BY HANK REINEKE
A March 1945 notice in the Los Angeles Times reported that following his return to Hollywoodfrom a USO camp tour, Boris Karloff was to begin work on a RKO Radio productiontitled Chamber of Horrors. The film was to be produced by Val Lewton, theproducer who had already brought to the screen such psychological-horrors as Cat People (1942), I Walked with a Zombie (1943) and Curse of the Cat People (1944). Karloff had already appeared in a pair of Lewton’s horror-melodramas forRKO, The Body Snatcher (1945) and Isle of the Dead (1945). The actor had been enjoying his freelance statusof late. Recent castings in a series ofmad scientist films (1940-1942) for Columbia solidified Karloff’s reputation ascinema’s preeminent boogeyman - even in roles sans grotesque makeup appliances. So the engagement of the actor for Chamberof Horrors was properly trumpeted in a 1945 Variety notice as something of a given: “Karloff Goes Mad – Again.”
By August of 1945 the pre-production title of Chamber of Horrors was abandoned, thefilm tentatively re-slated as A Tale ofBedlam. It’s not entirely clear whythe earlier title was dropped. One canspeculate that RKO wished to differentiate their new film from the 1940 BritishEdgar Wallace thriller of the same name. But this second title too was soon shortened, the resulting film eventuallyreleased simply as Bedlam.
The origin of the film’s scenario was certainly original,one inspired by a painting of the sixteenth century British artist WilliamHogarth. In the years 1733-1734, Hogarth would brush a series of eight platesdepicting the plight of a doomed character’s commitment to London’s notoriousSt. Mary’s of Bethlehem Asylum. The mostfamous of these portraits was Plate #8, titled “The Rake’s Progress,” asnapshot depicting madness on the ward’s floor. If Lewton’s films are best recalled for their psychological-horrorelement, the scenario of Bedlam illustratesthe sorry fate of those irreversibly afflicted. Particularly the lurid, inhumane conditions to which they’re subjected followinginternment.
In the case of Bedlam,Lewton (under the nom de plume of“Carlos Keith”) and director Mark Robson would craft a provocative, class-consciousscreenplay. Though the film is a historical-melodramain construction, the picture was marketed as a thinly disguised Boris Karloffhorror vehicle. Robson was a favorite collaboratorof Lewton’s. He helmed Karloff’sprevious film for RKO Radio, Isle of theDead, as well as two earlier Lewton productions, The Seventh Victim (1943) and GhostShip (1943). The latter title, infact, appears here as one half of the double-feature Blu ray made available herethrough the Warner Archive.
The budget for Bedlamwas kept reasonably low since the filmmakers were able to make use of anexisting set at RKO-Pathe’s studio in Culver City. Eagle-eyed admirers of the classic IngridBergman-Bring Crosby movie The Bells of St.Mary (1945) will notice that film’s convent school setting has beenrepurposed for the darker explorations of Bedlam. The existing set’s availability allowed the productionand costume designers on Bedlam some economicfreedom to properly – and lavishly - dress the costumes and settings. The film has a very elegant, high-budget feeldespite it’s small bankroll, and Robson does an admirable job of contrastingthe privileged world of London’s elite against the poor souls who suffer thedank, dark asylum chamber of St. Mary’s.
The film takes place in the year 1761, an era cynically describedhere as “The Age of Reason.” Karloff’s unpleasantcharacter, Master Sims, serves as the particularly cold and malevolentApothecary General of the asylum. He’s aman without morals, interested only in satisfying his own selfish desires andlining his pocket. To this end, Sims continually toadies and fawns to those ofregal or high political import, such as the corpulent and equally repulsiveLord Mortimer (Billy House). To gainfavor with those of high position, Sims coldheartedly showcases “performances”of interned “loonies” for amusem*nt and monies.
