SHERLOCK HOLMES RATHBONE/BRUCE SET

It is so unfortunate that there is no closed captioning
on any of these films!!

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES(1939):

What a great breakout film for the duo of Rathbone
and Bruce! This is very well done, both story wise,
music and ambiance! The two sleuths are beckoned
to help out the new lord of Baskerville before he is
killed by the ever-present hound! Again, well done! A+

From an Amazon.com customer:

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce star in this 1939
adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's frequently
filmed novel, and the result is one of the most
atmospheric and purely enjoyable versions of
The Hound of the Baskervilles. Except for minor
changes, the script is true to Doyle's enthralling
mystery about a centuries-long curse against heirs
to the Baskerville estate, situated within the
haunting and deadly Dartmoor in the southwest
of England. With the arrival of a new master,
Canadian Henry Baskerville (Richard Greene),
Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) and Dr. Watson
(Bruce) are called upon to solve the strange
case of the "gigantic hound" that may be
readying to savage the poor fellow. Wonderful
sets, crisp performances, and Rathbone's
accessible but no-nonsense take on the Great
Detective make this a real delight. Typical
of the 20th Century Fox Holmes pictures,
there's an in-joke, a final line of censor-defying
dialogue alluding to Holmes's little problem with
cocaine. --Tom Keogh

Another very good outing for the duo of Rathbone
and Bruce! This one has them pitted against the
ever present Moriarty, who has just got off from
a murder charge, and he vows to break Holmes!
His diabolical plan is to miss-direct Holmes by
having two different crimes planned at the
same time! Good cast again! B+

From an Amazon.com customer:

One of the most engaging features from 20th
Century Fox's Holmes series, The Adventures
of Sherlock Holmes is also of historical interest
as it based on a hugely popular, early 20th century
stage play written by and starring William Gillette.
Basil Rathbone cuts a fine figure as the lean,
hawkish Great Detective, drawn into a complicated
conspiracy by fiendish Dr. Moriarty (George Zucco)
to distract Holmes while quietly preparing to
steal the Crown Jewels. Nigel Bruce is on board
as a buffoonish Dr. Watson, and British-born
Ida Lupino is very good, and quite gorgeous, as
a young woman who may be the target of a
family curse. True-blue Sherlockians know that
very little of Gillette's tale, and next to nothing
about Zucco's or Bruce's performances, have
anything to do with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
sacred canon. Still, this is a handsome production
to enjoy on its own terms. --Tom Keogh

This is unfortunately the first film of Sherlock
Holmes in the 1940s, fighting against the Nazis!!
I don't care for these as much as the ones that
are truer to the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character!
That being said this is quite a contrived story
about Holmes being brought in by the secret
council to fight against the Nazi's "Voice Of
Terror", a dude that broadcasts a nightly
radio show about doom and gloom! Rathbone
and Bruce still are great as Holmes and Watson,
but the whole movie's just not the same with
it being set in the (at the time it was made)
"present"! Still worth a watch, just to see the
duo in action again, but, really, I can imagine
Doyle rolling over in his grave about the
transplanting of his late 1800s characters
to the here and now! And what the hell
is Holmes hair all about!!??? C+

From an Amazon.com customer:

The first of the Rathbone WW II Holmes pictures
is one of the more stylish productions in the
Universal series. It looks great on this restored
disc that highlights the moody lighting and
striking close-ups.

After sporting slicked backed hair like the
original Strand Magazine Sydney Paget drawings
in his first two outings as Holmes for 20th
Century Fox, here Rathbone has this odd
comb-forward that makes him look like a
80s New Romantic singer. But he's commanding,
not yet bored by the role.

