[profh0011]

Tonight's "rerun":  SHERLOCK HOLMES (1922)

This 2nd time around, I've not only seen the 1916 film twice, but along the way, dug out the 1981 Frank Langella recording of the live stage play.  So the differences are far more pronounced in my mind this time.

The 1922 film, released in the UK under the title "MORIARTY", severely increases his screen-time and importance to the whole story, to the actual detriment of the Alice Fauklner storyline.

In this one, we see Moriarty trying to gain influence over the future Crown Prince.  The son of a safe-cracker, Forman Wells, who Moriarty decided to send to Cambridge so he could meet people Moriarty could have future influence on, decides to break with Moriarty, and steals money to get away, framing the Prince for it.  But Holmes confronts him over it, learns of Moriarty's existence, and tells Wells, "Do what I tell you, and everything will work out."  Later on, Wells becomes one of Holmes agents.

In a possibly-insane fit, Holmes, out of philosophical curiosity, goes to meet Moriarty, and from that brief, tense meeting, is so convinced he's a vile evil to be rooted out, he says he's found his calling in life!

We then cut to years later, where Holmes has become quite established at Baker Street, known to the general public, and a constant and increasing thorn in Moriarty's eyes.  You'd think whoever wrote this film never heard of Doyle's story "A STUDY IN SCARLET", as least as far as how Holmes & Watson met for the first time (in this film, they knew each other in college!).

After we see Rose Faulkner commit suicide by jumping off a mountain in Switzerland (in a flashback), the Larrabees ensare her vengeful sister at their home.  But in this version, they don't go to Moriarty for help when their plan fails-- everything they're doing is on Moriarty's orders! Also, at least judging by the Langella version of the stage play, Mrs. Larrabee was the real brains of that marriage-- here, she barely registers compared to her more-menacing-looking husband.

In the Gillette film, we see Wells set fire to the kitchen as a diversion.  Here, he does it off-camera.  In the Gillette film, Alice hides the letters the 2nd time behind a window shutter.  Here, she does it inside a hole in the outside wall behind a loose brick.  ("Changes for the sake of changes.")

While it's funny to see Holmes trick Moriarty into shooting a dummy behind a curtain, it hurts that the next part of the scene is MISSING, as we next see Holmes holding Moriarty's gun, and Moriarty warning him, "You turned down my proposition" --which we didn't see!  Billy, such a big part of the play, is almost completely missing from this version.

In the Gillette film, Alice follows Larrabee to the gas works, concerned for Holmes' safety.  Here, on Moriarty's orders, Larrabee takes her there by force.  Every one of these scenes in this version is less impressive than it was in the earlier film (just 8 years before), OR, the performance of the live play Langella did (much of which was played FOR LAUGHS).

The climax (which actually was taken from "Scarlet"-- Holmes slapping handcuffs on the villain disguised as a cabbie), here, is the end of the film!  "You surely don't think this is THE END?" "I was hoping so. I'm planning to go on my honeymoon!"  That's shocking news to the audience, Watson, and apparently, even to Alice. The ENTIRE FINALE of the Gillette film and play are missing here, not because that part of this film is missing, but apparently by design!  All that buisness about Holmes wanting to gain Alice's trust so she'd give him the letters of her own free will, COMPLETELY eliminated.  We never see the Prince's people, Holmes tricking Alice, his confession of doing so to her, the actual resolution of the sub-plot about the letters... nothing.

In retrospect, this film, more than the 1916 one, seems to lead DIRECTLY into the 1932 Clive Brook film. "SHERLOCK HOLMES", which picks up exactly where this one leaves off.  You'd think they would have given it a different title... like, say.... "THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES".  But, no, Brook did a film by that name in 1929.  GO FIGURE.


Looking back, turns out there were 3 actors in this I knew.  Prince Alexis was played by Reginald Denny, who I most remember from "REBECCA" (1940).  Foreman Wells was William Powell, alias "Nick Charles" from "THE THIN MAN" series and before that, Philo Vance.  Watson was Roland Young, who was so memorable as the inept detective William Henry Blore in one of my favorite Agatha Christie films, "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE" (1945).



The whole time I was watching tonight, funny enough, I couldn't get a scene from an entirely different movie out of my head.  it's the wonderful scene in "THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT", where Marian Gilbert is talking about her new best friend Valerie Boyd's having fallen in love with a much-older concert pianist.  Boothie, Marian's mother's friend, says...

"I know how it is.  I went through the same thing with John Barrymore."
"Who?"
".....WHAT did you say?"
"Who was this guy-- that you went through it with?"
"You mean you DON'T KNOW who John Barrymore is?"
"No."
"You've NEVER even HEARD HIS NAME?"
"No."
"You'll have to excuse me.  It's LATER that I thought."

[profh0011]

BEES SAAL BAAD  ("Twenty Years Later")
(Geetanjali Pictures / India / 1962)

I know some stories can be altered almost beyond recognition in re-tellings. This is a 1962 film from India, that's a remake of a 1951 Indian film, that was adapted from an Indian novel, that itself was loosely based on "THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES".

The '62 film is-- I kid thee not-- a romantic musical comedy murdery mystery horror story. (Yep, all of the above.) It almost looks like a silent, it's incredibly dark and spooky at times, but it's got a whole range of songs, and the focus on the love story is increased to where the murder mystery almost gets forgotten at some points.

Plus, the "comedy detective"-- basically filling the "Dr. Watson" slot-- reminds me of comic actor Avery Schreiber, in both looks and personality. Isn't that wild?

