Because my memories of this film are really fuzzy, and it is unlikely that the movie will be shown again anytime soon, I will note that I thought it a very good thriller, but am not sure if it was excellent enough to merit a 10. As the story was not resolved at the conclusion, I suspect THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL was meant to be a possible television series (possibly to star Glenn Ford) and the movie was a possible pilot.
The basic plot line is given. Glenn Ford is a professor whose father (Will Geer) is a prominent social figure. Ford is aware that his father belongs to a group that is rather secret called "The Brotherhood of the Bell", and it's activities incur Ford's curiosity. The Brotherhood is a secret group that rules the U.S., and that not only controls the government but also the financial and industrial power of the state as well. He decides he must expose it. As a result he is targeted by the group, loses his job, his public reputation, his home, his wife. His father also dies of a heart attack brought on by his activities. Still, despite everything, Ford perseveres in trying to expose the group to the skeptical nation.
Without taking any sides in this type of question, I have to admit that paranoia aimed at groups is very common. Mention the "Tri-Lateral Commission", or the Freemasons, or (despite nearly ninety years of disproof by experts) "the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion", and you may soon find people who are certain these groups (or similar ones) rule the Earth. A cultural social club in San Francisco, that was founded by the likes of Ambrose Bierce and Bret Harte and Mark Twain, still exists, but in it's present existence is considered a place where U.S. Presidents and Cabinet Members, Congressmen, Governors, Heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meet to decide what way they will rule the world.
I think paranoia is a awesome weapon - it is meant to give us an answer when nothing goes right for us - and an answer that allows our personal failings to be dropped from our mind as we find that "they" were really responsible, not "me".
I recall the scene with William Conrad as the obnoxious talk-show host, who is willing to let Ford come on the show and give his fears public attention. In 1970 it is likely that the script writers were thinking of Joe Pyne or Alan Burke as the models of Conrad's character. Pyne and Burke had talk shows where they gave the "lunatic" fringe an opportunity to sound off (Burke with more polish than Pyne had). But what is missed by most of the commentators on the Board regarding Conrad's character is that he does sound like a figure of reason. When he hears Ford's story (which the audience knows is true, but which the public in the movie does not know is true), Conrad actually analyzes it - unfairly (according to Ford). He says that "the Bell" may represent (in Ford's dementia) the Church Bell at St. Peter's of Rome. The Catholic Church has been suspected of being a center of an international conspiracy for centuries (think of Eugene Sue's novel, THE WANDERING JEW, which is actually about a plot by an ambitious member of the Jesuits to take over a huge fortune (in the "name" of that order) and rule the world). Conrad suggests this anti-Catholic type of conspiracy is the germ of Ford's ravings. Ford starts saying Conrad is "one of them" (meaning the Brotherhood), and Conrad dismisses him as a crank. But Ford's comments have stimulated the audience who side with Ford, rather than Conrad (who turns on them as idiots). While the viewers know Ford is right here, there is an uncomfortable sense that we are actually agreeing with a point of view that a bunch of Yahoos are ready to swallow for no reason at all!
I hope they show this again - just to see how it holds up after thirty six years. When it came out, the critics in the newspapers and the T.V. Guide dismissed it as pretentious trash. A bit unfair I think...or were they pressured to say that? What do you think?
The basic plot line is given. Glenn Ford is a professor whose father (Will Geer) is a prominent social figure. Ford is aware that his father belongs to a group that is rather secret called "The Brotherhood of the Bell", and it's activities incur Ford's curiosity. The Brotherhood is a secret group that rules the U.S., and that not only controls the government but also the financial and industrial power of the state as well. He decides he must expose it. As a result he is targeted by the group, loses his job, his public reputation, his home, his wife. His father also dies of a heart attack brought on by his activities. Still, despite everything, Ford perseveres in trying to expose the group to the skeptical nation.
Without taking any sides in this type of question, I have to admit that paranoia aimed at groups is very common. Mention the "Tri-Lateral Commission", or the Freemasons, or (despite nearly ninety years of disproof by experts) "the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion", and you may soon find people who are certain these groups (or similar ones) rule the Earth. A cultural social club in San Francisco, that was founded by the likes of Ambrose Bierce and Bret Harte and Mark Twain, still exists, but in it's present existence is considered a place where U.S. Presidents and Cabinet Members, Congressmen, Governors, Heads of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, meet to decide what way they will rule the world.
I think paranoia is a awesome weapon - it is meant to give us an answer when nothing goes right for us - and an answer that allows our personal failings to be dropped from our mind as we find that "they" were really responsible, not "me".
I recall the scene with William Conrad as the obnoxious talk-show host, who is willing to let Ford come on the show and give his fears public attention. In 1970 it is likely that the script writers were thinking of Joe Pyne or Alan Burke as the models of Conrad's character. Pyne and Burke had talk shows where they gave the "lunatic" fringe an opportunity to sound off (Burke with more polish than Pyne had). But what is missed by most of the commentators on the Board regarding Conrad's character is that he does sound like a figure of reason. When he hears Ford's story (which the audience knows is true, but which the public in the movie does not know is true), Conrad actually analyzes it - unfairly (according to Ford). He says that "the Bell" may represent (in Ford's dementia) the Church Bell at St. Peter's of Rome. The Catholic Church has been suspected of being a center of an international conspiracy for centuries (think of Eugene Sue's novel, THE WANDERING JEW, which is actually about a plot by an ambitious member of the Jesuits to take over a huge fortune (in the "name" of that order) and rule the world). Conrad suggests this anti-Catholic type of conspiracy is the germ of Ford's ravings. Ford starts saying Conrad is "one of them" (meaning the Brotherhood), and Conrad dismisses him as a crank. But Ford's comments have stimulated the audience who side with Ford, rather than Conrad (who turns on them as idiots). While the viewers know Ford is right here, there is an uncomfortable sense that we are actually agreeing with a point of view that a bunch of Yahoos are ready to swallow for no reason at all!
I hope they show this again - just to see how it holds up after thirty six years. When it came out, the critics in the newspapers and the T.V. Guide dismissed it as pretentious trash. A bit unfair I think...or were they pressured to say that? What do you think?