Tower of London (1939)

Contrary to many an assumption, Tower of London is actually not a horror film, despite the dark and miserable English castle setting, the sight of Boris Karloff as club-footed executioner Mord, and the presence of Rowland V. Lee - a director perhaps best known for Son of Frankenstein (also released in 1939) - behind the camera. There's also the existence of Roger Corman's low-budget effort of the same name, which emphasised the horror and pushed genre legend Vincent Price (who also appears here in a smaller role) into the central role as the deformed, scheming Richard III. In fact, Lee's Tower of London is a historical drama, borrowing much from Shakespeare's Richard III but somewhat confusingly leaving out much of the detail.Edward IV (Ian Hunter) sits comfortably on the throne of England after defeating King Henry VI (Miles Mander) and imprisoning him in the Tower of London. The feeble-minded former king wears a paper crown and lives in the hope that his son will return from exile in France to reclaim his crown. Edward enjoys combat practice with his formidable and cunning brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Basil Rathbone), while their soft, drunken younger brother the Duke of Clarence (Price) watches on enviously. Richard is an incredibly capable leader of men, but is way behind in the line of succession. He keeps a mini theatre hidden away where he plans to remove everybody in his way, and despite the many rivals who could challenge him for the crown, the hunchbacked prince will stop at nothing until he is seated on the throne.Although not a horror, Tower of London certainly looks like one. The huge set created for the film became a staple of Universal, and the dark, chilling castle could be seen in many genre pieces produced by the studio in the following years. There's also a few brutal but bloodless murders, almost always involving Karloff's Mord, who is the closest thing the film has to a monster. Yet for the most part, this is more akin to Shakespeare, performed by a ridiculous wealth of acting talent. There are great turns by Hunter, Mander, Price (in only his fourth role) and Barbara O'Neil as Queen Elyzabeth, but the film belongs to Rathbone and Karloff, with the former even eclipsing Laurence Olivier's arguably hammy thesping in the 1955 film. Packing what is an incredibly complex tale into 90 minutes can confuse matters, but this is an entertaining, somewhat lighter alternative to Shakespeare's infinitely more grandiose work.

All in all, this oddball 90-minutes could be called a noir costume drama. The lighting is either dull gray, shadowy b&w, or plain foggy, all the way through. Of course, this befits a very dour tale based, it seems, on some historical fact. As the scheming Richard of Gloucester, the sharp-featured Rathbone is perfect. And by golly, nothing's going to stand in the way of his becoming a 15th century King of England, even if he has to step on half his family to get there. Of course, he's got reliable old clubfoot Mord (Karloff) to do the dirty work. And do it, he does.It's impressive how well Rathbone transitions here from the unscrupulous plotter to his later intellectual gumshoe Sherlock Holmes. There's been no one quite so compelling before or since. Then too, as Mord, the great Karloff makes better use of his massive frame than usual. With his bald head (though the skull cap seams sometimes show), he's an incomparable presence. Still, there's that fleeting moment where the murderous Mord contemplates the sleeping bodies of the two doomed princes and the cruelty of his work. It passes quickly but amounts to a telling touch. Then there's that memorable scene where the Duke of Clarence (Price) and Richard compete for most quaffed wine in royal history; that is, before Clarence gets to bathe in the vat permanently. Though I've never again heard of Malmsey kind of wine, that scene's stayed with me for years.In my little book, director Lee is underrated for his work here and in other costume epics he seems to have specialized in, e.g. Captain Kidd (1945). Nonetheless, the movie is flawed in certain respects, as other reviewers point out. There's a heckuva lot of characters that come and go, so you may need the proverbial scorecard. Plus, the royalty gets their finery to wear, but the bare-bones interiors look like the budget didn't cover set decoration. And I'm still wondering how combatants could tell friend from foe in those fog shrouded battle scenes that come across like cloudy nightmares.Anyhow, I know nothing about the historical accuracy of what's on screen. Nonetheless, the oddball results have stayed with me for near 6-decades. Thanks, Rathbone and Karloff, and especially a long-gone TV Late Show.

Basil Rathbone stars as Richard, the Duke Of Glouster, a ruthless and ambitious man who systematically plots to murder all those who stand in his way to the throne, held by King Edward the IV. He is helped in this by his loyal and sinister servant, the club-footed Mort(played menacingly by Boris Karloff) who tortures, imprisons or exiles all who oppose him. Eventually, Richard does come to power after Edward dies, becoming the famous King Richard the III of England, who must face a returning enemy in battle to secure his power, aided by the eager Mort... Vincent Price is amusing as a drunken Duke of Clarence, another victim. Good acting and direction(by Rowland V. Lee) with literate script make this film a winner.

Tower of London is directed by Rowland V. Lee and written by Robert N. Lee. It stars Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Barbara O'Neil and Ian Hunter. Music is collaborated by Ralph Freed, Hans J. Salter and Frank Skinner and cinematography by George Robinson.Out of Universal Pictures, film is a reworking of how Richard III (Rathbone) rose to become King of England by scheming and killing off those ahead of him in line to the throne.No square headed or fang sprouting monsters in this Universal Picture, this is about human monsters, splendidly played out with historical observation. It's 1471 and we are involved in shifty shenanigans, torture, war, infanticide and depravity. All played out amongst classic Universal backdrops; of which the titular Tower is a prominently gloomy force. There's much decadence to be found and gruesome deaths are interlaced with medieval malarkey such as a wine drinking competition to the death! Some deliciously macabre scenes land in the conscious and stay there, none more so than with Richard's returning visits to his Royal figurines! All good dastardly fun.Story has a lot going on, so paying attention is heartily recommended to get the best out of Lee's screenplay. Characterisations are rich with period flavours, especially the villains, where Rathbone is wide eyed, edgy and maniacal, and the irrepressible Karloff a hulking grotesque who takes pride in his position as chief torturer. Robinson's photography is suitably atmospheric, with the misty marsh laden battle at the finale particularly striking: the latter of which also finding director Lee on good camera form as he fluidly tracks the mud, blood and swinging of steel.Sure some of it's unintentionally smile inducing, and that final battle needed to be considerably longer, but all told it's classical period stuff that does have some serious humanistic themes at its core. 7.5/10