I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Of their collaborations The Body Snatcher especially is a superior film but Bedlam has many impressive things about it. The pacing can feel a little too padded out at times, and for my tastes Richard Fraser's performance is too stiff and underplayed. How Bedlam is made though is both sumptuous and atmospheric and the historical period detail is highly impressive too. The music is hauntingly eerie, while not undermining the suspense, while the film is very intelligently scripted with dialogue that provokes your thoughts a lot. There is a fair bit of talk but you don't mind when the dialogue is as well-written as it is, if I have a problem with a film being talky it is when the dialogue is not particularly good really. The story has a restrained yet eerie atmosphere, is suspenseful and handles the idea of living life in a confined place better than a fair number of films I've seen(there are some obvious ones that are an exception though). Boris Karloff gives a performance that is menacing and witty, clearly relishing his role, while Anna Lee is appealingly spirited. Billy House does a good job playing pompous and Jason Robards Snr makes the most of his interesting character. To conclude, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

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.

Boris Karloff (Master Sims) runs an C18th mental hospital known as Bedlam. Billy House (Lord Mortimer) is in the neighbourhood and wants to know the circumstances surrounding the death of one of Bedlam's residents. His mistress, Anna Lee (Nell Bowen) goes a step further and wants to expose the cruelty that is being sanctioned at the institution. For all her meddling, she ends up becoming an inmate although she is perfectly sane. However, her strength and resolve has been under-estimated by the sadistic Karloff and she fights back from the inside.The cast are good - apart from Richard Fraser (Hannay) who plays the smug stonemason Quaker bloke who allies himself with Lee. His goody-two shoes outlook is a bit sickly and he just becomes more and more annoying. His dialogue doesn't help him as he has been given a script full of "Thou" and "Thee" and "Thy" and it sounds really stupid. The rest of the dialogue is quite good with dramatic sections between Karloff and Lee, and humorous moments between Karloff and House and the inmates of Bedlam - in particular Ian Wolfe who plays the committed lawyer Sidney, seems to be enjoying himself.One scene that stands out has the sadistic Karloff bring some loonies to entertain the rich who just laugh with disdain and mock their rehearsed performances. The first young man dies from being covered in paint so that his skin pores cannot breathe - an idea that was famously used in the James Bond film Goldfinger years later. The next woman starts singing and it suddenly strikes you - yep - this is where Simon Cowell got his idea for X Factor. Bascically, get a load of mentally ill people onto the stage and encourage them to sing atrociously so that the general public can laugh at them. I bet he watched this film.The story keeps you watching and it depicts the hospital as a place where people were discarded and forgotten. Even wealthy people who nowadays check in to a rehab centre to overcome drug addiction/alcoholism would have been abandoned here as demonstrated by the Jason Robards Sr character. In today's world, he would just check into a wealthy clinic where he could meet other wealthy connections so that they could all meet up and continue their addictions together when they come out. Not in the old days! The ending to this film is quality and provides a memorable section of the film.

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