Tag Archives: Tower of London

Halloween Havoc!: TOWER OF LONDON (Universal 1939)

Posted on by gary loggins

gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

Rowland V. Lee followed up his successful SON OF FRANKENSTEIN with TOWER OF LONDON, reuniting with stars Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff in a take on the story of Richard III that mixes historical drama with horror. This “Game of Thrones” is filled with political machinations, royal court intrigue, and murder most foul as the crook backed Richard kills his way to the top of England’s heap, aided by his chief executioner Mord.

You won’t find any Shakespeare here or historical accuracy, but Lee and his screenwriter brother Richard N. Lee craft a tale of bad intentions to capitalize on the renewed interest in the horror genre. Rathbone exudes evil from every pore as Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, who along with his brother King Edward VI, has seized power by imprisoning the feeble-minded Henry IV. But there are six heirs standing in Richard’s way to succession, and he keeps…

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Horror On The Lens: Tower of London (dir by Rowland V. Lee)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Toweroflondonfilm

Today’s horror movie comes from 1939 and is presented in glorious black-and-white.  Tower of London tells the famous (and historically controversial) story of King Richard III (Basil Rathbone).  With the help of the club-footed executioner Mord (Boris Karloff), Richard murders his way to the throne of England.

Technically, The Tower of London is more of a historical film than a horror film but, in order to tell its story, it uses many of the techniques that had been previously perfected by the famous Universal monster movies.  Rathbone turns Richard III into a chilling and plausible human monster while Karloff is obviously having a lot of fun in the role of the twisted Mord.

Also of historical interest is the fact that Vincent Price plays the Duke of Clarence, making Tower of London his first horror film and the first film in which he would appear alongside fellow horror icon, Boris Karloff.