James Boswell

But even for those who found executions entertaining, that didn't mean that they didn't also have some difficulty with the process.

So I'm thinking, of course, of James Boswell, the 18th century biographer of Samuel Johnson, who seemed to really enjoy attending executions and whose diaries are filled with discussions of his presence at executions in London, Edinburgh, and even newspaper accounts saying James Boswell, seen at this recent execution at Tyburn or wherever.

And even

Boswell, who seems to have relished in the entertainment aspect or the theatrical aspect of executions, noted in his diaries that he would often have nightmares or be really upset by what he had seen in such a way that it might take days to get over.

David Hume day, you know.

James Boswell, a committed Christian, hoped Hume might express religious doubts.

or fears at the end of his life.

Instead, he found Hume calm and unconcerned.

His name was Dr. Samuel Johnson.

James Boswell speaking.

With your kind permissions, I should like to make this clear first of all.

Dr. Johnson's reported prejudice against Scotsmen has been highly

He or she may be disappointed, for there is no plot to speak of.

But there is talk, about as good talk as has ever been reported, and James Boswell as a reporter has never had an equal.

My own part in the work is very attenuated, as attenuated as a piece of thread.

It has to be, for on this slender thread of my own manufacture I have elected to string jewels, exquisite in cut and color.

The jewels are, most of them, genuine.

A few are teclas.

And ardent Johnsonians and Boswellians, too, may amuse themselves in sorting them out if they care to.

I permit myself to remark that several experts have been deceived.

By the 1750s, Bethlehem Hospital was accepting tens of thousands of paying tourists a year, making it second only to St Paul's Cathedral as London's key tourist attraction.

One of these visits was documented by a diarist called Ned Ward, who wrote, quote, End quote.

And according to the website historyextra.com, it was not just tourists who were attracted to the hospital.

Drawn by this very tourist trade, Bethlehem also attracted sex workers, pickpockets and food and drink merchants, with Ned Ward going on to write that the hospital had become, quote, an almshouse for madmen, a showing room for whores, a shore market for lechers and a dry walk for loiterers, end quote.

Although this sadly would never manifest for a variety of reasons, more on which later, for Bedlam he was certainly given his highest budget ever.

While most of his earlier films had cost in the region of $150,000, Bedlam was given a budget of $350,000, and this was partly driven by the success of Luton's previous film The Body Snatcher, which had also starred Boris Karloff.

In addition, RKO gave him a full eight months to prepare production, allowing him and Robeson the opportunity to deeply research the treatment of patients at Bethlehem Hospital, including reading diary entries, memoirs, letters and correspondences belonging to Benjamin Franklin, Casanova and the diarist James Boswell, to name just a few.

Our story opens in 1761, a period in European history characterised by scientific method and the ideals of individual liberty, religious tolerance and the concept of natural rights.

That's like perhaps maybe the most famous one.

And then I love the James Boswell's London Journal too.

That was so great.

It was such a delight to read.