Tower Of Terror

Tower of terror – turn it up, will ya?! In actuality the terror of the title only kicks in towards the end of the movie, with a no-hold punch up between the two male protagonists. Set in a remote Frisian lighthouse during wartime Germany, though obviously not shot there as the film was made in 1941, the story also stars Mexican firebrand Movita, later to become Mrs. Marlon Brando.

A ‘real’ rarity this, starring heavy-drinking character actor Wilfrid Lawson in the starring role as demented lighthouse keeper Wolfe Kristan – a hook-armed man haunted by the memory of the wife he had murdered some years before and buried – would you believe it – in the tower’s vault. That said, things are about to change for the lonely loony when he rescues Marie Durand (Movita Castaneda), a concentration camp escapee who jumped in the river on the run from the nasty Nazis. As Kristan lends the soaking wet Marie a dress formerly belonging to his dead wife, we get an inkling as to what might happen next, yes, he begins to see the embodiment of his wife in the young woman he has just rescued.

Don’t worry though, help is at hand in the shape of arguably handsome Anthony Hale (Michael Rennie) who is in reality an English spy charading as the new assistant lighthouse keeper. Well, being a good guy he’d have to be! It’s not before long and romance is in the air, much to the chagrin of the increasingly jealous Kristan. Both Marie and Anthony are now wanted by the Nazis! When the Nazis arrive on the island after a tip-off, a reluctant Kristan covers for them as he doesn’t want Marie to leave. In order to emphasize his point, he knocks out Anthony, grabs Marie and chains her up in the cellar of the lighthouse, where upon she makes a gruesome discovery…

Wilfrid Lawson, who was actually only 41 at the time, easily looks in his sixties thanks to his excessive alcohol intake… that said, he delivers a fair performance as the crazed lighthouse keeper. Michael Rennie on the other hand is his usual stiff cardboard cut-out (watch him in The Wicked Lady and you get the idea). That said, Laurence Huntingdon’s stilted and plodding direction does not help.
As for Movita, her adequate performance sure outshone that of Mr. Rennie. However, George Woodbridge as Gruppenführer Jürgens almost stole the show.

The film, part of The British Film Collection, is released on Blu-ray/DVD and has the following SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Image Gallery
• Original script PDF
• Instant play facility