I have been under the weather this weekend and have been alternating between watching WWII docs and
UNIVERSAL SHERLOCK HOLMES FILMS.
MAN, WAS I EVER WRONG IN MY REVIEW OF TERROR BY NIGHT, and for that I APOLOGIZE.
In all honesty,
TERROR BY NIGHT has been (with the exception of THE WOMAN IN GREEN) the WORST of the series, with almost ALL THE OTHER INSTALLMENTS being of
vastly superior quality.
I also have to say from watching the series, THAT I HAVE A STRONG SUSPICION IT WAS IMMENSELY INFLUENTIAL ON FUTURE FILM AND TV SERIES and THE DETECTIVE/SPY genre in particular.
I have bad memories of the novelette
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES because I had an absolutely AWFUL high school English Teacher who, for some reason, thought we should all take turns reading THE ENTIRE STORY out loud in class. (if you ever want to desecrate a written work, have it read out loud by a group of freshmen high schoolers.) However, the movie really grew on me as I watched it, and although I'm still bothered by the fact that this is A SHERLOCK HOLMES STORY where SHERLOCK HOLMES HIMSELF is absent for a HUGE CHUNK of the middle- the sets ARE MARVELOUS and the actors (with the exception of WENDY BARRIE) all do a very good job. I must say I was taken aback by HOW MUCH YOUNGER NIGEL BRUCE looks in this film, not sure if they aged him for later films or not, but in real life, he was actually 3 years younger than BASIL RATHBONE. NOTE: THIS FILM MADE IN 1939 ENDS WITH A LAST LINE THAT IS A DIRECT REFERENCE TO COCAINE.
AND THEN I watched
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF DEATH, which is quite a bold and ingenious film- moving the series without explanation to 1939 ENGLAND and enlisting HOLMES AND WATSON into THE WAR EFFORT. This is handled effortlessly- and there is one very funny moment where HOLMES reaches to put on his DEERSTALKER CAP, only to be scolded by WATSON "HOLMES, YOU PROMISED!" before switching to the standard fedora. REGINALD DENNY (in HOT BRITISH DADDY MODE) and HENRY DANIELL have supporting parts, LIONEL ATWILL (who looks TERRIBLE!) has a very brief role as MORIARTY, i almost wonder if his part was truncated because at the time of the making of the film (1942) ATWILL was involved in a very public scandal involving allegations of sexual impropriety) this is a very moving and ambitious film, and I have very little doubt that it was, in its own way, a huge help to the WAR EFFORT. This was the only film in the series not directed by ROY WILLIAM NEIL, and I really like all the dynamic camera set-ups and INTENSE CLOSE-UPS (
EVELYN ANKERS has one of her best roles in this movie and she gets a series OF STUNNING CLOSE-UPS to show what a really beautiful woman she was.) [it is funny though that her BRITISH ACCENT sounds put-on, since she was in fact a native BRIT)
MUCH OF THE SAME can also be said for
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON, which I also liked quite a bit.
much like
THE SCARLET CLAW, which is set in CANADA, and ends with a very positive note in re: THE CANADIAN PEOPLE. it's pretty clearly propaganda to get AMERICANS to realize what a huge effort CANADA was putting into the war, but as CANADA has (IMO) never gotten the credit they really deserve for their efforts in WWII (i think they were the only country to have TWO flanks on D-DAY) I'm fine with it. There is a genuinely CREEPY SCENE where the killer (a master of disquise) stabs a man to death IN DRAG.
DRESSED TO KILL takes a similar premise as THE SCARLET CLAW- a killer who is a master of disguise- but turns it rather on its head by making the killer A WOMAN
THE PEARL OF DEATH was also a lot of fun, with another good role for EVELYN ANKERS (who deserved more good roles) as she gets play similar part to the antagonist of DRESSED TO KILL.
