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SHERLOCK HOLMES I BONEFANGERKLOR
(Nordick Film Kompagni / Denmark / 1910)

A man winds up drugged while drinking with "friends" who take his wallet. On awakening, he accuses the bartender of being a thief. Holmes arrives and the police arrest both men, but Holmes detects the drugged drink and intrudes on the culprits, who over-power him, forcing him to get help from the police to get loose. 2 fights and a car-chase with lots of shooting later, all is resolved at the police station.

A mostly-clear print of this is posted at the "www.stumfilm.dk" site, silent, with NO music and NO English translation! But it's easy enough to figure out, and fortunately, is only 12 minutes long.

I noted the on-screen title, "Sherlock Holmes Unter Bauernfangern" translates to "Sherlock Holmes Among Farmers", but it seems to me the online link title "The Confidence Trick" makes more sense. Early, simple, fun. I hope someone eventually collects as many of these rarities as can be found and puts them out on a DVD set. Synergy Entertainment's 2 "Sherlock Holmes Collection" box sets did this to a degree, but has some odd gaps that could have made them better than they were.

Watch film here:
www.stumfilm.dk/en/stumfilm/streaming/film/sherlock-holmes-i-bondefangerklor

That was fun! A real classic silent movie. I loved how some of the actors portrayed their characters with exaggerated mannerisms to convey over the silent setting. It even has a car chase. Thanks for sharing.

Well, I just watched the 1932 film SHERLOCK HOLMES with Clive Brook for the 2nd time, and right after, I discover that a BRAND-NEW, CRYSTAL-CLEAR restoration has been done by the Museum Of Modern Art!

But there's a problem... it seems Disney is in charge of all old Fox Films, and currently have ZERO interest in putting this out on DVD or Blu-Ray. W--T--F ???

https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2021/06/the-1932-clive-brook-sherlock-holmes.html

from July 13, 2021:

SHERLOCK HOLMES (1932)

Clive Brook appeared as Holmes in 3 films. THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (Paramount / 1929) was apparently the very 1st Holmes film with sound. Although not a lost film, at the moment, this is not in circulation. He then appeared in a short vignette in PARAMOUNT ON PARADE (Paramount / 1930). the only copy I've seen of this for sale was a rather pricey one from a seller in Germany, who failed to mention what "Region" the disc was!

And then 2 years later, he appeared in SHERLOCK HOLMES (Fox / 1932). This is a case of false advertising! The credits allege it is "based" on William Gillette's stage play. That may be, but this is not an adaptation of the play-- rather, it's a SEQUEL to it! It picks up right where the play ends. Holmes is planning to retire from detecting and marry Alice Faulkner. Meanwhile, Moriarty is in the dock being convicted of murder, but swears that the 3 men responsible for his being there will all die before he does. I can see where this opening somewhat inspired the 1939 20th Century-Fox film THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, except in that one, Moriarty was declared not guilty and freed, whereas in this one, he escapes from prison and murders the first man on his list.

In this story, Holmes has a long-standing feud with Scotland Yard detective Colonel Gore-King. More annoying than any Lestrade I've ever seen, he derides everything Holmes says, does or suggests, even when he (and his young protoge Billy) correctly figure out where the body of the murdered Judge was hidden.

Moriatry recruits a group of assassins and gangsters from several countries, who wind up going on a Chicago-style rampage, after it appears Holmes has been tricked into shooting Gore-King dead. But the two have formed a truce, and faked the murder to bring Moriarty out of hiding. Holmes further decudes the crime wave is merely a distraction from a bigger job-- robbing the bank owned by Alice's father, by tunnelling into it from the shop next door (shades of "The Red-Headed League").

Truthfully, this film reminds me, more than anything, of a mid-40s Universal Holmes film-- except, without Rathbone & Bruce. At least, unlike nearly every silent film before it, Watson is shown to be a reliable friend (rather than a non-entity, or left out entirely). But I've never seen "roaring 20s" style gangster violence in a Holmes film before!

The one wrong note, for me, sadly, is Alice Faulkner. Miriam Jordan's pretty enough, but while I could accept Holmes admiring Irene Adler or Violet Hunter for their intelligence, Alice just seems a typically self-centered, vapid female.

Gore-King is played by Alan Mowbray, who wound up appearing n a couple of the Rathbone films, including a turn as Colonel Sebastian Moran in "TERROR BY NIGHT". The best part of the film is after his seeming murder, when he puts aside his former derision of Holmes and they truly become allies in the fight. It reminds of the change in Arthur Holmwood (Michael Gough) in the 1958 Hammer version of "DRACULA".

The Judge was C. Montague Shaw, who was The Clay King in "FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS" (1938) and Dr. Huer in "BUCK ROGERS" (1939).

Dr. Watson, who's only in the film briefly, is played by Reginald Owen, who a year later starred as Holmes in A STUDY IN SCARLET (1933). He's probably best remembered as Ebineezer Scrooge in the 1938 version of "A CHRISTMAS CAROL".

Moriarty is played by Ernest Torrence, known for a whole string of rotten villains in silent films.

Comic relief is supplied by Herbert Mundin as a bar owner. I remember him mostly from "TARZAN ESCAPES" and "THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD". His scenes look like they could have stepped right out of a late-50s Hammer Film, when it came to giving the audience a few laughs in between more intense scenes.

I enjoyed this for what it was, though I doubt it'll ever become a favorite of mine. I suppose there's a number of reasons why this film is virtually forgotten. Truthfully, it looks like it could use a nice restoration job. The picture I could tolerate, but the sound on the disc was so low, I had to crank my stereo ALL the way up to hear. I doubt I could hear it at all if I was running it thru that adapter box I needed to use with my Blu-Ray Player.

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Thanks for these Prof. I'll have seen/ heard a *lot* of later Holmes adaptations, so it's interesting to see these earlier versions.

