The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Alfred L. Werker

Writers:

Edwin Blum (screenplay) and
William A. Drake (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 SZEPTEMBER 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The Struggle of Super-Minds in the Crime of the Century!

Plot:

The master sleuth hunts his archenemy, Professor Moriarty, who is planning the crime of the century.

Plot Keywords:

Tower Of London | Murder | Super Villain | Impersonation | London England

Cast

Basil Rathbone	...	Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce	...	Dr. Watson
Ida Lupino	...	Ann Brandon
Alan Marshal	...	Jerrold Hunter
Terry Kilburn	...	Billy
George Zucco	...	Professor Moriarty
Henry Stephenson	...	Sir Ronald Ramsgate
E.E. Clive	...	Inspector Bristol
Arthur Hohl	...	Bassick
May Beatty	...	Mrs. Jameson
Peter Willes	...	Lloyd Brandon
Mary Gordon	...	Mrs. Hudson
Holmes Herbert	...	Justice
George Regas	...	Mateo
Mary Forbes	...	Lady Conyngham

Also Known As:

Sherlock Holmes (UK)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #5486)

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The second of fourteen films based on Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional consulting detective Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson.

Goofs:

Continuity: Holmes's pipe disappears from one shot to the next as he sees Sir Ronald Ramsgate out the door early in the film.

Quotes:

Sherlock Holmes: Whatever Watson has found out, you'll know inevitably. I have unbounded confidence in his lack of discretion.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Return of Count Yorga (1971)

Superb version of the stage play...excellent performances by Rathbone, Bruce and Lupino...

Having recently completed a film article due for publication in FILMS OF THE GOLDEN AGE on Ida Lupino, it's a pleasure to report that this is one of her best early performances. She plays a terrified young woman who seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes when she becomes concerned about her brother's safety. He soon determines that she too is being stalked by killers. Her brother is killed and the plot thickens with a sub-plot involving Professor Moriarty's plans to steal the Crown Jewels and the Star of Delhi. Holmes eventually solves the case and defeats the diabolical Moriarty with a plan of his own. Reviewers judged this film even superior to the earlier 'Hound of the Baskervilles'. Indeed, it's fully as atmospheric and suspenseful with handsomely staged scenes in gas-lit Victorian London. George Zucco makes an ideal villain and the main roles by Rathbone, Nigel Bruce and Ida Lupino are handled with their customary skill. Definitely worth seeing and far superior to the later Universal entries which updated all of the Holmes stories.