Stephen Torg seeks work at a struggling traveling circus. While there, a lion escapes; Torg is able to control it with his skill at hypnotism. Phil Danton, the head of the circus, is so impressed, he hires the newcomer. Then someone comes up with an idea. Torg hypnotizes Mary so that she can perform a dangerous aerial stunt without props. Her partner and boyfriend, Tom Danton is suspicious, but is overruled by the others.
With Torg's help, the circus becomes very successful, and Torg is able to force Phil into making him a partner. Meanwhile, Torg falls in love with Mary, though she makes it clear to him that her heart belongs to Tom. As time goes on, Torg begins to exert control over Mary. Before one performance, he tells her under hypnosis that she will be so tired that she will be unable to hold onto Tom during their trapeze act. As a result, Tom falls and is injured so badly, he has to stay in the hospital. The others suspect what is going on, but have no proof and are powerless to do anything.
When Tom recovers enough to return to the circus, he finds that Torg has Mary performing an even more dangerous stunt. While watching it, he unthinkingly cries out her name, breaking her trance and almost causing her fall from the high wire. While Torg is being lowered to the ground, Phil cuts the rope and Torg falls to his death. However, in a twist, the doctor reveals that Torg was shot in the head in mid-air, a feat that could only have been done by the circus's sharpshooter, Dora.
Aveleyman called the film an "enjoyable little B-film with noir overtones, with some excellent performances. Lyon may be top-billed, but this is Lom's film all the way. Too bad much of the rest is strictly routine."[3]
References
^. BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
dark, tower, 1943, film, dark, tower, 1943, british, thriller, film, starring, lyon, anne, crawford, david, farrar, herbert, film, marked, herbert, first, major, film, role, dark, towerdirected, byjohn, harlowwritten, byreginald, purdellbrock, williamsbased, o. The Dark Tower is a 1943 British thriller film starring Ben Lyon Anne Crawford David Farrar and Herbert Lom 1 The film marked Herbert Lom s first major film role 2 The Dark TowerDirected byJohn HarlowWritten byReginald PurdellBrock WilliamsBased onThe Dark Towerby George S KaufmanAlexander WoollcottProduced byMax MilderStarringBen LyonHerbert LomAnne CrawfordDavid FarrarCinematographyOtto HellerEdited byTerence FisherMusic byJack BeaverProductioncompanyWarner Brothers First NationalDistributed byWarner BrothersRelease date18 October 1943 1943 10 18 Running time93 minutesCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglish Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Critical reception 4 References 5 External linksPlot EditStephen Torg seeks work at a struggling traveling circus While there a lion escapes Torg is able to control it with his skill at hypnotism Phil Danton the head of the circus is so impressed he hires the newcomer Then someone comes up with an idea Torg hypnotizes Mary so that she can perform a dangerous aerial stunt without props Her partner and boyfriend Tom Danton is suspicious but is overruled by the others With Torg s help the circus becomes very successful and Torg is able to force Phil into making him a partner Meanwhile Torg falls in love with Mary though she makes it clear to him that her heart belongs to Tom As time goes on Torg begins to exert control over Mary Before one performance he tells her under hypnosis that she will be so tired that she will be unable to hold onto Tom during their trapeze act As a result Tom falls and is injured so badly he has to stay in the hospital The others suspect what is going on but have no proof and are powerless to do anything When Tom recovers enough to return to the circus he finds that Torg has Mary performing an even more dangerous stunt While watching it he unthinkingly cries out her name breaking her trance and almost causing her fall from the high wire While Torg is being lowered to the ground Phil cuts the rope and Torg falls to his death However in a twist the doctor reveals that Torg was shot in the head in mid air a feat that could only have been done by the circus s sharpshooter Dora Cast EditBen Lyon as Phil Danton Anne Crawford as Mary David Farrar as Tom Danton Herbert Lom as Stephen Torg Frederick Burtwell as Colonel Willie Wainwright William Hartnell as Jimmy Powers Josephine Wilson as Dora Shogun Elsie Wagstaff as Eve J H Roberts as Dr Wilson Aubrey Mallalieu as DoctorCritical reception EditAveleyman called the film an enjoyable little B film with noir overtones with some excellent performances Lyon may be top billed but this is Lom s film all the way Too bad much of the rest is strictly routine 3 References Edit The Dark Tower BFI Archived from the original on 12 July 2012 The Dark Tower 1943 Articles TCM com Turner Classic Movies The Dark Tower External links EditThe Dark Tower at IMDb The Dark Tower at TCM The Dark Tower at AllMovie The Dark Tower is available for free download at the Internet Archive This article related to a British film of the 1940s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte This article about a 1940s thriller film is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Dark Tower 1943 film amp oldid 1108307505, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
