The Dark Tower

The Trilby&Svengali saga is given another version in The Dark Tower. This is a film made by Warner Brothers at its British studio facilities and it's a well done piece of work.

Ben Lyon is boss of a circus that's hardly the operation of Ringling Brothers. It's a failing small show and at the beginning of the film he can't even meet the payroll. Into his life walks Herbert Lom, a strange and brooding man who has a great gift as a hypnotist. On both animals and people.

The main attraction of the circus is the aerial act that Lyon's brother David Farrar does with Anne Crawford and Crawford has fears that may be insurmountable. With hypnosis not so says Lom and he hypnotizes her to conquer her fears. Pretty soon she's his puppet.

With his mesmerizing methods the show becomes a success. But Lom starts intruding on everything in the show and extorts a partnership out of Lyon. To a person they all hate him in the show save Crawford, but know he's their meal ticket. In the end something is done about Lom.

Lom is the center of this film, he gives a fascinating performance about a brooding and vengeful man. In a key scene with Crawford he tells of being bullied as a child and then discovering his gift made a lot of people bend to his will. A lot of bullied kids and former bullied kids who watch this film will cheer on Herbert Lom.

Don't miss this film if broadcast especially if you are fan of Herbert Lom's work.