All language subtitles for Bedlam.1946.hd

Come, poll, do you know my
friend, lord Mortimer?

Brain small, his belly big.

It's one of the lunatics from
the asylum, I expect, milord.

- A prank? A jest?
- Go and see, John.

It does not look so merry
a place, milord.

You'll have to pay
master sims tuppence,

to see all the loonies
in their cages.

Maybe they'll teach you
some new tricks, Nell.

I have no need of their wit
to entertain you, milord.

They say, sir, that one of the
poor devils in there

fell from the roof,
trying to escape.

Very regrettable.
Well, drive on.

Your lordship, it seems to me
the man was known to you.

I thought I saw him in your
company not a week gone by, sir.

Ey, really?
Well, let's have a look.

Uh, you, there.
You with the light.

He fell trying to escape.

Some of our boos
haven't sense enough

- fetch him.
- He is dining out, milord.

Dining out with Colby's blood
on his hands.

- Do you know me?
- Yes, milord.

Then, tell master sims to wait
upon me in the morning.

I have some few words
I wish to say to him.

Parrot: Oh, lord Mortimer's
like a pig.

Will you remind lord Mortimer
that I'm waiting?

Well, pompey, are you
a pretty boy this morning?

What are you trying to do,
pompey?

Milord, I want to look like
the visitor in the hallway.

Sims! I'd forgotten sims!

You there! Clear out.

First course for milord's rage.

Nell: To be eaten with a sauce
of lightning,

and to the tune of thunder.
Send him in.

Nell: Send him in.
Lord Mortimer: Sims. Sims!

Lord Mortimer: Quiet!
I'll tell you why.

That you hated him, I knew.

That you envied him
was known to all...

But that you would dare...

Dare to leave
that murderous window open

to murder him
from spite and envy!

Murder, milord?
There was no murder.

Colby was my guest.

He chose to leave by a window,

before I could
open the door for him.

And then that, that
monstrous accident.

Master sims
is writing a new dictionary.

Are accidents contrived,
plotted, executed?

This was a misadventure
contrived by the victim,

and executed by nature's law,

that all who lose their grip on
gutters must fall.

You stick to that story,
master sims?

I could never invent
one half so droll.

Two poets, Colby and myself.

But I am not only a poet,

but also, by your
lordship's favor

St. Mary's of Bethlehem
hospital.

My friend comes to discuss
poetry.

I am absent. My guards,
mistake him for a madman.

He tries to escape from them
and is killed.

It's a romance that cost me 20
guineas and a night of laughter.

Lord Mortimer was foolish enough
to pay an advance,

for poetry promised
in the future.

Colby was to write a masque,

for the fete
lord Mortimer is giving.

If I might offer
my humble talents.

Even at the hospital I deal in
wit and laughter, madam.

Are there any
who have come to bedlam,

and say the entertainment is not
worth the tuppence they paid?

You do not entertain me,
master sims.

That is because you
have a tender heart.

Master sims: Most people
laugh at my ugliness.

It offends me, sir.

To move a lady
so beautiful in any way...

He's gallant, too.

I am as you wish, milord.

And I will make your fete
a frolic you will remember.

Sometimes the success of a play
belongs to the players.

What if the masque were
performed

by my company of wits,
the bedlamites?

Have your loonies perform?

The opposition.
Not John wilkes himself,

nor his whole whig party
could think of anything

as clever as that, eh, Nell?

You didn't think of it, either.

Well, it's one
and the same thing,

my... my friend here,
thought of it.

Let us say that you inspired
the thought, milord.

Do you hear that, Nell?
I inspired him.

Let us say that you both
inspired me.

Milord and
the beloved of milord.

I think you misunderstand,
master sims.

I am milord's protegee.
I entertain him and he has

no more freedom with me
than any other man.

In any case

if milord will but give me
the day and hour of the fete

I will prepare
a masque of madness

one week from today at the
vauxhall.

- The company assembles at 8:00.
- Thank you.

A merry notion.

The lord mayor will roll
in the soup with laughter.

A capital fellow, this sims.
A capital fellow.

If you ask me, milord,
he's a stench in the nostrils,

a sewer of ugliness,
and a gutter brimming with slop.

- But witty!
- So, he tells us.

Even if his wit is wanting

his bedlamites will set my
guests roaring.

Everyone who goes to bedlam
expires with laughter.

Why don't you go
and see them, Nell?

You'll see how funny they are.

.\

J' ladies come
and buy my lavender j'

j' my sweet scented lavender j“

woman: Nice fresh toddies,
all fresh.

J' now's the time
to scent your handkerchief I

j' ladies come
and buy my lavender j'

There is a quaker
waiting for you, sir.

Will you have him in?

Where is my rhyming lexicon?

- I need a rhyme for Mortimer.
- That quaker, sir.

Whatever are you rattling on
aboutso, podge?

I have an important commission.

A rhymed comedy
for milord Mortimer.

And you bother me
about some sniveling quaker.

He's been waiting so long, sir.

- Waiting?
- Three hours, sir.

Huh... I waited four hours
before milord Mortimer

would give me a dog's word.

He's a good workman.

You may leave us, podge.

My man tells me
you'll do the work cheaply.

With cut stone one foot thick,
and the best mortar,

I can do the work
for 15 guineas.

- What if I gave you 18 guineas?
- It would be too much.

Eighteen guineas and you are
to return to me two.

Then you'll have a better price,

and I'll have some reason to
employ you.