I've been doing a ton of reviews at a couple of other boards, and it didn't occur to me to also post them here. I think from here on out, I'll just post my re-post my new posts as I go... (less confusing, at least to me)


A STUDY IN SCARLET
(KBS Productions Inc. / US / 1933)

SIX DEAD MEN ******

KBS Productions paid for the title, but not the plot, of Doyle's 1st Holmes story. Instead, and I might never have known this if not for some helpful contributor to the IMDB, they adapted-- unofficially (and presumably, UNPAID!), Belgian author Stanislas-Andre Steeman's 1931 detective novel "Six Hommes Morts". I've looked around, and I haven't yet found any evidence that this novel, published in French, has ever been translated into English. However, I've just learned it has been adapted to film at least 4 times, with this being the 1st version. The others were "THE RIVERSIDE MURDERS" (UK / 1935), "LE DERNIER DES SIX" (France / 1941) and "L'inspecteur Wens: SIX HOMMES MORTS" (an episode of the 1975 French anthology TV series, "Les grands detectives")! Now I'm interested in tracking those down for comparison.

Physically, Reginald Owen reminds me a bit of a young Ray Milland (or, a bit, of stage actor William Gillette). He may not look like the traditional idea of Holmes, but thanks to the script, he certainly SEEMED like him, making all sorts of amazing observations that escape the notice of Inspector Lestrade and Dr. Watson (who's mainly here as the audience-identification character, for Holmes to explain the plot to). Owen fares better as Holmes than he did as Watson in Fox's "SHERLOCK HOLMES" only 6 months earlier, while Alan Morbray, who was Scotland Yard inspector Colonel Gore-King in that, returns here as Lestrade.

I've seen this movie at least 4 times now, and have enjoyed it more with each viewing. Part of it is the slowly-developing plot, part is seeing some of the wonderful character actors of the period who I've come to recognize from other films turning up. Among them are Anna May Wong (who once played Fu Manchu's daughter), Halliwell Hobbes (who was in several Rathbone HOLMES films), Olaf Hytten (ditto; he also played "Sheerluck Jones" in the insane comedy short "Lost In Limehouse", which came out only a month before this), and Billy Bevan (a policeman in "Dracula's Daughter", he serves a comic-relief role as a tavern customer, similar to Herbert Mundin in the earlier Clive Brook film).

Given the similarities to "The Five Orange Pips" by Doyle, "Six Dead Men" by Steeman, or "Ten Little Indians" by Agatha Christie, I have to wonder WHICH story Christie might have been borrowing from when she wrote HER novel several years after this!

I only wish someone could locate a complete print of this and do a proper restoration, as between the poor picture and sound quality, and all the words missing due to frequent cuts, this is in almost as bad shape as Raymond Massey's "THE SPECKLED BAND". The screenplay here would have made an excellent installment in the Universal HOLMES series with Rathbone; if it had been, it would have been fully restored by now, as those 12 films were!

THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
(Real Art Productions / UK / 1935)

I know many classic characters have gone through multiple studios in their time, but in the case of Arthur Wontner, his 5 Sherlock Holmes movies were actually made by 4 different ones! It's remarkable there was any sense of continuity.

This film, like many such adaptations, actually combines elements of at least 3 of Doyle's stories. The bulk of it is based on his 4th Holmes novel, "The Valley of Fear". I've noticed that 3 of those involve long flashbacks to events that took place years before (while "Hound" has a flashback describing the legend that goes back centuries). In addition, and I thank an IMDB reviewer for pointing this out to me, a rather large early chunk of the film comes from "The Reigate Squires". This is the part where Holmes, exhausted from one particular case, takes the invitation of an old Army chum of Watson's to come to the country to recuperate... only to hear of a murder at a nearby estate. A tiny piece of that story wound up in the pilot episode of the 1954 Ronald Howard SHERLOCK HOLMES tv series, but I now realize that more of it may have found its way in here than in that one. The biggest change is suggesting that Holmes was retiring, and that he took Mrs. Hudson with him to continue on as his house-keeper! (But surely... SHE owned Baker Street, didn't she?)

And then there's "The Final Problem". Yes, Moriarty's been added to this one. And, the famous scene where he confronts Holmes in Baker Street and runs down a list of times Holmes has inconvenienced him is here. That dialogue has turned up verbatim in so many different films, it's hard to keep track of it. To be honest, I've grown so tired of Doyle's original story, coming to feel it was mostly a totally-contrived way for an author to KILL OFF an amazingly-popular fictional character, that I actually find its inclusion here more entertaining than in possibly any other adaptation I've seen of it.

The fact that this film and THE SLEEPING CARDINAL (1931), Wontner's 1st, were made by different studios may explain the total lack of continuity between them concerning Moriarty. He was most definitely arrested by the police in the earlier film, yet in this one, Watson & Lestrade both refuse to believe he's anything more than a mathematics professor, and that Holmes never had him brought to justice! Clearly, different continuities. (Hey, why not? Gordon Scott played 3 DIFFERENT versions of Tarzan, and Sean Connery 2 DIFFERENT versions of James Bond!)

Once the long flashback to America ends, we see Holmes brilliantly solve the murder (and reveal the actual identity of the dead man). After this, the climax involves trapping Moriarty, in a sequence that almost certainly HAD to have inspired the climax of Fox's THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES a mere 2 years later! If anything, this version, involving an ancient, battered circular stone staircase, is far more atmospheric. And since Moriarty winds up falling into a moat filled with water... his survival to return in SILVER BLAZE 2 years later makes perfect sense (especially as Moran was waiting in the car for his return).

Ian Fleming returns for his 3rd outing as the dapper ladies' man Watson (having been absent from THE SIGN OF FOUR).

Leslie Perrins, who was the ill-fated Ronald Adair in THE SLEEPING CARDINAL, returns here as John Douglas, in reality Pinkerton agent Birdie Edwards. My favorite scene of his is when he springs the trap on the gang of killers, standing there calmly lighting a cigarette as the cops burst into the room surrounding the criminals.

Roy Emerton, who had a bit part as "the tattooed man" in THE SIGN OF FOUR, returns here for a much-bigger role as Boss McGinty. He's one of the most sinister, creepy-looking actors I've seen in the 1930s, and I understand he became mostly known for appearing in Shakespeare plays!

