In the 15th century richard duke of gloucester, aided by his clubfooted. Lee on allmovie basil rathbones reallife son, john rodion, has. The recreation of the famed tower was designed by jack otterson. Basil rathbones reallife son, john rodion, has his head chopped off early on in this historical melodrama often mistakenly referred to as a horror film. Featuring vincent price, boris karloff, and basil rathbone. Big budget, great sets and one of basil rathbones best performences as richard 111 he even has an opporunity to show his fencing skills. It has a great cast featuring basil rathbone, boris karloff, vincent price, and barbara oneil this movie was made by universal at the same time rko was making the hunchback of norte dame. Digging further into the vaults, the third set features three titles previously collected with no frills on dvd in the studios 2009 universal horror.
Tower of london is a 1939 blackandwhite historical film directed and produced by rowland v. All have been released as standalone dvdrs as well, but you can skip all of. The image measures 1981 3000 pixels and is 2201 kilobytes large. It stars basil rathbone as the future king richard iii of england, and boris karloff as his fictitious clubfooted executioner mord. Tower of london 1939 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. This was a film universal should have dared to make a longer epic out of, given it time to really build up to the climaxes. Tower of london 1939 possibly the best and my favourite of the collection.
Lee, who also scripted rowlands final feature in 1945, captain kidd. Gallery of 12 movie poster and cover images for tower of london 1939. It was like watching a 1939 version of game of thrones. While the studios chief output in the 1930s had been monster movies sourced from 18th century literature, tower is instead a historical saga set in 15th century england. This is a vintage original movie still photograph from tower of london, a 1939 historical film and quasihorror film released by universal pictures and directed by rowland v. Tower of london 1939 is great medieval tale of royal intrigue featuring basil rathbone, boris karloff, and vincent price. This historical drama covers the same ground as shakespeares richard iii a horse, a horse, my. Since 1990, the tower of london has been cared for by an independent charity, historic royal palaces, which receives no funding from the government or the crown. High resolution movie poster image for tower of london 1939.
Tower of london is a 1962 historical drama and horror film directed by roger corman and starring vincent price and michael pate. Tower of london has vincent price house of usher, pit and the pendulum, the conqueror worm as the utterly insane, homicidal richard iii. In the 15th century richard duke of gloucester, aided by his clubfooted executioner mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother king edward iv of england. Shakespearean tragedy reenvisioned as a universal horror film. As each murder is accomplished he takes particular delight in removing small figurines, each resembling. While the studios chief output in the 1930s had been monster movies sourced from 18th century literature, tower is instead a historical saga set.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the articles subject put new text under old text. Featuring boris karloff, vincent price, ian hunter, basil rathbone and. I was looking forward to tower of london as i am a big fan of vincent price and a lot of his and cormans collaborations. Together, they chose a reallife horror story set in 14th century britain, the throne usurped by three brothers. Tower of london 1939 approved 1h 32min drama, history 17 november 1939 usa in the 15th century richard duke of gloucester, aided by his clubfooted executioner mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother king. Overview of tower of london, 1939, directed by rowland v. While the tower of london builds on shakespeares 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. Of course there are the infamous murders of the princes in the tower.
Its unfair to compare this horror movie of the preww2 vintage to richard iii of the bard. A gallery of tower of london 1939 publicity stills and other photos. Jul 19, 2017 egy emlekmu a lelek romlottsaganak ahol a sotet multban egy ferfi megszerezte anglia tronjat az orult becsvagy dacara, ami gonossza es gyilkossa tette. Produced by john croydon, and directed by robert day, the haunted strangler and corridors of blood were shot back to back and released both in 1958. Tower of london 1939 the gory business of wading through slaughter to a throne has rarely been more appreciatively illustrated than by universals tower of london 1939. It stars basil rathbone as the future richard iii of england, and boris karloff as his fictitious clubfooted executioner mord. As each murder is accomplished he takes particular delight in removing small figurines, each resembling one of the successors, from a throneroom dollhouse, until he alone remains. Includes all material relating to the film tower of london 1939 found on the database. Click here to start a new topic please sign and date your posts by typing four tildes new to wikipedia. It lies within the london borough of tower hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the city of london by the open space known as tower hill. Vincent price, boris karloff, basil rathbone, leo g. Tower of london disambiguation tower of london most commonly refers to the tower of london, a former royal residence. It is often erroneously regarded as a horror film, though it does have some bleak elements of horror as well as a cast that is wellknown for performing in horror movies.
