Summer Under the Stars: Basil Rathbone

Star of the Day: Basil Rathbone

Tower of London (1939): "In the 15th century Richard Duke of Gloucester, aided by his club-footed executioner Mord, eliminates those ahead of him in succession to the throne, then occupied by his brother King Edward IV of England."

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This was so over the top with its scenery-chewing, over-acting, campiness. I low-key kind of love it for how overdramatic Basil Rathbone is throughout. He really goes out of his way to make Richard III as evil as possible. The only thing missing is a moustache to twirl around his finger. 

Less of a historical drama and more like a series of horror vignettes to show you how Richard III succeeded his brother, with the cartoonish henchman (played with equal scenery-chewing by Boris Karloff—give him a Summer Under the Stars day!) thrown in for added fun. 

As someone who has knowledge of this time period, it's a very simplistic timeline with a little too much coddling of other characters for the sake of making Richard appear as evil as possible (George, Duke of Clarence suddenly becomes a traitor out of nowhere but if you know his biography... he wasn't as clueless as the also scenery-chewing Vincent Price would have you think). 

I'm just honestly bummed that Frenchman's Creek didn't play. I rue the day I deleted that from my DVR!

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Log line from IMDb