My friend, I have forgotten
what thee has said.

If thee do not repeat it,

then I can believe
no evil of thee.

I've asked you for a bribe, man.

Have you never been asked
before?

This is simple business
between us two.

My friend, about the
stonemasonry...

I had not looked forward
to the pleasure

of seeing you again so soon,
mistress Bowen.

I have a curiosity to see
the loonies in their cages.

And so you shall. So you shall.

Your riding crop,
mistress Bowen,

you must hang it here.

It's a law of the institute.
No weapons.

In heaven's name, why?

In one of his plays, dekker,

a second-rate dramatist
of the last century

"fierce as wild bulls,
untamable as flies...

"And these have oft from
strangers' sides,

strangely, here, one forgets
you're a man of letters,

our hospital is ancient and well
known. Much written of.

I dare say, no man or woman

comes to London from the country

Are they not witty,
mistress Bowen?

And look at the frolic
this one treats himself to.

To catch peacocks
for the royal dinner.

They're all so lonely.

They're all in themselves
and by themselves.

- They pay no heed to us.
- Uh, you noticed that.

They have their world
and we have ours.

Ours is a human world.
Theirs is a bestial world.

Without reason. Without soul.

They're animals.

Some are dogs.

Those I let wallow
in their own filth.

These I cage.

Some, like this one...
Are doves.

I've seen enough.

But you haven't
seen the other cages.

But you have no idea
how merry they can be.

How much amusement they afford.

From that mad girl with her
staring eyes?

If I have offended you,
mistress Bowen...

Nell: Thank you, sir.

My valet can plait a tress
or twirl a furbelow,

I was glad to do thee this
little service.

I saw thee strike sims.
Thee shouldn't have done that.

Do you think I'm afraid of him?

- Do you think he could harm me?
- Thee are able enough.

It is those poor ones in there
I'm thinking of.

Sims will make them suffer
for that blow.

Are we lovers
that you "thee" and "thou" me?

I've never seen your face
before.

I'm one of
the society of friends.

I've heard of them.
They turn the other cheek.

There is more to being a quaker
than turning the other cheek,

and saying "thee" and “thou.“

it is feeling pity for those in
there... as thee did.

Do you think I struck him

because I felt pity
for the loonies?

- I saw it in thy face.
- Pity?

I had no such feeling, sir.

I struck the man,
because I wanted to.

Because he is an ugly thing
in a pretty world.

There are many ugly things
in this

pretty world
if thee would but see them.

Master quaker,
I did not always wear velvet.

I had guessed that. But where
there is one like thee

to wrest comfort from a hard
world with wit and cleverness

I have no pity for them.
Let them do as I did.

But those in there,
can they help themselves?

And I have no pity for them,
either.

That is not thy thought.

In the evening,
and you will see me laughing,

at these same loonies
that you think I pity.

Thee will not laugh at the poor
and the afflicted. Not thee.

I've seen great ladies and
their hearts were like stone.

- But thee...
- My heart is a flint, sir.

It may strike sparks, but they
are not warm enough to burn.

I have no time to make a show of

loving kindness
before my fellowmen.

Not in this life.
I've too much laughing to do.

Flanked by lunacy...

And speaking with
the voice of youth,

will tell you of its brightest
adornment,

Come, reason, you've wit enough
to say a word or two.

Lord Mortimer: That's a Tory
joke for you.

And only the tories
will laugh at it.

The opposition
wonders what the effect

may be on that poor sick boy.

Wilkes: The tories care
only for the jest,

but we whigs have some concern
for the humanities.

Give them a jest and they answer
with a political tirade.

- The effect.
- Go ask him.

He'll make you a speech
on the matter.

To this pretty world.
Pretty world.

Good, good.
The great voice of reason.

The...

Of our age...

Come on, come on,
I spent all morning

You see, milord,

reason is overcome with emotion
when it must speak of you.

- Prod him on, sims.
- Go on.

A few more of those
golden words I taught you, lad.

Somewhere I heard
that the human body

if you shut those pores...

Like a Jewel...

Another word, good, gentle
reason.

Prince of men.

A bit of canvas,
a handful of coarse sand

isn't that
harsh treatment for a sick lad?

They have to get the gilt off
if he is to be well again.

Nell: So you know that.

You know that
anyone painted over

as thick as that
poor lad will die.

If I understand you properly
this boy is dying...

This boy is dead because his
pores are clogged by the gilt.

Well, then,
sweet mistress Bowen,

since you are such a stickler
for the correct definition

you will Grant me the legal fact

that this boy died by his own
exhalations.

You might say he poisoned
himself.

Milord, have we not
had enough of this?

Enough of that boring,
dull man and his cruelty.

- He shall make you laugh.
- Spare me that.

- But, Nell...
- A boy died tonight.

A boy who had no mind
to guide his thoughts or deeds.

Maybe there'll be some concern
about that among the whigs.

Nell: Certainly none
among the tories.

You'll find they're laughing,
too.

Liberty. That is a great word
you whigs found somewhere.

Butjust the same, you'll end

either with the pox
or on the gallows.

That, milord, depends on whether
I embrace your sweetheart

or your politics.

Here is alfrieda,
queen of the artichokes.

Sims: She will sing for you.

J' here's to the maiden of
bashful fifteen j“

j' here's to the widow of fifty j'

j' here's to the flaunting
extravagant queen j“

j' and here's to the housewife
who's thrifty j'j'

This is a strange place to see
thee, mistress Bowen.

