The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

DVD, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) film

It may be that I'm merely remembering seeing this film before, but I had a strong impression that elements of other stories were cut and pasted into this one. The albatross drawing seemed familiar, and the South American recalled 'A Study in Scarlet', but I'm not as well versed in the stories as I should be. I was a little bemused by the end of the story. Aside from the Reichenbach Falls being replaced by the tip-top of the Tower of London, I didn't get any explanation of why the South American was trying to kill the woman, or why he'd killed her brother. Okay, he was working for Moriarty, and that mission was to distract Holmes, but it seemed there was going to be a reason for the death of her brother and the creepy music, like payback for some past injustice. But we don't know if there was anything more to it as Holmes and Watson have a jokey moment at the end, glossing over any plot holes.

With some of the episode explaining things in quite simple terms it's odd that such large holes are in plain sight. The production on the whole was a good one, the creepiness of the flute adding more chill to proceedings. The friendship between Holmes and Watson is much more obvious, and Bruce's bumbling, muttering and dog-like devotion make it quite humourous and enjoyable. It's still a little over-melodramatic at times, but that's probably more to do with the style of acting at that time, and certainly there were a couple of good stunts and the lamp-lit streets and cabs clattering along were well used. I was also surprised to be fooled by one of Holmes' disguises - he danced and sang 'I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside' and I didn't recognise him until he revealed himself!

This version of Moriarty is more like the man from the book, emitting a steely menace while not doing much of anything overtly bad. He becomes a bit of a typical heavy by the end, rolling around on the top of the Tower - almost as if his beard was the real brain and once it was shaved off he could only be like everyone else! It was a surprise to see Captain Mainwaring. No, not Arthur Lowe, but a man with the same name as his character, and one who looked similar! No Lestrade yet, but another shortsighted inspector there to show how clever Holmes is. For some reason this film is on the second disc, and so third in order on the box set, despite being the second film they made, so I'm not sure why it wasn't on the first disc. Why they insist on having the same five minute documentary on every disc is a bit of a mystery too.

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