Bedlam (1946)

Director: Mark Robson
Starring: Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Billy House

Synopsis:
The protégée of a wealthy lord runs afoul of her patron and is committed to Bedlam.

Impressions:
I feel somewhat conflicted about this movie. With the exception of finding Boris Karloff entertaining as the cruel apothecary general of Bedlam, I found the rest of it to be rather uneven. On the one hand, it plays a bit into the old trope of holding up the mentally ill for spectacle but it tries to show them as people and advocate good and humane treatment for them. The protagonist Nell goes through a character arc where she starts out as contemptuous of the insane as any, then shows hypocritical concern for them (hypocritical because her actual views don't change much) and finally becomes more genuine, but it doesn't feel entirely earned. Also, the fact that the writer doesn't understand the declensions of "thou" make the Quaker character's dialog really annoying. It's not a very long film, so it's worth seeing as a curiosity if nothing else, but I never found the lead all that likable and if it weren't for Karloff, I'd probably just tell you to skip it. However, thanks to Karloff, I can tell you take it or leave it.

Rating:
50/50