The way some of the characters and relationships are swapped around reminds me of the 1979 "DRACULA".  For example, the butler helping the escaped convict, is the brother of the man's wife (as opposed to the husband of the man's sister).  This kind of switching around actually resulted in my being taken VERY MUCH by surprise by the identity of the murderer, though if I'd stuck to the relationships in the novel and multiple other film versions, it should have been obvious.  (Tricky!) And, despite what one reviewer insisted, there IS a "Sherlock Holmes" character-- of sorts-- in the film, though his identity is not revealed until the last 10-15 minutes of the film.

The action-packed climax, much of which takes place in an underground tunnel (perhaps borrowed from both the 1914 and 1929 German versions) reminded me most of all of the climax of THE THIRD MAN (1949).

The print on the disc isn't bad, though it looks like it could use a clean-up in spots.  A few short bits seem missing, and crazy enough, one short bit was repeated twice (which I suspect was a mistake, not something the director or editor intended).  The music, like the visuals, is beautiful, though I have to admit I like the instrumental score more than the love songs, the instrumentation including what sounded like a bass violin, an oboe and an accordion in spots.

Some may find it a challenge dealing with a film so "foreign" in culture and style as this one, but I enjoyed it from start to finish. At just about 2-1/2 hours long, one might want to take a break somewhere in the middle.

Biswajeet as Kumar Vijay Singh (the "Henry Baskerville" character)


Waheeda Rehman as Radha  (the film's "Beryl")


Dev Kishan as Laxman  (the film's "Barrymore")


Madan Puri as Dr. Pandey  (the film's "Dr. Mortimer")


Asit Kumar Sen as Detective Gopichand Jasoos  (the film's "Dr. Watson")

[profh0011]

THE SLEEPING CARDINAL  alias  SHERLOCK HOLMES' FATAL HOUR
(Julius Hagen Productions  /  UK  / 1931)

The first of 5 films starring Arthur Wontner as Holmes, this was missing for decades, before a print turned up in the US, which turned out to be in much-better shape than those of the other 3 that are in wide circulation.  Personally, I wish someone would take it upon themselves to assemble the BEST-possible prints, and then do thorough restorations on them, and reissue all 4 as a complete set.  (The 2nd film, 1932's THE MISSING REMBRANDT, is currently considered "LOST".)

Anyone who's seen James Whale's FRANKENSTEIN should know what to expect here.  This is a very dark, slow, static, careful, METHODICAL film, very much of its time.  But when Holmes is onscreen, spelling out how he's connecting all the dots, he is positively MESMERIZING!  Tonight was the 3rd time I've seen this (the 2nd time on DVD), and I just enjoyed the living hell out of it.

As with the William Gillette stage play and subsequent film adaptations of it, the story involved Professor Moriarty, and contains the classic scene from "The Final Problem" where he manages to get both Watson & Mrs. Hudson out of the house, so he can confront him face-to-face.  Unlike the play, it also employs the classic scene from "The Empty House", where he attempts to assassinate Holmes with a silent air gun from across the street, but winds up taking out a plaster cast instead.

Along the way there's a complex, clever plot about a member of the Foreign Office who's being blackmailed because of his bad habit of cheating at cards, a pair of bank robberies in which nothing appears to have been stolen, and a printing press knocking out perfect duplicates of English bank notes, which are to be smuggled out of the country under the cover of diplomatic immunity.

It's fascinating to compare this to the 1929 German HOUND made 2 years earlier, for as this looks very much like an early silent film, that actual silent film looks more modern and exciting than most films from the early 30s.

Leslie Perrins, who plays Ronald Adair, the man being blackmailed, would turn up again in THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES as John Douglass, the Pinkerton agent.

[Captain Audio]

Was there a silent animated version of the Sleeping Cardinal?

I wonder if the title was suggested by the Chess tactic called "the Sleeping Bishop"?

[profh0011]

Was there a silent animated version of the Sleeping Cardinal?

I wonder if the title was suggested by the Chess tactic called "the Sleeping Bishop"?

Interesting question.  In the Wontner film, it refers to a painting of Richilieu that hangs on the wall in a secret room in the basement of the shoe factory.  Confederates of Moriarty are blindfolded and taken there, and when he's ready, the lights go down, the painting lights up, and his voice is heard to speak thru it from another room.

Given Moriarty is a master planner of crimes, it's possible a chess allegory may have been on someone's mind.

At the IMDB, this film has polarized reviewer opinions.  Several complain about it being painfully slow, but I'm delighted as how much I'm able to enjoy such a talky film.

When I saw the 1916 William Gillette SHERLOCK HOLMES, adapting his own stage play, I noted it referenced several Doyle stories, "A Scandal In Bohemia" (the plot with the letters & Alice Faulkner mirroring that of Irene Adler), "The Final Problem" (Moriarty going to Baker Street to confront Holmes, then planning to have his men kill Holmes), "The Retired Colourman" (the gas chamber murder device), and "A Study In Scarlet" (a killer disguised as a cabbie is nabbed when he's tricked into picking up a heavy suitcase).

The funny thing was... when I found out, "The Retired Colouman" was written in 1926... while the play debuted in 1899.  So, possibly, in this case, Doyle was inspired BY Gillette!   

[crashryan]

Haven't seen the film or I could answer this myself. Was this the painting?



It's a once well-known 19th century genre painting by Toby Rosenthal. Though its official title is "The Cardinal's Portrait" it was often referred to as "The Sleeping Cardinal."

[Captain Audio]

Haven't seen the film or I could answer this myself. Was this the painting?