Maybe this is one of the better entries because
Nigel Bruce isn't overused. And Holmes' patriotic
sign-off is still striring stuff. - EddieLove "EddieLove"

As with most of the Sherlock Homes movies made from
1942-1944, this has our daunting duo in the wrong time
frame, and battling against Nazis! I don't care as much
for these as the ones that are truer to the Arthur Conan
Doyle's Holmes/Watson stories!! But, this does have Basil
Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, the two best to ever play the
roles! And the story is ok! It just loses a lot without the
ambience from Doyle's Holmes!! B+

Rule Britania

A review from Amazon.com:

This movie features Basil Rathbone as Holmes. He is
protecting a weapon that the Nazi's want. This is based
on "The Adventure of the Dancing Men." The Dancing
Men are a code to where the weapon is. Moriarity tries
to kill Holmes for the weapon by s l o w l y drawing out
Holmes's blood. Now this is unbelivible-Holmes-after
having 1\4 of his blood drawn out-still can jump up
and fight! I won't tell what happens to Moriarity-but
you have to watch VERY closly to see. Enjoy! - A Customer

This is ok. But it's a long stretch for Sherlock Holmes
(circa 1880s and 90s) to be in Washington DC during
world war two!!! Rathbone and Bruce do well in their
roles, but this is pretty boring, with the ambiance
sorely missing from the 1800s London! The story
line is a stretch(the two are asked by the British
government to help find a spy who has gone missing
with some vital information), and it just seems that
the two main characters are way out of their element!
Still, it's Sherlock Holmes, kinda! C+

From an Amazon.com customer:

A much better film than it ought to be, largely
due to the presence of Rathbone and Bruce.
Bruce might not be everyone's idea of how
Watson should be played, but remember this
is cinema. The first person narrator figure of
Watson can only work in the written stories,
and so something extra is needed. Sure, his
bumbling can sometimes be embarrassing, but
his comic relief is needed to avoid the film
taking on a too sombre tone. This Watson
rises to the occasion whenever he is needed,
proving an able assistant to the great detective.
This is a product of its times, with costumes
updated and our victorian detectives brought
forward in time to the 1940s. The wonderful
wartime speech at the end a pleasure to
behold. - D. M. Farmbrough "Dave Farmbrough"

This is pretty good, but not quite up to the
first two movies with Rathbone and Bruce.
Still, interesting enough, and the acting again
is superb! With the first part of the movie
centered on Watson and the hospital he is
working in, the owners of the Musgrave manor
are starting to drop like flies, not to mention
other occupants of the manor! Watson makes
haste to Holmes to get some help and the
rest, as they say is history! Not perfect, yet
still great! B+

From an Amazon.com customer:

After three films in which Sherlock Holmes
battled the Nazis, even Universal must have
grown tired of their gimmicky attempt to
"modernize" the Great Detective. With
"Sherlock Holmes Faces Death," Basil Rathbone
and Nigel Bruce are back on more familiar
turf and solve a mystery having absolutely
no connection to World War II.

For the first time in the series, a film doesn't
merely credit a story by Arthur Conan Doyle,
screenwriter Bertram Millhauser actually makes
use of one, "The Musgrave Ritual," a traditional
murder mystery involving an old family curse.
The story gives director Roy William Neill plenty
of opportunities to pour on the atmosphere that
is the series' best attribute, aside from stars
Rathbone and Bruce, of course.

With this entry, the series greatly improved,
and greater adventures were still to come for
the famous detective from Baker Street. - Brian W. Fairbanks

Set in Canada, this is another great movie from
Rathbone/Bruce!! Mysterious deaths are occurring
in the marshes, and of course Holmes and Watson
get caught up in the doings! This is a great mystery,
with great acting all around! A

From an Amazon.com customer:

Here is another strong entry (beautifully restored
by the UCLA Film and Television Archive) from the
peak of Basil Rathbone's prolific, seven-year run
as a definitive Sherlock Holmes for the big screen.
The Scarlet Claw (1944) is an original screenplay
with elements loosely inspired by Doyle's "The
Adventure of the Dancing Men." A skeptical
Holmes and Watson (Nigel Bruce) attend a
meeting of the Royal Canadian Occult Society
in Canada, but are soon looking into a killing
spree attributed to a fanciful marsh monster.
Fantastic events are soon supplanted by an
even stranger horror concerning a master actor
bent on revenge. --Tom Keogh

This is another good movie starring Rathbone and
Bruce as Holmes and Watson!! There is a pearl
aboard a ship that gets stolen, and Holmes and
Watson get involved in trying to find the perpetrator!
While this again has the boys in current(1942) time,
this at least doesn't get involved with the war, and
therefore is much more like the Doyle Holmes! B+

From an IMDb.com customer:

Here is yet another solid Sherlock Holmes entry,
featuring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. This
story centers around a chase by crooks to seize a
valuable pearl, a bunch of murders that take place
as a result of that pursuit, and Holmes trying to
make sure the pearl stays with its rightful owner.