Lyn Harding, who'd made such a memorable and nasty impression as Dr. Grimesby Rylott in THE SPECKLED BAND (1931 opposite Raymond Massey as Holmes) returns here in his first of 2 appearances as Professor Moriarty. While Moriarty had spoken to potential clients while in hiding behind a painting in THE SLEEPING CARDINAL, here he meets them face-to-face in a similar room, while somehow managing to appear and disappear from the room without his "business associates" seeing him come and go. His burning rage at Holmes as a result of the closing events of this story are very much in evidence in the follow-up, SILVER BLAZE.

As usual, the main drawback of this and all 4 currently-available Wontner HOLMES films, is the TERRIBLE quality of the prints. The picture is fuzzy, the sound is worse. As much as I like this film, I can only imagine how much more I might if someone found really decent prints and did extensive restorations on them. The style of the writing, directing & acting in some old films can take some adjustment-- but watching miserable prints only makes that more difficult.

"THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, part two"
(BBC-TV / 1968)

Having just watched this again, I felt compelled to comment on it.

The scene of Watson being chased by the dog made a good cliffhanger, though I believe it was invented just for that purpose.

Interesting how Sir Henry told Watson that he knew Watson of all people would not like to be a spoil-sport. Of course, Watson's usually the ladies' man, yet he didn't catch on that Sir Henry wanted to meet Beryl until he saw it himself. Stapleton's outburst, and later apology, appears to be authentic to the book, as it appears in all 3 of the "authentic" film versions (Cushing, Baker & Brett), yet I prefer Henry's reaction in the Baker version to this one, as Gary Raymond's Sir Henry seems almost too genial about it.

I like how, once Barrymore's been accused of being part of a conspiracy, that his wife reveals the truth about her brother being the convict Selden. Really gets a major red herring out of the way pretty quick. Later, when Barrymore talks about the night Sir Charles died, I think he tells more than he should, as a way of minimizing Frankland's screen-time, as I believe in at least 2 other versions it's Frankland who leads Watson to finding "the other man" on the moor.

The whole story really picks up when Watson finds that Holmes has been on the moor for at least a week. Nigel Stock's Watson gets upset but not angry (as Nigel Bruce did), and from this point, the details of the mystery begin to be revealed with amazing precision. Holmes is diverted from revealing the killer's identity due to Seldon's death, and the scene where he tells Watson to say nothing as Stapleton arrives is so quiet compared to most versions it's downright chilling.

Then follows 2 scenes I've never seen in any other version of this story: the pub (where more important details come out), and, the scene between Stapleton & his wife, where she BEGS him to give up his plan. He's already offended at this suggestion, since he's spent ten years of his life planning this, but when she accidentally lets slip that she was the one who sent Henry a letter of warning while they were in London, he goes berzerk. In at least 2 later versions, we saw Beryl tied up, but never the scene that led up to it.

The pacing in this 2nd half is infinitely better than it was in the Tom Baker version, except that it meant there was absolutely no time left for an epilogue. Stapleton goes down in the mire, ROLL CREDITS. It's shocking. And all I can think is, while this was done as a 2-parter, it really should have been done as a 3-parter, as several of the 1980s MISS MARPLES were.

I'm probably the only person on the planet who thinks Gary Raymond made a far-more appropriate Sir Henry than Christopher Lee did.

Also, something I hadn't really noticed until today, concerned the important point of Holmes' investigation regarding Stapleton's previous history as a school-teacher. Stapleton's casual mention of this was what led Holmes to be able to trace him, and find physical evidence not only of his identity, but the fact that he was married. It suddenly struck me that a similar point in Agatha Christie's "EVIL UNDER THE SUN" allowed Hercule Poirot to connect 2 seemingly-unrelated crimes done years apart, because they had the exact same modus operandi. Yet another example of how Christie was a fan of Doyle! I've seen these stories so many times, yet never connected them until now.

THE RIVERSIDE MURDER
(Fox Film Company / UK / 1935)

6 down-on-their luck friends pool their money and agree to equally split any profits at the end of 5 years. As the deadline approaches, they begin to get murdered, one by one. Trying to solve the crimes are straight-laced Inspector Philip Winton, his rather eccentric Scottish sidekick Police Sgt. 'Mac' McKay, and pesky, ambitious newspaper reporter Claire Haines. At one point, one of the friends involved in the "pact" is shot in front of 2 witnesses, yet a moment later, the body has disappeared.

If all this sounds familiar, it's because it's basically the SAME story filmed just 2 years earlier in America as "A STUDY IN SCARLET". So many people are busy complaining that film has nothing to do with Arthur Conan Doyle's 1st Sherlock Holmes novel that they completely miss that it's really an uncredited SWIPE of Belgian writer Stanislas-Andre Steeman's 1931 detective novel "Six Hommes Morts", which IS listed in the opening credits of THIS film.

Having seen the 1933 film with Reginald Owen at least 4 times and enjoying it more each time, I decided to go looking for the other versions. "RIVERSIDE" is a very nicely-done, compact, and at times amusing early English murder mystery. I haven't read the source novel yet (it's in French, I wonder if it's ever been published in English-- or, ONLINE?). But, if I had to guess, I'd say this version, which is quite streamlined compared to the "Sherlock Holmes" version, is probably more authentic to the book.

I found it amazing to watch 2 drastically-different adaptations of the same story, but be able to clearly recognize certain elements that appeared in both films. One example was the girl witnessing a murder, where the body disappears right after it happens. Another is learning about an underground tunnel that connects to the house. Funny enough, a similar tunnel appeared in the 1929 German "HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES", though I'm pretty sure it never appeared in Doyle's novel.

I was only familiar with 2 actors in this. Sgt. McKay was Alistair Sim, who's perhaps best known for what is generally considered the best version of "A CHRISTMAS CAROL" ever made. He also played police inspectors in several films, including a favorite of mine, "GREEN FOR DANGER", which was like a World War 2-era version of "CHINA BEACH". It's his face on the DVD box.

One of the group targetted for murder, the most level-headed of them, Henry Sanders, was played by actor Ian Fleming, who I've seen as Dr. John Watson in 3 of the 4 available Arthur Wontner SHERLOCK HOLMES films.