A little dull, perhaps,
but a good enough place

to ask the questions
I want to ask.

So far, mistress Bowen,
I have found thee

more ready with answers
than with questions.

Don't worry,
my questions are pert enough.

First, do you think me
a woman of kind heart?

- I have told thee so.
- Why?

I saw thy face at bedlam.

I've never seen that
in my mirror.

But let's say I Grant the fact.

Let's say I saw things
that moved me to pity.

Perhaps, god sent thee here,
that thee might find guidance.

- From you?
- I have not said so.

Perhaps he sent thee here
so we might speak together.

I have seen things tonight
I have no liking for.

My friends laughing
at sorry idiots,

brought out from
bedlam to amuse them.

- A poor boy.
- Thee need not tell me.

It's a bad time for the poor,
and the people suffer

the ones with wit,
and the ones without.

And if you feel sorry for them,
what do you do about all this?

I do what I can.
I am a stonemason.

- How does that help people?
- I build well.

Let others build as well,
and soon this city

will become a clean
and decent habitation.

I'm only a Jester
to bring laughter

perhaps, even in the
amusement of Mortimer

there is a way that thee can
help the poor people in bedlam.

Is not Mortimer
a member of the council?

Good. You're not such a fool
as I thought you.

Why don't you take off your hat?
Have you no liking for me?

It is a rule among the friends
to uncover only before god.

Milord will see you now,
master sims.

- Good morning, mistress Bowen.
- Good morning.

Ah, sit down and wait a bit.
I have news for you.

I trust you enjoyed the fete.

You will hear presently
how much I enjoyed it.

Sims, you have no idea
what we've decided.

She wants to turn
bedlam upside down

and make all the loonies
happy as linnets.

You can't imagine what a clever
Vixen she is, sims.

Thought it all out herself
before she even spoke to me.

Beds, blankets, some to sew,
some to bake. Good food.

I can quite understand
what mistress Bowen wants.

Good food in bedlam
for along while.

You forgot to mention
good treatment, master sims.

That, too.
I'm sure we could afford that.

You can't imagine the gratitude
I bear you, mistress Bowen.

These reforms you propose
will make my name stand out

- we knew you'd agree.
- I'm overjoyed, milord.

Good, good.
You see, it's done, Nell.

There is but one small point.

The trifling matter of money.

Milord has already
thought of that.

Of course, of course.

That's generous of you, milord.
Very generous.

How so, sims?
What sort of generosity?

Does not milord
have property in moorfields?

A dozen dwelling houses,
a warehouse, two inns...

You see, sims,
I know my accounts.

And I know your properties.

They are taxable
by the institute.

Therefore, milord, this reform
will cost you not less than

five hundred guineas in
additional taxes.

But what is that to you, milord,
a mere bagatelle.

Some little gift you'd gladly
give to mistress Bowen.

I will relinquish that little
gift, master sims.

I gave you no gift, Nell.

She's merely speaking of a gift
she's not going to have.

Now take master wilkes.
He'd never be so generous.

He would say,
"loonies don't vote."

But that's true. There's nothing
to be had from them.

You were going to do,
this as a good deed, milord.

There'd be so much
I would have to do without.

Nell, we're going to have to
forget this whim of yours.

It is the first thing
I've ever asked of you.

But milord has to keep up
appearances at court.

You've no idea what an expense
that is to a man.

That's true.
You have no idea, Nell,

what a great responsibility
it is to be rich.

- What an expense.
- It's simply this, milord.

I've asked you to do a good
deed, and you find

the very thought of it
too expensive.

You have no right
to speak to me that way, Nell.

I've all the rights
of having put up

with you for
nearly a year, milord.

Trying to make you laugh, and
then listening to that fat laugh

of yours as it comes rumbling
out of your fat throat.

Put up with me? Put up with me?

But look what I've done for you.

You'd be camping in the rain
on strathmore common

with the other strolling players
if you hadn't caught my eye.

Do you call that weak and watery
vessel your eye?

I would not want to look at the
world through it.

I would not want to be
a dull man

I would not want
to bribe and be bribed

to Fawn upon the king
and kick the commoner.

In short, milord, I would not
want to be lord Mortimer.

You would not want?
You would not want...

Nor do I want to be with you.
Not for an instant longer.

Maybe being rich and great
and powerful is infectious.

It's a disease
I don't want to catch.

Such angry words.

Of course, as I pointed out
to you, milord,

you have every right
to take legal steps.

You've been very helpful, sims.

To have been
the cause of this quarrel.

It's not your fault.

May I guide you to the door,
master sims?

You know lord Mortimer's
signature?

I can recognize a pig's tracks
when I see them.

Then you know I have the right

to remove the furniture
which he loaned you.

It's all legal. All by order.

That's not lord Mortimer's.
That's not lord Mortimer's.

She's no present to be given
and taken back.

She's been with mistress Bowen
since mistress Bowen

played "Aurora" in the rivals.

We were very good in that.

Serves me right, varney.

A kind heart butters
no parsnips.

But what shall we do,
mistress Bowen?

We've got nothing but the
clothes we wear and poor poll.

Remember, my clear, if gin is
offered, you must take wine.

You'll be merry enough on wine.

Well, you told me lord Mortimer
likes a witty girl.

Best leave the wit to me,
I'll make you seem witty.

Oh, I can crack
a joke well enough.

Not in good company,
my dear niece.

