Tower of Terror

Two great popular British eccentrics of the '30s of stage & screen were Ernest Thesiger & Wilfrid Lawson who was also a passable baritone. In this British wartime second feature, a suspenseful espionage thriller set in a remote lighthouse off the Dutch coast commanded by Lawson with a fearsome hook for a right hand, a young saboteur(Movita) is rescued from the sea having thrown herself in following a pursuit by some Gestapo officers. Rescued by Michael Rennie an undercover British agent taken on as Lawson's assistant she soon falls prey to the latter's growing obsession because of her close resemblance to his dead wife buried at the bottom of the tower. There ensues a gripping cat-and-mouse situation with Rennie desperately plotting their escape before Lawson, his suspicions growing with his madness to recreate his wife in Movita virtually a prisoner, kills him following one lucky escape. After a hand to hand struggle,Rennie becomes trapped in one of the rooms while the now totally nutty Lawson drags his prisoner down to where his wife's remains are buried and frantically unearths her skeleton. Meanwhile a warship alerted by a signal from Rennie has successfully found the tower and opens fire.... A few years earlier, in his first Hollywood film noir, Peter Lorre had a similar problem with Frances Drake and a pair of someone else's hands.

Satwalker99 Kent UK