Things start going bad for Sims when he’s challenged byNell Bowen (Anna Lee), a mistress of Mortimer’s whose earlier haughtiness and indifferencehas softened by the grotesque showcases. Rightfully seeing Bowen as a threat to both his position and pocketbook,Karloff does what he can to break the woman’s spirit. He cynically and falsely charges her withderangement, leading to a commitment to the ward at St. Mary’s. Her only hope in breaking free – and continuingher fight for the well-being and humane care for fellow inmates interred in this“bestial world” – is through the interventions of a pacifist Quaker (RichardFraser) and a sympathetic, anti-Tory Whig politician Wilkes (Leland Hodgson). But the malevolent Sims will do all he can tosilence and destroy the determined woman to prevent that from ever happening.
The film’s monochrome cinematography looks great, Directorof Photography Nicholas Musuraca atmospherically capturing and juxtaposing theelegant lifestyles of the rich and powerful against the sorrowful livingconditions of the mental and emotionally disturbed inmates of the asylum. Such attention to detail is particularlyimpressive when considering the production of Bedlam was shot quickly, photography wrapping by the end ofSeptember 1945.
The Hollywood trades would report shortly afterward thatKarloff was scheduled to appear in yet a thirdfilm for the team of Lewton and Robson, Blackbeard,presumably a swashbuckling pirate epic. RKOexecutive producer Jack Gross was to supervise this new production, one scheduledto commence filming in spring of 1946. That film would, sadly, not see the light of day. Lewton’s relationship with Gross wasreportedly an unfriendly one, and the box-office for Bedlam wasn’t what the studio had wished it to be. The revenue shortfall was partly attributedto troublesome distribution issues.
Such issues aside, it was also true that public interestin horror films had diminished. Such changes in taste had allowed Karloff to -briefly – be free of playing roles that exploited his reputation as cinema’sman of menace. This respite, however,wouldn’t last long. The gentlemanly,lisping actor was soon back to playing villains, mad scientists, and mysteriousSwamis before decade’s end - even terrorizing Bud Abbott and Lou Costello as anacrobatic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Lewton would go on to produce four subsequent filmsfollowing Bedlam, but the filmmaker wouldpass on in March of 1951, a somewhat uncelebrated figure in Hollywood. It wasn’t until the late 1960s that filmscholars would reassess his contributions to cinema, anointing several of hisearliest 1940’s efforts as classics of the horror genre. Robson’s career would continue unabated fordecades, scoring big successes with such films as Von Ryan’s Express (1965) andEarthquake (1974).
Though this Blu ray’s second film lacks a star player of BorisKarloff’s caliber, Robson’s The GhostShip is certainly worth a watch. Despite its titillating supernaturaltitle, this film too is not a horror-vehicle. Tom Merriam (Russell Wade), a newly hired third mate to Captain Will Stone(Richard Dix), suspects the cargo freighter’s commander is not only mentallydisturbed, but possibly homicidal. Theproblem is no one on the crew or at the shipping company seems to agree withhim. This despite mounting evidence of theCaptain’s increasingly suspicious actions and demonstrably bizarre behavior. In some respects, The Ghost Ship is similar to Bedlamas it suggests one remain wary of being too trustful of those holding positionsof power and prestige. Though a sixty-nineminute B-film, The Ghost Ship is apretty effective effort, some even preferring it to Bedlam as it’s a bit more suspenseful in construction.
This Warner Archive Collection Region-Free Blu ray edition of Bedlam and The Ghost Ship is presented here in 1080p High Definition 16x91.37.1 and DTS-HD Master Mono Audio. While the set includes the trailers of both films, the only other specialfeature offered is an informative and entertaining commentary courtesy of filmhistorian Tom Weaver in support of Bedlam. Those of us who already invested in Warner’snine-film DVD set The Val Lewton HorrorCollection (2005) might not choose to upgrade for this Blu two-fer, butfans of Karloff and Lewton will be amply rewarded should they do so. This set not only features upgraded transferswith great balance, but also Weaver’s usual comprehensive supporting commentary,absent from the original DVD release.
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