It turns out the pearl is hidden in one of six plastic
Napoleon busts. Whoever buys these busts winds
up dead by a hired killer, monstrous fiend called
"The Creeper," a huge man-beast who literally
breaks backs.

Holmes (Rathbone) narrowly avoids getting hurt
several times himself while Watson (Bruce)
mumbles his way through to provide comic relief.
Dennis Hoey, who plays "Inspector Lestrade," is
as dumb as a brick and adds more humor to
the story. - ccthemovieman-1

This is closer to the Doyle Sherlock Holmes than
the other movies released around the war time,
but still there is a small reference to Hitler toward
the end of the movie! Fortunately this doesn't
detract from the movie. This is a pretty good
cat-and-mouse type of movie, with a rather
attractive woman as the mouse! A very well
done movie! A-

From an Amazon.com customer:

Here is another strong entry (beautifully restored
by the UCLA Film and Television Archive) from
the peak of Basil Rathbone's prolific, seven-year
run as a definitive Sherlock Holmes for the big
screen. The Spider Woman(1944) employs details
of Holmes's apparent death and resurrection between
"The Final Problem" and its follow-up, "The Adventure
of the Empty House." But the movie takes a different
direction when a bizarre series of late-night "pajama
suicides" finds Holmes probing the involvement of
a femme fatale. Of the quartet of features in this
set (all produced and directed by the energetic
Roy William Neill) Spider Woman has the most
vivacity and familiar textures from Doyle's
canon. --Tom Keogh

Ah, we're back to the old Sherlock Holmes
here!! And what a great movie this is! This has
all the ambience that you could ask for, as well
as a great story line! A group of seven "friends"
make a pact that if one of them dies, the
remaining survivors split an insurance policy
on their lives. As each of the group starts
dieing off, Holmes and Watson are called
upon to help the ever present Inspector
Lestrade(played again by Dennis Hoey) to
try and solve the case! A very good film,
if not quite predictable! A

From an Amazon.com customer:

Here is another strong entry (beautifully
restored by the UCLA Film and Television
Archive) from the peak of Basil Rathbone's
prolific, seven-year run as a definitive
Sherlock Holmes for the big screen. The
House of Fear (1945), adapted from "The
Five Orange Pips," is a chamber mystery
concerning successive murders of the
members of an elite club, the Good
Comrades. On film, the tale seems a bit
ludicrous, but its conclusion is among
the most startling in the Rathbone films.
There's also a fair amount of comedy
between Watson (Nigel Bruce) and
Inspector Lestrade's (Dennis Hoey)
bumbling ways. --Tom Keogh

While very subtle in its being in the 1940s, this is
none-the-less another film of Sherlock Holmes out
of time! The good thing is that it's not easily noticeable!
The only thing that gives it away is the automobiles
being used! That being said, this is a pretty good
movie, again pitting Holmes and Watson against
the cunning Moriarty(just how many times can this
guy die!?!)! A good movie, with great acting again
by Rathbone and Bruce!! B+

A review from Amazon.com:

Yes, after having seen Lionel Atwill and George
Zucco step up to the plate as the nefarious master
criminal Moriarty, I can safely say that Henry Daniell
brings the most to the role. ....

As slight as the story line may be (hypnotized men
of means/rank are made to believe they committed
murder and then are blackmailed), I must recommend
you study the acting very carefully. Rathbone (Holmes),
Bruce (Watson) and Daniell (Moriarty) are really doing
an awful lot in the way of characterization. I love
how Rathbone just hides a smile when he looks at
the dunderheadings of Bruce.... These men are
real pros, imbuing the scene with real tension.
Daniell is particularly good, when his mouth drawn
up grimly as he spars verbally with Rathbone. ...