You're not accustomed to it,
you know.

I have known some gentlemen.

A man from whose largesse
many blessings

can come to the family of sims.

And just for a little laughter.
That's all he wants.

Afine lord, indeed.
Mocked by a parrot.

But this parrot is our key to
open milord's friendship to you.

Now remember, you were offended.
You offered money. You...

Pardon, milord,
this is my niece, kitty.

She does you honor, sims.

But have you heard
the latest news of my lady?

Brave mistress Nell.
What a jest she's hit upon.

It is because of that
that we are here.

A great bit ofjapery, sims.
What a Vixen!

I hardly thought
to find you in such humor.

Oh, it's only a jest.

Nell has the bird for sale
in the marketplace.

Letting it scream that silly
ditty...

"Lord Mortimer is like a pig.

His brain is small
and his belly big.“

all of London's
come to laugh at the bird.

So they have.
And it does you no good, milord.

That joke can make your
proud name, a mockery.

Well, now, the bird
won't sing too long.

I've sent pompey to buy it.

That girl holds the bird
at a high enough price.

My niece, knowing of my
affection for you,

tried to buy the bird.

She offered 20 guineas
and was refused.

Mistress Bowen wants more honey

pompey has a purse
with a 100 guineas in it.

A100 guineas for a bird?

Will you have some wine,
mistress sims?

Oh, wine is too French for me,
milord.

It's the way I feel about men.

I like men to be as big as beer
and as strong as gin.

Beer has a head on it, you know

and you can't say that for wine.

And gin has muscle in it.

And you can't say that for wine,
either.

Bless me. I have never heard
anyone put it that way before.

There is much to be said
for our national institutions.

She said it was not enough.

What sort of game is this?

Mistress Bowen
told me to tell you

and that you could sell
every property you owned

and not have
money enough to buy it.

So, that's the way
the wind blows, milord.

The girl digs her spurs
too deep.

But, milord, we can always
make her my guest.

No, no...

She's as sane as you and I.

He was my guest.

We've been good comrades,
Nell and I.

- I'll not do that.
- As you wish, milord.

Here, milord.
Confusion to your enemies.

You can't restrain
a parrot from slander.

You can't exercise the right of
privacy against a bird

but I think I have a way,
milord.

It'll make you a lion.

I'm an angry man.

There are laws against the
depredations of livestock.

Is not a parrot livestock?

Are you not suffering
great loss?

You know that
he who steals my purse

steals trash, but he who...

Why, I heard that
at the playhouse.

We can swear out a writ of
seizure, send a bailiff

for the parrot and have it
here within the hour.

- We could do that.
- Indeed we can.

Alright! Come along.

I told thee no good
would come of it.

Thee cannot mock
thy friends this way.

Mock him? He'll wish I'd only
mocked him when I've finished.

- Softly. Bah!
- I swore I'd wring its neck.

Give me that bird, varney.

Your gifts you can take back,
milord, but the parrot was mine,

is mine, and remains mine
as long as I want.

Thee must be careful
of other's property.

Curse you, man.
You shall fight me for this!

Thee can see I carry no weapon.

I do not fight nor brawl
with other men.

- You shall fight me!
- Icannol

fight or I'll run you through!

- Will you fight?
- Milord!

My friend, thee,
has no quarrel with me.

Let me go!

Thee must not mock thy friend.

Parrot: Lord Mortimer.
Lord Mortimer.

Thee can earn an honest living
for thyself.

I had to sew my costumes
when I was on the stage.

Two shillings a week
and all found for a seamstress.

One can live well on that
if one is frugal.

What would I do with varney?
Who'd have him?

Thee has not strength enough
for a Mason, varney.

- You see?
- Just the same.

I'll give varney work.

He has strength enough for that.

He sweeps and I sew.

All very fine,
but not very exciting.

What do you think about it,
varney?

I like a merry life,
mistress Bowen.

And so, by blazes, so do I.

Everyone makes his living
with his own tricks.

Nell: My tricks are
not yours, master stonemason.

Varney: If I may say a word,
mistress Bowen,

you still have many friends.

Oh, but, he's always
talking about fontenoy.

So far as I am concerned,
dear mistress Bowen,

you need not teach your parrot

any special phrases
for my benefit.

Am I to understand from that,
master wilkes,

that you're not interested?

- Not in bedlam nor in me?
- I did not mean that.

I meant only that I am a
different sort of man

I am not easily pleased.

I think you expect too much,
master wilkes.

You want to fight the nastiness
and corruption of bedlam.

I offer you political alliance
with John wilkes

whom his gracious majesty has
pleased to call "that devil.“

bring me the evidence and I'll
be pleased to take it to court.

Let us say that puts a brighter
face on matters, master wilkes.

One gives a girl a kiss to seal
a certain kind of bargain, Nell.

This is a rather public place,
master wilkes.

But one shakes hands
with a comrade and a friend.

That is a blow I'll leave you
to administer.

I have one of his to ward away.

Milord thought it would be best
to make friends again.

On your advice, I suppose, and
for some purpose of your own.

Every word he says is true and
better put than I could say it.

Well, so, we're friends again.

You go your way
and I go my way...

But friends are
not that off-handed

milord would like to be
kind to you.

I'm duly warned. Go on.

Milord thinks you've been
looking rather pale of late.

Perhaps the waters of bath,
a rest.

Milord, you know that
I have a contempt

for certain kinds of money.

How deep that contempt is,
I am about to show you.

