Bedlam - Boris Karloff, Val Lewton 1946

The 1946 movie Bedlam stars Boris Karloff as Master George Sims, the apothecary General, and Anna Lee as Nell Bowen. It was one of three movies that Karloff worked with producer Val Lewton on, and I'll talk about the other two in the near future.

I loved this movie. Karloff is magnificent, and the production values are top-notch. 

The screenplay was written by Carlos Keith (a pseudonym for Val Lewton) and Mark Robson, though as it says on one of the opening cards, the movie was inspired by William Hogarth's The Rake's Progress, plate 8, pictured here:

This is Plate 8 of Hogarth's work "The Rake's Progress"

The scene above takes place in St. Mary's Bethlehem Asylum, also known as Bethlem Royal Hospital, also known as Bedlam, and this is where the movie is centered.

Here's William Hogarth:

Hogarth's painting "Selfie with Dog" (I'm guessing on the title)
Okay, actually, it's called "Painter and his Pug" done in 1745.

The movie is beautifully shot in black and white, and Karloff is at his most...Karloffian...in it.

His voice, his pattern of speech is terrific. He plays the cruel director of the above referenced insane asylum, and unjustly imprisons Anna Lee's Nell Bowen in it. She shows kindness to the patients, and they eventually turn on Karloff.

At one point, Nell Bowen describes Karloff's Sims in this way; "He's a stench in the nostrils, a sewer of ugliness, and a gutter brimming with slop." It reminds me of how Karloff's later portrayal of The Grinch is described.

One of my favorite lines of the movies is when Karloff says to Lee: “So nice to find you here among the upper classes, Mistress Bowen, but that’s exactly where I expected you to be.  It’s a law of physics the lighter elements, like scum, rise to the top.”

Some of the language is cringe-worthy, but historically accurate, such as when the patients are repeatedly called 'loonies.' Also, as in real-life, people were allowed to pay to visit the asylum (for a fee) to see the patients in a cruel form of entertainment.

A bit of fun trivia, according to IMDB: "The dress that Anna Lee is wearing as she mounts her horse is the one Vivien Leigh made from the curtains in Gone with the Wind."

Jason Robards, Sr. (the father of the Jason Robards you are more likely familiar with) also appears in the movie as one of the patients.

Highly recommended movie.

You can buy the DVD of Bedlam (includes Isle of the Dead) here, or you can also rent it via streaming through iTunes.

Portrait of Jennie & The Picture of Dorian Gray

At 2014's CONvergence - whose theme was 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' - I watched two movies that were early examples of using color in otherwise black & white films for an interesting effect.

The first was Portrait of Jennie, 1948, starring Joseph Cotton as a down-on-his-luck artist, trying to eek out a living in depression-era New York City. He lacks inspiration until he meets a young girl in central park named Jennie. They strike up a casual friendship, and he sketches a picture of her. There's something strange going on, however; each time they meet, Jennie has aged, even though it's been only a matter of weeks or months between meetings. Eventually, her age catches up to his, and they fall in love with each other. He paints a beautiful portrait of her which catches the attention of the art world, and he becomes successful. More happens afterward, which I don't want to give away, but I really enjoyed this movie. Though most of the movie was in black & white, the last part of the movie suddenly becomes tinted green, then tinted red, and then when the full portrait is revealed in a museum years later, it's in full technicolor. (And for some interesting trivia, one of the teenagers looking at the portrait in this last shot is Nancy Davis - better known as Nancy Reagan.) This film also stars Jennifer Jones (as Jennie) Ethyl Barrymore and Lillian Gish.

Next was the classic The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1945, (based on the Oscar Wilde novel) starring Angela Lansbury, Donna Reed, Peter Lawford, George Sanders and Hurd Hatfield (as Mr. Gray). It also used a similar technique, in that the movie is filmed in black & white, but they use color when showing Dorian Gray's portrait. At first, they show the original portrait in color - the portrait of a gentleman - then later reveal the revolting image of Dorian as his soul has been nearly lost to corruption. It is this image, painted by Ivan Albright, that caused this fantasy movie to be labeled a horror film by many. I can see how springing this monstrous color painting near the climax of an otherwise black & white film must've been quite a shock to audience members. (If you'd like to see Ivan Albright's famous portrait of Dorian that caused quite a fright, you can see it here. However, you may want to watch the movie, first, and experience it that way!)

I highly recommend seeing both movies, especially one right after the other! 

Thanks for stopping by.

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