Lewton had something to say. Perhaps inevitably, he found less interesting ways of saying it over the course of nine films in a short four years.
Bedlam (1946)
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Reviews Counted:15
Fresh:13
Rotten:2
Average Rating:6.5/10
Runtime: 79 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: An intriguing change of pace from chillmaster Val Lewton about an innocent girl imprisoned in a ghastly 18th-century insane asylum. Nell, an aspiring young actress, rejects the patronage of a... An intriguing change of pace from chillmaster Val Lewton about an innocent girl imprisoned in a ghastly 18th-century insane asylum. Nell, an aspiring young actress, rejects the patronage of a London nobleman after learning of the aristocrat's indifference to sadistic practices at the local insane asylum. When word of Nell's accusations reach Master Sims (Karloff), the villainous director of the madhouse, the brutal "doctor" attempts to protect his own reputation by casting doubt on the young woman's sanity. Interesting because the shock depends on a more-or-less accurate depiction of authentic settings. [More]
Starring: Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Richard Fraser, Ian Wolfe
Starring: Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Richard Fraser, Ian Wolfe, Billy House, Glenn Vernon
Director: Mark Robson
Director: Mark Robson
Composer: Roy Webb
Producer: Val Lewton
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Reviews for Bedlam
Nicholas Musaraca's excellent cinematography contributes a number of fine effects, and there's a strange and witty aside on the invention of movies.
As a sociological tract it's right on the money, as a psychological thriller it wanders at times too far away from the money.
While the film has a tendency to wander into unadulterated Hollywoodisms in spots, it is a generally straight-forward and imaginative estimate of a two-century-old sociological theme.
A fine feature in the Val Lewton series for RKO is not so much a horror film, though it does contain one of Karloff's more deliciously sadistic performances.
Robson's notably unpoetic direction doesn't help, either; yet few Hollywood films ever had such ambition.
One of Val Lewton's final films, this collaboration with Boris Karloff is also one of his most tragically underrated.
The film's single most resonant image -- that of the grasping arms of the Bedlam inmates straining to reach through the bars of their cells -- has inspired countless other movies.
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