It's a once well-known 19th century genre painting by Toby Rosenthal. Though its official title is "The Cardinal's Portrait" it was often referred to as "The Sleeping Cardinal."

A truly humous slant on portrait art. Reminds me of a Mad Magazine gag.

I've read that when Ivan the Terrible commisioned a carved wooden statue of himself he had the first few artists to try it punished because they had tried to make him appear benign and godly.
The last to try figured he had nothing to lose so his work showed Ivan as a greedy hateful monster with one hand a grasping claw extended to seize the world. Ivan loved it and rewarded him hansomely for his honesty.

[profh0011]

I tried copying the image DIRECTLY off the DVD.  You would not believe how much trouble I had figuring out how to get the particular disc I have to work right on my computer.  I managed it, but it was all for nought, as this board does not allow one to upload photos-- only, LINKS to photos that are already uploaded to other sites.

So, here's the only image I could find online... I think you can just barely make it out.  It's all the way on the right, 2nd row.




By the way, it amazes me how the butler in this 1931 film reminds me of the one in "THE SHINING".

[The Australian Panther]

Doing an image search for the painting, I found this wonderful Italian site

https://www.sitocomunista.it/rossoegiallo/personaggi/sherlockholmes/sherlockholmes_index.html
Actually this is a series of pages within  another site, but hey.
Click on the Irene Adler image and you get a chronological biography of Holmes
Click on the collated photo top right and you get images of every actor that has ever played Holmes, maybe! And some may still surprise you!
Hover over the images with the mouse, and most have a link to the film itself.
Click on Cushing/Rathbone and you get a list of all the film and TV productions.

At the bottom of this page is a collection of images from most of the films! You may find an image of the painting there!
Click on the magnifying glass and you get an article on Holmes/Deduction by Umberto Eco
Click on bottom right and you get a list of Holmesian references and site links
enjoy!   

[The Australian Panther]

as this board does not allow one to upload photos

I've only once attempted to upload an image to the site, and that was unsuccessful.
When you say Photos. do you mean, #.jpg images? 
If so you can use conversion software to convert to another format. 
Try this program, [which can be integrated into a browser if you desire.
https://www.online-convert.com/

Also a simple way to copy a still image on a computer.
Create an empty Word or Paint document - name it.
Play DVD 
1/ If you have frozen the image on the DVD.
Top right on the Keyboard is a key reading 'Print Sc'
2/ Press [Crtl] + [PrintSc]
3/ Close DVD or/and Navigate to the Word Doc. Open it.
3/ Press [Crtl] + [V] or right click in the document and select Paste.
Your image should now be on the document.
Save. 
Hope that helps.
Cheers!

[The Australian Panther]

Can't get Holmes off my mind this am!
It happens that earlier this week I remembered that I had two volumes of August Deleth's Solar Pons stories on my shelves, and I have begun reading those.

http://www.bakerstreetdozen.com/pons.html

http://www.solarpons.com/

I did not know Basil Copper had continued the series. I have some of Copper's original works [ a couple of the Mike Faradays  and I rate him as a writer, so I will have to track those down.
And I see he has written a Holmes too!
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/basil-copper/

And if you are solely interested in Doyle's own works, I direct you to,

http://www.solarpons.com/BakerStreetEssays.htm

Cheers!

[crashryan]

I play all my media including DVDs on my computer using a versatile freeware media player called VLC. Among its many features is a "snapshot" tool. Pause the frame you want and hit the snapshot hotkey and it makes a screen grab and stores it as a Jpeg without your having to go through extra steps.

[The Australian Panther]

Have just watched  "The Hound of the Baskervilles 1972" which stars Stewart Granger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zffLs6L3r4w
General opinion on the internet seems to be that it's very bad. Well, It was done for TV and obviously the budget was stretched. The Hound itself is dreadful and corny.
But overall the script is good and so is the acting of all the players.
The oddest thing  about the script is that it is Watson and not Holmes who makes two of the most important deductions.
Anthony Zerba is particularly good. He would actually have made an excellent Holmes.
William Shatner also plays a part  but this was not his only involvement with Holmes.
So I have uncovered another two actors who played Holmes.
The first is Leonard Nimoy.
Details here.
Irregular Observations: Boldly going where no Sherlock has gone before
https://wcclibraries.wordpress.com/tag/william-shatner/

Also from this page, note the Nicholas Meyer connection.

Last but not least, in 1983, 4 Animated movies were made and in them.
Peter O'Toole voiced Holmes.
The animation is pretty basic, the music execrable but they are worth it for O'Toole.
All of them on YouTube
Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville Curse (1983) | Full Movie | Peter O'Toole | Ron Haddrick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScbJETCzm8A
Last but not least., Speaking of music,

This exists
Sherlock Holmes - Classic Themes From 221B Baker Street

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ5K7YeLf-A

Plenty of Violin!

Enjoy!

[profh0011]

Yeah, I've had the VLC player for ages.  What I was saying is, the particular disc, I had more trouble than I've ever had with it trying to get it to the movie, it kept wanting to play the VERY-annoying "menu" over and over and over.

Also, I do "Print Screen" all the time.  I paste the images into Photoshop, and save them there as JPGs.  I often convert other formats to JPGs, that's my preferred format.  JPEGs are a problem, thery DO NOT even register in my Photoshop, I have to open them in Corel Photo-Paint and then resave them, then they're JPGs.

But I still have seen no way to upload an image from my computer to this messge board (or several others I go to either).  With Facebook, at least, there is an option for that, but many message boards only allow you to paste a link to an image that has already been posted at some other existing site.