The hero, Inspector Philip Winton, was played by Basil Sydney. He reminded me a bit of Claude Rains, or Kenneth More. But, it turns out, I had seen in him in 3 other films-- IVANHOE (1952), AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956), and a real favorite of mine, THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE (1959), where he played "Lawyer Hawkins". I'll have to keep an eye out for him next time I watch that!

There are at least 2 more film adaptations of "Six Hommes Morts" (Six Dead Men), and I'm already planning to get the 3rd one very soon. After that, I may go looking for more films based on Stanislas-Andre Steeman's books.

People keep comparing this to Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", but note, the victims in that did not know each other, there was NO detective on the scene, and, that was published in 1939. (heh)

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A STUDY IN SCARLET
(BBC-TV / 1968)

This is a weird one. A man turns up dead, both Inspector Gregson and Inspector Lestrade are involved, Watson seems generally unaware of Holmes' methods, what almost seems simple is told in a very convoluted, confusing manner, and the Baker Street kids show up.

The problem, of course, is someone deciding, in the 2nd BBC series, to try adapting Doyle's very 1st Holmes story-- which was a short NOVEL-- in a single episode of the TV series. The entire opening sequence-- when Watson meets Holmes for the first time, and they decided to share the rent on a flat together-- is missing. You have to see the pilot of the Ronald Howard series back in 1954 to see that part of the story, but that episode then proceeded to tell a completely different story than this one.

It's funny to see LaStrade confidently declare, "Cherchez la femme!", when both Lee Chan & Parisian Police Inspector Jules Joubert said the exact same thing in CHARLIE CHAN IN MONTE CARLO, which I re-watched just last night!

Joey Daly, the music hall performer, was played by Joe Melia, who later played the main villain Jonathan Small in the 1983 version of THE SIGN OF FOUR with Ian Richardson!

Inspector Gregson was played by George A. Cooper, who I've seen in 2 episodes of THE AVENGERS, 2 of THE SAINT, a RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED), a NEW AVENGERS, and DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (no doubt the thing he did I've seen the most times). He came back as Gregson in "The Greek Interpreter", but that episode is among the missing.

Inspector Lestrade was played this time by William Lucas, who I've seen in X THE UNKNOWN, a DANGER MAN, a SAINT, 2 AVENGERS, and the Peter Davison DOCTOR WHO story "Frontios". Oddly, this was his only episode as Lestrade, where he replaced Peter Madden from the earlier series, while Madden appeared in this series playing a different character!

Alice Charpentier, who was the focus of one of the criminal's unwanted attentions, was played by Edina Ronay, a hot little number who I've seen in 2 AVENGERS, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, NIGHT TRAIN TO PARIS, A STUDY IN TERROR, CARRY ON COWBOY, and a RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED).

Jefferson Hope, the man Holmes was looking for, was played by Larry Cross, who I've seen in a SAINT, THE GIRL HUNTERS, CARRY ON COWBOY, and an AVENGERS.

Joseph Stangerson, the 2nd person to get murdered in his story, was played by one of my favorites, Ed Bishop, who among many other things starred in CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERON, UFO, and the BBC-radio version of PHILIP MARLOWE.

The scene where Holmes tells Watson he's placed an ad in the paper, and to have his revolver ready, is clearly a tribute to a nearly-identical scene in Poe's "The Murders In The Rue Morgue". The later scene where a cabbie is asked up to help with a heavy piece of luggage, allowing Holmes to slap handcuffs on him, later wound up in the William Gillette SHERLOCK HOLMES stage play, and the Arthur Wontner film THE SLEEPING CARDINAL (alias SHERLOCK HOLMES' FATAL HOUR).

Doyle, like Poe before him and Christie after him, liked to do variations on themes, and this is very obvious when you compare A STUDY IN SCARLET and THE VALLEY OF FEAR. Both stories involved criminal gangs in America, a love triangle, and someone being hunted across Europe. They're like mirror-images of each other. In this one, a murderer is chased by a vengeful lover, in the latter, a Pinkerton man is pursued by a criminal who escaped the police after his gang was rounded up. It's easy to see how some fans might be confused at times as to which story they're actually watching.

Peter Cushing complained bitterly about this series not allowing proper rehearsal time, and watching this episode I can see his point. Nigel Stock's performance in this one is the stiffest I've seen him do, there's a totally-blown line from Cushing that wound up in the finished recording, and overall, the whole thing looks and feels like an episode of Dan Curtis' daytime soap DARK SHADOWS, which was also known for looking cheap and having flubbed lines wind up being broadcast.

Even so, it's criminal that the BBC wiped 2/3rds of the episodes, and I wish all 16 of them were still intact and available, instead of just 6.

Just watched the 1939 HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (Basil Rathbone's debut) on DVD again. After seeing so many other adaptations of the same story, and most recently, both the 1968 and 1937 versions, it becomes SHOCKINGLY obvious just how MANY changes 20th Century-Fox made in their version. It remains a very good movie, but it's nowhere near the most authentic... or, the moodiest-looking.

One of my favorite bits in this version, which I'm pretty sure was one of the many things created just for this version, was the mysterious peddler wandering around on the moor. He's so ANNOYING... but also funny, as when he pulls out a police whistle and insists on blowing it loudly right in the faces of Watson, Beryl & Henry.

Then, when he wanders off, Watson actually notices he's suddenly limping on the wrong foot. I had to run the film back a moment to make sure of this. Funny enough, the guy is still holding his walking stick with his right hand, but as he walks away, he's limping on his left leg, which doesn't make any sense... unless you realize, the guy is FAKING it, as Watson suspects, but Watson doesn't realize the guy WANTS Watson to notice it.

Because, of course, it's Holmes IN DISGUISE. In no other version does Watson get SO PISSED OFF and stay that way so long as Nigel Bruce does in this one, when Holmes reveals himself, laughing in his best friend's face, before then adding injury to insult by pulling out his violin and begin playing it.

An e-mail just sent to the editor of SHERLOCK maagzine, who apparently did the audio commentaries on the MPI Rathbone box set.