The bank of england,
thanks you for 300 pounds.

Tomorrow, after the commission
for lunacy examines her,

not at you nor at me.

Here.

You sign here.

Confound me, sims, I can't
sign this. She's not mad.

She's not a danger to herself
and others as it says here.

Sign, milord. She's a danger to
my position and your properties.

Alone, she means nothing,

but with wilkes behind her,
she's more dangerous to us

Well, gentlemen,
here is your lunatic.

I'm 23 years of age.
Born at rye.

My parents are dead,
and I have no husband or child.

What more would you
wish to know?

The commission of lunacy
will frame

the questions for you,
mistress Bowen.

And I can read
and write as readily

as any man I see before me.

Do you know the difference
between right and wrong?

What is right for me
is wrong for you,

that much I know,
and vice versa.

Oh, don't fool yourselves.

A merry answer does not
make me a fool, gentlemen.

And you shall
have a sensible answer.

Mistress Bowen, is it true that
some days past,

you refused the sum of
100 gold guineas

for a parrot not worth
five shillings?

I had my reasons. It was a jest.

You know your sums?

If two and two make four, I do.

Added to another
makes a greater number,

I presume you know a large sum
of money from a small sum.

I only know
that I like large sums

then, why did you
refuse 100 guineas

for a parrot worth five shhhngs?

I have told you, it was a jest.

Knowing the value of money,
mistress Bowen,

can you explain
why it was you ate a banknote?

For a jest.

Master sims knows
why I ate the money.

To show my contempt for it.

No. But at that moment,

it was the only way to show
contempt.

I was angry and it was the first
thing that occurred to me.

Do thoughts like that always
occur to you when you're angry?

Surely, everyone does
foolish things sometimes.

At a whim, for a prank.

Is it wise to eat money?

Gentlemen, would you permit me
to communicate

he will speak for me.

You are not in need of any
witnesses but your own sanity

and we shall
judge the worth of that.

Mistress Bowen, you have asked
for voluntary commitment

to enter
St. Mary of Bethlehem's asylum.

The charges for your care
and keep to be borne

I have here the commission's
approval of your request.

The commission
has adjudged you insane.

But I made no petition
to enter bedlam.

Perhaps you did it as a jest,
mistress Bowen.

You're not going to put me in
bedlam?

I know what I say.

I did not ask for admission to
bedlam.

Here in bedlam, my dear,
we can't feed you banknotes.

Try chewing on this.

I want a biscuit.
Polly want a biscuit.

You see, varney,
now that he's mine,

I've already taught him
a new and original trick.

But, mistress Bowen
must have been here.

Now, my love,
and how did you spend the night?

Voyage? Oh, no, not a voyage.

Just a trip to the country,
to ride.

To listen to the Twitter
of the birds.

I would invite you, my dear,
but it's a bachelor affair.

Sports, you know...

Well, all good things must end,
milord.

I'll have a bit of the gin.

And another little sip to get
rid of the dry taste of piety.

I thought there was precious
little of that in this house.

There's a quaker out there
who wants to see you.

Pompey is sending him about his
business.

Such a person has never been
known in this household.

Come now. Thee must know that
to be an untruth.

Mistress Bowen had tea with
milord only yesterday.

Your young lady was the one
who was telling tales.

There's been no woman
in this household

but mistress sims
since I can remember.

So they tell me.

- Where is the quaker?
- He's been and gone.

- He must have just left.
- That's likely.

J' apples a penny apples j'j'

varney: Master hannay.
Master hannay.

I'll tell you where she is,
master hannay.

I'll tell you where she is.

- They put her in bedlam.
- In bedlam?

Ah, yesterday they summoned her.
She's there now.

Well, friend, thee must come
with me, we shall go to bedlam.

No, no, I can't go with you.
I'm employed by milord.

You see, master stonemason,
I have to live.

And you yourself said
I didn't have

enough muscle for honest work.

It's enough that thee
is an honest man, varney.

That thee ran all this way
to tell me where she is.

Is that your name they call?

- How do they know I'm here?
- They don't know.

Some of our poor companions
spend their days

if they hear a new cry,
they repeat it.

Then others take it
up and so it goes.

But my name?
How do they know it?

Someone must have
shouted in the street.

Perhaps someone trying
to reach you.

Thank you, thank you!

By George sims' order, isuppose.

Stonemason: And quickly, too.

A new ruling. You understand.

I understand only
that I am a free man.

That I have money in my hand.

Thee has no legal right to deny
me entry to a place

- quite true, quite true.
- Well?

The warder will
take your tuppence.

Sims: And now if you will leave
your arms at the arms rack.

But I have no arms.
I am of the society of friends.

Then I'm afraid
we must return your tuppence.

Did you not quote the law to me?

Let me then quote
the law to you.

It is a rule of our institute
that all who enter the main hall

must hang their arms
upon that rack.

Since you have none,

I cannot let you enter.

Thee cannot deny me entry
for such cause.

Save yourself a walk, quaker.
It's locked.

It's a rule, master quaker,
and I break no rules.

As if it were a holiday.

On my own business, friend Smith

and without this good
job of work

that we have, hannay.

Doing business
a little strange, ah?

We've the work. We've the will.
Let's at it, boys.

But thee hasn't the knack of it.

- Huh, thanks, hannay.
- Maybe you'd give us a hand.

- There are but three of us.
- I'd just as leave.

Hannay: One, two. Heave, all.

