La torre della morte

Several years ago in 1971 when I was doing the weekend warrior thing in Fort Sam Houston I visited Austin one weekend and did go on the university campus. My reason for going was to see the newly opened Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library. It's almost as big as the infamous tower. Still I did note the tower little dreaming that it would be the site of a terrible tragedy. Like passing by the former World Trade Center towers before they became infamous.

The Deadly Tower is the story of the massacre at the campus of the University Of Texas by former serviceman Charles Whitman suffering from an undiagnosed brain tumor who managed to sneak up some assault weapons, enough ammunition for a company who barricaded himself in the tower and started shooting at random.

The story is that of Whitman and one of the Austin police officers who took him down on that fateful day. Kurt Russell who broke from the Disney G rated mold finally got taken seriously as an actor with a wonderful performance with minimal dialog.

Richard Yniguez who should have had a breakthrough performance is also good as Austin PD officer Ramiro Martinez. I don't know why Yniguez never became a star.

Folks like John Forsythe, Clifton James, and Pernell Roberts play other police officials. Ned Beatty plays Alvin Crum, a university employee who with Yniguez and Paul Carr are the ones who finally reached the demented and troubled Whitman.

For a while as well he should, Charles Whitman became a poster child for gun control. Even with a president nearly assassinated not a decade later we still have no effective national policy to prevent future Charles Whitmans. The other view of gun control is also presented here as various citizens with hunting weapons join in to help the cops. There weapons are more effective and keep Russell pinned down.

The Deadly Tower is a fine film and good telling of one of the saddest days of the last century.

Dramatization of horrific events out of Austin, Texas in August 1966 when disturbed young man Charles Whitman went on a shooting rampage from the tower overlooking the university. Well-written TV-movie (cast with familiar television actors in supporting roles, and Disney mainstay Kurt Russell effectively playing against type in the lead), is anything but entertaining; however, the approach here--tough and unrelenting--provides for a fascinating docudrama. Crossing the paths of Whitman and local police officer Ramiro Martinez (nicely-played by Richard Yniguez) gives the narrative its drive, though the real-life Martinez was unhappy with his portrayal and sued. Liberties were indeed taken for 'dramatic purposes,' yet the hard-hitting film is still memorable today for its no-nonsense handling, the realistic violence and taut characterizations.

A powerful 1975 TV movie about the real life events that took place on the University of Texas campus in 1966 when a deranged 25 year old Charles Whitman began shooting people from the top of the Tower. When it was all over it would be the largest one-person murder spree in U.S. history to date. Whitman played by a young Kurt Russell who at the time was known for his light hearted Disney movies. Russell's portrayal of the killer is very effective as he keeps silent like a man possessed. This was an early glimpse of the kind of role Russell would do later in the 80's with Escape from New York and The Thing. The movie also focuses on the rescue team and police officers who put their lives on the line that fateful day. YouTube has some actual live news footage of that August day in 1966 where a camera is fixed on the Tower and you can see the assailant moving around and shots being fired. The movie is now on DVD through Warner Brothers Archive Collection and it looks great!! Also check out the real life crime TV movies Killer in the Family and The Deliberate Stranger on Warner DVD!

The movie features Kurt Russell as a sniper who uses the Austin Texas tower to carry out his short but deadly reign of terror. Do not expect any in depth explanation of his motivation, because there is none. In fact a no name actor could have easily played Russell's part, since he hardly speaks at all. When "The Deadly Tower" is creating high tension it is at it's best. When it tries to become a "message movie", it almost grinds to a halt. I say this, it is worth seeing for Kurt Russell's cold as ice performance, playing against type, and is certainly a way above average TV film. Although the Warner Brothers Archive Collection DVD shows black and white stills on the case, the movie is in color. - MERK

Jerry Jameson directed this based-on-fact TV movie that stars Kurt Russell(effectively cast against type) as deranged sniper Charles Whitman, who targets students and passerby on a tower located at the University of Texas, in Austin. Richard Yniguez and Paul Carr play the two police officers who hunt down Whitman, aided by a civilian(played by Ned Beatty) in the tense climax. Well acted and directed film is presented in an effective matter-of-fact way, and handles the tragic events with care. Whitman remains an enigma here, but film avoids the usual clichés and heavy-handed speechifying to become a memorable docudrama of its kind.