IMDb RATING
6.3/10
2.6K
YOUR RATING
The twisted Richard III is haunted by the ghosts of those he has murdered in his attempt to become the King of England.The twisted Richard III is haunted by the ghosts of those he has murdered in his attempt to become the King of England.The twisted Richard III is haunted by the ghosts of those he has murdered in his attempt to become the King of England.
Eugene Mazzola
- Edward V
- (as Eugene Martin)
Morris Ankrum
- The Archbishop
- (uncredited)
Paul Frees
- Opening Narrator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Gene Roth
- The Tailor
- (uncredited)
Jack Tornek
- Member of Court
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Battle of Bosworth is made up of stock footage from the original Universal version of Tower of London (1939).
- GoofsIn this film, Richard of Gloucester, also known as Richard III (played by Vincent Price), kills Mistress Shore (played by 23-year-old Sandra Knight) on the torture Rack. This changes history. In real life, Mistress Shore (1445 -1527) lived to be 82 years old. And if she would have died at age 23, she would never have lived to become the mistress of King Edward IV of England, and the mistress of other noblemen, including Edward's stepson, Thomas Grey (1st Marquess of Dorset), and William Hastings (1st Baron Hastings).
- Quotes
Richard's mother: I brought this curse upon this house when my womb concieved you... Better I should have died in my labor... and never unleashed your evil... upon this Earth.
Richard of Gloucester: You talk of evil... You, who gave me deformity in form of a twisted spine and a withered, arm. Who possesses the greater evil my mother? You who made me this way, or I who have to bare it!
- Crazy creditsNo credit is given to Robert N. Lee, who wrote the 1939 original, nor William Shakespeare, from whose "Richard III" this was freely adapted.
- ConnectionsEdited from Tower of London (1939)
Featured review
Great if you remind yourself this is NOT good history and you don't mind the hamminess of Price's performance.
King Richard III of England is a very tough guy to understand today because the truth about him is hopelessly muddled. Most of what we THINK is true about him comes from Shakespeare's Richard III--which is very entertaining but Skakespeare was probably no better a historian than Paris Hilton! His histories are based on both traditional tales AND an effort to make the Tudor dynasty look good (after all, Elizabeth was queen while many of his plays were produced and if they were critical of her family, he would have likely been beheaded). So, considering that Richard III was murdered by her grandfather (Henry VII), it's not surprising that in the play he's a scheming and deformed jerk. This film also is based somewhat on Shakespeare's tradition, though he's far crazier. Whether Richard actually killed his nephews, walked like a hunchback or was so untrustworthy and stupid is up for debate--and many historians do question the traditional view of the king.
Now, if you aren't a history teacher or a member of the Richard III Society (www.richardiii.net), most of this probably won't matter very much to you. My advice is to just watch the film for it's entertainment value--not historical.
As entertainment, it's not bad. Fans of Vincent Price will especially enjoy his way over the top and highly emotional re telling of the reign of Richard. Seeing his face contort and ghosts popping in and out certainly is fun to watch, as is the nasty scene involving dropping a rat in a cage on a man's face! Obviously, this is NOT a Merchant-Ivory production!! No, in many ways it's highly reminiscent of director Roger Corman's other forays with Price (such as his Poe "inspired" films). And so, if you like them, you'll love this homage to insanity and evil. If you are looking for something more...well, you won't find it.
Now, if you aren't a history teacher or a member of the Richard III Society (www.richardiii.net), most of this probably won't matter very much to you. My advice is to just watch the film for it's entertainment value--not historical.
As entertainment, it's not bad. Fans of Vincent Price will especially enjoy his way over the top and highly emotional re telling of the reign of Richard. Seeing his face contort and ghosts popping in and out certainly is fun to watch, as is the nasty scene involving dropping a rat in a cage on a man's face! Obviously, this is NOT a Merchant-Ivory production!! No, in many ways it's highly reminiscent of director Roger Corman's other forays with Price (such as his Poe "inspired" films). And so, if you like them, you'll love this homage to insanity and evil. If you are looking for something more...well, you won't find it.
helpful•135
- planktonrules
- May 3, 2009
- How long is Tower of London?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Ghost of London Tower
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $200,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 19 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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