I saw the Peter O'Toole "HOUND" on Youtube.  MY GOD, that's the kind of thing that gives animation a really bad name. I thought it was awful and almost unwatchable.  And I have a LOT of patience with a great many different things.



The Stewart Granger "HOUND", crazy enough, I haven't seen since it was first-run.  It was an unsold pilot.  ABC hoped to do a "period" mystery movie series to compete with NBC's, and also did a pilot for "NICK CARTER"  with Robert Conrad (set in the same time period), and a 3rd character, but I can never remember who the 3rd one was.

Because of the 1959 Hammer "HOUND", insanely, the Basil Rathbone "HOUND" was pulled from circulation for 20 years.  As a result, the Hammer film was the first one I ever saw... funny enough, the SAME DAY that ABC ran their version with Stewart Granger.

As of a few weeks ago, my latest count is 23 different film versions of the story.  I have 5 on DVD-- so far!  (1914, 1929, 1937, 1939, 1962)

[SuperScrounge]

I think you can post a picture, but it has to be less than 128 k. So you might have to crop the screen grab and save as a lower resolution copy to upload.

[profh0011]

THE SPECKLED BAND
(British & Dominions Film Corporation / UK / 1931)

Just saw this for the 3rd time (2nd time on DVD) and once again enjoyed it immensely. It turns out, this adaptation of the popular story was not adapted from the short story so much as the 1910 stage play version of it, much as the 1931 DRACULA and 1931 FRANKENSTEIN were also based on plays, rather than the original novels.  This explains some of the major differences, and there being multiple extra characters, including the house-keeper, Roylott's female accomplice, and the Indian servant.

The real tragedy of this film currently is that every print available at the moment had been cut to ribbons.  With about 20 whole minutes missing, there's not only probably several entire scenes missing, but the ones that are still there have multiple jump-cuts as if parts have been lost just due to damage.Presumably, this includes a sequence where Holmes investigates the gypsies.  Also, the scene where Roylott goes to Baker Street to confront Holmes, while it has a lot of addition dialogue (as Roylott keeps bouncing back and forth between angry and threatening, and trying to put on an act of being reasonable), is conspiciously MISSING the famous bit where he accuses Holmes of being... "Holmes the MEDDLER!  Holmes the BUSYBODY!! Holmes the SCOTLAND YARD JACKANAPES!!!"  In the Douglas Wilmer version in particular, this last accusation results in the funniest line in the story, when, after Roylott leaves, Holmes says to Watson, "The nerve of him, confusing me with the police.  I'll HAVE HIM for that, Watson, mark my words!" (As if nailing Roylott for besmirching his reputation is more important than nailing him for MURDER.)

One of my favorite added bits is probably when Watson discovers Holmes arrived at Stoke Moran before him, and has been working as a builder for 4 hours, in order to get a feel for what's really going on at the mansion.

Lyn Harding, who played Dr. Roylott, returned in 1935 to play Professor Moriarty in the 4th & 5th Arthur Wontner films, THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES and SILVER BLAZE.

Apart from Raymond Massey, who had a long a successful acting career after this, I'm not really familiar with anyone else in the film.  This appears to be Jack Raymond's best-known effort as director.  However, and this came as quite a surprise to me, perhaps the most prominent person associated with the film was its Cinematographer-- FREDDIE YOUNG.  In a career that stretched from 1928 to 1984, he did, among many other things, TREASURE ISLAND (1950), CALLING BULLDOG DRUMMOND (1951), IVANHOE (1952), SOLOMON AND SHEBA (1959), GORGO (1961), LAWRENCE OF ARABIA(1962), DR. ZHIVAGO (1965), YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967-- geez!!-- his only "007" film), and, all the way at the end, SWORD OF THE VALIANT (1984), which I recently got on widescreen Blu-Ray.

I really wish someone could locate and restore a complete print of this one.

[profh0011]

This week's rerun:

LELICEK VE SLUZBACH SHERLOCKA HOLMESA
("Lelicek In The Services of Sherlock Holmes")
(Elektrafilm  /  Czechoslovakia  / 1932)

Once again, immensely enjoyable.  The film is an adaptation of a novel by Hugo Vavris, which, as someone pointed out, is a bit of a variation on "The Prisoner Of Zenda", with regard to someone impersonating the King of a tiny country.  As someone also pointed out, the "Puerto Rico" of this film seems a lot more like the fictional landlocked Ruritania than it does a distant island country (especially since Holmes & Lelicek reach it by train, not ship!).

One of the funniest bits early on, is when Holmes first introduces himself to Lelicek, who asks him...

"Ah, Sherlock Holmes, you had a dog shop, didn't you?"

He then realizes he's thinking of "The Hound Of The Baskervilles".

I really like Martin Fric as Holmes.  It turns out he was mostly a director, but did acting occasionally as well.  He could have easily done a whole series as Holmes, but, this was his only one.  Well... NOT QUITE.  It turns out, the same studio simultaneously did a FRENCH-language version of the same film, titled "LE ROI BIS" (THE ROYAL BIZ), and unlike the 1931 Spanish DRACULA, Fric also played Holmes in that as well.  However, the dual roles of The King and The Queen and their doubles were done by other actors, and the film (like DRACULA) had a different director.  Might be really interesting to see that one for comparison!

Something I completely missed before, this film was directed by Karel Lamac, the same man who did the 1937 DER HUND VON BASKERVILLE!  So I wound up getting 2 of his films back-to-back without even realizing it.  Again, Bruno Guttner was good in that, but I think Martin Fric might have been better.