I just listened to the audio commentary on the MPI box set's "HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES", and it mentioned it was by the editor of SHERLOCK magazine. So I thought I'd get in touch.

Fascinating stuff. In all the times I've watched, I NEVER ONCE noticed that Richard Green played Sir Hugo in the flashback!

It also somehow escaped me that there is NO explanation for who sent the letter of warning, since in virtually every other version it appears, it's Beryl who's trying to warn Henry away from what she knows her husband Jack is planning.

It is clearly explained what the conenction is between the convict and Mrs. Barryman-- though it's held back much longer than normal-- when Holmes refers to him as, ".........your brother..........."

I suspect the Hayes Office and their censorship was behind changing Beryl to Jack's STEP-sister and having her be completely innocent. This would be similar to what happened to Howard Hawk's version of "THE BIG SLEEP".

By comparison, in the 1929 HOUND, Laura Lyons KNOWS Jack is married and has told her he's planning to leave his wife Beryl for her. That's not in the book-- and I doubt the Hayes Office would have approved at all! 😄

I just noticed this weekend that the woman who played Mrs. Mortimer was James Cagney's mother in the film THE PUBLIC ENEMY.

Having watched all 14 Rathbone films twice in the last year (since getting the box set), and coming to feel there ISN'T a bad one in there, I'd like to add that Nigel Bruce's Watson is often responsible for helping Holmes solve mysteries, though at times unintentionally, because he'll make some comment which points Holmes in a direction that didn't occur to him. Thus, however much Watson is played for humor, he becomes indispensible.

Now... regaring Watson "becoming" important in this film... I note you mentioned the Eille Norwood and Robert Rendel HOUNDs, both of which are currently NOT AVAILABLE anywhere-- though I recently read that the entire Eille Norwood series (the 40 out of 47 that are known to still exist) are currently planned to be RESTORED by the BFI !! I can't wait.

But meanwhile... your comment suggests that when you made it, you hadn't seen the 1929 or 1937 HOUNDs, which I have-- and they've both become fast favorites of mine.

Someone mentioned that the 1929 HOUND is the very first time that the Holmes-Watson relationship was shown to be important in a Holmes film. Meanwhile, in the 1937 HOUND, Watson is shown to be highly intelligent, though not without humor... while Holmes is portrayed as an eccentric thinker who comes up with things that would simply never occur to Watson.

Both films are far darker & spookier than the 1939 HOUND, and ironically, the 1929 HOUND actually seems more "modern" in style than many of the sound films from the early 30s! The '29 film was directed by Richard Oswald, whose son, Gerd, directed nearly HALF of all the episodes of THE OUTER LIMITS. I can see where he got it from.

I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the audio commentaries as I go. Take care!

DER HUND VON BASKERVILLE
(Ondra-Lamac Film / Germany / 1937)

This was my 4th time seeing this one, and I just keep enjoying it MORE!

Something I've seen a lot of film adaptations do, is whenever you have stories told out of sequence with flashbacks, there's a tendency to show all the events in the order they happened. That certainly is the case here. The film opens with Lord Hugo Baskerville, some 600 years in the past, finding out his wife no longer loves him and is having an affair with another man. After killing the man in a swordfight, his wife's huge dog attacks and kills him.

We then cut to Sir Charles Baskerville, discussing the legend with his friend Dr. Mortimer, when Beryl Vendeleure, who turns out to be a distant relative, arrives. An eccentric neighbor, Stapleton, stops by. Apart from being a naturalist, he's also an outspoken mysogenist, who immediately takes an intense dislike of Beryl. But soon after he's has invited her to stay, Charles receives a phone call which sends him outside... where, moments later, he's found, DEAD, with the footprints of a large dog next to his body.

At the reading of the will, everyone, especially Beryl, are surprised to learn Charles had a nephew, Henry, living in Paris and working an an engineer. When he arrives, Mortimer tells him he's trying to engage the services of Sherlock Holmes to look into the bizarre goings-on at Baskerville Castle.

And it's nearly a half-hour in before we finally meet Watson, who with Holmes' assistant, are driving their house-keeper crazy with their studies into cigarette ashes. Holmes arrives fresh from an important case, and proceeds to confuse Watson by talking about both his most recent case and the identity of the man who left his walking-stick behind, at the same time. Mortimer meets Holmes, who requests Mortimer try to distill the "legend" down into 100 words or less. Henry calls from his hotel, angered that not one but two of his boots have vanished, at which point Holmes says the case is suddenly looking interesting. "Shall we go?" "You will. I'm busy." "But what shall I do?" "Keep the hound on his LEASH!"

Some of the dialogue, at least in the English subtitles, seem more modern than the 1930s to me, and add an extra level of humor. I also love how they use Mussorgsky's "Night On Bald Mountain" on the soundtrack over some of the darker, more moody scenes.

Watson, as played by Fritz Odemar, is sharper & more quick-witted than usual in this version. It amazes me how much this adaptation plays fast-and-loose with various elements of the story, yet still managing to be recognizable. For example, it's Beryl who calls out Barrymore's signalling at the window, prompting an admission from his wife that the escaped convict is her brother. Then you have Stapleton being the one with a telescope on his 2nd floor, which allows Watson to locate the hiding place of whoever is hiding out on the moor. And then there's Beryl. Traditionally, she's Stapleton's wife, but pretending to be his sister. In the Rathbone film, she's actually Stapleton's step-sister, and completely unaware of what he's doing. Here, she's openly known as a distant relative of Henry, while she & Stapleton pretend not to know each other-- even though, they're actually brother and sister.

Watson proves his skill with women while trying to placate an angry, irate Post Office telephone operator in the middle of the night, who Holmes rightly concludes has the key to Sir Charles' death. And, as it turns out, she just put thru another call between Henry & Stapleton, which had led Henry away from the house against Holmes' firm orders! They arrive just in time to save him from one of the least-impressive-looking hounds ever, while Barrymore gets into the action angrily trying to stop Stapleton from escaping. Instead, he's thrown from a speeding carriage, just before it winds up sinking into the moor-- with Stapleton on board!

