Tower Of London (1939)

 

TOWER OF LONDON (1939)

By Ralph Santini - ***

“Tower Of London” begins with another clichéd monologue text that takes only 30 seconds to end describing all about King Edward IV, with the help of Richard III, usurping Henry of Lancaster from the throne leading to Richard’s future treachery with his family. No, this is nothing related to William Shakespeare’s immortal play but a screenplay written by the film’s director Rowland V. Lee’s brother Robert that becomes one of Universal Pictures’ new horror shows of 1939. I know there are some obviously superior direct adaptations of Shakespeare’s play about Richard III, but enough about that. This film is actually one of the most underrated horror stories Universal has ever told right after Carl Laemmle sold the studio for 3 years and Basil Rathbone is uncommonly chilling as Richard III even if there is no Shakespearean dialogue present.

I know it’s a traditional theory and common knowledge that nothing can be compared to William Shakespeare’s work. He’s regarded by many as one of the most important English writers of all time but unfortunately not everybody, especially hardworking literature students, can appreciate his complex writing. I remember when I was in High School I did not seem to have the experience, not to mention interest in those days, and I even had an extremely difficult assignment by writing an English composition over Hamlet, in this case by using the 1990 adaptation by Franco Zerrifelli of Hamlet which starred Mel Gibson as the title role and Glenn Close as his mother, among many other well-known actors from English-speaking cinema. It wasn’t until I went to college when I was little by little getting more seriously obsessed with film as just more than escapist entertainment and I got a little more interested in the renowned 16^th century playwright.

As I said before, Basil Rathbone plays Richard III, who’s story in this version begins when he betrayed a Lancastrian sympathizer (played by Rathbone’s own son John Rodion) who’s cousin John Wyatt (John Sutton) would do anything to the defy the Yorkists led by King Edward IV (Ian Hunter who is also good as Richard’s equally tyrannical brother as portrayed in this version) by even standing by the prisoner’s execution. After Wyatt’s cousin is beheaded, he tries to ask for the king’s consent for the marriage of his young, beautiful fiancée, Lady Alice (the youthfully demure Nan Grey) but unfortunately the inconsiderate King brought with him an Idea to arrange a royal wedding between Wyatt, who is also Queen Elizabeth’s (Barbara O’Neill) cousin, and a very old duchess so John Wyatt defies the King and even resists arrest from Richard’s club-footed henchman Mord (an excellent performance by Boris Karloff). However the Queen implores the King not to behead her cousin, luckily Edward decides to put his subject into exile in France.

A few seconds later Richard brings the news to his brother with maniacal excitement that the Prince Of Wales (G.P. Huntley) has arrived to re-usurp King Edward’s throne; he even plans to bring Wales’ mentally driven father Henry (a brilliant Miles Mander) to the battlefield and orders Mord to spread the word to his henchmen that Henry will support King Edward against his own son. Ricard is excited to the battle because of his longtime jealousy with Wales for his alleged love of his wife Anne Neville (Rose Hobart) so when the battle begins he encounters Wales and they do a swordfight duel and the latter is tragically killed, which to King Edward and Richard’s brother Clarence (Vincent Price) is bad news. Clarence has been the possessor of Middleham and Barnard until Wales is killed in action, and when finds out that Anne has been located by being dragged from a villagers tavern to the Royal Palace and is eventually married to Richard, he pleads with Edward not remove his possession but because they are only half-brothers with Clarence’s mother not accepted in court circles, he nevertheless loses his possessions removed by Edward, reassigning them to newlywed Anne.

An angry and betrayed Clarence decides to conspire against his own half-brother King but Mord arrests by order of the English throne, and while imprisoned in the Tower, Clarence bickers with Richard, challenging themselves into a duel of Dukes with a Malmsey drinking game. Richard eventually loses and is drowned in a huge cask of Malmsey by Richard with the help of Mord. Years later a dying King Edward asks Lady Alice forgiveness for his exiling John Wyatt to France and orders him a pardon before he succumbs. 

The rest of the story will consist into a climactic adventure of stealing a royal treasure for the profit of a battle between Henry Tudor vs. Richard III whose details I won’t give away because they have an important concern to the film’s ending. Nevertheless you’ll be in a huge surprise when you see this film. Forget about thinking this film as a historical lesson and a valuable resource to reading Shakespeare’s Richard III. Only Rathbone’s portrayal in this film, along with Boris Karloff perfectly sinister role as the club-footed Mord, and many exciting sequences, including that Drinking duel between Richard and Clarence, are all reason enough to see this film. I think it’s basically a functional retelling of Richard III’s power and greedy desire to buy his way to the throne turned that is told in a stylish period horror show.