- Call.
- One then two. Down we go.

- Thanks, hannay.
- Thee is welcome.

Now you're here, hannay,
you can see all

of bedlam without
paying your tuppence.

Man 1: Can't he, lads?
Man 2: That he can.

Man 2: All the wonders of bedlam
and for nothing.

This corridor leads to the main
room.

It's a little dark maybe,
but if you get to

the end of it,
you'll get an eyeful.

If thee don't mind,
I'll go and look.

Hannay: Nell Bowen.
All: Nell Bowen.

Hannay: Nell Bowen.
All: Nell Bowen.

Hannay: Nell Bowen.
All: Nell Bowen.

Hannay: Come, Nell.

- You've come to take me away?
- No.

- There is no way.
- Find wilkes.

Wilkes will get me out of here.

I had thought of that,
I'll seek him out.

But until he can free thee,
thee must be patient.

Patient? How can I be patient?
I'm terrified.

- These people are like beasts.
- So thee has that same thought.

- The same thought as sims.
- No. But they frighten me.

They're dirty, savage, mindless.

- Disgusting.
- Thee wanted to help them.

That's why they put thee here,
for trying to aid them.

I still want to aid them,
but I cannot here.

Not here where
they're all about me.

All I want is release
or a weapon to defend myself.

Thee has thy kindness
and thy courage.

They can be sword and buckler
to thee in this place.

I want something more than
my naked hands

to help me if there
should be trouble.

- Give me a weapon.
- Thee knows I carry no sword.

Harm my fellow creatures.

Hannay: That is to build with.

It has a point. It has a handle.

Would you have me maimed,
scratched, scarred?

The lord will not let it happen.

Give me the trowel
and I'll not let it happen.

Look at my face again.

God forgive me for what I do.

Forgiven or not,
at least I can defend myself.

.\

Wilkes will have me
out of here like that.

I haven't seen wilkes
in the last week.

- He's never at home.
- He's electioneering.

- Where?
- Anywhere in the kingdom.

But it's a matter of import,
grave import.

A woman's reason hangs on it.
I must see him.

He's ordered pamphlets
and posters from me.

He must come here and when he
does, I'll tell him.

She seems quite ladylike.
Quite sane.

Or as I might express myself
before the bar...

Compos mentis en iex.

We can have Dan and the four
of us can play paroli.

Madam,
would you care to join us?

That's kind of you.
But I have no money.

Money? We play on our word.

I have a wealth of words.
I don't cheat.

But I warn you, I'm not above

amending the mistakes of
fortune.

This, mistress Bowen,
is Oliver Todd.

He won't speak to you nor to me,
but there's no harm in him.

Sometimes he fancies
himself a dog.

Sidney: And he remembers
how to play cards.

Sidney: I am long.

Sidney long,
the crown solicitor.

Whose enemies will not let him
practice at the bar.

I have many enemies.

I shouldn't have told you that.

This pillar are the safe ones.

The good ones. The wisest.

That's why they
let us have the candle.

But the rest...
You must be careful of the rest.

Now, I will hold the bank.
Twenty thousand pounds.

Five pounds for a card.

Five whippets, ten bassets,
one gazehound.

Anyone wish another card?

Fortune smiles
at your first play.

- What card?
- Knave of spades.

- Eight bulldogs.
- What's that?

A poor wretch.

Sims gave him a dose of iron
this morning.

The chains are
scruffing his flesh.

They've heard too many groans
to bother.

But what about you?
Don't you ever help the others?

Why should we help?
We are the people of the pillar.

Wait. I can't play with
that going on.

- May I have the candle?
- Sidney: Be careful of the straw.

Do your chains hurt you?

Would it help if! Put a bit of

cloth there to ease your arm?

Sidney: He's quiet now.
That was kind of you.

It's just that I don't care for

sad music with
my game of paroli.

- Sidney: A card?
- Five pounds.

Sidney: Any others?
Nell: Fifteen pounds.

Sidney: Anyone else? Banco.

A very pleasant group
you make, dear people.

It's so nice to find you here

amongst 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.

Thank you, master sims.
A delicate compliment.

I see you've joined
what little we have of society.

The group around the pillar.

Is this the brotherhood
your quaker friend preaches?

Or perhaps you're afraid
amongst the others.

- Then you have forgotten.
- Forgotten what?

Forgotten that you were
going to reform bedlam.

Sims: Cleanliness,
soft beds for the

delight of the patients,
good treatment.

You've been here a week,
mistress Bowen

and your only friends are these.

Give me clean straw,
I'll make beds for them.

Bandages, I'll bind their
wounds.

- Water and soap...
- That I would delight to see.

You shall have water.
You shall have soap.

You shall have straw enough.

I hope you make
good use of them.

I will, never fear.

I leave you to dream
of these augean labors.

And may your dreams
be sweet and cleanly.

But where is it? You promised
a chapter for today.

I appeal to you, master long.
Is it fair?

I support his family,
feed his children,

even pay my tuppence to come in

and get my script,
and it is not ready.

We've been busy, we've been
helping mistress Bowen.

- Now about the next chapter...
- No, not a warder, master gray.

An inmate like ourselves
who does all she can

to help her fellow sufferers.

- But what can she do?
- Look, I'll show you.

Sidney: What can she do,
you ask?

Sidney: She can feed those
who haven't wit enough

siney: She can wash
the helpless.

She is an angel
in this darkness.

Very interesting, but this book
you have, those drawings?