Back at Baker Street, Holmes & Watson receive news that Henry & Beryl are engaged. "The same old story." "Women are not meant to be understood."

FUN flick. I'd say it's spookier-looking than the Rathbone film, but not half as much as the 1929 version. On the other hand, it's less authentic to the novel than either of those, but still manages to be more authentic than the 1959 Hammer version! The next time I do a "HOUND" marathon, I'll have a lot more versions to watch back-to-back.

Something I didn't realize at first, director Karel Lamac also did LELICEK IN THE SERVICES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1932). While that was an outright comedy, HOUND mixes mystery and spookiness with character humor. While Bruno Guttner made a good if very unusual Holmes, part of me wishes Lamac had brought back Martin Fric from the earlier film... although, Holmes is in so little of this, he might have been wasted here.

LE DERNIER DES SIX
(Continental Films / France / 1941)

A perfect example of how multiple adaptations of a single source material can be drastically different, yet each one highly-entertaining. This was the 3rd film version of Stanislas-Andre Steeman's "SIX HOMMES MORTS" (Six Dead Men), following "A STUDY IN SCARLET" (1933 / America) and THE RIVERSIDE MURDER (England / 1935). I wondered if I was crazy for going after all 3, but I've enjoyed all 3 of them so much, I'm not the least bit sorry I did.

6 friends who made money betting together on the horse races decide to go their separate ways but sign a contract that whatever their fates, at the end of 5 years, they're all share the benefits equally. So of course, as the deadline approaches, and they gather together, suddenly, they start being killed off one by one. Someone at a site names "French Films.com" implied this was a swipe of Agatha Christie's "TEN LITTLE INDIANS", which was published in 1939, apparently unaware that the Belgian novel was published in 1931, which, if there was any swiping going on, would be on Christie's part!

The 3 films are so drastically-different in style and content, outside the central mystery plot. One scene they all have in common (which I was able to correctly predict), is when one of the friends is describing the murder of another, suggests one of them will kill off all the others, and then, suddenly gets shot while standing in a doorway. But a moment later, the body disappeared! Having seen the 2 earlier films already, I knew where this development was going. What I found interesting was how the witness to this shooting, Henre Senterre (played by Andre Luguet) while physically reminding me of a French version of Reginald Denny, also vaguely reminded me of actor Ian Fleming, who played the corresponding character in the 1935 version!

While Holmes in the 1933 film had no interest no women, and Inspector Winton in the 1935 film fell in love with a pushy newspaper reporter, Pierre Fresnay, as "Le commissaire Wensceslas Voroboevitch" (alias "Monsieur Wens") has a very hot-tempered actress girlfriend "Mila Malou" (played by Suzy Delair). She reminded me vaguely of Annie Potts, except with such an aggressively-abbrasive personality that I couldn't possibly tolerate her the way Wens does!

Early-on I realized this was the most lavish-looking, biggest-budgeted adaptation of this story so far. The house where the friends meet is a virtual palace, and the fancy music-hall looks like something out of a Hollywood musical, with a dance number in the later tradition of The June Taylor Dancers, and other woman standing around on the sides of the stage completely naked (I bet this film never passed The Hayes Office over here!).

The photography is also STUNNING. I would say this qualifies as "noir", everything seems to be in high-contrast dark & light, so many shadows everywhere, so such crisp, clean imagery. My Dad once spoke with admiration for German technical ability, lamenting their politics, and the Continental studio was entirely financed by the Nazis.

The highlight of the film, for me, was Commissioner Wens, who was quite an amusing, witty character. There were quite a few moments I found outright hilarious, but not without some effort, as the dialogue and English subtitles were going by so fast, I really had to pay attention to not get lost.

With all the inspiration and/or swiping going on between various authors and screen-writers, the ending of the film really caught my attention. Focused on a chase through an underground tunnel, the sequence reminded me an awful lot of a similar one in the 1962 Indian film "BEES SAAL BAAD" (loosely adapted from Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles"), while the actual climax saw the murderer go down in quicksand just like from that book (a detail NOT in the '62 film).

I keep wondering if "Six Hommes Mort" has been translated into English. It'd be interesting to know exactly how the book went, as compared to the film versions.

This was the 2nd DVD I got from "Rare Films And More". Like the other one, the 1937 "HOUND", it was on a DVD-R, with English subtitles, a somewhat-confusing menu, and a WW2-era newsreel as a bonus. This one, though narrated in German (I think) was done from The Allies' POV, as it consistently showed refugees from German's "barbarity" and stressed how The Allies (and The French in particular) were ready to drive back "The Hun". Considering the atrocities being committed worldwide right now by the USA, watching this disturbing footage put me in a mood something like this might not have done decades ago.

THE SIGN OF FOUR
(British Broadcasting Corporation / 1968)

Repeating what they did with "A Study In Scarlet", the BBC series with Peter Cushing & Nigel Stock decided to adapt Doyle's 2nd-ever Holmes story-- and the 2nd novel-- as a single episode, rather than a 2-parter. This seems insane, except on watching the result, I'm stunned that so little that seems important was left out. In fact, there are several sequences in this version I have not seen in ANY of the multiple other ones I've seen, and several scenes that are allowed to play out at a rather relaxed, leisurely pace. Of course, to make up for this, huge chunks are cut out entirely, and what's left races by at a frightening pace, the likes of which I've only seen in the 2nd half of the Tom Baker version of "HOUND".

Ann Bell presents a very sweet, attractive version of Mary Morstan, and more time is spent focused on the budding romance between her & Watson than any other version I've seen outside of the 1932 Arthur Wontner-Ian Hunter film. Paul Daneman's Thaddeus Sholto is reasonably eccentric (including his "Elmer Fudd" lisp), much younger than Miles Malleson's from the '32 film, not as handsome as the one from the Ian Richardson film, but nowhere near as annoying-as-hell as when Ronald Lacey played him in the Jeremy Brett version. It's amusing and a bit awkward when, near the end, both Mary & then Watson mistake his actions as those of a romantic rival, when he's just someone out to do the right thing.

