ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

clanciai This was Herbert Lom's first great performance and his most revolting one. Who can avoid getting the creeps as he oils his way into constantly deeper and more dangerous influence of the circus as the primadonna is defenseless against his powers and everybody just have to cooperate for the sake of survival? Of course, the intrigue is not entirely convincing, however could such a brilliant and clever beauty like Ann Crawford fall a prey to such a charlatan? Orson Welles made a similar show void of all credibility six years later in his film of Joseph Balsamo, a great adventure film spoiled by the hypnosis racket. Herbert Lom is actually more convincing and above all more nasty in his very dark and eerie character. There are some brilliant circus scenes, though, and the insight into the life of a circus with its very different characters all struggling together with difficulties of survival of the circus will keep you busy and attached with sympathy to the whole plot. David Farrar is always worth seeing, he is usually an honest character at risk, and here more so than ever. It must have had some influence on Carol Reed when he twelve years later made his "Trapeze", which would be interesting to see again as a compliment to this one.

MartinHafer In the 1930s, several major studios opened studios in the UK in order to comply with a British law mandating that a specific percentage of the movies shown in the country be made there as well. So, studios like MGM and Warner Brothers opened up British branches...and "The Dark Tower" is from Warner's British studio. The story begins at a nearly bankrupt circus. Receipts are poor and so it's not surprising that the manager tells Torg (Herbert Lom) to go away when he comes looking for a job. However, shortly after this a lion breaks loose and Torg miraculously is able to get the animal under control using his hypnotic ways. The circus agrees that Torg is pretty amazing and they hire him. His job is an odd one, however. He coaches a lady trapeze artist to give her the ability to do amazing stunts without a trace of fear. However, he soon has so much control over her that their relationship seems much like Svengali and Trilby. Torg also begins behaving like a nasty jerk--treating everyone in the circus like they are beneath him. Where will all this end?The best thing about this film is Herbert Lom's wonderful performance. He is well mannered but menacing...almost like a malevolent version of Charles Boyer. The story is good, though VERY similar to the Svengali movies which preceded it...but has enough different about it that both stories are well worth seeing.By the way, this is an odd film because the war is never mentioned...yet it came out in 1943...during the height of WWII.

whpratt1 Enjoyed this British film which is about a Circus called the Danton Empire Circus which is having some financial problems and has to create some new acts in order to keep in business. A drifter, Stephen Torg, (Herbert Lom) appears one day and is able to calm a lion which has broken loose and out of control around the circus grounds. Stephen is looking for work and is hired by the circus manager and meets up with Mary, (Ann Crawford) who is a high wire artist and her partner Phil Danton. Stephen Torg uses hypnosis on Mary and permits her to take some very daring tricks on the high wire act and it becomes an instant success. Stephen becomes very popular with the audiences and is very resented by the circus company, however, Mary is in his complete control and he steals her from her boyfriend Phil Danton. Great entertaining film, don't miss this one. Enjoy.

theowinthrop Last night three Warner Brother - Teddington Studios (U.K.) films were shown for the first time in decades and the first time on American television. All three were good productions, but this one is worth talking about first - it was the first big role that that fine character actor Herbert Lom ever got in British film.Born in Czechoslavakia, Lom came to England in the 1930s, and began acting in bit parts. But he has a face which is photogenically handsome but sinister, and soon began getting better and better roles - not all of them villains (his ruthless gang boss in NIGHT IN THE CITY has a legitimate, deadly gripe against Richard Widmark). He would also do well in comedies, playing with his villainy in THE LADYKILLERS and as "Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus" in the "Pink Panther" films.Here, he is Torg, later Mr. Torg, and later (for publicity) renamed Dr. Stephen Torg. He is a tramp who stumbles into a dying circus run by Ben Lyon (Phil Danton) and his brother (and trapeze star) David Farrar (Tom Danton). Tom's wife Mary (Ann Crawford) is his trapeze partner. The circus is collapsing for want of customers, and the players not paid. But Phil explains things to them, and they agree to keep going on for awhile. But the lion escapes from it's cage, and after the lion tamer collapses nobody knows what to do. Except Torg. He has a powerful command in relaxing the lion slowly, and getting it into the cage again. Everyone is impressed, particularly Phil and his publicity man Jim (William - here Bill - Hartnett, of later "Dr. Who" fame). They allow Torg to work for the circus. An idea is suggested concerning one of Mary's delicate high wire acts - what if Torg hypnotized her so she did not need her parasol for balance. Tom, of course, is against it, but Mary is willing to do it. And it works.Soon, due to Jim's publicity, the crowds start showing up. This is fine, but the circus people (except for Mary) don't like Torg. He is arrogant, and won't do his share of the work moving objects about when setting up and tearing down the campsites. He also does not care for any of their feelings. When the ringmaster Willy (Frederick Burtwell, in a nice comic performance) starts telling him off, Torg quietly informs him that with his usefulness to the circus he is irreplaceable, whereas ringmasters are easily replaceable.Tom is definitely angry with Torg - he sees Mary slowly falling more and more under Torg's influence. She even misses helping take down the camp at one point. Torg, who has forced Phil to make him a partner, takes her for a drive in his new MG. Here Lom has his best moment in the film - he's allowed to tell Mary what is behind his flawed character. He had a wretched youth in a children's home, and was bullied because he was small. It's actually quite touching as Lom demonstrates Torg wasn't made like he was by nature, but by the human race itself. It explains how he gained his arrogance by his powers of hypnosis, and how he really was potentially a better person than he became.Mary at this point rejects Torg's offer to marry her. She still loves Tom. Shortly after Tom knocks down Torg after an argument. And soon after that - there is an accident in an aerial act leaving Tom badly injured. It seems Mary claims as her hold fails she is too tired. Later she can't remember this. And Torg is smiling.Ever since George Du Maurier created "Svengali" in Trilby, hypnosis was seen as a potentially sinister force. John Barrymore played Svengali in the film of that name in the 1930s, and there were other similar films (both dramas and comedies) since then. This film treats the subject with some dignity, even having a psychiatrist examine Mary at one point. The entire cast is quite good (even Lyon's American accent is tolerable after awhile), but it's Lom's sinister Torg that holds it together best, and which opened his future career so well.