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Bedlam

1946, Movie, NR, 78 mins

Bedlam: Review

Another strong chiller from brilliant producer Val Lewton, BEDLAM stars Boris Karloff as the sadistic head of London's infamous St. Mary of Bethlehem Hospital for the Insane. When an actress (Anna Lee) goes on a crusade to change conditions, she winds up an inmate. Inspired by Plate 8 of William Hogarth's "Rake's Progress," BEDLAM is fairly accurate historically (if not psychologically), but not as effective as some of Lewton's earlier horrors, despite a superb performance from Karloff. After years of making a great deal of money for RKO with such low-budget supernatural masterpieces as THE CAT PEOPLE (1942) and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943), Lewton aimed to pull himself out of B movies with BEDLAM by focusing on realistic social horrors rather than the supernatural. Unfortunately, the movie lost money for the studio, and Lewton's career at RKO was over. He produced only three more films, none of them notable, and died of a heart attack at the age of 46. leave a comment