Cushing's Holmes is genuinely hyper-active in this, as he's racing to get thru as much of the dialogue and the story as possible in the absurdly-limited time allotted. He doesn't even have a chance to go undercover in disguise as Wontner, Richardson or Brett did. But I did enjoy his amusment at the expense of his Scotland Yard counterpart.

The highlight of this version, for me, was John Stratton as Inspector Athelney Jones, a man who's so arrogant, egotistical and conceited, he makes Lestrade look like a real sweetheart by comparison. More than any other version of Jones I've seen, Stratton is hilarious when he first dismisses Holmes as "the theorist", then, only seconds later, begins spewing out his own half-baked theories, which Holmes takes almost too much delight in picking apart. "And the dead man gets up to lock the door from the inside?" "...There's a flaw there... Somewhere... "

In recent years, the locked-door murder has become to me a blatent tribute to the one in Poe's "The Murders In The Rue Morgue", with a sailor and an organgutan replaced by a one-legged man and a pygmy. Despite this episode being near the end of the 2nd BBC series, so much of it displays Holmes explaining his methods and philosophy toward life that it screams to be watched before all the others (except for "A Study In Scarlet", which should be watched first). I especially enjoyed his meeting up with the butler, McMurdo, who he once went several rounds of boxing with years earlier.

In a bit of continuity I missed on earlier viewings, Wiggins (Tony McLaren) makes his 2nd appearance, coming to see Holmes by himself after he was instructed to leave the rest of his underaged detectives in the street in "Scarlet".

So much of the back-story, mood and character were left out of this adaptation, yet the parts that are here make me enjoy this as a very enjoyable alternative to the others. My favorite is still the Ian Richardson film, while my least-favorite, sadly, is the one with Jeremy Brett. (Now I'm just waiting for the British Film Institute to do their massive restoration project on the Eille Norwood series, so I can see the 1923 version cleaned up properly. The video currently on Youtube is a real chore to plow through until then.)

SILVER BLAZE / MURDER AT THE BASKERVILLES
(Julius Hagen Productions / UK / 1937 / 1941 in US)

Following THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, Holmes is back at Baker Street, presumably Watson & wife have moved elsewhere, and Holmes finally accepts the latest in a long-standing series of invitations to relax in the country from his old friend, Sir Henry Baskerville, who he helped out 20 years earlier. At the same time, Lestrade is being transferred to oversee the modernization of the police department in that general area, so they look forward to possibly seeing each other there.

But meanwhile, Colonel Sebastian Moran has found a suitable property in a rough industrial neighborhood to serve as the new headquarters of his boss, Professor Robert Moriarty, who presumably didn't die when he fell into that water-filled moat in the previous film.

Within this new framework, the classic story of a murder and a missing race horse unfolds rather authentically. Those complaining about all the additions should check out a similar adaptation in the 2006 "CASINO ROYALE" with Daniel Craig, where the entire first half of the film was all-new material, but the second half actually followed the source novel fairly accurately.

I currently have 3 different copies of this sadly Public Domain film, in various stages of disrepair. The first is a videotape copy of a videotape rental I made about 20 years ago. I haven't checked it in detail yet, but I do know it's the UK print, with the title "SILVER BLAZE". Then there's the 2003 DVD from Alpha Video / Oldies.com, which is a US print, "MURDER AT THE BASKERVILLES". The print is a bit fuzzy, but very watchable, and the sound is fairly clear. And then there's the 2016 DVD of the UK print, "SILVER BLAZE", from The Film Detective.com, listed as part of their "Restored Classics" line. Well, I wouldn't really agree with that. The entire film is way too dark, it's almost impossible to see anything in nighttime scenes, and the sound is appallingly bad. But that's not all.

The further problem is, although allegedly 6 minutes was cut from the US print, both DVDs are missing DIFFERENT parts of the film! I won't know exactly what's missing from each without watching each one with a stopwatch running and taking extensive notes, but I can lay out a few obvious things from near the beginning and end of each.

The Alpha Video "MURDER..." DVD is missing the opening scene, where Moran, in disguise, discusses the empty factory building with the estate agent. That scene is on the "SILVER" disc, but, the end of the NEXT scene, where Moriarty tells Moran the place is a "fortress which should prove impervious even to Sherlock Holmes", is missing. As is the opening of the 3rd scene, where Holmes tells Mrs. Hudson he objects to being referred to as an "invalid". These bits ARE on the "MURDER..." disc.

Near the end of the film, when Moriarty hears that his chauffer has captured Dr. Watson, Moran blurts out, "What the HELL is HE doing here?" on the UK "SILVER BLAZE" disc. But on the US "MURDER" disc, there's an obvious, awkward cut, reducing the line to, "What the is HE doing here?" I guess the US Hayes office / Production Code still didn't like the word "HELL" in their movies.

Finally, at the end, the US "MURDER" disc has Moriarty yell, "BLAST you!", while, oddly enough, the UK "SILVER" disc, you see him mouth the words, but the film is SILENT at that point. Did the British really find "BLAST you!" offensive??

Making this all the more ironic, I paid much more the the far-inferior DVD. I dearly wish someone would locate decent, complete prints of all of Arthur Wontner's films and do proper restorations on them. But until then, at least in my experience, stick with the Alpha Video version.

THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
(20th Century-Fox / 1939)

Growing up, the Rathbone films were the earliest HOLMES stories I ever saw. But now, collecting DVDs, a whole new world has been opening up to me. In the last year, I not only saw the 1916 William Gillette film adaptation of his own play, but also the greatly-expanded 1922 remake of it with John Barrymore.

But I?ve also seen the 1932 Clive Brook film ?SHERLOCK HOLMES?, which, it turns out, is a direct SEQUEL to the story in the stage play. And, whatta ya know? It suddenly became obvious to me that, if anything, the 1939 ?ADVENTURES?? film is actually a REMAKE of that!

