Bedlam (1946)

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

So I gave this a watch this morning and see if Id be easily creeped out by it, however it just seemed very dull and confusing. I mean, if it was gonna be set at a mental hospital, they should've set it up as a mental hospital, not a 17th century like. OK at the beginning, we see a mental institution patient leaping to his death but that's about it really. It honestly didn't concentrate on the whole story, it more less concentrated on the lead characters who dressed up in ridiculous Mozart type costumes.Yeah, you wont be easily entertained or creeped out folks because its not something to go over the top about..........

This is one of the creepiest films on asylums I've ever seen I've ever seen. Bedlam stars Boris Karloff and this might be the most vile role that Karloff has ever played: Master George Sims.The movie is pure fiction - it is not based on a true story. It's a fictional story about St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum AKA Bedlam and it's a good story. Honestly, I don't doubt that there is some sort of truth within this film because many of us have heard real life horror stories about Bedlam before the reform or should I say the modern era.This movie is worth watching if you like creepy movies about asylums, Gothic-styled thrillers, and horror films. The movie is quite a bit underrated on IMDb (in my opinion).9/10

This is not a horror movie! It is a brilliant attack on the ignorance of politics and how those with insanity were mistreated in the 18th Century. Boris Karloff, and his beautifully horrid face, gives us those campy looks of disdain he has for the inmates of the once notorious St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum (aka Bedlam). His character George Sims has his own backward way of treating the inmates, and a cruel one at that. Along comes Nell Bowen, a socialite of the rich, who finds that she has a conscious and wants to better the lives of the inmates who live in the appalling conditions. George Sims will have no one telling him how to do his nasty job, and seeks the help of politicians to falsely imprisoned Nell in the asylum.As long as it took me to write the set up to the story, is how long it took BEDLAM to get to that point... too long! After a clumsy start to the movie, we eventually get within the asylum walls and observe how Nell deals with her new lifestyle. This is the most interesting part of the movie and I wish the filmmakers had spent more time in developing the inmates of the asylum and built a stronger bond between them and Nell.Overall, an interesting piece to come out of the Val Lewton stable of horror movies.

Not perhaps a "horror" film in the vernacular of today, but undoubtedly a darkly suspenseful tale, highlighted by what is one of Boris Karloff's most menacing performances. As "Sims," the Apothecary General of "Bedlam," Karloff is delightfully sinister as he engages in a duel of wits with Anna Lee's character of "Nell Bowen," played out against the horrors of the 18th century lunatic asylum of St. Mary's of Bethlehem. The story is compelling, the background music perfectly blended to both the story and the time period in which the story takes place, and the literate script is a delight to the ear! The supporting players all add their talents to making the story consistently interesting, but it is surely Karloff and Lee to whom acting honors rightfully belong! "Bedlam" is definitely an underrated gem that must rank as one of VAL Lewton's BEST films. The story builds suspense right up to the end, with an unexpected twist that audiences will find deservedly satisfying.