Product Details

• Actors: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Barbara O'Neil, Ian Hunter, Vincent Price
• Format: Black & White, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: September 16, 1997
• Run Time: 93 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630252587X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,376 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Basil Rathbone is the man!, August 26, 2000

By 

Jeff Simpson (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tower of London [VHS] (VHS Tape)

you cannot compare this with any of the other universal horror movies that came around the same time. This is not a horror movie but a historical drama depicting the unscrupulous rise to power of Richard the III, played in the most evil and backstabbing way by Basil Rathbone( most excellent actor of Sherlock Holmes fame and Son of Frankenstein). The plot and script are so much more intricate and intelligent than the other universal horrors, but no wonder it's not a horror movie. Some say this is a bland role for Karloff, but he plays an executioner that is the subserviant friend of Richard the III, of course he is going to come across as a brute, but what else would you expect of an executioner from the middle ages. Vincent Price(in an early role in his career) is excellent as a snivelling coward, that is in the way of Richards rise to power. Overall an excellent movie, one of Universal's best from the time period of the classic monsters.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No Cariacatures Here, July 15, 2002

By 

Linda McDonnell "TutorGal" (Brooklyn, U.S.A) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tower of London [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Laurence Olivier's Richard III is fun to watch, but his Duke of Glouchester is warped inside and out: ugly and humpbacked, strutting about. Basil Rathbone's Richard is very different from that.

True, he has a humpback too--in fact, his armor has a bump in it to allow for the hump--but he carries himself gracefully, as Rathbone always does. He's just as evil, though. Whereas Olivier has a number of asides to the audience through which we learn of his machination's purposes, Rathbone's got a little closet with the succession to the throne literally spelled out in dolls. Doll #1 is brother Edward played by Ian Hunter, who enjoys every trick Richard plays on everyone else, and condones all the murdering going on. It's clear he hasn't the imagination to realize that ultimately Richard will target dolls #4 and 5, Edward's own two sons, the famous Little Princes who vanished in the Tower of London. Doll #2 is the semi-senile usurped king Henry VI, played by Miles Mander, veteran of many a Shirley Temple and Sherlock Holmes movie. He gets dispatched at prayer by Richard's loyal executioner friend Mort, lovingly brought to us by clubfooted Boris Karloff. He pledges himself to Richard saying, "You're more than a prince, more than a king...You're a god to me!" Wow, how's that for hero worship? Doll #3 is the son of that usurped king, who's biggest transgression is having married the woman Richard loved. So much for him, eventually. My personal favorite is Doll #6, Richard's other brother Clarence, Vincent Price in a very early role. These two have never gotten along, so we shouldn't be surprised when a drinking bout between the brothers takes a particularly nasty turn for poor Clarence. Every time there's a victim, off the corresponding doll goes into the fireplace while the remaining dolls move up, the Richard Doll lagging behind, but making steady progress. It's a neat contrivance of the screenwriters, although Rathbone doesn't really demonstrate a need for such psychodrama.

The movie does have a major drawback, and that's the white-hat hero whom Mort puts to every torture device imaginable, for a reason I've forgotten. This guy's not so good looking (actually looks somewhat pinched faced, like a Zachary Scott type), and his character is annoying. I suppose the filmmakers felt there had to be a good character to counterbalance all the other stuff that was going on, but frankly, the other stuff is true and a lot more interesting than this fake good guy.

"Tower of London" is a great treat because it provides us another opportunity to see the always-dashing Basil Rathbone. What I found remarkable during this outing was the way that all these nefarious doings seemed perfectly justified the way that Basil was comporting himself. Ian Hunter has a lot more to do than I've ever seen in any other movie role he had, and I'm sorry for his usual underutilization; actually, he's pretty good. And Vincent? He brings much fun to his role as the pampered sissyboy brother who plays right into Basil's hands.

Chase up some courage and watch "Tower of London" to see a wonderful old movie.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare's "Richard III" stripped down to a Horror show, July 14, 2001

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tower of London [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"The Tower of a London" is an interesting horror film because it involves the same characters as Shakespeare's play "Richard III." Boris Karloff plays Mord, the executioner at the Tower and the ally of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Basil Rathbone) in his quest for the crown. It is Mord who kills the aging King Henry VI and the young princes. Like "Richard III," the film ends with the Battle of Bosworth, but the chief difference between the two works are the Grand Guignol murders by Mord, such as when Richard and his executioner drown the Duke of Clarence (Vincent Price) in a vast butt of malmsey. Karloff might get to do more killing in this 1939 film directed by Rowland V. Lee, but this is very much Basil Rathbone's film and his Richard does not suffer much in comparison to Olivier's celebrated performance on film. Actually, they make a fascinating double-bill, but be sure to save "The Tower of London" for the second feature.