THE MANY FACES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES SET

Several different teams of Holmes/Watson fame! This includes 5
episodes of the '54 TV series!! Of course as with all of these multi
sets from the cheapo studios(like Mill Creek) there is no closed
captioning on any of these movies/TV episodes!! Booooooo!! Also,
picture quality isn't the best!!

As for the movies, all of the ones with Rathbone, Wornter & Howard.
as well as the TV series episodes, are already represented on other DVDs!!
I only bought this for the other four movies, with Owen, Neville & Lee
as Holmes!! Was it worth it? I think so, with the one with Neville and the
last one from Lee being the best of the four!

SIGN OF FOUR(1932):

It is unfortunate that the picture quality is
so poor on this, as it probably was a great
movie in its time! The sound quality also suffers
doubly, as not only is it muffled, but the Brittish
accents are so thick in parts that it's nigh on
to impossible to understand! That all being said,
this was an interesting movie with Arthur Wontner
doing a good job as Holmes, though certainly not
of the caliber of Basil Rathbone! And, honestly,
Ian Hunter does a bang up job as Watson! Not
a bad movie, you just need to really pay
attention throughout so as not to get lost!! C+

From an Amazon.com customer:

The best of Arthur Wontner's Sherlock Holmes
films, much of the credit for The Sign of Four
is due to Graham Cutts' strong direction and
some imaginative cinematography by William
Luff and Alan Smith making much atmospheric
use of overhead tracking shots. Ian Hunter's
Watson is something of a liability, though:
closer to Doyle's original vision of the character,
he overdoes the interest in the opposite sex
something rotten, turning into a virtual walking
erection every time the leading lady appears,
lasciviously rubbing his hands when he sits near
her like a drooling melodrama villain. Amazingly,
this technique actually works, as the foolish girl
ends up marrying him. Perhaps she didn't get
out much. Maybe I should try out the Watson
technique myself...

One curious note is the villain's decision to
disguise his henchman Roy Emerton by covering
him in tattoos - not much use when he wears a
suit for the rest of the film. Sadly the public
domain DVD takes a bit of effort: although decent
prints do exist on UK TV, every expense has been
spared for this Region 1 NTSC DVD release, so
don't be surprised if you have to rewind to catch
the odd line of dialogue thanks to a noisy
soundtrack. - Trevor Willsmer

A "Ten Little Indians" type of tale, a society of people are
getting offed at an alarming rate!! When one member dies,
the rest of the group gets to split their assets!!! A widow of
one of the dead members comes to Holmes because she's
upset about not getting a penny from her late husband's
assets!! An interesting story, and pretty well told and acted,
but two problems here: the picture quality is not the best,
and the gentleman playing Holmes is not of the caliber of,
well, any other actor!! One of the main problems with Owen
is that, though British, he has lost his British accent!! In fact,
hardly nobody here is sounds British!!! Still, not a bad movie,
just don't expect a Rathbone quality movie!! B+

A review from IMDb.com:

I was intrigued by the thought of Reginald Owen playing
Sherlock Holmes because I disliked him as Ebeneezer Scrooge
in MGM's " A Christmas Carol" (1938). In that role he was
very subdued and did not bring the character to life, although
I have been spoiled in this regard by Alastair Sim; would the
same happen here?

Happily, he was much better as Holmes, but once again I have
been spoiled by Basil Rathbone and Arthur Wontner. Nevertheless,
he was more than adequate but was done in by the leaden pace
of the proceedings in A Study In Scarlet - it could have been so
much better with a little tension and suspense and a few less
dead spots, as the the storyline was excellent. I especially enjoy
mysteries in which the murderer is unknown until the last scene.

A good entry in the Holmes series - unless you've seen the
aforementioned Rathbone or Wontner in the title role. - GManfred

A much better transfer on this!! Sound and
picture are both great. This one moves along
at a quick pace, and is quite engaging! Great
acting, great plot, and being set in a horse
race venue is wonderful! Ian Fleming(not of
James Bond fame!) plays Dr. Watson this time
doing a fine job! Well worth the price of the dvd! B

From an Amazon.com customer:

One of the saddest things about old films
that are not in good shape is that a lot of
quality performances tend to not get the
recognition that they deserve. An excellent
example of this is the movie SilverBlaze
staring Arthur Wontner in his final of 5
films as Sherlock Holmes.

Wontner plays an excellent Holmes with
a pacing and a demeanor that simply
shouts Victorian/Edwardian. It is not so
much a "better" Holmes than Basil Rathbone
but a "different" one. The same can not be
said concerning Lyn Harding's Moriarty
whose performance is so superior that
it dwarfs any other I've seen in the role.

The plot is straightforward, a man who
stands to lose a fortune if a particular
race is won by the title character engages
Moriarty to make sure the horse doesn't
get the chance. Unfortunately for the
professor Holmes after years of declining
has finally decided to accept Henry
Baskervilles invitation to return for a
holiday to the scene of his triumph
putting him right in the center of the
action as murder and theft strikes right
around him.

