt to better conditions for the inmates. However Nell insults Lord Mortimer in the process; she finds herself certified as insane and committed to Bedlam. Hannay attempts to save her.Many of the leads in Val Lewton films have been described as expressionless, a nicer way of saying wooden. It was often the supporting players in Lewton's films who received the juiciest parts and gave the most animated performances. However, in "Bedlam", Anna Lee gives a spirited and engaging performance – possibly the best in any Lewton film. I say this because of the shades of light and dark the performance called for. By contrast, many Lewton heroines seemed to be in a state of clinical depression from the beginning to the end of their roles – often with good reason. Boris Karloff as Simms is also particularly good, projecting malevolence in an understated performance. Only Richard Fraser as Hannay is more true to form.Lewton's team uncovered an obscure piece of history to create this story, complete with authentic sounding dialogue – no hint of modern vernacular creeps in to jar the ear. "Bedlam" also has scenes crammed with detail, capturing the feeling of "The Rake's Progress", the Hogarth paintings that inspired Lewton to make the movie.Once the film enters the asylum, it gains considerable edge. There is great contrast between life on the inside with tattered inmates barely visible in the shadows of the cavernous asylum, and life on the outside with ornately dressed people inhabiting brightly lit rooms. Nell encounters the different layers of society within the asylum – based not surprisingly on mental competence. At first she is afraid, but then she does her best to ease the suffering of the inmates. Eventually this saves her from the excesses of Simms when the inmates rise up to protect her.Even after 67 years, "Bedlam" still offers something different … a little known slice of history, a good story, compelling performances, and that corridor of reaching hands.