Tower of Terror (1941 film)
| Tower of Terror | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Lawrence Huntington |
| Produced by | John Argyle |
| Written by |
John Reinhardt (story) John Argyle |
| Starring |
Wilfrid Lawson Michael Rennie Movita Morland Graham |
| Music by | Charles Williams |
| Cinematography |
Ronald Anscombe Walter J. Harvey Bryan Langley |
| Edited by | Flora Newton |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Pathé Pictures |
Release date | 27 December 1941 |
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Tower of Terror is a 1941 British thriller film directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring Wilfrid Lawson, Michael Rennie and Movita.[1] It was made at Welwyn Studios with location shooting on Flat Holm off the Welsh coast.[2]
Plot
Anthony Hale is a British secret agent in Germany who takes a job as assistant to lighthouse keeper Wolfe Kristan; and who plans to make off with some valuable papers when a British boat arrives to pick them up. Marie meanwhile has escaped from a concentration camp and swims to the lighthouse, where she is rescued by the deranged Kristan, who sees in her the image of a wife he killed 16 years earlier and buried on the lighthouse grounds. Can Hale rescue Marie from a similar fate at the lighthouse keepers hands?
Cast
- Wilfrid Lawson as Wolfe Kristan
- Michael Rennie as Anthony Hale
- Movita as Marie Durand
- Morland Graham as Harbor Master Kleber
- George Woodbridge as Gruppenfuhrer Rudolf Jurgens
- Charles Rolfe as Albers
- Richard George as Ship's Captain Borkmann
- H Victor Weske as Peters, resigning lighthouse assistant
- Olive Sloane as Florist
- Eric Clavering as Riemers
- John Longden as Commander
- Edward Sinclair as Fletcher, Hale's contact
- Bob Cameron as Military Sergeant
- Davina Craig
- Noel Dainton
Critical reception
The New York Times reviewer called it a "dire little melodrama...A penny dreadful thriller about a mad lighthouse keeper on the German-occupied coast, it cannot overcome the lacks of a preposterous story preposterously acted or a sound track which gives the impression that every one is speaking with a gag over the mouth. Even Wilfrid Lawson, that excellent actor, gives a ludicrously overwrought portrait of insanity as the keeper...Not good".[3]
References
- ↑ "Tower of Terror (1941)". BFI.
- ↑ Chibnall & McFarlane p.8
- ↑ "Movie Review - The Tower of Terror - At the Central". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
Bibliography
- Chibnall, Steve & McFarlane, Brian. The British 'B' Film. Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.