Two Sherlock Holmes movies starring Arthur
Wortner and Ian Hunter/Ian Flemming!
SHERLOCK HOLMES DOUBLE FEATURE SET 2
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
Arthur Wontner ... Sherlock Holmes
Isla Bevan ... Mary Morstan
Ian Hunter ... Dr. John H. Watson
Graham Soutten ... Jonathan Small
Miles Malleson ... Thaddeus Sholto
Herbert Lomas ... Maj. John Sholto
Gilbert Davis ... Det. Insp. Atherly Jones
Margaret Yarde ... Mrs. Smith
Roy Emerton ... The Tattooed Man
Another strong entry in the Sherlock Holmes saga,
this one finds Holmes "retiring" and Moriarty warning
him to "stay retired"! But as luck would have it, he
stumbles upon another mystery involving a woman and
her husband from America who've been threatened by a
large criminal organization of which it seems there
is reason to believe that Moriarty is a part of!! A
From an IMDb.com customer:
"The Triumoph of Sherlock Holmes" recently
came out on DVD. First off the copy is quite awful,
although from what I have read there aren't very
good video sources to take from. Secondly, Arthur
Wontner's Holmes is excellent. He looks like Holmes
and he acts like Holmes as portrayed by Conan Doyle.
The movie is based on one of the longer length
stories, "The Valley of Fear". The story includes
a long flashback to Pennsylvania coal country in
the US and is included in the movie. It is very well
done. As near as I can tell the scenes in America
were done with American actors, including the
well known character actor Ben Welden, except
for Boss McGinty played by Roy Emerton who
does a great job.
The movie contains a good many Holmesian
aphorisms taken from other stories. While it's
always a pleasure to hear them I can imagine
if you saw movie after movie and heard the
same lines multiple times it could become a
little annoying.
I particularly liked the Watson of Ian Fleming
as every time Holmes introduces himself and
neglects Watson, Watson nudges him with his
arm. A small bit but nicely done. - dj455k
Arthur Wontner ... Sherlock Holmes
Ian Fleming ... Dr. Watson
Lyn Harding ... Professor Moriarty
Leslie Perrins ... John Douglas
Jane Carr ... Ettie Douglas
Charles Mortimer ... Inspector Lestrade
Minnie Rayner ... Mrs. Hudson
Michael Shepley ... Cecil Barker
Ben Welden ... Ted Balding
Roy Emerton ... Boss McGinty
Conway Dixon ... Ames
Wilfrid Caithness ... Colonel Sebastian Moran
Edmund D'Alby ... Captain Marvin
Ernest Lynds ... Jacob Shafter
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/ANIMATION
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
There is no music for either of these movies!