Several people have pointed out to me when I've described this film that it sounds exactly like a more-recent film, DAVE (1993), which was directed by Ivan Reitman and starred Kevin Kline.  I did some checking, and sure enough, Reitman had also done STRIPES (1981), which was clearly a remake of the English comedy CARRY ON SERGEANT (1958), with Warren Oates taking the William Hartnell role of the soon-to-retire Drill Sergeant.  So there would be precedent for this sort of behavior.  But, more-- something I never realized-- it turns out, Reitman was BORN in Czechoslovakia-- so he could very well have been aware of the LELICEK film when he was growing up!  No coincidence there.   

Now I wanna get ALL of these on DVD.

[profh0011]

THE SIGN OF FOUR: SHERLOCK HOLMES' GREATEST CASE
(Associated Talking Pictures  /  UK  /  1932)

This was the 3rd film adaptation of the 2nd Holmes story, and, the 3rd Holmes film starring Arthur Wontner.  Since it was supposed to be an "early" story, Wontner was made up to look younger than he was, while Watson was recast with Ian Hunter, who later played King Richard in the classic Errol Flynn film THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.

I would say this film had just about as many changes made to the story as the Eille Norwood version.  Like THE CRUCIFER OF BLOOD (1991), it begins with the robbery in India. In this version, Major Sholto actually murders Captain Morston as soon as he lays eyes on the treasure, which simplifies things a bit.   But when Jonathan Small escapes the Andaman Island prison, he brings with him not one but TWO accomplices, Tonga (the native pygmy), and an un-named criminal credited only as "The Tattooed Man", played by Roy Emerton (who came back to play a crime boss in Wontner's 4th Holmes film, THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES).

Just before he dies, Sholto, feeling guilty, and knowing Small is on his track, tells his 2 sons about the treasure, but dies of a heart attack on seeing Small before he can tell them where he hid it.  Thaddeus, the more nervous of the two, decides to share part of it with Mary Morstan, and sends he a full pearl necklace (in the original story, he sent one pearl a year for several years).  But Small confronts the Sholtos, and a terrified Thaddeus tells them he sent the necklace to Mary.  They rob her flower shop, but it's not there, and leave a threatening note, even as Thaddeus leaves a note asking her to meet him to get her share of the rest of the treasure.

And it's at THIS point the film finally gets around to her going to see Holmes & Watson for help (which is where the original story actually started).  They accompany her to meet Thaddeus, they drive to his mansion, find his brother murdered, and the treasure, which his brother had only just found, missing.  Holmes begins his investigation by telling Watson, "Let's leave jumping to conclusions to the PROFESSIONAL detectives!"  Inspector Atherly Jones (Gilbert Davis) is played even stupider than usual in this version, dismissing Holmes' theories one second and producing his own in the next.  He arrests Thaddeus as the obvious culprit, while Holmes asks him to put a 24-hour watch on Mary for her protection. Later, Holmes gets his help, but Jones NEVER actually admits he's in over his head and NEEDS Holmes' advice (usually one of the best moments in various versions of the story).

From a rope left at the scene, Holmes figures out a small ship-owner is involved, and goes undercover as an old sailor to pump the man's wife for info.  Watson, frustrated over Holmes' constant one-upmanship, gets the idea to take Mary and track down the Tattooed Man at a local "fun fair".  They see him, but he sees them, and as Watson calls the police, she's abducted, while Holmes, who'd been scouring the fun fair in another disguise, berates Watson for putting Mary in such terrible danger!

What follows next is the classic boat-chase, but in this case, it involves a pair of HIGH-SPEED boats (this is 1932 after all) that reminds me of similar scenes in SHAFT'S BIG SCORE (1972) and LIVE AND LET DIE (1973).  Unlike every other version of the chase, it ends in an abandoned warehouse, in a brutal fight and shoot-out.  The villains are dead, the jewels are recovered, Mary is rescued, and Watson, having fallen for her, proposes marriage.  Holmes, giving them the eye, says, "Amazing, Watson!"  Watson smiles and replies, "Elementary, my dear Holmes!"   

Thaddeus Sholto was played by Miles Malleson, who, aside from being a screen-writer, also had mostly-comical roles in quite a few films, including THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940), HORROR OF DRACULA (1958), THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959) and THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1962)!  It's amazing to see him so young in here.

From what I've read, no less than 3 directors were involved in this, each focusing on different parts of the film.  Some of the camera-angles were quite ahead of their time, such as the straight-down shot when Tonga is shot and falls all the way to the floor.

The "Production Supervisor" (not sure exactly what that job entails) was Rowland V. Lee, the only time he was credited as such.  Mostly a director himself, his work involved THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, SON OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE SON OF MONTE CRISTO, the latter of which pitted hero Louis Hayward against villain George Sanders.

Tragically, of the 4 Wontner films in circulation, all in "Public Domain", this seems to be in the WORST shape.  I actually have 2 different DVDs, one has poor picture and TERRIBLE sound, the other, BETTER sound but EVEN FUZZIER picture. I wish to God somebody out there would find decent prints of these 4 films, do a proper, extensive restoration on all of them, and release all 4 as a single set.















You know, it occurs to me, if they'd done DOCTOR WHO back in the early 1930s, Arthur Wontner & Ian Hunter would have been PERFECT to play The Doctor and Ian Chesterton!