I enjoyed "The Woman in Green" much more than
I had expected to, thanks to the first-rate acting.
Nice to know that some childhood favorites still hold
up when you see them years later! - Linda McDonnell "TutorGal"

A different kind of movie for Holmes and
Watson! They are on a ship bound for Algiers
with a once and future king in tow. They're
only mission is to get him to port so that he
can continue on to his waiting throne! Of
course there is the usual murder aboard that
Holmes must solve! All this, while Watson
has been prescribing a vacation for Holmes.
Another strong cast! Not a bad movie. Not
as good as the first! B

From an Amazon.com customer:

I will not tell you what the "something special"
is, but it was a delightful surprise to me. The
plot is good, not the best of all the other Basil
Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes' movies,
but it has the surprises and excellent supporting
cast that these movies all have in common. I
enjoyed it very much, and think that the
"something special" toward the end of the
movie is worth the wait. Hint it has to do
with Dr. Watson!!! - Sgt. Bilko

Still 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

This is truly worth the price of the entire set!
Doyle does a sit alone discussion of his writing
of Sherlock Homes, as well as his spiritual beliefs!
Not long(about 10 minutes), but definitely worth
watching! (As an aside here, it is amazing how
much Doyle looks like Nigel Bruce! A coincidence?
I think not!!) A+

A review from IMDb.com:

While going through You Tube I came upon this
ten minute Foxtone short, one of the earliest
sound films. It was made in 1927 and it is
wonderful that it exists today for us to hear
and see it. The subject was only three years
away from his own death. He was a world class
figure for his literary and other endeavors (one,
at least, controversial). And when one recalls
that he was born in 1859 and we are in the year
2007 one really appreciates the development
of talkies. How much would we have liked to
have heard Abraham Lincoln on gramophone
disk or in an early talkie, or Florence Nightingale,
or Charles Dickens. At least we have (among
other Victorians) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Actually two "actors" are in this short. Conan
Doyle strolls from his front door into a garden
accompanied by his pet dog. He is carrying
a book and puts the book and his hat down
on a table while he sits in a chair addressing
the character. For a relatively new device, Sir
Arthur is not nervous and speaks quite frankly,
directly, and honestly to the camera (and to
the sound equipment recording him). To be fair,
Conan Doyle had appeared in a prologue to
the silent film classic THE LOST WORLD
(based on his Professor Challenger story), so
he was probably used to the filming. But he
certainly at ease with the only recently
developed sound equipment (THE LOST
WORLD was made in 1925, before the
Fox sound system was tested).

Doyle's comments can be divided roughly
in half. The first five minutes deal with his
creation of the great "Sherlock Holmes" series
of stories and novels. He is quite honest about
what influenced him, mentioning "Dr. Bell" one
of his medical teachers. Bell (properly Dr.
Joseph Bell) was the model for Holmes in
his ability to look at a person and talk to
them and tell all sorts of biographical things
about the person in a matter of minutes.
Bell was also occasionally used by the police
(with Professor Harvey Littlejohn) on certain
criminal cases. There was a series of shows
a few years ago with the late Ian Richardson
as Bell, assisted by an actor as the young
Conan Doyle, helping the Scottish police
on cases.

The latter five minutes of the film deal
with the controversy of Doyle's crusade
for acceptance of psychic phenomenon.
He explains that it is real and that much
of the criticism that has been thrown
against him is from people who haven't
experienced work with mediums. Doyle
does not name names, so there is no
reference to Harry Houdini - who had
experienced and exposed mediums in
the U.S., and was once a good friend
of Doyle's. But Houdini was dead for
a year by the time this film was made.
Doyle's pitch for the psychic crusade
and spiritualism is based on helping
to heal the emotional losses due to
the huge death toll from World War
I, so even if one is skeptical about
this crusade one approves of Doyle's
motives.

The film ends with Doyle and his dog
returning to the house. It was a lovely
brief visit that his fans and the future
are grateful for. - theowinthrop

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