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Tower of London Reviews

This classic thriller paired two great names in horror--Rathbone and Karloff. Set in the 15th century, it focuses on various torture methods Rathbone uses to take care of the people who block his way to the throne. Karloff is excellent as the club-footed executioner who takes orders from the evil Rathbone. Each death is done in a brutal way. A couple get their heads graphically chopped off; Price is drowned in a vat of Malmsey wine. The movie was considered extremely violent for the time and some torture scenes had to be cut before it could be released. However, the story, as bloody as it was, was based on historical fact. Price, then a relative newcomer to the screen, has said that his drowning scene almost became real. It seems that he was directed to dive into the vat of wine (actually a soft drink), sink to the bottom, hold on to an iron bar for a count of ten, and resurface. By that time the shot would have been made. However, while he was at the bottom of the vat he heard the alarming sound of axes striking the vat, and when he came up learned that the lid had become stuck and the crew had to pound on it to loosen it. In another mishap that occurred during location filming in California, the cardboard helmets and armor worn by the extras were drenched by the rain machines and became too sodden for shooting to continue. So the take had to be done over. Rodion (Lord DeVere), by the way, is Rathbone's son, who had a brief fling in the movies. A remake followed in 1962.