[profh0011]

SHERLOCK HOLMES I BONEFANGERKLOR
(Nordick Film Kompagni  /  Denmark  /  1910)

A man winds up drugged while drinking with "friends" who take his wallet. On awakening, he accuses the bartender of being a thief. Holmes arrives and the police arrest both men, but Holmes detects the drugged drink and intrudes on the culprits, who over-power him, forcing him to get help from the police to get loose. 2 fights and a car-chase with lots of shooting later, all is resolved at the police station.

A mostly-clear print of this is posted at the "www.stumfilm.dk" site, silent, with NO music and NO English translation! But it's easy enough to figure out, and fortunately, is only 12 minutes long.

I noted the on-screen title, "Sherlock Holmes Unter Bauernfangern" translates to "Sherlock Holmes Among Farmers", but it seems to me the online link title "The Confidence Trick" makes more sense. Early, simple, fun. I hope someone eventually collects as many of these rarities as can be found and puts them out on a DVD set. Synergy Entertainment's 2 "Sherlock Holmes Collection" box sets did this to a degree, but has some odd gaps that could have made them better than they were.

Watch film here:
https://www.stumfilm.dk/en/stumfilm/streaming/film/sherlock-holmes-i-bondefangerklor

[profh0011]

Well, I just watched the 1932 film SHERLOCK HOLMES with Clive Brook for the 2nd time, and right after, I discover that a BRAND-NEW, CRYSTAL-CLEAR restoration has been done by the Museum Of Modern Art!

But there's a problem... it seems Disney is in charge of all old Fox Films, and currently have ZERO interest in putting this out on DVD or Blu-Ray.  W--T--F

https://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2021/06/the-1932-clive-brook-sherlock-holmes.html

[profh0011]

A STUDY IN SCARLET
(KBS Productions Inc.  /  US  /  1933)

SIX DEAD MEN   ******

KBS Productions paid for the title, but not the plot, of Doyle's 1st Holmes story. Instead, and I might never have known this if not for some helpful contributor to the IMDB, they adapted-- unofficially (and presumably, UNPAID!), Belgian author Stanislas-Andre Steeman's 1931 detective novel "Six Hommes Morts". I've looked around, and I haven't yet found any evidence that this novel, published in French, has ever been translated into English. However, I've just learned it has been adapted to film at least 4 times, with this being the 1st version. The others were "THE RIVERSIDE MURDERS" (UK / 1935), "LE DERNIER DES SIX" (France / 1941) and "L'inspecteur Wens: SIX HOMMES MORTS" (an episode of the 1975 French anthology TV series, "Les grands detectives")!  Now I'm interested in tracking those down for comparison.

Physically, Reginald Owen reminds me a bit of a young Ray Milland (or, a bit, of stage actor William Gillette). He may not look like the traditional idea of Holmes, but thanks to the script, he certainly SEEMED like him, making all sorts of amazing observations that escape the notice of Inspector Lestrade and Dr. Watson (who's mainly here as the audience-identification character, for Holmes to explain the plot to). Owen fares better as Holmes than he did as Watson in Fox's "SHERLOCK HOLMES" only 6 months earlier, while Alan Morbray, who was Scotland Yard inspector Colonel Gore-King in that, returns here as Lestrade.

I've seen this movie at least 4 times now, and have enjoyed it more with each viewing. Part of it is the slowly-developing plot, part is seeing some of the wonderful character actors of the period who I've come to recognize from other films turning up. Among them are Anna May Wong (who once played Fu Manchu's daughter), Halliwell Hobbes (who was in several Rathbone HOLMES films), Olaf Hytten (ditto; he also played "Sheerluck Jones" in the insane comedy short "Lost In Limehouse", which came out only a month before this), and Billy Bevan (a policeman in "Dracula's Daughter", he serves a comic-relief role as a tavern customer, similar to Herbert Mundin in the earlier Clive Brook film).

Given the similarities to "The Five Orange Pips" by Doyle, "Six Dead Men" by Steeman, or "Ten Little Indians" by Agatha Christie, I have to wonder WHICH story Christie might have been borrowing from when she wrote HER novel several years after this!

I only wish someone could locate a complete print of this and do a proper restoration, as between the poor picture and sound quality, and all the words missing due to frequent cuts, this is in almost as bad shape as Raymond Massey's "THE SPECKLED BAND". The screenplay here would have made an excellent installment in the Universal HOLMES series with Rathbone; if it had been, it would have been fully restored by now, as those 12 films were!

Reginald Owen as Holmes


Alan Mobray as Lestrade, with Holmes & Watson

[profh0011]

THE TRIUMPH OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
(Real Art Productions / UK / 1935)

I know many classic characters have gone through multiple studios in their time, but in the case of Arthur Wontner, his 5 Sherlock Holmes movies were actually made by 4 different ones! It's remarkable there was any sense of continuity.

This film, like many such adaptations, actually combines elements of at least 3 of Doyle's stories.  The bulk of it is based on his 4th Holmes novel, "The Valley of Fear".  I've noticed that 3 of those involve long flashbacks to events that took place years before (while "Hound" has a flashback describing the legend that goes back centuries).  In addition, and I thank an IMDB reviewer for pointing this out to me, a rather large early chunk of the film comes from "The Reigate Squires".  This is the part where Holmes, exhausted from one particular case, takes the invitation of an old Army chum of Watson's to come to the country to recuperate... only to hear of a murder at a nearby estate.  A tiny piece of that story wound up in the pilot episode of the 1954 Ronald Howard SHERLOCK HOLMES tv series, but I now realize that more of it may have found its way in here than in that one. The biggest change is suggesting that Holmes was retiring, and that he took Mrs. Hudson with him to continue on as his house-keeper!  (But surely... SHE owned Baker Street, didn't she?)