It opens with Moriarty in the dock for previous crimes, but then sent to prison, after he threatens to murder the 3 people responsible for putting him there. Soon he breaks jail, murders the judge, and then hatches a scheme to frame Holmes for murdering the Scotland Yard inspector he was a rival of. Once Holmes has been arrested, he invites a whole gang of foreign criminals to run riot looting London, some of them ?Chicago gangland? style? as a DIVERSION for the REAL crime, robbing The Bank Of England.

So many have said, over and over, that the ?39 film bears almost no resemblence to the 1899 stage play, and they?re right. But from what I?ve described here, it should be obvious what it DOES resemble.

At least one reviewer compared the style of the ?32 film to a ?Bulldog Drummond? film, and I agree- right down to the annoying subplot of the hero putting off retirement and marriage to solve ?one more? big case. Irene Adler and Violet Hunter I could see, but Alice from the play and the ?32 film? NO WAY!


MY favorite Moriarty-- George Zucco!

The moment where Ida Lupino transitioned from light-hearted roles to "serious" ones.

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SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR
(Universal / US / 1942)

This was the 3rd time I've watched this on the DVD box set, so I figured I'd see if I could wring any more thoughts out about it...

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I wonder if as many people would complain about the Universal HOLMES films being updated if Fox hadn't done their 2 films in 1939 set in the proper period. Until then, every previous Holmes film-- and I've seen an awful lot of them lately!-- had been "contemporary"-- as has every film featuring THE SAINT or JAMES BOND. I wish somebody would make films with those characters as period pieces!

I agree with previous comments that this film is amazingly well-shot, and the restoration on the MPI box set is stunning. I did see a very odd sound synchronization problem in the middle earlier, but didn't notice it this time around.

Universal's "stock company" in the HOLMES films really started here. It blows my mind how many actors I know that were in this, who came back to play other parts in later films-- some of them, multiple times. This includes Evelyn Ankers, Henry Daniell, Olaf Hytten, Leyland Hodgson, Hillary Brooke, Harry Cording, Gavin Muir. Add on Reginald Denny, Thomas Gomez, Montagu Love and Edgar Barrier, and you've got an "all-star cast" here!

A few interesting plot points now. When Holmes recruits Kitty and she stirs up her friends to help scour London for info, they become like a grown-up version of The Baker Street Irregulars from the earliest stories. A villain being disguised as someone Watson knew many years earlier was also later done in TERROR BY NIGHT. Holmes going on a long tirade at the end explaining how the villain's plot goes back many, many years, seems inspired by THE SIGN OF FOUR and THE VALLEY OF FEAR. And someone being a "mole" in England for decades was a plot later used by Brian Clemens in one of the best episodes of THE NEW AVENGERS, "House Of Cards".

There's a quick visual gag, when Holmes reaches for his deerstalker hat, and Watson stops him saying, "Now, now, Holmes-- you promised!" Perhaps the fedora was a birthday present?

Somehow, I can't picture Howard Marion Crawford's Watson from the 1954 tv series being as nervous as Nigel Bruce was here about going into a seedy dive. The scene where the ex-con demands to know who ratted him out was rather amusing.

Oddly enough, it seems all the dates of the disasters in the film seen on the calendars took place in 1939-- so the entire story could be seen as a flashback to 3 years before the film was made, when the war seemed bleaker than it did in 1942.

Having listened to the audio commentaries on "HOUND" and "ADVENTURES", I found myself wishing there'd been one for "VOICE OF TERROR". Oh well, no big deal. One thing I've come to feel since getting the MPI box set is, there isn't a bad film among them. But they get even better after this one!

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON
(Universal / US / 1942)

The 2nd modern-day Holmes film at Universal was the first directed by Roy William Neill, who went on to do 11 in a row! Dennis Hoey also makes his debut as Inspector Lestrade in here. Both he & Nigel Bruce's Watson are played more serious here than in later installments, though early-on, there seems to be some good-natured friendly kidding between them. Basil Rathbone, as always, is mesmerizing to watch!

Some have complained about "contrived" plot points, and it must be said the biggest part of the story involves a supposedly-brilliant inventor foolishly refusing to allow the British Government or even Scotland Yard knowledge or access to his methods of manufacturing his new secret bombsite mechanism... which makes him far too easy a target for Professor Moriarty, who's now working for Nazi spies!

One of my favorite parts of the film is the scene where Holmes & Watson decipher the code, as for once, you really get the feeling that Watson is on the ball and pretty sharp. I don't mind a bit of character humor, but I wish Nigel Bruce had been allowed to play Watson like this more often.

Soon after, the pair turn up at what proves to be the scene of the first of 3 consecutive murders, and Lestrade also proves to have his wits about him.

The last scene I really enjoyed, was when Holmes allowed himself to be taken prisoner by Moriarty, and deliberately taunts him, then gives him a suggestion for a "more inventive" way of committing murder-- slowly draining the blood from the victim. This is actually a ploy to allow Lestrade, Watson & the police to track down Moriarty's hideout, so that the kidnapped inventor Dr. Tobel can be rescued. Lionel Atwill, who seemed too crude up to this point, really shines during this climax. I understand Fox wanted him to play Moriarty in "ADVENTURES" in 1939, but somehow he was unavailable, leading them to get George Zucco, who proved FAR better, instead.

Inspirations for stories fascinate me. It's clear the code in this story came straight from "The Dancing Men", but I also see details from "The Sign Of Four" (the man with the wooden leg, and the temporary false trail followed by the cops). However, Moriarty having a "stronghold", which features both a large sliding metal door and a deep shaft to dump bodies down, strike me as being borrowed from the final Arthur Wontner film, SILVER BLAZE / MURDER AT THE BASKERVILLES (1937, but released in America in 1941!). It's amazing it took me this long to connect that, but it figures, since the climax of Fox's "ADVENTURES" seems a blatent variation on the climax of Wontner's THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1935).

But influence runs both ways. The opening scene, where an old man comes into a shop to sell rare old books, AND, the scene where it's discovered the code can be read when reversed (as in a mirror), turned up almost verbatim in the 1977 Euro film THE FABULOUS JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. Neither scene is in Verne's novel, which suggests whoever wrote that film was a fan of this one! If anyone can point out an earlier source for these scenes, I'd be happy to learn about it.

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