All in all a first rate mystery with great
performances all around. Why then
only 4 stars? Because the actual quality of
the copy available for viewing leaves
much to be desired. That is of course
not the fault of the filmmakers or the
actors, but it is what it is.

For all that it's certainly worth your time
to find it, particularly if you are Holmes
fan. If the price for a copy is prohibitive
then Netflix and IMDB are acceptable
possibilities.

Either way don't let the age of this gem
keep you from enjoying it. - Peter Ingemi

Set in the 40s, this is a pretty good film that
is as good as any other detective film made in the
era, save the earliest of the Sherlock Holmes
movies with Rathbone and Bruce! This one finds
our sleuths on a train, hired to protect a jewel
that's just begging to be stolen! With Dennis Hoey
back as Inspector Lastrade, this is very entertaining! A-

A review from an Amazon.com customer:

The 11th film in Universal's series of Sherlock Holmes
films starring Basil Rathbone as the Great Detective
and Nigel Bruce as his faithful companion, Dr. Watson.

With only one more film to go following this 1946 release,
it's not surprising that there's little fresh about this entry,
but it hardly matters. The draw is still Rathbone and Bruce,
as well as Dennis Hoey's Inspector LeStrade, all of whom
deliver typically energetic performances.

The setting is novel, though, with Holmes and Watson
aboard a train bound from London to Edinburgh, acting
as bodyguards for the "Star of Rhodesia," a precious jewel
whose owner is murdered.

Of course, a train is the perfect setting for a mystery,
but as "Murder on the Orient Express" would prove
twenty-eight years later, the claustrophobic atmosphere
severely limits the action. But with a brisk running time
of only 60 minutes, "Terror by Night" never threatens
to bore. - Brian W. Fairbanks

The final installment of the Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock
Holmes movies, this is still quite entertaining! It seems
that once Universal got Holmes in the 1940s, they
decided not to ever go back! That was too bad, as the
best movies were all from the late 1800s of Arthur
Conan Doyle's original stories! But this was still good,
with both Rathbone and Bruce putting in great
performances, along with a good cast! Nice way to
end the series! A-

A review from Amazon.com:

This was the last entry in the series and while not
one of the best, it was still an enjoyable entry. As
usual, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce gave excellent
performances. At this point in the series Rathbone was
tired of his character role and wanted to move on.
Patricia Morison who played Hilda Courtney was a
very good antagonist of Holmes. The MPI release
is much more superior than some of the other poor
releases that have been going around for
years. - P. MCTAGGART

Someone is going around London killing prostitutes, and it
has a strange resemblance to Jack The Ripper!! The settings
are quite good, the music ok, and the picture and sound
quality are very good!!

As for the actors: Neville is pretty good as Holmes, Houston
is great as Watson, Finlay is typical Lestrade, and there's a
quite young Judi Densch(M in the Bond movies from Goldeneye
to Spectre!!)! Also here is Robert Morley(The African Queen & one
of my all time favorite movies, High Road To China, along with
The Road To Hong Kong)!! B

A review from IMDb.com:

Sherlock Holmes (John Neville) and Dr. Watson join the
hunt for the notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper.

Between this movie and "Murder by Decree", this is the
superior film. More dark humor, a better Holmes, and
much more of a horror aesthetic. One could argue it is
not a horror film, but I would strongly disagree... early on,
we see a man in black gloves (but no face) shove a dagger
through the skull of a victim. Another is stabbed and left
discarded in a tub. This is very much on the periphery
of the giallo or slasher film.

There is some similarity between this and "From Hell",
also. Which of those two is better, that is hard to say.
They are different animals. This one has more of the
humor (albeit dark), but "From Hell" is the more grisly
picture. They both have some of the royalty aspects, though
this one invents the names of the royals rather than uses
the actual suspects

. I would recommend this film rather highly. - gavin6942

With Christopher Lee and Patrick McNee, this should be
a can't miss movie!! It starts out with a man inventing a remote
control for blowing things up, and he sells it to Jolly Old England!
Not more than two minutes later, while leaving the man's home,
he gets robbed!! The inventor goes chasing after the thief, chases
him to the local opera house, and gets killed!! England then calls on
Sherlock to solve the case!! The whole thing is about political
assassination!!

This is set in 1910 Austria(for what reason, who knows), and the
set pieces are very good!! The story is pretty slow to develop,
and it seems to plod along way to slowly for me!!

This has several famous people from the past in it as dress
characters, such as Sigmund Freud(a really stupid addendum
to this mystery) and Eliot Ness[this one is really weird, as Ness
wasn't born til 1903, and this being set in 1910, would make the
lad 7 years old!!!!!!)!

One of the reviewers at IMDb mentioned that Holmes seemed
lost in this one, which I have to agree!! Not shown as the sharp
minded detective that we all have grown to know and love!!

Sadly, there's way too much opera in this for my taste!!