And then there's "The Final Problem".  Yes, Moriarty's been added to this one.  And, the famous scene where he confronts Holmes in Baker Street and runs down a list of times Holmes has inconvenienced him is here. That dialogue has turned up verbatim in so many different films, it's hard to keep track of it.  To be honest, I've grown so tired of Doyle's original story, coming to feel it was mostly a totally-contrived way for an author to KILL OFF an amazingly-popular fictional character, that I actually find its inclusion here more entertaining than in possibly any other adaptation I've seen of it.

The fact that this film and THE SLEEPING CARDINAL (1931), Wontner's 1st, were made by different studios may explain the total lack of continuity between them concerning Moriarty.  He was most definitely arrested by the police in the earlier film, yet in this one, Watson & Lestrade both refuse to believe he's anything more than a mathematics professor, and that Holmes never had him brought to justice! Clearly, different continuities.  (Hey, why not?  Gordon Scott played 3 DIFFERENT versions of Tarzan, and Sean Connery 2 DIFFERENT versions of James Bond!)

Once the long flashback to America ends, we see Holmes brilliantly solve the murder (and reveal the actual identity of the dead man).  After this, the climax involves trapping Moriarty, in a sequence that almost certainly HAD to have inspired the climax of Fox's THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES a mere 2 years later!  If anything, this version, involving an ancient, battered circular stone staircase, is far more atmospheric.  And since Moriarty winds up falling into a moat filled with water... his survival to return in SILVER BLAZE 2 years later makes perfect sense (especially as Moran was waiting in the car for his return).

Ian Fleming returns for his 3rd outing as the dapper ladies' man Watson (having been absent from THE SIGN OF FOUR).

Leslie Perrins, who was the ill-fated Ronald Adair in THE SLEEPING CARDINAL, returns here as John Douglas, in reality Pinkerton agent Birdie Edwards. My favorite scene of his is when he springs the trap on the gang of killers, standing there calmly lighting a cigarette as the cops burst into the room surrounding the criminals.

Roy Emerton, who had a bit part as "the tattooed man" in THE SIGN OF FOUR, returns here for a much-bigger role as Boss McGinty.  He's one of the most sinister, creepy-looking actors I've seen in the 1930s, and I understand he became mostly known for appearing in Shakespeare plays!

Lyn Harding, who'd made such a memorable and nasty impression as Dr. Grimesby Rylott in THE SPECKLED BAND (1931 opposite Raymond Massey as Holmes) returns here in his first of 2 appearances as Professor Moriarty.  While Moriarty had spoken to potential clients while in hiding behind a painting in THE SLEEPING CARDINAL, here he meets them face-to-face in a similar room, while somehow managing to appear and disappear from the room without his "business associates" seeing him come and go.  His burning rage at Holmes as a result of the closing events of this story are very much in evidence in the follow-up, SILVER BLAZE.

As usual, the main drawback of this and all 4 currently-available Wontner HOLMES films, is the TERRIBLE quality of the prints.  The picture is fuzzy, the sound is worse.  As much as I like this film, I can only imagine how much more I might if someone found really decent prints and did extensive restorations on them.  The style of the writing, directing & acting in some old films can take some adjustment-- but watching miserable prints only makes that more difficult.















Leslie Perrins as John Douglas alias Birdie Edwards


"The Valley Of Fear" has not been widely adapted to film. For a much-simpler (and far-more-focused) version, see "The Case Of The Pennsylvania Gun", the 3rd episode of the 1954 Ronald Howard SHERLOCK HOLMES tv series.

For a more AUTHENTIC version... check out the "book on tape" recording done by CHRSTOPHER LEE, where he does all the voices of all the characters himself!

[profh0011]

"THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES,  part two"
(BBC-TV / 1968)

Having just watched this again, I felt compelled to comment on it.

The scene of Watson being chased by the dog made a good cliffhanger, though I believe it was invented just for that purpose.

Interesting how Sir Henry told Watson that he knew Watson of all people would not like to be a spoil-sport.  Of course, Watson's usually the ladies' man, yet he didn't catch on that Sir Henry wanted to meet Beryl until he saw it himself.  Stapleton's outburst, and later apology, appears to be authentic to the book, as it appears in all 3 of the "authentic" film versions (Cushing, Baker & Brett), yet I prefer Henry's reaction in the Baker version to this one, as Gary Raymond's Sir Henry seems almost too genial about it.

I like how, once Barrymore's been accused of being part of a conspiracy, that his wife reveals the truth about her brother being the convict Selden. Really gets a major red herring out of the way pretty quick.  Later, when Barrymore talks about the night Sir Charles died, I think he tells more than he should, as a way of minimizing Frankland's screen-time, as I believe in at least 2 other versions it's Frankland who leads Watson to finding "the other man" on the moor.

The whole story really picks up when Watson finds that Holmes has been on the moor for at least a week.  Nigel Stock's Watson gets upset but not angry (as Nigel Bruce did), and from this point, the details of the mystery begin to be revealed with amazing precision.  Holmes is diverted from revealing the killer's identity due to Seldon's death, and the scene where he tells Watson to say nothing as Stapleton arrives is so quiet compared to most versions it's downright chilling.

Then follows 2 scenes I've never seen in any other version of this story: the pub (where more important details come out), and, the scene between Stapleton & his wife, where she BEGS him to give up his plan.  He's already offended at this suggestion, since he's spent ten years of his life planning this, but when she accidentally lets slip that she was the one who sent Henry a letter of warning while they were in London, he goes berzerk.  In at least 2 later versions, we saw Beryl tied up, but never the scene that led up to it.

