"The Tower of London" was made by the same Director (Rowland V. Lee) and the same stars (Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff), that had made "Son of Frankenstein earlier the same year.
This is the story of the evil King Richard III's (Rathbone) rise to the throne of England in the 15th century. We learn that Richard (known as crooked back because of a deformity) as the Duke of Gloucester is sixth in the line of succession. Standing in his way are his brother King Edward IV (Ian Hunter), the feeble minded King Henry VI (Miles Mander) who is being kept prisoner, the Prince of Wales, Edward's two young sons and Richard's other brother the Duke of Clarence (Vincent Price).
With his faithful servant, the club-footed executioner Mord (Karloff) Richard begins to destroy all who stand in his way. Queen Elizabeth's (Barbara O'Neill) nephew John Wyatt (John Sutton) refuses to marry the King's choice, preferring instead the Queen's lovely handmaiden Lady Alice Barton (Nan Grey) instead. Wyatt is imprisoned and tortured, however, the Queen aids his escape. Wyatt escapes to France and plots the overthrow of Edward with Henry Tudor (Ralph Forbes).
Meanwhile, Richard has started to move up the line of succession. First to go is Henry who has emerged as a hero following his survival in a battle in which he was supposed to be killed. The Prince of Wales is killed in the battle. The Duke of Clarence is drowned in a barrel of wine and ultimately Edward dies of natural causes.
Richard is appointed Prortector of the two young princes (Ronald Sinclair, John-Herbert Bond). He soon proclaims himself king and to be sure has Mord murder the two young princes.
Wyatt returns to England to claim his bride. After stealing the King's treasure Wyatt returns to France and turns the treasure over to Henry Tudor. Tudor mounts an invasion of England and......
Director Lee gives us a couple of exciting battle sequences over the course of the film. The murder of the two young princes cements the true evil of Richard.
Rathbone's character is behind Price's in the line of succession, which would make him younger. Rathbone however, was almost 20 years older than price. Karloff has merely a supporting role here but does his best as the evil Mord. John Rodian who plays Lord DeVere who is executed at the start of the film was Rathbone's real life son.
Karloff and Price would not work together again until 1963's "The Raven" for Roger Corman. Price had starred in the remake of "The Tower of London" in a low budget re-make, also for Corman in 1962. Price, Karloff and Rathbone, appeared together in Corman's "The Comedy of Terrors" (1964).
