Bedlam (1946 film)
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File:Bedlam (1945 poster).jpg
Theatrical release poster by William Rose
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Directed by | Mark Robson |
Produced by | Val Lewton |
Written by | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Starring | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
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Music by | Roy Webb |
Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
Edited by | Lyle Boyer |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release dates
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Running time
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79 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $350,000[1] |
Bedlam is a 1946 American horror film starring Boris Karloff and Anna Lee, and was the last in a series of stylish horror B films produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures. The film was inspired by William Hogarth's 1732–1734 painting series A Rake's Progress, and Hogarth was given a writing credit.[1][2]
Contents
Plot
Set in 1761 in London, the film focuses on events at an asylum for the mentally ill, a fictionalized version of Bedlam (the Bethlem Royal Hospital). After an acquaintance of Lord Mortimer dies in an attempt to escape from the asylum, Master George Sims (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 protégée Nell Bowen seeks his aid, then seeks the help of Whig politician John Wilkes to reform the asylum, threatening Sim's corrupt practices.
Mortimer and Sims conspire to commit Nell to the asylum, where her initial fears of the fellow inmates do not alter her sympathetic commitment to improving their conditions as she tends to the comfort of her fellow inmates. Alarmed by Bowen's imminent release, following legal pressure from Wilkes, Sims plans to apply his most drastic "cure" to her, but his attempt is thwarted by the inmates whom Nell has helped. Sims is deposed, and Nell escapes and is reunited with her Quaker friend Hannay, who counselled her through the whole process.
Cast
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- Boris Karloff as Master George Sims
- Anna Lee as Nell Bowen
- Billy House as Lord Mortimer
- Richard Fraser as Hannay
- Glen Vernon as The Gilded Boy
- Ian Wolfe as Sidney Long
- Jason Robards Sr. as Oliver Todd
- Leyland Hodgson as John Wilkes
- Joan Newton as Dorothea the Dove
- Elizabeth Russell as Mistress Sims
- Frankie Dee as Pompie
- Skelton Knaggs as Varney (uncredited)
- John Goldsworthy as Chief Commissioner (uncredited)
Release
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Theatrical release
The movie recorded a loss of $40,000.[3][4]
Home media
The film has been released on DVD by Warner Bros. as part of a double release with Isle Of The Dead[2] and as part of the Val Lewton Horror Collection, and features a commentary by film historian Tom Weaver.[5]
Reception
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Initial reception
Later reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 18 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 6.4/10.[6] Film critic Leonard Maltin awarded the film three out of a possible four stars, commending the film's atmosphere.[7]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Stephen Jacobs, Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster, Tomahawk Press 2011, pp 309-10[ISBN missing]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951', Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, Vol 14, No 1, 1994, p. 46[ISBN missing]
- ↑ Richard B. Jewell, Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures, Uni of California, 2016
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
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- Articles with short description
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- 1946 films
- English-language films
- Articles using small message boxes
- 1940s horror thriller films
- American horror thriller films
- American black-and-white films
- Films scored by Roy Webb
- Films directed by Mark Robson
- Films produced by Val Lewton
- RKO Pictures films
- Films set in London
- Films set in psychiatric hospitals
- Films set in the 1760s
- Fiction set in 1761
- Works based on art
- 1946 horror films
- 1940s English-language films