Oh, the pictures?

You don't know half their
wonder, master gray.

If I could only get a light
behind these pages

I could throw them large
as life upon the wall.

Aye, that's not a bad notion.
One could charge admission.

You could even tell the story
Todd's writing that way.

Oh, but, you forget.

It's because of these pictures

Yes, of course.

And you, Oliver...

You'd best finish
that chapter by tomorrow

or I shall withdraw my support
from your family, understand?

Dan, did you chance to see
a trowel?

I'll build you a wall,
a wall that high.

Master long,
have you seen a trowel?

A trow... I beg your pardon?

A trowel.
A m-Mason's instrument.

I mislaid it some days ago.
I'd like it back.

Oh. Oh, yes, yes. A trowel.

I'm not mad, master long.
I had a trowel.

Oh, certainly, mistress Bowen.
We'll help you find it.

Sometimes, I think
I've gone mad myself.

And all for people
who don't even know

they know.

What a happy place
this has become.

Everything is so much cleaner.

The idiots even have
their faces washed.

Such a little time and this
wonderful change in bedlam.

What wonders will you not
accomplish in a lifetime?

Madam, you are to be
congratulated.

- What do you want?
- I want only to reward you.

Did you not ask for
a separate sleeping apartment?

I'd like to sleep in peace.

The main room is noisy at night.

And I have a room for you.

A pretty chamber.
If you will come with me?

Unfortunately,
you will have to share

this comfortable apartment
with one other.

But I'm sure
you won't mind that.

This is your new chamber,
my dear lady.

Won't you enter?

You've not driven me
mad yet, sims.

I would not go in there.

And I wanted so much
to please you.

Wait, this was to show you
that all those

mawkish theories you learned
from the quaker are lies.

Sims: Men are not brothers.
Men are not born good and kind.

Even the mindless ones
are savage

I know your thoughts
on the matter, sims.

They do not interest me.

The others, yes, you can prove

the little value of gentleness.

But look at this man,
look at him

and tell me that kind words

and tender deeds
can rule him, look!

I am looking. It proves nothing.

But you don't dare
enter the cage

with him, that proves much.

Sims: That proves
the falsity of all

that you've come to believe.

- It does not.
- Then enter the cage.

Gentle him with a word.
Conquer him with kindness.

Or admit that your quaker lies.

My friend, you do not wish to
hurt me, nor I you.

Perhaps you'd like to talk.
I will listen to you.

I know, you're trying to
remember.

Tom: I..., I...

And the bailiff came
and she went with him to bedlam.

Apparently, sims fears an
investigation.

Unwanted wives by
that sweet expedient.

But it takes sims to forestall
criticism with imprisonment.

I shall not believe such ill,
even of him.

But she is there.
I've spoken with her.

Mistress Nell with that bright,
quick mind of hers

saner than either a politician
or a quaker.

This is still england, hannay.
And we have laws here.

Laws of right and justice.

And I shall see that sims feels
their full weight.

We'll have Nell out of bedlam in
a twinkle, never fear.

"Let hull, house of hull rejoice

with subis,
a bird called the spight.

- Which breaks the eagle's eggs"
- that's not right.

"Let scroop, house of scroop
rejoice with fig-wine

palmi-primarium vinum"
that's not so.

- Palmi-primum is the word.
- That's not right.

"Let hollingstead,
house of hollingstead

rejoice with sissitietaeris
herb of good fellowship

praise the name of the lord
September, 1762."

That's not the word of truth.
The word of truth is peace.

Wiser people than you
have fought over it, Betty.

A word with you.
I have good news.

You are to have a new hearing
before the commission.

Your hearing tomorrow afternoon.

I want to do everything
possible to make

sure that your hearing
is a success.

- That you will be released.
- Thank you.

In fact, I have ordered

my most beneficent remedy
for you.

- A remedy, master sims?
- Have they not told you?

It's my own invention. A cure.

Specific for the lax
and wandering mind, look at him.

When he came here,
he had but one concern

to remember something
he had forgotten.

I tried to help him
with my remedy, but...

Perhaps I was not
drastic enough.

Sims: Just to be sure,
mistress Bowen.

- Nell: No.
- I've given you an invitation.

Now I must speak
as your physician. Come with me.

I'll take my chances with the
commissioners. I need no cure.

As the apothecary general
of bedlam, I order you.

.\

If you insist upon it,
I must force you.

Force me? Here? Look around you.

Do you think your friends
will help you?

Sims: You expect them to band
together and overwhelm me?

If they could reason so,
they would not be here.

I warn you, sims. They know me.

They know I've helped them,
been kind to them...

And so they love you
and will aid you.

Let go of me. Man: Hold him.

- Warders, help! Warders!
- Shout away, master sims.

Your men are used to bedlam
and its noises.

They've heard too many cries
to pay attention to one.

As for me, I'll just
borrow your keys, master sims.

No, mistress Bowen.
Not that way.

There's a warder in the hall
and another at the front door.

But you heard him threaten me
with the treatment.

I cannot stay here.

There's a little window
that is left unbarred.

I think I know that window,
master Todd.

You must be mad if
you think I'd climb

through that window
as master Colby did.

And others before him,
I dare say.

I have been placed here by

my family to keep me from drink,

so that I may write
and support them.

I know that little window
is dangerous.

But those who tried before
were men of small strength.

Tom could lift you
through that window.

Now, you have more reason
than the rest.

I expect more of you.

You know what I can do,
don't you?