The pacing in this 2nd half is infinitely better than it was in the Tom Baker version, except that it meant there was absolutely no time left for an epilogue.  Stapleton goes down in the mire, ROLL CREDITS.  It's shocking.  And all I can think is, while this was done as a 2-parter, it really should have been done as a 3-parter, as several of the 1980s MISS MARPLEs were.

I'm probably the only person on the planet who thinks Gary Raymond made a far-more appropriate Sir Henry than Christopher Lee did.

Also, something I hadn't really noticed until today, concerned the important point of Holmes' investigation regarding Stapleton's previous history as a school-teacher.  Stapleton's casual mention of this was what led Holmes to be able to trace him, and find physical evidence not only of his identity, but the fact that he was married.  It suddenly struck me that a similar point in Agatha Christie's "EVIL UNDER THE SUN" allowed Hercule Poirot to connect 2 seemingly-unrelated crimes done years apart, because they had the exact same modus operandi.  Yet another example of how Christie was a fan of Doyle!  I've seen these stories so many times, yet never connected them until now.

Sir Henry, Dr. Mortimer (not seen at all in part 2!), Holmes


Watson follows Barrymore and get a scare of his life!


Gary Raymond as Sir Henry


Frankland, when asked if he had any children, insisted "I LIVE ALONE!"


Laura Lyons (Frankland's daughter) is shocked when she learns the man she'd fallen in love with and hoped to marry is a murderer--and, ALREADY MARRIED.


Philip Bond as Jack Stapleton


4 times I've seen this (so far), and I never recognized Philip Bond until I saw photos of him without the glasses he wore as Stapleton.  (I've seen him on DOCTOR WHO, THE SAINT and THE AVENGERS.)

[profh0011]

THE RIVERSIDE MURDER
(Fox Film Company / UK / 1935)

6 down-on-their luck friends pool their money and agree to equally split any profits at the end of 5 years.  As the deadline approaches, they begin to get murdered, one by one.  Trying to solve the crimes are straight-laced Inspector Philip Winton, his rather eccentric Scottish sidekick Police Sgt. 'Mac' McKay, and pesky, ambitious newspaper reporter Claire Haines.  At one point, one of the friends involved in the "pact" is shot in front of 2 witnesses, yet a moment later, the body has disappeared.

If all this sounds familiar, it's because it's basically the SAME story filmed just 2 years earlier in America as "A STUDY IN SCARLET".  So many people are busy complaining that film has nothing to do with Arthur Conan Doyle's 1st Sherlock Holmes novel that they completely miss that it's really an uncredited SWIPE of Belgian writer Stanislas-Andre Steeman's 1931 detective novel "Six Hommes Morts", which IS listed in the opening credits of THIS film.

Having seen the 1933 film with Reginald Owen at least 4 times and enjoying it more each time, I decided to go looking for the other versions.  "RIVERSIDE" is a very nicely-done, compact, and at times amusing early English murder mystery.  I haven't read the source novel yet (it's in French, I wonder if it's ever been published in English-- or, ONLINE?).  But, if I had to guess, I'd say this version, which is quite streamlined compared to the "Sherlock Holmes" version, is probably more authentic to the book.

I found it amazing to watch 2 drastically-different adaptations of the same story, but be able to clearly recognize certain elements that appeared in both films.  One example was the girl witnessing a murder, where the body disappears right after it happens.  Another is learning about an underground tunnel that connects to the house.  Funny enough, a similar tunnel appeared in the 1929 German "HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES", though I'm pretty sure it never appeared in Doyle's novel.

I was only familiar with 2 actors in this.  Sgt. McKay was Alistair Sim, who's perhaps best known for what is generally considered the best version of "A CHRISTMAS CAROL" ever made.  He also played police inspectors in several films, including a favorite of mine, "GREEN FOR DANGER", which was like a World War 2-era version of "CHINA BEACH".  It's his face on the DVD box.

One of the group targetted for murder, the most level-headed of them, Henry Sanders, was played by actor Ian Fleming, who I've seen as Dr. John Watson in 3 of the 4 available Arthur Wontner SHERLOCK HOLMES films.

The hero, Inspector Philip Winton, was played by Basil Sydney.  He reminded me a bit of Claude Rains, or Kenneth More.  But, it turns out, I had seen in him in 3 other films-- IVANHOE (1952), AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956), and a real favorite of mine, THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE (1959), where he played "Lawyer Hawkins".  I'll have to keep an eye out for him next time I watch that!

There are at least 2 more film adaptations of "Six Hommes Morts" (Six Dead Men), and I'm already planning to get the 3rd one very soon.  After that, I may go looking for more films based on Stanislas-Andre Steeman's books.

People keep comparing this to Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians", but note, the victims in that did not know each other, there was NO detective on the scene, and, that was published in 1939. (heh)

[The Australian Panther]

Alistair Sim had a great sense of humor and a talent for self mockery.
He first came to my attention in obvious drag and the headmistess Millicent Fritton [and her brother] in the original series of 'St Trinians' films. Opposite the also excellent George Cole.
Any movie with Alistair Sim in it was memorable.
He also played in [among others] the  JB Priestly adapted, 'An inspector calls'
and two excellent and well-remembered TV series, 'Cold Comfort Farm' and 'Misleading Cases'.
Now that they have come to mind, I am going to have to track those down. 
Whatever he was in , you knew he was relaxed and having a ball.

cheers!