Tower of london is a 1939 blackandwhite historical film and quasihorror film released by universal pictures. Ambitious richard, duke of gloucester basil rathbone, brother of king edward iv ian hunter, maneuvers to get the powerful john wyatt john sutton to france, then has his brother make him the. Tower of london is a 1939 film about richard iii of england murdering his rivals. Tower of london may not be a straight horror film, but it does have some gruesome moments, particularly for 1939. Tower of london 1939 fantastic movie musings and ramblings. With basil rathbone, boris karloff, barbara oneil, ian hunter. Feb 01, 2016 the tower of london vincent price clip. Boris karloff executioner with ax tower of london 1939. Tower of london 1939 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. For its as a horror tale that this film was obviously intended. The tower of london, officially her majestys royal palace and fortress of the tower of london, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the river thames in central london.
The year 1939 in film is widely considered the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year considered as a percentage of the population in the united states, canada, and the united kingdom at that time. The gory business of wading through slaughter to a throne has rarely been more appreciatively illustrated than by universals tower of london 1939. Tower of london 1939 film and tower of london 1962 film, two films with the same name. Lee on allmovie youll need a scorecard to keep track of the. Poor richard never counted on being pestered by the ghosts of his victims. Tower of london has been ranked 988 times, wins 46. Boris has a suppoting role as his clubfooted murderous assistant. Tower of london 1939 ambitious richard, duke of gloucester basil rathbone, brother of king edward iv ian hunter, maneuvers to get the powerful john wyatt john sutton to france, then has. The tower of london is one hour and thirty two minutes and was released in theaters on november 17, 1939. Boris karloff executioner in tower of london 1939 vintage. Not surprisingly, this tale of mayhem in merrie olde england has more an atmosphere of poe than of shakespeare, but with vincents haunted villain holding forth, that will work just fine.
On the surface tower of london is not your typical universal picture. The story is closely related to the real richard iii of england. As each murder is accomplished he takes particular delight in removing small figurines, each. Lee, with basil rathbone, boris karloff, barbara oneil, at turner classic movies. Where tower of london 1939 lacks is the structure rushing through the schemes surrounding richard iiis rise to the throne. It was produced by universal pictures and released.
Tower of london is an american feature film of the historical and thriller genres. Tower of london 1939 film tower of london quotes at the internet movie database. The main story is that richard, duke of gloucester is sixth in line to the throne and plots to eliminate those ahead of him. This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the tower of london 1939 film article. Apr 23, 2014 vincent price, who was one of richard iiis victims in universals 1939 tower of london, gets his turn at playing old crookback murdering his way to the throne in roger cormans rendition of the story. He will stop at nothing to secure his place on the throne of england.
This quote, from the new york times upon the films gotham premiere at the rialto theater in december 1939, perfectly captures the split personality of rowland v. The film is based on the traditional depiction of richard rising to become king of england in 1483 by eliminating everyone ahead of him. Not really a horror film, but a uniquely sinister and highly compelling history lesson, this late 1930s universal production brings together a marvelous cast and tells. Most of the 1930s surrogate horror films were mysteries, but a few were adventure movies particularly of the peril in the jungle school or crime pictures instead. All tower of london movie posters,high res movie posters image for tower of london. After seeing it, i dont think it is one of their best, and the 1939 film while not perfect is a better film, but it is a decent film and should be better known than it is. There are various tortures, and a feeble king henry vi miles mander is stabbed to death while praying im amazed the hays office let that scene go through. Tower of london is a quasihorror movie that is set in the medieval times. Carroll in the 15th century richard duke of gloucester, aided by his clubfooted executioner mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne.
Tower of london is a 1939 blackandwhite historical film and quasihorror film released by universal pictures and directed by rowland v. In 1988, the tower of london was added to the unesco list of world heritage sites, in recognition of its global importance and to help conserve and protect the site. It stars basil rathbone as the future king richard iii of. Tower of london made in 1939 by universal studios stars basil rathbone as. Lees followup to son of frankenstein, as conceived by his brother robert n. Posts about tower of london 1939 written by monstergirl. Its certainly not the worlds greatest movie, but i consider it worthy of being. Gangrene looks at vincents next two films, both costumed epics from 1939 the private lives of elizabeth and essex and tower of london. Classic movie archive set, with the first title, tower of london, issued in 2006s the boris karloff collection.
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