L'USURPATORE

(Tower of London)

1939, regia di Rowland V. Lee

Scheda: Nazione: USA - Produzione: Universal Pictures - Distribuzione: Lux, Universal Pictures, Film Classics Inc. - Soggetto: Robert N. Lee - Sceneggiatura: Robert N. Lee - Fotografia: George Robinson - Montaggio: Edward Curtiss - Scenografia: Jack Otterson - Costumi: Vera West - Musiche: Hans J. Salter - Effetti speciali: Jack Cosgrove, Russell Lawson - Formato: B.N. - Durata: 92'.

Cast: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Barbara O'Neil, Ian Hunter, Vincent Price, Nan Grey, Ernest Cossar, John Sutton, Leo G. Carroll, Miles Mander, Lionel Belmore, Rose Hobart, Ronald Sinclair, John Herbert-Bond, Ralph Forbes, Frances Robinson, G.P. Huntley, John Rodion, Walter Tetley, Donnie Dunagan.

Trama e commenti: cinematografo.it - kataweb.it - film.spettacolo.alice.it - it.wikipedia.org - film.tv.it - repubblica.it - mymovies.it: «Con l'aiuto del suo boia Mord (B. Karloff), Riccardo (R. Rathbone), duca di Gloucester, nella Londra del XV secolo, elimina a uno a uno tutti i rivali e usurpa il trono diventando Riccardo III. Sarŕ battuto a Bosworth (1485) da Enrico Tudor (R. Forbes) tornato dall'esilio in Francia che poi sale sul trono come Enrico VII. Cronaca inglese – quella che servě a William Shakespeare per Riccardo III – ai confini del fantastico, diretta da R.V. Lee (e scritta da Robert N. Lee) con ricchezza di trovate, sequenze di grande impatto emotivo e un gruppo di attori che disegnano personaggi fortemente caratterizzati. Rifatto in chiave semiparodistica nel 1962 da Roger Corman».

Plot Summary, Synopsis, Review: IMDb - entertainment.msn.com - tcm.com - en.wikipedia.org - 1000misspenthours.com - thespinningimage.co.uk - answers.com - tvguide.com: «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».

Approfondimenti: Movie Review

Conosciuto anche con i titoli: Der Henker von London; La torre de Londres; La tour de Londres.

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