This is overly long, and way too slow!! B-

A review from IMDb.com:

Some readers seem to think Morgan Fairchild was
wrong as Irene Adler ( Norton) but I think she was just
right. Irene is an American and she is supposed to be
a looker and a flamboyant actress. Morgan has those
qualities in spades. Despite age differences ( which
may have existed in the original story too), I think Lee
and Fairchild have a chemistry. The rest of the plot
was also not bad. MacNee is a little too goofy as Watson.
I prefer the more dignified portrayals of John Mills,
David Burke, Edward Hardwicke and even Colin Blakely.
MacNee is too much in the Nigel Bruce mold. I wish
that more "Golden Years" stories about Holmes had
been made. As it is we must content ourselves with
this one and "Victoria Falls". The mix of real characters
with the fictional was very "Ragtime". Lee was outstanding
as Holmes - dphelan-1

The second, and last, entry in the Holmes/Watson - Lee/
McNee series of movies! This one is has Holmes as a soon
to be retired detective turned bee-keeper!! Just before he
can retire, he is called upon by the king to do one more
job, protect the Star Of Africa, a diamond that's rather large
and the target of several other factions!! He accepts out of
a feeling of duty to the crown, and off to Africa he and Watson
go!!

While the two main actors, Lee and McNee, provide a good
watch, one of the most fun here is Claude Akins(The Gambler
V: The Luck Of The Draw[as Teddy Roosevelt, which he also
plays in this!!], 4 episodes of Murder She Wrote)!

A much better film than the first one with these two as the
heroes!! A

A review from an IMDb.com customer:

There's no doubt that, given the cast, this could have
been a rousing good Sherlock Holmes film. Unfortunately,
the producers decided to go for the mini-series. Bad move!
The film we have left drags in moments, the story is overly
convoluted with plot elements going nowhere, the pacing lags.

Still, Lee and MacNee make an excellent Holmes-Watson duo,
and most of the acting is really good for a television project of
this kind. The mystery elements, when we finally get them, are
on a par with that of better Holmes material - although they often
feel somewhat borrowed from Christie-Poirot films. The denouement
is satisfying in a quirky way, as it involves playing fast and loose
with history.

Enjoyable for a viewing - the second half is probably the superior,
but that's a matter of taste. - (winner55)

EPISODE # 8: THE CASE OF THE BLIND MAN'S BLUFF(Dec. 6, 1954):

A blind man is out for revenge against the men that were responsible for
the death of his wife and child!! Good though predictable!! A

EPISODE 15: THE CASE OF THE SINGING VIOLIN(Jan. 20, 1955):

A young woman is being victimized by her step-father in an attempt to
get her fortune!! Her fiance goes to see her, but the sf won't let him see
her, saying she has gone completely mad! He heads to see Holmes for
help and is promptly shot and killed!! Holmes immediately goes into
action!! A

EPISODE # 19: THE CASE OF THE VANISHED DETECTIVE(Feb. 21, 1955):

The missing detective is Holmes himself!! Watching Watson and Lestrade try
to track him down is a lot of fun!! The real case: an escaped convict has broken
out of jail and vowed to kill the judge who sent him to prison!! A

EPISODE # 21: THE CASE OF THE RELUCTANT CARPENTER(Mar. 7, 1955):

There's a man going around setting fires, his motive, to hold the city hostage
for ransom!! Along the way, he plants a bomb somewhere in the city, but he
gets killed and there's no way to find out where said bomb is!! A

EPISODE # 33: THE CASE OF THE BAKER STREET BACHELORS(June 20, 1955):

Another case of an innocent man being blamed for something that he didn't do!!
He's running for Parliament, and he recently went to a marriage agency to find a
wife! While it all seemed up and up, soon the woman is blackmailing him for breaking
her arm!! A

COMPLETE LIST OF DVDs
LIST OF MOVIE DVDs
LIST OF ANIME/ANIMATION DVDs
LIST OF BOND DVDs
LIST OF DISNEY DVDs
LIST OF ELVIS DVDs
LIST OF MUSIC DVDs
LIST OF STAR TREK/STAR WARS DVDs
LIST OF SUPERHERO DVDs
LIST OF TELEVISION DVDs

TO PHOTO PAGES OF MOVIES:

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J-K
L
M
N
O
P-Q
R
S
T
U-V
W
X-Z

ANIME SUPERHERO
BOND
DISNEY
ELVIS
HOLIDAY
MUSIC
MUSICALS
OTHER
SERIALS
SETS #-M
SETS N-Z
STAR TREK/STAR WARS
SUPERHERO
TELEVISION A-B
TELEVISION C-D
TELEVISION E-F
TELEVISION G-H
TELEVISION I-K
TELEVISION L
TELEVISION M
TELEVISION N-O
TELEVISION P-Q
TELEVISION R
TELEVISION Gene Roddenberry
TELEVISION S
TELEVISION T
TELEVISION U-W
TELEVISION X-Z
TELEVISION STAR TREK/STAR WARS
TELEVISION SUPERHERO

Music playing is:
Theme From Sherlock Holmes(1954)!