The Brotherhood of the Bell

I thought I was the only person who ever saw this film. I've been asking people for years about it and no one I asked had ever heard of it. The recent film 'The Skulls' made me renew my search for some evidence of its existence. At last! It has been a long time since I've seen it but I remember it really blew me away when I did. It was so believable it was spookey. I wish it could be revived on tape or something. What happens to great old TV movies?? If you ever see it listed on late nite TV / STAY UP and WATCH IT!!!!!!!!!

The Brotherhood of the Bell is a very good movie by any standard, and is one of the best made-for TV movies I've ever seen. The premise is that there exists an elite fraternity whose members occupy positions of power throughout industry, academia, and virtually all levels of government. Glenn Ford plays a member of the fraternity who, in carrying out an assignment, discovers how insidious its actions can be. As a consequence, he tries to reveal it to the public. He quickly discovers just how powerful the Brotherhood is when he loses his job, his wife, and his reputation for attempting to expose it. I realize that this movie is fictional, but I must admit that it has caused me to suspect that their really is an elite oligarchy in this country which does indeed have enormous power. I wish this movie would be made available on video cassette or DVD. It should not be forgotten.

I saw this only once -- when it came out when I was ten years old. And I've never forgotten it. To this day I think this is probably the best made-for-TV movie ever.

Being so young when I saw it I'm sure I missed some subtleties, but nevertheless I knew something really wrong and conspiratorial was going on -- it was my first major fictional encounter with overwhelming paranoia and gross injustice, and it has stayed with me my entire life. It may even have been a factor in shaping my detestation of unjustified authority and power elites. I felt such profound, empathetic outrage at what was happening to Glenn Ford...I remember being transfixed the whole time, my blood percolating with anger and worry.

The acting (Glenn Ford was remarkable -- thoroughly convincing), the mood, the story, the crushing anxiety all still resonate within me more than thirty years later.

This is a movie that should see the light of day again -- it really ought to be available on DVD. [10/10]

The Brotherhood of the Bell is an elite fraternity whose members effectively control much of the government and non-government power in the U.S. Glenn Ford's character is a disillusioned member of the Brotherhood who attempts to expose it following the suicide of a friend whom it has victimized. Ford's attempts to expose the Brotherhood bring its power to bear on him, resulting in the destruction of his reputation, his job, and even his marriage. So convincing was this movie that I was left with the impression that much of the real power in this country could indeed be held by an elite oligarchy of rich and powerful people without the awareness of the general populace. See this one if you can.

I saw this when I was sixteen, and was struck by how intelligent it was. Ford is superb: smart, baffled, hurt, edgy, terrified. Geer is wonderful. Much like life in a police state, you never know if your friends can be trusted; everytime I saw Smithers on screen, I was waiting for them to ruin it by making him the baddie, but no! I remember how disheartened I was to read a Harlan Ellison essay in which he shrugged it off, and the "so-so" novel on which it was based. Well, I still think that this was one of the best television films ever made. Tnank you, Paul Wendkos!!