The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

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 | 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

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

DVD Improved The Atmosphere, Story

This was a little slow-moving compared to most of the Basil Some national critics rated this the best of the old Sherlock Holmes films. I don't agree with that, but it's a good one. It's also a film I didn't fully appreciate the first time. On the second look, thanks no doubt to the wonderful "restoration" job on the DVD, it brought the cinematography to the forefront and made the whole story more attractive, too.

There are some wonderful scenes with light and shadows and foggy London streets. Story-wise, it's okay nothing that memorable except we see a very young and innocent-looking Ida Lupino playing a nice British girl. Holmes (Basil Rathbone) is usual deductive self and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) elicits a few laughs along the way, not as many as he did in future films but more than he did in his first Holmes film, "The Hound Of The Baskervilles."

There weren't as many suspects in this SH adventure as in most of them, but that was fine with me. It was more a battle of wits between the good detective and his nemesis, "Dr. Moriarity" (George Zucco), which is better than having a dozen suspects.