Bedlam (film)

Bedlam
theatrical poster
Directed by	Mark Robson
Produced by	Val Lewton
Written by	William Hogarth (A Rake's Progress) Val Lewton Mark Robson
Starring	Boris Karloff Anna Lee Billy House
Music by	Roy Webb
Cinematography	Nicholas Musuraca
Edited by	Lyle Boyer
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	May 10, 1946 (1946-05-10)
Running time	79 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$350,000

Bedlam (1946) is a 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 A Rake's Progress, and Hogarth was given a writing credit.

Set in 1761 in London, the film focuses on events at St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum, a fictionalized version of Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as "Bedlam." After an acquaintance of aristocrat Lord Mortimer dies in an attempt to escape from the asylum, apothecary general Master George Sims (played by Karloff, 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 protégé Nell Bowen (Lee) seeks the help of Whig politician John Wilkes to reform the asylum. Mortimer and Sims conspire to commit Nell to the asylum, where her initial fears of the fellow inmates do not sway her sympathetic commitment to improving their conditions. Frustrated by Nell's progress with the inmates, Sims threatens her with his strongest "cure" but his attempt is thwarted by the very inmates that Nell helped. Ultimately, Sims is literally "deposed" and Nell is rescued by her Quaker friend who had counselled her through the whole process.

The movie recorded a loss of $40,000.

The film has been released on DVD by Warner Bros. as part of a double release with Isle Of The Dead and as part of the Val Lewton Horror Collection, and features a commentary by film historian Tom Weaver.