Tower of London

Tower of London is as sinister as Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and the rest of Universal's horror department can make it. Although the picture is not without its weaknesses, lack of thrills is not one of them. Neither is the casting--Rathbone and Karloff are savage enough to please the most bloodthirsty. Karloff enjoys his role as executioner and spends plenty of time in his torture chamber.

Ambitious, historical tale with lots of battles (fairly well done) and much power struggling, particularly of course by the hunchbacked Richard. The matters romantic slow things down enormously and although clearly striving for some measure of authenticity, there are just too many characters for the budget or script to be able to deal with as one might have liked. However, given the limited resources, a reasonable result is achieved, helped enormously by three excellent male leads. Basil Rathbone is very fine indeed and very convincing in the role of the scheming, Richard and none of the camp Price would bring to the role another time. A very young Vincent price is also most effective and it is great to see his crooked smile and fluttering eyelids already swinging into action. A bit too fey here perhaps but lets himself go in the infamous drinking scene. Incidental to the main story and probably originally added as a bit of light relief, Boris Karloff brings anything but. An appropriately towering performance and despite very few lines and not a lot of screen time he drags himself into centre frame and haunts one's memory afterwards.

Shakespeare -- Universal Pictures style! Basil Rathbone plays Richard III, who rises to power with the help of his club-footed executioner Mord, played by Boris Karloff ("crookback and dragfoot"). Excellent historical suspenser from Universal. Not a horror movie, despite the cast and studio. Although Karloff's Mord would be right at home lurking around Castle Frankenstein. In addition to Karloff and Rathbone, the cast includes Vincent Price, Leo G. Carroll, Ian Hunter, and lovely Nan Grey. Great sets, costumes, and direction by Rowland V. Lee. Rathbone is having lots of fun being evil and Karloff is always a treat to watch. I really like this one!

"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).

It's unfair to compare this horror movie of the pre-WW2 vintage to Richard III of the Bard. While the Tower of London builds on Shakespeare's vilification of Richard III, this tale is much more of a dark genre that was popular at that time and which continued up until after WW2. These are the days of Revenge of the Cat People, Frankenstein and its sequels and other films that strike the mood of those post depression times. The censors of the time forbade any explicit sex or violence and what you saw was always highly stylized. However, presenting a stylized horror film, mild, if not downright tame, by today's standards, required a great deal of subtlety from the actors, which is something sadly lacking in today's slice 'n dice menus. These new horror films are so predictable and rely on gore and explicit violence to provide the thrill which like pornography requires each new presentation to up the ante in mindless antics, each trying to out-gross the previous. So, what have we here in this fine old film. The classic tale of Richard Crook-back. We have the great Basil Rathbone as the Black Duke and Boris Karloff as his fictional sidekick, Mord. Yes, Karloff is nearly a stereotype for the evil henchmen who's willing to carry out the furious demands of his heartless master. But, there's a young Vinnie Price as the Duke of Clarence awaiting a drowning in a vat of Mumsey wine. The action line of this classic story moves quickly, the lines are spoken clearly and the the acting is superb. What else do you want from a 1939 horror drama?