The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Director:

Alfred L. Werker

Writers:

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

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 | Investigator | Robbery | Scotland Yard

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
Frank Dawson	...	Dawes
William Austin	...	Stranger
Anthony Kemble-Cooper	...	Tony (as Anthony Kemble Cooper)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank Baker	...	Unconfirmed Presence [AFI Catalog Name: Tompkins] (unconfirmed)
Gordon Hart	...	Unspecified Guard (unconfirmed)
Brandon Hurst	...	Unconfirmed Presence [AFI Catalog name: Footman] (unconfirmed)
Leonard Mudie	...	Barrows (scenes deleted)
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Unconfirmed Presence [AFI Catalog Name: Gates] (unconfirmed)
Frank Benson	...	Unconfirmed Presence [AFI Catalog Name: Cockney] (uncredited)
Harry Cording	...	Second Phoney Policeman [Extra] (uncredited)
Robert Cory	...	Tower Sentry (uncredited)
David Dunbar	...	Unspecified Scotland Yard Man (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Unspecified Scotland Yard Man (uncredited)
Neil Fitzgerald	...	Clerk of the Court (uncredited)
Denis Green	...	Sergeant of the Guard (uncredited)
Ivo Henderson	...	Unspecified Bobby (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson	...	Unspecified Bobby (uncredited)
Boyd Irwin	...	Bobby (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Marine Sergeant [Extra] (uncredited)
Robert Nobel	...	Foreman of the Jury (uncredited)
C. Montague Shaw	...	Captain Mannering (uncredited)
Robert R. Stephenson	...	Unspecified Cabby [Extra] (uncredited)
Eric Wilton	...	Conyngham Butler (uncredited)

Directed by
Alfred L. Werker		(as Alfred Werker)

Writing credits
Edwin Blum		(screenplay) and
William A. Drake		(screenplay) (as William Drake)
William Gillette		(play "Sherlock Holmes")
Arthur Conan Doyle		characters (uncredited)

Produced by
Gene Markey	....	associate producer
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Robert Russell Bennett		(uncredited)
David Buttolph		(uncredited)
Cyril J. Mockridge		(uncredited)
David Raksin		(uncredited)
Walter Scharf		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Leon Shamroy

Film Editing by
Robert Bischoff

Art Direction by
Richard Day
Hans Peters

Set Decoration by
Thomas Little

Costume Design by
Gwen Wakeling

Production Management
Darryl F. Zanuck	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Eckhardt	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Virgil Hart	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
W.D. Flick	....	sound
Roger Heman Sr.	....	sound (as Roger Heman)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sam Benson	....	wardrobe supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Cyril J. Mockridge	....	musical director

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1939) (USA) (theatrical)
• MPI Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• MPI Home Video (2004) (USA) (VHS)
• MPI Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)

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 movie's line "Elementary, my dear Watson." was voted as the #65 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).

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: You've a magnificent brain, Moriarty. I admire it. I'd like to present it pickled in alcohol to the London Medical Society.
Professor Moriarty: Holmes, you only now barely missed sending me to the gallows. You're the only man in England clever enough to defeat me. I'm going to break you. I'm going to bring off right under your nose the most incredible crime of the century, and you'll never suspect it until it's too late. It'll be the end of you Sherlock Holmes. Then I can retire in peace. I'd like to retire; crime no longer amuses me. I'd like to devote my remaining years to abstract science.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Doogie Howser, M.D.: The Adventures of Sherlock Howser (#4.16)" (1993)

Soundtrack:

I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside

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.