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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Eerily compelling,
By
This review is from: Bedlam [VHS] (VHS Tape)
"Bedlam", one of Val Lewton's lesser known efforts with the late and great Boris Karloff, delivers a kind of a Edgar Allan Poe type tale about insanity and sanity, the corruption of the powers that be, etc. None of this is as attractive as the setting and the costumes, and the style of the movie far exceeds its actual content. Karloff turns in a fantastic performance as the creepy George Sims, cruel apothecary of Bedlam asylum. You've gotta love the wig he wears. It makes him look even more ghoulish than his natural hair.
In an attempt to ingratiate himself to the obese, moronic but ultimately good natured Lord Mortimer (Billy House), Sims takes the "idiots" (the inmates of his asylum) to lordly dinner parties and humiliates them for Mortimer's benefit. There is one unforgettable scene in which he paints an insane young man a shining gold, trying to make him look like a Greek god. When he dies of suffocation due to the shutting of his pores, the hero of the film, Anna Lee, breaks with Mortimer, a decision which to Sims' amusement lands her in Bedlam. She is a heroic and strong character with a great deal of empathy for the insane people Sims treats as dogs. Some of the scenes are simply unbelievable, such as when Sims puts her in a cage with an apparently chained, dangerous man in an attempt to disprove her Quaker philosophy of loving all human beings. With a few words she woos this dangerous man into submission and befriends him. He eventually helps her escape. The best scene by far is when the inmates "try" Sims, and find him guilty of sanity. They then wall him up alive, unbeknownst to the authorities who investigate later on. The paltry plot aside, the flashes of Hogarth's engravings and the dreadful mood of the film make it worth buying. No one could make anything out of a script this bad but Val Lewton. As you might imagine, Karloff makes the film.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A sane woman is put into Boris Karloff's Bedlam asylum,
By Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (COMMUNITY FORUM 04) (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Bedlam [VHS] (VHS Tape)
In the case of this 1946 film the term "Bedlam" refers to the infamous 18th century London aslyum for the insane. Set in 1791, the story tells of the time when the English upperclass would actually go to Bedlam for an entertaining evening of watching the imprisoned lunatics. The film was actually inspired by the infamous engraving of Bedlam that William Hogarth did for "The Rake's Progress." However, one of the visitors, young Nell Bowen (Anna Lee), an actress, is offended by the way the inmates are treated. When she tries to do something about it both her patron, Lord Moritmer (Billy House), and George Sims (Boris Karloff), the master of the asylum, stop her by having Nell committed to Bedlam."Bedlam" does not receive as much notice of some of the other films of producer Val Lewton, such as "Cat People" and "The Body Snatchers," but this is still a solid little film. Where it differs from the others is that it is not really a horror film per se, but more of a period peice about a horrific time and place. Of course, when you have Karloff playing the bad guy, in one of his above average performances, it is hard to remember that this around he is just a human monster. Lewton co-wrote the script under the pen name Carlos Keith and it ended up being this last at RKO. Director Mark Robson ("The Ghost Ship" and "Isle of the Dead"), the other co-writer, does a masterful job of creating sympathy for the inmates, most of whom are given great little bits as some point during the film. The ending can be dismissed as melodramatic, but there were really not a lot of better options for ending this one. Ultimately, the setting for "Bedlam" is better than the actual story. It is rather impressive that with the rather pedestrian plot this production did such a great job of capturing the lunatic asylum, in terms of both the set and the various poor souls trapped therein. Such things surely go beyond the status of mere window dressing. Final Note: Watch for Jason Robards, Sr., as Oliver Todd; I think this is the first time that I got to see the father of Jason Robards, Jr. in a film (although at this point he is just listed in the credits as Jason Robards).
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive, Compelling Film from RKO!,
By
This review is from: Bedlam [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Bedlam is a surprisingly good film with Karloff as the master of the famous insane asylum. Nel is a fluff of a woman under the care of a lord who helps support the asylum. Karloff's character uses his inmates for the entertainment of the elite society, often dressing them up and having them in crazy plays.
When Nel becomes upset about this and teams up with an insightful Quaker, Simms (Karloff) feels threatened and the adventure of her transformation and her eventual railroading, becoming a "guest" of Bedlam and her eventual freedom is really amazing. The Quaker's ideas of compassion and thoughtfulness seem to penetrate through to Nel as she herself becomes subject to fear and vengeance. And the final fate of Simms is chilling -- just like a Poe novel! It's great to see Karloff not as a monster or a mad scientist, but a fearful man who grants fear to those he hates and despises, a man who loves power and does not lose gracefully. A must-see from RKO Radio and another Val Lewton favorite! And Ian Wolfe appears as a looney and is one of my favorite character actors -- you may recall his later appearance in the original Star Trek! The amazing lighting and cinematography will make you fall in love with monochromatic film all over again. Great film, fun to watch. Cast Boris Karloff Master George Sims Anna Lee Nell Bowen Billy House Lord Mortimer Richard Fraser Hannay Glen Vernon The Gilded Boy Ian Wolfe Sidney Long Crew: Director Mark Robson Producer Val Lewton producer Good Idea to Get: The Val Lewton Horror Collection (Cat People / The Curse of the Cat People / I Walked with a Zombie / The Body Snatcher / Isle of the Dead / Bedlam / The Leopard Man / The Ghost Ship / The Seventh Victim / Shadows in the Dark / Martin Scorsese Presents ... Martin Scorsese Presents Val Lewton - The Man in the Shadows
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