Sherlock Holmes Faces Death

DVD, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943) film

I remembered this one quite well, although I couldn't remember who the murderer actually was. It's certainly an atmospheric tale, with a collection of strange characters, a forbidding setting and ancient rituals, interpersonal conflicts boiling under the surface and a bit of humour too. I wasn't convinced the culprit was doing it all to eventually marry the girl as she'd never have taken him, and he'd have had to murder her fiancee. Not that he wasn't above killing for the slightest inclination, and his cold reaction to Holmes' probing showed how callous and hardened he was.

While the eerie lighting and good use of the storm and lightning made the brooding impression of danger more vivid, the direction of the film took away from it sometimes. A couple of times when there were revelations or shock moments the scene faded far too early before we have a chance for the information to sink in or to see the character's response to it. There were things to appreciate, such as the tame raven, the chess analogy, the secret passages, and especially the humour generated by Lestrade's interventions. One moment he's lecturing Holmes on motive, then when he can't see a motive he says it doesn't matter! Getting stuck in the passages served him right, and the antagonism between him and Watson in particular was quite stark.

Holmes and Watson both looked much more professional and true to their literary form, Holmes' unruly hair tamed for a change, and the Doctor even gets to be the one in charge, bringing in Holmes and introducing him when usually it would he who is dragged into things by his detective friend. From the name I realised this was based on 'The Musgrave Ritual' and I vaguely remember reading about Holmes working out where some treasure trove or something lay, but I'm not sure how close this was to the original story. Even so, it was quite clever to let us believe things were going wrong, just as Holmes wanted, although anyone that knows the character can usually tell when he's playing a role!

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