The Brotherhood of the Bell is a 1970 made-for-television movie produced by Cinema Center 100 Productions and starring Glenn Ford. The director Paul Wendkos was nominated in 1971 by the Directors Guild of America for "outstanding directorial achievement in television."[1] David Karp wrote the screenplay based on his novel that had been previously filmed as a Studio One episode in 1958.
The film relates how a successful economics professor, Dr. Andrew Patterson, discovers that an elite fraternity he had joined 22 years before in college is really a callous banking and business cabal that obtains wealth and power for its members through nefarious practices.
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The film has been interpreted as a highly speculative portrayal of real-life, academic-based secret organizations, such as Skull and Bones and others. It has also been seen by some as a satire on the "unexamined life" and on the hidden, unsavory undercurrents of ordinary society.
An earlier dramatic adaption of the novel was made for the "Studio One" anthology series, and aired January 6, 1958.[2]