Sims: Then go to the door.
Call the warders for me.

Sims: Do as I say!

But the rest,
what will they do to me?

Don't be afraid
of their vengeance.

They can't think far enough
ahead for that.

They're lunatics,
they've been tried

and found incompetent
by fair trial.

Quo warranto.
Corpus delicti cum grano salis.

Ah, yes, I'd forgotten
you were a lawyer.

A lawyer, sir? I am a judge.

I am a judge.
I, the most skilled of them all.

Judged, I say.
Bailiffs, hold this man.

- Sidney: He disturbs the court.
- You can go through that door.

- Try him.
- A fair trial for master sims.

- A fair trial.
- Mistress Bowen, speak to them.

Please speak to them,
I beseech you.

Tom, you must get up
on the roof.

You're to go first,
and then you are to pull me up.

I am Solomon the wise.
Split him in two.

Split him in two.

This man before you

to answer for these crimes.

Sidney: These crimes,
which I shall number for you...

Sidney: Neglect. All: Yeah.

Sidney: Cruelty. All: Yeah.

Sidney: Whippings. Beatings.
Dirty straw to lie upon.

All: Yeah. Sidney: Chains.

- All: Yeah.
- Starvation. Stealing our food.

For all these crimes, milord
and gentlemen of the jury

iaskjusfice.

,/

Sims: Let me speak.
Let me speak.

My friends, I beg of you.
Let me speak, let me speak.

- William.
- Shh! This is god's house.

But thee should not have
run from there.

Thee were to have
a new hearing tomorrow.

He had some treatment
he was to give me.

A treatment that made
even the maddest

- I ran and they have him now.
- Who has him?

The loonies,
they have seized him

and are trying him in mockery.

They will kill him.

That way of any man.

They will. They will kill him.

Then thee must go to him.

Thee must speak to the poor

can one know
what is in his mind?

Can one know
what sickness lies in it?

As thee were kind
to those in bedlam

so thee must be kind
to those whose sickness

forces them to hurt
their fellow man.

Has not sims a madness
that thee can pity?

Come, we'll get wilkes.
He'll help us.

- But why, sims, why?
- I did not want to hurt you.

I did not want to
put chains on you,

to steal from you,
to starve you.

But you did.
And now it's our turn.

They'll load you with chains,

scourge you with the cat.

Then you shall really know

what cruelty can be, I warn you.

Your vengeance
isn't our present concern.

What you have done concerns us.

I've told you, because I had to.

Even as you do things
because you have to do them.

- Even as you drink.
- But why? Why?

Did you beat us
out of fright, sims?

Did you starve us out of fear?

Split him in two.

Is that why you still threaten
us if harm comes to you?

The rods, the chains.
I warn you.

Todd: You spoke of your fear.

The great world
of this age that gave me

my place, the comforts
and the authority.

What that world thinks,
I must think.

What they do, I must do.

But you know better.
You're a scholar.

- A man of letters.
- What I know means nothing.

I've had to Fawn and toady,
and make a mock of myself

till all I could hear was
the world laughing at me.

This, my place here...

Todd: You were afraid
to lose it?

I had to please those
to whose favor

- I was afraid.
- You had to strike us?

Yes, yes. Can't you understand?

- I understand.
- And our punishment?

Let me go and there will be
no punishment.

He is sane.
There is a fear within him.

A fear that strikes out,
that claws and tears

at the world like a singed cat.

Todd: He is sane.
Sidney: He will not punish us.

- Sidney: He is sane.
- The man is sane.

- Split him in two.
- No, wait. Wait, I say.

This man has been judged sane.

He has no place here.
He must leave.

That he is sane
and that he shall be free.

Sidney: They will punish us
for this, all of us.

The apothecary general is dead.

We must hide him,
so that they will never know.

And when we got here,
master wilkes, he had gone.

Long said he just left,
disappeared.

Cheif commissioner: Yes, that's
all I could get out of long.

But I know they must have killed
him.

It's so preposterous,
master wilkes.

A man like sims doesn't just
disappear.

And that's precisely
why he disappeared.

They tried him...

Found him guilty of sanity,
then let him go.

Can you imagine
what was in his mind?

Wilkes: The mind of this man
who had sworn by all

that was holy to aid
and protect these people.

Can you imagine
his feeling of guilt?

I think that's what
drove him to run away.

Chief commissioner: No.
They killed him.

Killed him
and hid his body somewhere.

Wilkes: You can't prove that
without finding his body.

Chief commissioner: We shall
find it and we'll punish them.

Wilkes: Yes, I know.
The chains, the beatings.

I tell you it's no good.

What you need
here is a better man

to fill the post
that sims has fled from.

Wilkes: And after him
a better man and so on

until things here
are as they should be.

All kindness and care
for these poor, sick people.

You're not going to tell them.

You must know what it will mean
to those people in there.

Is it not worth a little silence
to save them suffering?

- I must tell the truth.
- But no one has asked you.

I have heard there was much
rejoicing in heaven

for the lost lamb
that returned to the fold.

Silence can win you a lost lamb,
master hannay.

I'm only asking you not to add

to the burden
of those poor people.

You, who profess to love them.

These people are not guilty
under the law.

Not answerable for what they do.

Why should I add to their
burdens?

I should never have
thought that of thee.

I should have known
that thy hand would

not add to the weight
that they must bear.

Thee has too much
heart for that.

Are we lovers that you
"thee" and "thou" me?